Learning to be Quick to Listen

In the wake of two terror attacks in Norway that left at least 93 people dead, Pope Benedict XVI called for an end to hatred and ideologies that promote evil. "We are all deeply saddened by the serious terrorist acts," the pope said after praying the Angelus with pilgrims in Castel Gandolfo July 24. The pope launched an appeal "to abandon once and for all the path of violence and avoid principles of evil." As a further expression of his condolences and prayers for those affected by the attacks, the pope sent a message to Norway's King Harald V. The pope said he was praying for all those affected by "the acts of senseless violence perpetrated in Oslo and Utoya." The pope asked that the country "be spiritually united in a determined resolve to reject the ways of hatred and conflict and to work together fearlessly in shaping a future of mutual respect, solidarity and freedom for coming generations." Explosives ripped through Norwegian government...

Christy Nockels latest song “Waiting Here For You” provides a message that concerns one of the most difficult things that we as humans have to confront in our daily lives. We do not want to wait on anything or anyone. But she is clear in her song that waiting for Jesus to move and lead us where we need to go is very worthwhile. The third verse says, "You are everything You’ve promised. Your faithfulness is true. And we're desperate for Your presence. All we need is You." Waiting for the Lord to share his plan for our lives is difficult. We see others moving ahead or supposedly receiving the things that they want and we find ourselves growing restless. Sometimes we even get jealous and begin to rail against God. We feel like we are being punished even though we feel we have been faithful and patient. Christy sings that God has loved us from the start. That is a key idea that can settle even the most nervous person. God does love us. He created us to love him. He covets a l...

So Google asks us today why we should remember Gregor Mendel and even honors him with a Doodle. A doodle is the word Google spelled out using different themes. Anyway, Mendel was an Augustinian friar who basically discovered the concepts that lead to the science of genetics. Of course the secular world then makes the leap to Darwin and evolution. I am not sure that Friar Mendel would agree. It did make me wonder about other Catholics who have made contributions to science. It turns out that the list is enormous. Have you ever heard of Father Eugenio Barsanti? He is known for being the inventor of the internal combustion engine. It seems that he is not widely credited with this invention because his patent was misplaced somehow. What about Jean-Charles de la Faille? He was a Jesuit mathematician who determined the center of gravity of the sector of a circle for the first time. Have you ever heard of Robert Grosseteste who has been called the first man to write down a complete set of ste...

St. Francis prayed for the Lord to make him an instrument of peace. So many people have been moved by this prayer and the subsequent songs. I wonder if we have been moved enough to make a difference in a world that is crying out for peace makers? Few would argue against the notion that to solve conflict created by religious intolerance, prejudice and discrimination, it is essential to understand how religion motivates believers and shapes their worldviews, that respecting all religions is not enough. While religion can be a cause of conflict, it carries political leverage that many say makes it a source for solutions and a tool for peace building. "We are giving a whole government effort to put religion on the table," said the Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, the new U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The United States is "on the front lines of confronting conflict and urging and pressing governments" to fight for religious freedom, she told Catho...

According to various news services, Israel opened the traditional baptism site of Jesus to daily visits on Tuesday, a move that required the cooperation of Israel's military and the removal of nearby mines in the West Bank along the border with Jordan. The location, where John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the waters of the Jordan River, is one of the most important sites in Christianity. Until now, it was opened several times a year in coordination with the Israeli military, but because of its sensitive location, it had not been regularly open to the public since Israel captured the site from Jordan, along with the rest of the West Bank, in the 1967 Mideast war. That war left the site in a heavily mined no-man's land along a hostile frontier until Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994. Today, the baptism site sits among old minefields and near an Israeli military post in the Jordan Valley, where the famous river described in the Bible appears from afar as a dus...

Yesterday's reading from St. Paul to the Romans was extremely powerful. It caused me to stop and read it again during Mass. I then had to read it twice more once I got home. I returned to it this morning. Romans 8:18-21 says, "Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God." How timely is this passage for us today? There are so many earthly sufferings in our present time. I am not sure if there are more than in St. Paul's time but I am sure that some of them are the same. It is reassuring to know that Christians were experiencing trials during the early years of the C...

I have been working on spiritual priorities lately. How are your spiritual priorities? Of course I am talking about the usual list that should include the Holy Trinity, spouse, family and friends. But what I am talking about here is the next level of spiritual priorities. How are you bringing the word of God to co-workers, acquaintances, and even random strangers? Have you ever has a conversation about God with a person that happens to sit next to you on an airplane? How would you even go about doing this, I wondered and prayed? Then it hit me. I start with a book. It can be the Bible but it might be something else like The Shack, Heaven Is For Real or Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way. It creates a nice jumping off point to begin a conversation especially if they ask about you the book. I was recently in an airport waiting for my flight that had been delayed. I noticed a lady was reading The Shack and so I approached her and asked if she was enjoying it. I told her that I had read it several...