I got an invitation to a party today, but it didn’t state a date or time for arrival. It also said, “The gift of your presence is gift enough.” That’s always a pressure reliever when invited to someone’s special event. I tossed the invitation aside as I rushed through my long to-do list, and soon […]
Lord, grant me the grace to live in the present and recognize what is possible to look to the future and trust you to be silent, and hear your voice in the stillness to do what you ask without arguing to humbly adapt to radical change to serve, and to graciously accept being served to […]
I own a peculiar baseball cap that I wear all the time. It’s a black hat, simple in appearance, save for the goofy-looking pinkish blob prominently featured above the rim. The blob is smiling, tongue out, with its big googly eyes wide and staring and happy. The blob has a name; it’s Morph. And Morph […]
I don’t remember much about the movie Office Space except the iconic scene in which three employees take out their frustrations on the office printer. Fed up with the repeated error message “PC LOAD LETTER” among other office things, the colleagues take the printer for a ride and destroy it with bats in a field. […]
My 16-year-old son and I stood shielding our eyes from the sun on an unusually hot afternoon at a four-track train station in Kent, England. We were looking for my friend, a vicar in the Church of England, who was to pick us up from the station. The vicar was hosting us at his vicarage […]
Dean, my husband, asked me if my prayer list wasn’t just another to-do list, and I said, “Of course not. At least, I hope not. Well…no. I’m sure it can’t be. The irony would be extreme.” You see, my everyday to-do lists are what keep me focused on getting things done. They also give me […]
Sometimes God surprises me in less-than-ideal situations. In the midst of hospital oxygen cannulas, monitors, and nurse call buttons, God revealed to me that God is present in my suffering and desires to bless me with hope. My husband and I were on our way home from a medical test when we got a call […]
Prayer for Minneapolis Recognizing that the children are with God, we at Loyola Press, in solidarity with the suffering people of Minneapolis, pray: For the parents and families in their grief. For care and healing for surviving classmates, teachers, and administrators. For those prone to violence, that they be stopped before they act, seek help […]
Two Loyola Press authors will lead weekend retreats at the Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos (California) in the coming months. Consider these opportunities to learn from experienced and inspiring speakers in a peaceful and prayerful setting. Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ, author of A Jesuit’s Guide to the Stars, will lead a retreat titled “Is […]
In an episode of Pop-Up Prayer, Dr. Ansel Augustine talks about the need to see prayer as both an ongoing conversation with the Lord and something for which we need to carve out time. Augustine is the author of Praying with Our Feet: Encountering God in the Margins.
When I was a child, I loved school, but even more, I looked forward to the start of summer vacation. As a teacher, I have been lucky enough to continue to have a taste of it. Although I work quite a bit in the summer—on research that gets pushed out of my schedule by my […]
This story is inspired by Matthew 18:1–5. We had just traveled from Galilee and stopped near the far side of the Jordan River. Bodies pressed close together and the dry, warm air caused me to be uncomfortable. I think it was ego that caused my friend to ask Jesus who would be greatest in heaven. […]
When I was writing The Prayer List, I asked our daughters (now adults) what they remembered about family prayer from their childhoods. Ellen promptly responded by reciting the prayer we most often said together at bedtime: There are four corners on my bed. There are four angels round my head. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, […]
When was the last time you contemplated the marvelous things without number that God has done in this universe? Do you know where to find the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south? Those are constellations, after all—things in the sky that in principle anyone can see for themselves. In The […]
I wear a gold cross on a chain around my neck. I have for as long as I can remember. Recently, a friend asked me why. “My grandparents bought it for me when I was really little,” I replied. “And my grandmother had a really big impact on my faith.” My friend nodded. “So it’s […]
I asked my boys to go get dressed for their dentist appointments. “Put on something that doesn’t look like you’ve been sleeping in it all week!” I shouted from the living room. One of my twins returned quickly and stated confidently, “I’m ready to go, Mom!” I looked up from my phone to observe his […]
How are we to interpret the alternately serendipitous and disappointing, unexpected and unpredictable, courses of our lives? What is happening when death or financial disaster force us to reconsider what we want from life, when teachers or mentors find and nurture talent we didn’t know we had, when we succeed beyond our wildest imaginings, when […]
You have my permission to do this. Really. No guilt whatsoever. Choose an activity that gives you joy and that feeds your soul. It can be anything—something you do alone or with friends, an activity that’s high intensity or more contemplative, something you do away from home or in your home. Schedule a full two […]
When my children were young and had their friends over to play, I would not necessarily join into their conversations. When they were playing together, they wanted my ideas and participation like they wanted toothpaste. I hung around, half-listening in case a quarrel broke out, and provided snacks when they were hungry. Maybe God is […]
