Recently I received a flyer in the mail inviting me to a clergy workshop that promised to help me "cope creatively." It’s being conducted by a friend of mine, a priest of faultless intentions, and will be given by a presenter known nationally as an expert on what the brochure calls &
Faith in Focus
Posted inFaith in Focus
Standing in the Doorway
I was standing in the doorway, looking at the clear blue sky on an icy cold January afternoon, when she came up the stairs. I hadn’t seen Irene in over six years, but I had been thinking about her a lot recently. She was coming up from a diocesan meeting my parish was hosting in the church hal
Posted inFaith in Focus
Heaven and Earth Are Full…
How many times have I uttered those words, sung those jubilant words at Mass, and paid scant heed to their meaning? I’m a poor singer, so mostly I just fake them, scarcely letting a sound escape from a tight mouth and heart. I’ve probably concentrated more on the hairdo of the woman in f
Posted inFaith in Focus
As God Intended
Several years ago, while I sat at my desk one morning at Continuum, an AIDS agency in San Francisco where I served as executive director, the phone rang. The caller identified herself as a secretary to the First Lady and asked if I would come to the White House for a community leaders’ forum l
Posted inFaith in Focus
Waiting in Silence and Light
When I was little, Saturday nights were often spent sleeping over at Grandmom’s house. I loved these Saturday nights; she was the perfect grandmom, bubbly and doting and willing to spoil us with Lucky Charms cereal until we were sick. She was also a devout Roman Catholic, so Sunday mornings al
Posted inFaith in Focus
Be Awake
It came as a surprise to find myself compelled to reflect on consciousness and mortality. It happened because I went to a Zen retreat by accident. But then, though there are surprises in this life, we may collaborate in bringing ourselves to the place of surprise—to the brink, or to the unders
Posted inFaith in Focus
The Light Under the Basket
A reading from the letter of Paul to… began the lector; but instead of following St. Paul’s epistle, I opened the parish bulletin and read, once again, a mother’s letter of gratitude to her fellow parishioners and the outreach program they support. The woman was not a single mom, but a
Posted inFaith in Focus
Heeding His Voice
The voice startled me. I was driving down a busy street in Atlanta on my way to the grocery store, when a little voice told me to visit the ornate church on the hill. I had attended a festival at the church, St. John Chrysostom Melkite Church, many years ago. I knew the congregation was Catholic, bu
Posted inFaith in Focus
Lessons Learned
Two years ago, while plunging into the final stage of studies for Jesuit priesthood, I was diagnosed with recurrent leukemia. My first thought was: why didn’t I enter the Dominicans or Franciscans where I could have finished formation years ago? The correct response is that no one finishes for