What’s New
The God of Christmas is the God of Lent
“Know that I am with you and will keep you, wherever you go” (Gen 28:15) “Even if I sin?” "Especially then.” The conversation (related with permission) between Our Lord and a retreatant of several years ago plays in my ears through the days of Lent like the refrain of...
We are an immigrant nation
I wish the people who grumble that immigrants should be “required” to learn English could sit in on one of my ESL classes at Cabrini Immigrant Services in Manhattan. It’s a daytime class, so the students are mostly senior citizens and mothers of schoolchildren. This...
Changing Lives: The remarkable story of “El Sistema”
It’s February and it’s snowing here in Walton, NY, a small town in the foothills of the Catskills. Winter is supposed to be a quiet time, a time to read and reflect, but my mind is anything but quiet. It is swirling with ideas and possibilities. It all started when...
God with some skin
A delightful story recounted in The Holy Longing by Ron Rolheiser tells of a 4-year-old girl who feared spooks and monsters in the dark of her room. One night, she ran to her parents’ bed, and her mother calmed her down. As she led her daughter back to her room, she...
Simple truths from IVC’s founder
I don't pay much attention to blogs by-in-large. So often there are too many words which add to the din and make life more cluttered and less reflective. It's hard to find God when there is so much pounding on me. But this is the inaugural Ignatian Volunteer Corps...