Final Exam for the Graduates ~

I had taught them for years and they were obviously frightened. Written and oral exams tomorrow. I told them to relax now and forget the books. They had learned a lot of German in four years. . . Go downtown this evening and go for a quiet walk. No drinking, no horsing around. Turn in early for a good night's sleep. Come in tomorrow alert and looking sharp: boys in jacket, shirt and tie, the girls wearing their neat dresses. Have happy thoughts and be confident. If you let it, everything will meld and fall into place, but you must be calm and receptive.

Burial ~

The childen stood at the gravesite and heard them lower the coffin,  but they refused to lean over and look in. Then they broke into tears.

Hate ~

" . . . this ability he has to sense our darkest instincts and call to them, coax them out of hiding, when we'd prefer not to see them at all."
Nancy Gibbs    Time

Going to Midnight Mass?

And then this at Christmas time:
More than 500 priests accused of sexual abuse . . . public list of Chicago-area priests with credible allegation of abuse to grow . . .
Chicago Tribune

Lost Here ~

In the search for God one is always alone. And we hardly know who we are looking for, or where to look.

Laudation ~

Hail, Stalwart Souls who stand up against the Powers That Be to stop it from eating into the fabric of our lives.

Waking Me with Splendor ~

You reflect Your beauty to me through Your creatures.

From Whence Cometh Our Strength? ~

What disturbs the monk is the fact that it is the Church People who lend such massive support.

Memories ~

All the mistakes you made in your lifetime come back, with clarity, to haunt you.

The Greater USA ~

. . . And The Show goes on . . . 

Daylight Savings Time Debate ~

We can turn back the clocks, but we can't stop the months from coming on . . . October, November . . .

An Autumn Morning ~

This morning at 7:30 there was a congregation of birds on the highest branches of the trees looking out over the hill to catch the magnificent red sunrise.

Sacred Spaces ~

As a child I had my holy places where it was quiet and filled with meaning: the church on McKean Street, the Capuchin monastery not far from town . . . It was the feeling of being enveloped in a mysterious, meaningful space.

Notes of a Young Seminarian ~ 1947

12
You said things to us in silence
that fell into deep furrows
of understanding.
So changed were we
that only on reading
about Francis
did we begin to fathom
what had happened to us.

Source

Notes of a Young Seminarian ~ 1947

13
You said things to us
in silence
that fell into deep furrows
of understanding.
So changed were we
that only on reading
about Francis
did we begin to fathom
what had happened to us

 

Thomas Merton ~

This is the church at the Abbey of Gethsemani that Thomas Merton knew when he entered the monastery in 1941. 

Poem about the Abbey church.
Who was Thomas Merton?

Notes of a Young Seminarian ~ 1947

39
Who ever counted 

our myriad passages

through silent confines

of corridors and halls

in ordered rhythmic traffic

on porous yellow tiles?