O Blessed Mary, Mother of All the Living O sweet lips which let fall fruit of the honeycomb, rest upon my sick heart; Whose kind ears first would hear the Child’s joy and mirth resound, incline to my poor soul. Of Morning Birdsong Listen! O thou downcast soul, disturbed spirit, weak frame— hearest thou weeping?Continue reading “Three Poems for the Troubled Heart”
Tag Archives: Hope
Splendour of Mercy: The Image of Divine Mercy
In light of tomorrow’s Feast of Divine Mercy, I want to share a third reflexion to prepare us for joy and awe; here writing on the image of Divine Mercy (see above image) and the Feast’s indulgence. Jesus told St. Fasutina: ‘No soul will be justified until it turns with confidence to My mercy, andContinue reading “Splendour of Mercy: The Image of Divine Mercy”
Hope in Love: A Reflexion on the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
On Wednesday I wrote a blog post about God’s Divine Mercy, Its feast day on the Sunday after Easter, and the novena leading up to the feast. So continuing this theme I want to write a reflexion on the chaplet of Divine Mercy which Jesus gave to St. Faustina. This chaplet is often prayed withContinue reading “Hope in Love: A Reflexion on the Chaplet of Divine Mercy”
Divine Mercy
The Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday is nearly upon us; and so that we might not be caught unawares, either by distraction or neglect with regard to God’s grace, I want to draw attention to what we are about to witness, what God wants us to experience—to what the liturgicalContinue reading “Divine Mercy”
Exploring Reality as Beauty: The Importance of Reading Fiction
‘Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real.’ Nora Ephron To many of us today, reading is a luxury, and reading fictionContinue reading “Exploring Reality as Beauty: The Importance of Reading Fiction”
A Reflexion on Psalm 12: Persevering in Adversity and Trusting God’s Promises
Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The psalmist begins by lamenting how few are the faithful, focussing on the emptiness of their conversation. He emphasises theContinue reading “A Reflexion on Psalm 12: Persevering in Adversity and Trusting God’s Promises”
A Reflexion on Psalm 5: Learning Patient Trust & Joyful Hope
The first verse expresses the helplessness of the one praying: Begging the Lord to even listen to his requests, to, as translated in the NABRE, ‘understand [his] sighing.’ His needs and desires are beyond words, and struggling to even put words to his needs, he relies the on the Lord to know his needs beforeContinue reading “A Reflexion on Psalm 5: Learning Patient Trust & Joyful Hope”
Dog Sledding and the Soul: Faith, Hope, and Love in the Spiritual Journey
I want to write a little on how the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love elevate the soul’s human nature as she journeys homeward toward Heaven. To do this, I shall use the example of dog sledding.
To the Depressed
Dear soul, Six years ago today marks the anniversary of the first, and the last, time I self-harmed. Five years ago today marks the time I came closest to killing myself. I’m writing this because I no longer hate myself, I no longer consider life as not worth living, and I want to share someContinue reading “To the Depressed”
True Rest and the Destiny of Man
Foreword Here follows a revision of a talk I gave on the Sabbath rest and the proper understanding of leisure. Holy Leisure and the Sabbath The Sabbath and holy leisure is one of my favourite topics, because it’s one of the most apparent ways God has helped me in my life. The Sabbath is aContinue reading “True Rest and the Destiny of Man”
The Curious Critic 