Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

Nancy Piccione

First, What Are You Reading? Volume 31 (Easter edition)

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Here are the questions I ask and answer on the first of each month.  I’m so incredibly grateful that it is Easter, in so many ways.  There are so many wonderful things to celebrate in this season of joy.

The questions, as always, are:

first, what are you reading?
what do you like best about it?
what do you like least?
what’s next on your list to read?

As always, I hope you’ll consider your current reads on your blog and/or sharing here in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter. Happy reading!

First, what are you reading?

I’ve actually been reading a lot these days, but not writing about it very much.

My husband and I were out to lunch with a (Franciscan) priest friend, and he  enthused about Francis of Assissi: A New Biography by Augustin Thompson, O.P.    So I ordered it from the library.

I’ve been interested to read what Pope Francis is saying in his homilies, and so I’ve been reading those as they are published.

I’m also reading and re-reading a lot of picture books with my kids in preparation for a new feature here on Reading Catholic.

What do you like best about it?

Francis of Assisi is a scholarly work, and while it’s a bit of a challenge, I’ really enjoying this life of St. Francis.    Thompson goes back extensively to original sources and Francis’ own writings to put together an exhaustive view of the saint’s life and times. Fascinating to me: the custom at the time was for babies to receive First Holy Communion the day after their baptism; so Francis most likely did.  In addition, Francis was really particular not that his followers would beg for alms to survive, but rather work at manual labor (day jobs) to support themselves.

In addition to the history lesson I’m getting, this is also an eminently quotable book, no doubt about it.  Here’s what I have just from Thompson’s introduction, finishing with what he learned most from the life of Francis:

First, he taught me that the love of God is something that remakes the soul, and doing good for others follows from this; it is not merely doing good to others.

Second, rather than a call to accomplish any mission, program, or vision, a religious vocation is about a change in one’s perception of God and creation.

Third, true freedom of spirit, indeed true Christian freedom, comes from obedience, not autonomy.

Last–and I hope this subverts everything I have just written–there are no ready and clear roads to true Christian holiness.

I’m only a few chapters into the book, and I’ve already written down many more quotes.

Here is one quote from Pope Francis that I really enjoyed; it’s from his homily at Tuesday Chrism Mass:

This I ask you: be shepherds, with the “odour of the sheep”, make it real, as shepherds among your flock, fishers of men. ….Dear lay faithful, be close to your priests with affection and with your prayers, that they may always be shepherds according to God’s heart.

I have to say that my husband pointed out that quote, and translated it (before the official Vatican translation) as “a shepherd should smell like his flock.”

What do you like least about it?

Nothing; I am really enjoying everything about this book.

What’s next on your list to read?

I pre-ordered the new book by the Heath brothers, Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life & Work.  I really need this book, and I have enjoyed very much their other books.

This isn’t exactly reading, but now that it’s Easter, I can’t resist sharing one video from an hilarious series on Youtube called “Kid Snippets.”  (HT to “I Wonder Why”).

The videos superimpose kids’ imagining different scenarios, and then adults acting them out.  Yesterday, I laughed so loud at this one about math.  Enjoy the laugh:

What are you reading (or laughing at) these days?

Q&A with Randy Hain, author of “Along the Way”

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Here is my interview with Randy Hain, author of the new book Along the Way: Lessons for an Authentic Journey of Faith. Longtime readers will recall that I reviewed Randy’s first book The Catholic Briefcase: Tools for Integrating Life and Work and that I had a Q&A with him back then.  Randy is really prolific as a recent convert; he gives us cradle Catholics inspiration to really live our faith and integrate it into all we do.  Thanks, Randy!

 

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Q.  Tell Reading Catholic readers a little more about you, your work and your writing.

Thank you, Nancy for the opportunity to do this interview!

In my professional career, I am the Managing Partner of Bell Oaks Executive Search in Atlanta and actively serve on a number of non-profit boards in the Atlanta community. I am the Senior Editor for The Integrated Catholic Life eMagazine which I co-founded with Deacon Mike Bickerstaff in 2010.

I am also am a co-founder of the Annual Atlanta Catholic Business Conference, the Catholic Business Cafe and lead the St. Peter Chanel Business Association (Faith at Work) Ministry. I am a writer and frequent speaker on a number of topics including faith, family, fatherhood, work/life integration, authenticity, leadership and human capital.

My first book was The Catholic Briefcase: Tools for Integrating Faith and Work, and it was released in late November 2011 by Liguori Publications. The book provides practical advice on how to integrate the Catholic faith with our work and offers inspiration through the examples of real Catholics in the workplace. The Catholic Briefcase was voted the Best Catholic Book of 2011 in the About.com Catholicism Reader’s Choice Awards.

My second book, Along the Way: Lessons for an Authentic Journey of Faith was published by Liguori Publications in November 2012. My third book, “Something More: The Professional’s Pursuit of a Meaningful Life” was released on February 23rd, 2013. My family and I converted to the Catholic Faith in 2006.

My wife Sandra and I have been happily married for 18 years and we have two sons, Alex and Ryan.

Q.  How is Along the Way a different book than The Catholic Briefcase?

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My first book was very focused on the integration of our Catholic faith with the workplace. Much of my ministry work in the Church has focused on this topic since I became Catholic in 2006. Along the Way is distinctly different. I have long desired to chronicle my faith journey as a Catholic and this book captures what I have observed, experienced and struggled with since joining the Church.

In Along the Way, I took on the role of a “pilgrim” sharing in a very candid way what it means to aspire to an authentic Catholic life in today’s world. Based on the feedback we are receiving from around the country, this message is really resonating with readers.

Q. I appreciated your openness about your faith journey, your family, and other struggles in Along the Way. Was this new for you?

I am very open about my life and try to be as transparent as possible. I find that one of the best ways we can share our faith and have a positive impact on others is to let them see the light of Christ in us and let them know who we are, where we have been and where we are going with regards to our faith. This openness has accelerated for me since I experienced a profound personal conversion in 2005, which I discuss in the book.

Before that time, I was very compartmentalized and kept walls around the different parts of my life. Surrendering to Christ and joining the Church has broken down these walls and allowed me to lead a truly integrated life with Christ first, family second and work third on my list of priorities. I feel very blessed to be Catholic and enjoy sharing my faith with the people I encounter each day.

Q. Were you a writer or author before you became Catholic?

You might want to list this under “minor miracles”, but I never wrote a word for publication until I became Catholic! I have always read a great deal, but outside of college term papers I never wrote anything of consequence.

After joining the Church at the age of 40 and essentially embarking on a new life, I felt the need to share my experiences and observations. This desire has tapped into a passion I have developed for writing and I am fortunate to have had dozens of articles for both business and faith published over the last few years. I am a disciplined writer and this has allowed me to write a weekly blog for the Integrated Catholic Life eMagazine I co-founded and write three books over the last two years while running a business and being very involved in my active family.

The secret for me is getting up every morning at 4:00 am to pray and write before I start my busy day. It also helps me to stay focused on writing for His glory and not my own.

Q. You have another new book coming out this spring. Share with readers here about that, and any other upcoming projects. What’s next for you?

My third book, Something More: The Professional’s Pursuit of a Meaningful Life, was released in late February. This book captures my experiences interviewing professionals over the last 20+ years (I run a national recruiting firm). These interviews have a consistent thread running through them which I describe as the person’s desire to find more out of life than simply work.

I coupled my observations with interviews I did with twenty business men and women around the country who are pursuing meaningful lives. The result is a road map of sorts which provides a very candid and authentic path to a life filled with meaning and purpose.

Faith is certainly part of the book, but I interviewed people from a variety of faith backgrounds. The result is an ecumenical and honest treatment of the “meaningful life” issue most professionals face at some point in their lives. The early feedback from readers is very encouraging as people seem to have been looking for a book that addresses this topic.

Also, I am working on a book about being a Catholic dad which I hope to complete for a Spring 2014 release. I have also been recently invited to become a contributing writer for the National Catholic Register which is exciting.

Q.  Is there anything else you wish I would have asked, or would like to share?

I feel blessed and am grateful for our Catholic faith. I hope the small efforts I am making will inspire other Catholic lay people to recognize we can all make a positive difference in the lives of those around us. The New Evangelization begins with our own pursuit of holiness and a desire for our Heavenly home.

Q&A with Colleen Swaim, author of “Radiate: More Stories of Daring Teen Saints”

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As I wrote in my March column, I’m a big fan of Colleen Swaim, who’s written a second book in a series of “teen saints” biographies.  First was 2010’s  Ablaze: Stories of Daring Teen Saints, (here’s my review of that), and just a few months back Radiate: More Stories of Daring Teen Saints.

I did a Q&A with Colleen when Ablaze was released, so I knew I wanted to do another one.  Colleen is the kind of person I just know I’d love to meet for coffee and talk over books and everything else (for instance, she and her husband write a blog together called Duel to the Death), and I hope I will some day.  Thanks, Colleen, for being willing!

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Tell “Reading Catholic” readers a little more about you, your family, and your writing.

My husband Matt and I live in a late nineteenth-century era house in Cincinnati, Ohio with our 14-month-old son Zeke and Libby, our 10 year old English Bulldog. When we’re not writing books, I teach high school religion and English in the Diocese of Covington and Matt produces the EWTN-syndicated The Son Rise Morning Show from Sacred Heart Radio. We enjoy exploring the city, cooking together, and are really looking forward to a fun summer of seeing the world through our toddler’s eyes – everything’s new and an adventure!

–You had a lot of success with Ablaze: Stories of Daring Teen Saints, and so I’m glad you decided to write a “sequel” book with more saints.  Did you have any trouble picking the saints for the book?

Making the choices of whom to write about has been the primary challenge of each book, although with Radiate I focus on ten stories of saints, two more than the eight I originally profiled in Ablaze, so it was a little less difficult. However, my aim was the same with both books, as it was very important to concentrate on stories focused on an equal number of young men and women from all over the globe and spanning the ages of the Church.

I think that, with Saints Agnes; Gabriel of Duisco, Louis Ibaraki, Juan Soan of Goto, and Thomas Kozaki (The Japanese Martyrs); Bernadette; Lucy; Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin; Luigi Gonzaga; Rose of Viterbo; and Peter Yu Tae-Chol; as well as Blesseds Laura Vicuña and Ceferino Namuncurá, that balance was again able to be struck.

– I found Radiate more appropriate for older readers than Ablaze, both in the writing style and the content–there is more intensity in some of the martyr stories, for instance. Your thoughts on this, and who you consider to be the “ideal” reader for Radiate?

One of the things that is a goal of mine both as a writer and a teacher is to convey the saints’ stories, their hagiographies, in a way that both grabs onto the sensibilities of present-day teenagers with the sometimes high drama of these holy people’s stories – encompassing both their joys and trials/tribulations – without jeopardizing the precious commodity that is young people’s inherent integrity, including their senses of modesty and chastity. With stories like, for instance, Laura Vicuña’s, where the subject matter involves abuse, that can be a precarious path to tread, but I maintained a tone of honesty and nuance that I hope parents of pre-teens and teenagers can appreciate.

That’s why, when family members, religious educators, or others who are buying specifically for young people ask me, I recommend Radiate for students roughly in the 12-19 year old age range. Both Ablaze and Radiate are formulated for individual, small group, or classroom use, so they can really lend themselves to a variety of learning and reading environments.

– I asked this question in our last Q&A, but I think it’s worth re-visiting.  You’re a high school teacher. Other than this book, how do you challenge students immersed in the popular culture to pause and really take a look at these saints and their lives?

The single most important thing for Catholic young people living in the world today to realize is that, to paraphrase G.K. Chesterton, keeping the commandments is way more radical and counter-cultural than breaking them! Of course, personal and familial holiness are issues we all struggle with on a day to day basis, but teenagers especially need to realize that the yearning that they seem to have (and I believe that they all indeed have it) for solidity and truth is noble and needs to be nurtured.

The saints were some of the most fascinating people to ever live, they’re now with God for eternity in heaven, and they can offer us both a framework and the inspiration to do likewise amazing things. One of my favorite things when researching saints’ lives is to draw the connections between them.

I’ve never run across a saint who wasn’t deeply influenced on the path to holiness by yet another saint or blessed, and as a flawed human being who is holiness work in progress, I find that very comforting. Young people need to be imbued with the sense that sanctity is going to be foolish to a lot of people out in the world, but it is the best opportunity we have for both happiness and fulfillment, even if it can be quite arduous at times. Teenagers like a challenge, and the call to be a saint is the ultimate.

– I also asked this question when we discussed Ablaze so let me ask it again.  Do you have a favorite saint in Radiate?  If so, why?

I can honestly say that I resonated with every single saint or blessed in the book, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have made an appearance at all, but I have to say that the story of the Japanese Martyrs just blows me away. It is difficult to imagine a group of young men, part of a religious minority in a land that was intensely hostile to Christianity, acting more courageously than those teenagers led by St. Paul Miki.

Whenever I hear of a martyr group of “and companions” my curiosity is piqued – “Just who were all of those companions?” – and this situation was no exception. These young men were berated, abused, made examples of, and literally lashed to crosses to die, and they did it all with a sense of fearlessness that is just awe-inspiring. They were not the only group of martyrs to die in Japan during this time period, as its estimated that there were about 1, 200 over the course of several hundred years of persecution and the Church going underground, but the witness of their blood made it possible for about 20, 000 Japanese Catholics to keep the faith alive underground in Japan for about 250 years without an organized church.

Can you imagine living your whole life as a Catholic without ever meeting a priest? It makes you want to pray for people who are dealing with similar religious persecutions in the world today, and makes me as an American want to cherish and fight even harder for the cause of religious liberty, both here and abroad.

– What’s your next writing project?  Will there be another in this series?  If so, can you share some of the saints you might explore?

I don’t anticipate another book that is specifically a sequel to Ablaze and Radiate, however my husband Matt and I just released a new book, Your College Faith (Liguori, 2013), which is, in many ways, a natural follow-up. It is meant for high school seniors and college students who want to ignite the flames of their faith, and do it in such a way that is conducive to the college experience, whether that is at a faithfully (or unfaithfully) Catholic college or university, a state school, another sort of private institution, or anything in between.

In Your College Faith, we do profile saints within each chapter in the Alumni Directory feature, such as Saints Peter Gonzalez, Tarcisius, Monica, Augustine, Josephine Bakhita, Edith Stein, Maria Faustina Kowalska, Maximilian Kolbe, as well as Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. It is also set up with some of readers’ favorite features from Ablaze and Radiate, like the reflection questions, prayers, memory verses from Sacred Scripture, practical steps to take, as well as some new features.

It was a new experience writing a book with my spouse, but one which I’m looking forward to doing again. Additionally, having written Radiate and Your College Faith while I was in the third trimester of pregnancy and then with a newborn/infant, I’ve become very interested in early childhood catechetical materials, as I seek out some for my own family, so perhaps one of my next writing projects might even span into that arena. 

Worth a Listen: Sidewalk Prophets, "You Love Me Anyway"

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(Sharing great songs that are inspiring, uplifting and/or are otherwise “worth a listen”).  Read here for a short explanation of this feature. 

These few months, I am sharing videos of music from my teenage daughter.  I’m so grateful for her help in giving me ideas for videos, and sending me relevant links.  I love good music so much music, but find it time consuming to locate good videos of songs.  She was willing to share with me some videos, since you know, those teenagers today know all about the Internets and such.

Truly, I am very happy for her help, and I do love sharing these songs.  Today, one from Sidewalk Prophets, a band that played at the Winter Jam earlier this year.  You can read my WinterJam “how-to” here.

Savoiardi and Prayer for St. Joseph’s Day

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We love St. Joseph’s feast day at our house. My husband is a Joseph, and so is our 9-year-old son.  My father and my father-in-law, both now deceased, were also named Joseph.

This year is especially wonderful as we celebrate the installation of Pope Francis.

We are Italian, and my husband is Sicilian, so we have double or triple or I don’t know how many reasons to celebrate today.

Most years, my husband has made a St. Joseph’s treat called “savoiardi” from a recipe from this dog-eared paperback cookbook he’s had since his 20s.

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A few times, like this year, his work schedule has not allowed him to make them.   So yesterday my 12-year-old and I got out the book (gingerly! I want to say, so it won’t fall apart, but the book has already fallen apart and is held together by rubber bands) and made them.

I am always a bit apprehensive to make savoiardi, because while it is a simple recipe,  forming them is a little tricky.  I also want them to taste good for my Josephs.  Fortunately, we did a good job, and they were pronounced terrific.  My husband especially enjoys dunking them in coffee.  Here’s the finished product:

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Savoiardi are basically homemade ladyfingers.  As you can see here, my handiwork is not perfectly straight “fingers” (and they really did spread a lot more than I remembered, so I could have made them smaller).

Ladyfingers are great for making tiramasu, something I have done in the past but not this year.  Almond extract is the only “exotic” ingredient in the cookies, and if you’re looking for a neat treat to make today, here is the recipe:

IMG_3182Well, that may be a little hard to read, even if you enlarge the photo.  Also, the recipe is written in a not super-clear format (“bake in a medium oven”).  Here is my “translation” of the recipe:

Savoiardi (Lady Fingers)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium-sized bowl, place:

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon almond extract

Beat sugar, eggs and almond extract until thoroughly blended and cream-colored.

In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients:

2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

stir dry ingredients slowly into egg mixture.

Beat with an electric mixer under a smooth, creamy consistency is reached. Drop batter by spoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets, shaping it about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide.  (they will spread so leave plenty of room between the cookies)

Bake at 350@ for approximately 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

Finally, I want to share the ancient prayer to St. Joseph for a happy death.  St. Joseph is the patron of a happy death (though he’s patron of much more, including the universal church, fathers, and pastry-makers).  My own beloved father died four years ago today, and since I was there I know that it was peaceful and quite beautiful.  I still miss him very much, but I’m so grateful to have had this prayer to pray at that time, and every day.

O St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph, assist me by thy powerful intercession and obtain for me all spiritual blessings through thy foster Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, so that, having engaged here below thy heavenly power, I may offer thee my thanksgiving and homage.

O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating thee and Jesus asleep in thine arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near thy heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for me.

What are you doing to celebrate St. Joseph’s Day today?

Habemus Papam Randomness

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Just sharing here some random thoughts about our new Holy Father, Pope Francis:

1.  I love you, Catholic Memes. 

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2.  I misspelled “Habemus Papam” all yesterday, which I find hilarious.  I am the one laughing at other people’s grammar and spelling errors usually (their/there and your/you’re used incorrectly drive me crazy), and here I was hashtagging #habemuspapem all.day.long.  My 12-year-old made an iDoodle for my phone that read:

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It’s the wallpaper on the phone now, and I was “this” close to correcting her spelling (to “habemus papem,” natch).  But I didn’t because I didn’t want to spoil in any way her enjoyment of the day.  And here I was, tweeting and Facebook posting it wrong for literally hours, not even noticing that the Vatican website was different than my spelling.  When I discovered my mistake this morning, I was glad that no one had corrected me, either.  Habemus Papam!

3.  CNN’s coverage of the papal election was surprisingly good and balanced.  I am not just saying this because Wolf Blitzer looks like my husband. They had an extended long interview with Fr. Thomas Rosica, CEO of the Canadian Salt+Light Television network, and I was riveted to his words, and DVRd it so my husband (cuter than Wolf Blitzer) could watch when he got home.

4.  We took a break from Lent yesterday; how could you not?

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Much dark chocolate was consumed at our house last night.  When the white smoke began, the younger kids and I were actually just arriving at a homeschool bowling event.   My husband called us (he had been at home having lunch at home after a meeting between home and work, so stayed for the announcement), so  we scratched bowling and came home right away.  I also invited a mom & son at bowling who live nearby to join us when they finished bowling.

After they arrived and we were watching, I immediately brought out candy for the kids to enjoy (and dark chocolate for my husband, the other mom and me), and the boy said, “I can’t, I gave up candy for Lent.”  I said, “So did I, but not today!  We have to celebrate!” as I popped a Dove promise into my mouth.  So he happily enjoyed some candy (after some arm-twisting gentle persuasion of our nine-year-old to share from his hoard).

5.  One of the greatest things about this is celebrating with my family.  I love that my kids are older and can really join in.  (though my two older children remember) than they did the last time a Holy Father was elected.  I love that we can celebrate with food and drink, because we are Catholic and that’s what we do!

For dinner, I went out to get a small steak for us to share (Argentina=beef) along with rice and veggies, and I opened a bottle of red wine for hubby and me (Sicilian, not Argentinian).  My husband had some wine but not the steak because he fasts from meat on Wednesday and Friday, but he did enjoy some wine.  I was going to make a caramel sauce (dulce de leche) to go over ice cream, but didn’t get to that.

6.  Social media is AWESOME! I cannot say how joyful it was to be tweeting and Facebook posting with others, and sharing photos and memes and quotes.

What moved me most was two non-Catholic friends who shared on my Facebook page greetings and congratulations on the election of the Holy Father, and how they enjoyed getting to “share” it with me.  It was so kind of them to reach out in friendship at this special time.

7.  Plenary Indulgence. After the blessing Pope Francis gave (and after he asked for a blessing from us–beautiful!), my (mandatum-carrying theologian) husband informed me that it comes with a plenary indulgence.   He said since I had gone to confession on Tuesday, I was good for this indulgence, and so were the kids, who had gone with me.  Super awesome!  So I tweeted:

“My theologian hubby tells me since I went to confession Tue, I am good 4 plenary indulgence given by Francis. U have 2 wks. Go 4 it, peeps!”

I put a similar post on Facebook, and a non-Catholic friend asked after many Catholic comments of woot and so forth, “alright, for non-Catholics, what is a plenary indulgence?”

Aggie Catholics has a good explanation of indulgences here, which I shared on Facebook.   I knew I couldn’t do a good job explaining it easily in a comment, but I also had a nagging feeling I should say something personal to explain this admittedly quirky part of the Catholic faith.

I woke up extremely early this morning because, hey, I’m that age where early waking is fairly common.  And one of the first thoughts in my mind was the following idea of a plenary indulgence, that just popped into my head–I wasn’t even thinking about the question. It felt like an inspiration of the Holy Spirit to me, but I’m sure there are all sorts of theological “issues” with it, which is why I’m not vetting it with the theologian husband.

And so I wrote back to her on Facebook this morning:

“A plenary indulgence is like this: You’re on the shore of an ocean of mercy, and your mom is in the water saying, ‘Come on in, it’s great!’ And you say, ‘Really?’ because you’re kind of skeptical but you dunk under anyway and come up and say, Wow, that’s refreshing!’

I’m happy to be corrected by theologians far and near, but I still smile when I read that.

8. Interested in learning about Argentinian saints?

One of my March books for The Catholic Post includes Radiate: More Stories of Daring Teen Saints.

Author Colleen Swaim helpfully points out  on her blog (and notice that she spelled Habemus Papam correctly) that Radiate includes the stories of Argentinian saints Blessed Laura Vicuna and Blessed Ceferino Namuncurá.  Definitely worth checking it out, and stay tuned here for an author Q&A with Colleen very soon!

9.  The choice of the name Francis for the new pope is inspiring a lot of comments.  His embrace of poverty and simplicity is very humbling.   I’m pondering that a lot today and what it means for our Church.

On the lighter side, I, for one, am just glad to be 15 years ahead of the Francis/Francesca baby-naming trend, having a 15-year-old (my baby!) named Francesca.

Coincidentally, my nine-year-old informed our family several months back that he had chosen St. Francis for his confirmation name.

I recall having a conversation with my husband years ago, when I learned more about St. Francis than the usual things, and said to him something along the lines of, “Why exactly did we name our first-born after St. Francis? ”

It’s just a little worrisome to have my nine-year-old be so excited about a saint who lived a pretty radical life.   So I guess I am being given some time to get used to it, unlike St. Francis’ family.  Deep breaths here.

10.  It’s back to Lent, I noticed right away this morning.

This awesome quote from Pope Francis is Lenten food for thought:

In our ecclesiastical region there are priests who don’t baptize the children of single mothers because they weren’t conceived in the sanctity of marriage. These are today’s hypocrites. Those who clericalize the Church. Those who separate the people of God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it’s baptized! Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers, go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit.

Also, the second reading from today’s Office of Readings is from St. Leo the Great.  Here’s the first great sentence, and it just gets better after this:

True reverence for the Lord’s passion means fixing the eyes of our heart on Jesus crucified and recognising in him our own humanity.

Also, I miss chocolate already!

Are you looking forward to Easter as much as I am?