On Half Marathons and the Potentate of Time

Today: John Lynch Bridge, Piscataway, NJ

This morning, in subfreezing temperatures, my husband and I completed eight miles of walking, punctuated by tenth-of-a-mile runs. Tonight, after our two-hour naps, I went to 5 p.m. Mass at our parish, not remembering until I showed up that this Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King.

Already But Not Yet: Our Advent Dinner

On Saturday night, Father Jeff Calia, C.O., gave a wonderful homily about what it means to be a Christian. We are the "already and not yet" people; we commemorate the resurrection of Christ and yet, we are still waiting to meet Him face to face. And this, to me, is how we should live: understanding the  Kingdom of God is here and now and also has not yet happened.  We live in the world, but are not of the world. We inhabit that paradox.

He-Man Has Nothing on Christ

One of our pastors, Father Jeff Calia, C.O., grew up in the 1980s and remembers He-Man. Do you?

A Priest's Prayer Opens the Door to A Conversation about Mercy

As you might know, my husband is a trauma survivor who faces post-traumatic stress disorder. Greg somehow survived the Sept. 11 terror attacks and he also lost dozens of colleagues. He and I continue to consider what it all means.

We both have what we call "trauma fatigue" meaning we are not able to immerse ourselves in the details of other acts of inhumanity, such as the deadly violence that occurred in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater last week. We haven't watched the nonstop cable news reports, or read any of the extensive newspaper coverage.

He and I were not able to have the conversations that our sons wanted to have about it. I had to explain that discussing the details of the shootings brought up far too many troubling feelings for their father and me.

But a comment by one of my pastors at Sunday morning Mass made possible a small conversation  about the Colorado shootings with our older son.

Self-Deception and The Messiest Room in My House

If you are like me, you have at least one room in your house that visitors never see. For me, that would be the master bedroom. Every horizontal surface, excepting our bed but including much of the floor, is cluttered - with books, an ironing board, clean laundry, a busted vacuum cleaner, manila file folders, you name it. When visitors come,  I simply close the door. 

My pastor, Fr. Jeff Calia, C.O., recently told me that if Christ were visiting, that's just the room He would want to see. In fact, He already knows all about it. 

Trinity Sunday: "This Is What We are Made For"

We weren't at today's Mass when Father Jeff preached. We went to another Mass at our parish, where another Oratorian preached an inspiring homily. But when Father Jeff posted this homily as a note on his facebook page, I knew I wanted this homily to have a wider audience. 

Guest Post by Fr. Jeff Calia, C.O.  

It’s nice, to finally have an opportunity to preach on Trinity Sunday! Two years ago, my own first Mass fell on this feast day, and my Oratorian superior preached (that’s also the reason I’m wearing this vestment). Last year on Trinity Sunday, I found myself celebrating Mass in the media room of a racetrack in Milwaukee, where I was serving as Catholic chaplain for the IndyCar Series for the weekend. I had about a half-hour window between drivers’ meetings, and I was so nervous about the time limit that I celebrated the entire Mass in 19 minutes, including a 3-sentence homily!