A classic technique in sitcoms and movies is for the story to open at a climactic or bizarre moment, and then to rewind and use first-person narration to explain how the protagonist ended up there. The giveaway is usually a line like: “Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here.” Since I entered the [...]
Consider Jesus hanging on the cross. Observe the cuts on his body from being scourged and violently stripped of his clothes. See the gashes made from falling under the weight of his heavy cross. Notice the torn flesh of his pierced hands and feet. Look him in the eyes as blood drips down his face. [...]
Every Alleluia that we omit during Lent we make up for during the Easter season. By my count, on an ordinary weekday, we friars typically employ the word Alleluia about 13 times in our common prayers. When Lent comes, we omit all of these Alleluias. Then, in what may seem like a dramatic overcorrection, on [...]
It’s incredible how much the weather affects us. Toward the end of their protracted journey to the Promised Land after their miraculous escape from Egypt, Moses gathers all the Israelites together and tells them that life in Canaan is going to be different from life in Egypt. One of the differences will be how their [...]
While Edwin O’Connor’s fiction offers a privileged view into the changing world of the mid-twentieth century, his books also constitute graceful discourses on more enduring realities—faith, forgiveness, prayer. He shows us how to interpret a changing world through the calm and hopeful eyes of faith. The world was never the same after 1968. It was [...]