How do you respond when people ask, “how are you doing?” If you’re like me, you often offer some form of an empty answer, like, “I’m good, how are you?” But do you ever think to answer, “Oh, I’m experiencing some serious desolation lately”? Or, “I’m experiencing a lot...
Let’s face it, tears are powerful. When someone starts bawling in public, people will inevitably look down and shuffle their feet. As if by weeping, these individuals have somehow violated some unspoken social contract. To quote Elsa from Frozen, “Conceal! Don’t...
In March, we celebrate Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, and Catholic Sisters Week. During this week, we commemorate those big and small contributions women religious make to our Church and world. By the example of their lives, Catholic Sisters...
I know God loves me. And I know this not in a merely abstract way. I know it in my heart, in my bones, through consistent experience. My memory witnesses to this truth in my own particular circumstances in innumerable ways. Lately, however, as I sit in the silence to...
I thought I knew what “Heart Beat” was about when I wrote it last summer. The truth is: I had no clue. This is an experience I have with most of my songs. As I craft the music and draft the lyrics, bits and pieces come together and a whole begins to emerge. I feel a...
Temptations are not always obvious. Sometimes we are tempted by what seems good. Tucker Redding, SJ, reflects on the temptation of Jesus in the desert. Based on the readings for Sunday, March 6, 2022. Where is our focus? Hi, my name is Tucker Redding and this is my...
Podcast episode: Welcome to the first week of our Lenten Retreat! Today’s talk introduces the theme of the retreat, the Vine and the Branches. It explores what St. Ignatius of Loyola meant by “spiritual exercises” and what he hoped the retreatant would get out...
When I first arrived in Guadalajara for a period of university study as a newly vowed Jesuit, I was missioned to work with the Purépecha people, an indigenous tribe from Mexico.The first time I stepped foot in the Purépecha neighborhood, it felt like I was stepping...
At a house party in my early twenties, I was manning the Bluetooth speaker and playing tunes I liked. After a blissful hour of music chosen by someone with impeccable taste, I remember a young woman I knew coming up to me and saying, “So were you thinking that, like,...
It can be easy to look at Lent as a time of gloom or punishment, but it’s really a great opportunity. Fr. Danny Gustafson, SJ, reflects on the purpose of Lent in this special One-Minute Homily. Based on the readings for Ash Wednesday. Fasting and abstinence,...
