Ashes remind us of our dependence on God. Simon Zachary, SJ encourages us to consider why we receive ashes. Based on the readings for Ash Wednesday. Do I have something on my forehead? Do you have something on your forehead? Hi, I’m Fr. Simon Zachary, and this is my...
This is the eleventh installment of A Deacon’s Diary. In the tenth installment, Steve wondered if God made him eccentric. I. The checkerboard squares of the stone floor were cold. And uncomfortable as they pressed into my ribs. It was Good Friday and after...
Receiving ashes this year was different for me than in years past. Instead of attending an Ash Wednesday service at a church, I attended Ash Wednesday Mass in a chapel at the hospital where I typically volunteer on Sundays. That Wednesday at the hospital, I was...
I met Javier – aka Zoom-Zoom – at Otisville State Penitentiary, 80 miles north of New York City. I was there coordinating a retreat for Thrive For Life Prison Project. Javier spoke perfect Spanglish and stood five-foot-nothing, though I soon noticed his outsized...
At the beginning of Lent, we focus on…our death?! Jeff Ryan Miraflor, SJ, and Eric Immel, SJ, reflect on death, Lent, and the greater meaning of life. Jeff: Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return Eric: Wait. I’m going to die? AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!...
