Opening Address We might have been burdensome. Five words out of the middle of this morning’s Lesson, written by a man setting out everything he could have taken and did not, and I have not been able to put them down. Beloved, grace and peace to you, however this Thursday finds you. Certain or unravelling, […]
Tag Archives: low mass devotional
02
Sep
Sep
Opening Address Imitate what we commemorate. Four words out of the middle of a prayer almost nobody hears, said quietly over bread and wine before anything happens to them, and I have not been able to put them down since I read them. Beloved, grace and peace to you, however this Wednesday finds you. Certain […]
31
Aug
Aug
Opening Address With free minds. That is the phrase the Church hands us this morning, three words near the end of a prayer most people will never hear, and I want to spend the whole morning on it. Beloved, grace and peace to you, however today finds you. Rested or wrecked, certain of God or […]
20
Aug
Aug
Opening Address He will pour forth the words of his wisdom as showers. That is today’s promise about a holy man, and the whole day hangs on one word in it. Beloved, grace and peace to you, however you arrive this morning: steady or scattered, praying easily or not praying at all, three years into […]
19
Aug
Aug
Opening Address New religious families—that is the Church’s own phrase, in today’s prayer, and I want to sit with it all morning. Beloved, grace and peace to you, however you come to this: rested or wrecked, sure of God or sure of nothing, held by the people you were born to or held by people […]
18
Aug
Aug
Opening Address Stand her ground—that is what today’s prayer asks for the Church, in those words, and it is a stranger request than it first sounds. Beloved, grace and peace to you this morning—however you arrive here: tired or hopeful, certain or doubting, welcomed elsewhere or shut out elsewhere. Bloom is not a room you […]
17
Aug
Aug
Opening Address St. Hyacinth spent roughly thirty-seven years walking, and that fact is the door into everything today’s Mass is saying. Beloved, grace and peace to you this morning—however you arrive here: tired or hopeful, certain or doubting, welcomed elsewhere or shut out elsewhere. Bloom is not a room you have to earn your way […]
15
Aug
Aug
Opening Address Blessed art thou that hast believed—six words spoken by one pregnant woman to another in a hill town, and the reason the Church gives us this Gospel today of all days. Beloved, grace and peace to you this morning: however you arrive here, tired or hopeful, certain or doubting, welcomed elsewhere or shut […]
14
Aug
Aug
Opening Address Blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it—that is Christ’s own correction of a compliment, and it’s the sentence to carry into this morning before anything else is said. Beloved, grace and peace to you: however you arrive here, tired or hopeful, certain or doubting, welcomed elsewhere or shut […]
12
Aug
Aug
Opening Address Oil in their vessels—four words that separate one half of today’s Gospel from the other half, and they’re worth carrying into this morning before anything else is said. Beloved, grace and peace to you: however you arrive here, tired or hopeful, certain or doubting, welcomed elsewhere or shut out elsewhere. Bloom is not […]