Hands

Our visit the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was intended to be the beginning of a walking tour.

But in addition to the tour we were blessed with time in the square during the ordination of 12 priests.

A line of priests stretched all the way across the square outside the cathedral as they waited to 'lay hands'.

Rarely in our faith practice are we presented with the opportunity to physically touch another - to share our blessings, to share our love.

This act of laying hands is part of the ordination. Would it be that we could freely lay hands on others in our lives to share in this way.

Express

Waiting at the airport today, I was amused to see this kiosk offering the latest in electronic gadgetry to the traveler. Imagine deciding that at this moment in your journey that you need to replace your phone or pick up a new iPad?

Why do we have the need to 'stay connected' with people who are not with us, while tuning out those who are?

How often does technology of the day drown out the call of our Creator?  What will it take for us to learn that the voice we really need to tune into, does not require a gadget?

Believe in Miracles

Peace is

by Robert Fulghum

When Jesus comes...

There is a sign along one of our highways that reads, `When Jesus comes will you be ready?'

Hmm...I go to church, I pray ( a lot), I believe fiercely.

A big part of my prayer life is an everyday, casual questioning. 'What would Jesus do?', 'What is God calling me to do here?' or 'How can I be the face of Jesus in this situation?'

I sometimes tease, that when I get to Heaven, I will have conditional admittance, pending my ability to curb my continuous questioning.

To the above highway question, my question is, "When I get to heaven, will Jesus be ready?"

Back Up

My daughter's graduation dance was today.

After spending a great deal of time in preparation the day has finally arrived.

Hair done up just so, make-up applied just right, dresses fitted and flowing.

I was invited to join the festivities by way of taking some photos before the formal event. As my daughter and her good friend passed me to stand for their photos, I snapped this.

The look from the back was just as striking as the front.

How often do we stop to admire the great works that our Lord sets before us, from all sides?

Life is three dimensional, some may argue even four dimensional. Yet, we look at this world with eyes trained on what is before us.


Take some time today to look behind.  Great beauty awaits.
It's God's gift to you, if only you take the time.

Trinity Explained

Trinity is a rich and complicated concept for most.  But not for our little friends. 

Before we even started one astute little guy suggested that Trinity was the sign of the cross - what a great intro.  During our dialogue Homily we talked about people having more than one identity - two of our friends stood up and demonstrated that they are 'friends', 'hockey players' and 'students'.  So Trinity is the name for God's three identities.  How easy is that? 

When asked to describe Trinity, our friends came up with many great responses but then the Spirit led one new friends, a really young new friend (3 or 4 years old), to take her three bracelets and place them on the floor in a traditional Trinity setting - gotta love how Spirit works!

Then came the fun part - I had made play dough for that morning and asked our friends to sculpt a likeness of the Holy Trinity.

Trinity is really not that complicated.  It can take the shape of three abstract human-esque forms, or three joined hearts, or a triangle with figures on each point, or three joined circles, three crosses, or 'un coccinelle' ( a ladybug - with three spots) - and my favorite - three jelly beans (a remnant of Easter teaching).

Happy Play Time!

and God bless the person who came up with the idea of play dough.