Fast and Abstinence in Perspective

My friend Soutenus from Catholic Notebook has a wonderful post on where she puts fasting and abstinence in perspective. The post looks at fasting during the Lenten season keeping in mind how our brothers and sisters in Haiti, specifically, suffer from hunger.  Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. I think that Soutenus [...]

Read Full Post »

Growing in virtue this Lenten Season

“What are you giving up for Lent?” we are often asked during this time of year. This question usually refers to which specific food or drink we are going to stop eating or drinking during this season. Some go further and want to give up TV shows or the Internet. Although these practices of disciplining [...]

Read Full Post »

Sacrifices, Solidarity and Moderation on Thanksgiving Day

I heard this morning on the TODAY Show that an average Thanksgiving meal contains 5,000 calories and I wondered if we have missed the point of the holiday when we just look forward to stuffing ourselves to the point that we can’t walk. Thanksgiving Day is a holiday that my family and I adopted a [...]

Read Full Post »

Beyond Courtesy–The Call to Radicality

It is interesting that since I’ve started this blog I have become increasingly aware of my actions, words and even attitudes towards others. Every time I get impatient in traffic and want to honk or want to be rude to the airport security officer, I think about this blog and how I’m always writing about [...]

Read Full Post »

This Week’s Meditation: On Necessities and Superfluities

This examen is straight from Fr. Dubay’s book Happy Are You Poor. He says that we all have different needs so we “cannot know whether a need is real or illusory” for certain people, but these set of questions are at least a good start. Some may think this is a bit too rigorous… but [...]

Read Full Post »

Penance on Fridays – Meeting our Lord at the Garden

My Lord, the eternal God for whom there is no time, you bore at the garden the sins and sufferings from the past, present and future of all humanity to take them later to the cross, where your love and justice would be reconciled. My King and my God, My dear and only love, I [...]

Read Full Post »

Creating our own desert with the Desert Fathers

Antony said, “He who sits alone and is quiet has escaped from three wars: hearing, speaking, seeing: but there is one thing against which he must continually fight: that is, his own heart.” The Desert Fathers are usually considered fanatics by some: they were just literalists who read too much into the Gospel. But perhaps we [...]

Read Full Post »

Sacrifices and Solidarity

“Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” (Ecc 1:2) We want to include fiber and vitamins in our diet, but without having to eat fruits and vegetables. We want to be in shape, but without making any physical effort. We want to drink water, but without having to actually drink [...]

Read Full Post »