Blessed is the Kingdom

Seeking The Kingdom In All Things

Thoughts from the Confessional

| September 7, 2011

Last night, as I walked up the the aisle towards the confessional, I caught something out of the corner of my eye that made me smile. A young woman was sitting in a pew, phone in hand, preparing for the sacrament with the now famous confession app. Besides on my own phone, it is the [...]

He Today, And I Tomorrow

| August 28, 2011

A holy man who had seen someone in the act of committing a sin wept bitterly and said, “He today, and I tomorrow. In truth, even if someone commits sin in your presence, do not judge him, but consider yourself a worse sinner than he.” -from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers Last night I recalled this [...]

Leaving Room for Light

| May 6, 2011

Often when I have spent a week writing an icon I have written posts about the process in order to share the spiritual dimension of iconography. This week I chose to allow my keyboard to be silent so as to enter more fully into the process. There is still one day remaining in the writing [...]

More Thoughts on the New Confession App

| February 10, 2011

Earlier today I weighed in on the new iphone confession app that has been developed by several priests in South Bend, Indiana and is the first to receive an imprimatur from a bishop of the Church. In the same way that many news outlets incorrectly led people to believe that the Catholic Church was approving [...]

Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!

| November 12, 2010

This morning we were awakened at 3:45 in the morning to begin our walk of the Via Dolorosa. The Via Dolorosa is a path through Jerusalem which marks the journey of Jesus as he carried his cross. Since pilgrims began journeying to Jerusalem it has been a tradition to walk this Way of the Cross [...]

Chrysostom on Genesis

| October 24, 2010

He calls personally: “The Lord God called Adam,” the text says, “and said to him, ‘Adam, where are you?’” See how much force lies concealed in this brief expression. You see, the very act of calling is a mark of great love beyond all telling, as it is a mark of great goodness to give [...]

Love Covers a Multitude of Sins

| July 23, 2010

My fellow iconographer friend, Bill Quick, reminded me today that the process of floating colors is always a friend, as it covers a multitude of sins—meaning in this instance, painting errors. But all joking aside, there is a spiritual truth to be gained in this process. Our teacher, Irene, likes to say that if you [...]