The View Up Here

It's been mighty warm in these here parts for the last several weeks, but finally in the 3rd week of Septmember we're enjoying some cooler temperatures again at night. The feeling of late summer as it manifests in New York and New England isn't quite the same here, but I can still feel the earth beneath my feet settling down, giving up the last of the harvest, preparing to rest for awhile. It was two years ago this month that I came to visit L.A. for the first time and decided I needed to live here. What an amazing life! School has begun, and I find myself teaching a section of World Literature to high school sophomore girls as well as providing admin. support to the principal. I love working and teaching in a Catholic school for all the reasons you would expect, but I also have to say it has brought to the surface some of my own sensitivities that are being healed in the Light of Christ. In His great economy, nothing is wasted! I spent last weekend on retreat with ...

Today I'd like to share a reflection from the Sisters of Notre Dame. I've been receiving weekly Lenten Reflections from them on email, and today's meditation for Palm Sunday is especially moving for me. My prayer is that I, all of us, can unconditionally say 'Yes' to what God has prepared for us in our lives, just as Yeshua Messiah did, trusting that our greater good is always in God's mind, even when we cannot see it ourselves. "Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." (Mt. 21.9) With these words in song or chant Catholics around the world will process into the Church on Palm Sunday waving palm branches which have been liturgically blessed as "sacramentals." The increase in church-going folks on this day, demonstrates how Catholics like to get their palms but more, how this Sunday transitions us from Lent into Holy Week and to a closer focus on the Passion of Christ. What we recall...

I had my 45th birthday two weekends ago. It did feel a bit momentous, but that soon passed, because truly, age means nothing at all to me.   Life has been busy, with spiritual retreats, Eucharistic ministry, writing, and enjoying the fabulous weather. This is a gorgeous time to live in SoCal, and I praise God that I let him lead me here, even though I had no idea in 2011 how I would get by or what would happen. My religious vocation discernment continues. I've opened myself to a broader range of religious orders, and this seems to be affirmed in how many congregations I have recently discovered. The search continues, but in the flow rather than as a matter of project-management. Big difference, that. My time as the interim assistant at ICLA is nearing an end. I have applied for the permanent position, but it remains to be seen what will happen. I was experiencing quite a bit of stress over this, but again I've been continually reminded to trust in God's providence. Go...