We are spiritual beings on a pilgrimage through this world. For a time, we inhabit a kind of shell — an armor we call the physical body. Yet even from a scientific perspective, this “armor” is anything but permanent. The molecular and cellular components of our bodies are in constant […]

It has begun! Today is the First Sunday of Lent – already a few days past Ash Wednesday! –  and we have set our sights toward the ultimate ‘definition’ of Love: The Cross! It seems like – with ‘wintery’ weather still ‘here’ for some of us! – Christmas was just […]

With the coming of Lent, I found myself reflecting on my prayer life and its beginnings. Growing up, God and church were always there — woven into the fabric of my life — through Sunday Mass, grace at dinner and prayers before bed each night. Even so, as I grew […]

There are seasons in life when a spiritual practice that once felt difficult, confusing, or even intimidating suddenly begins to make sense. For me, Daniel’s Fast has been one of those practices. Years ago, when I first heard about it, I saw it mostly as a diet, a physical sacrifice, […]

Several years ago, I was on a flight from Miami. I was seated on the aisle next to a younger man who seemed unsettled. He was squirming, sometimes encroaching on my space, and moaning. Before take-off, his phone rang several times, and he answered the calls in Spanish. Thinking only […]

Eight years have passed since the death of Christina Dangond, yet what remains is not simply memory shaped by time, but life transformed by grace. Grace has a way of doing what time alone cannot: it does not erase grief, but it deepens it into meaning; it does not dull […]

Did you know that nature has its own spirituality? It helps us connect with our inner selves and feel God’s presence. Who hasn’t walked through a forest, climbed a mountain, or strolled along the seashore without rediscovering their deepest self and connecting to God who is present in nature? Today, […]

Since my daughter Christy returned to the arms of God in January 2018, each new year has brought me a profound mix of emotions. January stopped being just the beginning of a new calendar and became a reminder of the month when my heart broke… and, at the same time, […]

As I was preparing for the seasons of Advent and Christmas, my heart kept leading me to meditate on Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. Too often it is romanticized in a way that the real weight and significance of the story is diminished. The reality is that the circumstances of the […]

This reflection is being penned the day after another horrific mass shooting; innocent people murdered and wounded, parents left reeling, and students left with a life-long trauma that no surgeon could bind up. Yet another atrocity in a country so accustomed to gun violence that we have settled for it […]