We all know how much COVED-19 has changed our lives in less than 2 weeks. No more gathering at church for worship, prayer, the reading and preaching of the Word, communion and dinner. No more afterglow conversation. No more visits between friends. Now it is just Lar and me or you and yours at home. Fortunately, Lar and I have always spent a lot of time in communication with…

CAN YOU DRINK THE CUP? (Brother Scott Surrency, O.F.M. Cap.) Can you drink the cup? Drink, not survey or analyze, ponder or scrutinize – from a distance. But drink – imbibe, ingest, take into you so that it becomes a piece of your inmost self. And not with cautious sips that barely moisten your lips, but with audacious drafts that spill down your chin and onto your chest. (Forget decorum –…

Last year, I had a wonderful Lenten Season. It was chock-full of prayers that got answered, awesome times of worship, and exciting insights into the Word.  I was really looking forward to such an experience this year. Alas.  This year, I’ve struggled with illness and discouragement the entire time.  When Eric asked at our monastic group a couple of weeks ago, how we all were doing with Lent,  my first thought was,…

During the first part of my Christian life, I did not know about the church calendar and I did not  observe Lent. In fact, I was confused about its meaning and thought of it as something only Catholic and Orthodox people did. My only exposure to it was that I’d hear classmates moaning about it in the school cafeteria. I just didn’t relate. Although I knew there was benefit…