Wisconsin or Bust!

I am presently extremely excited, and 32,000 feet off of the ground. I'm heading for this amazing place called "Holy Hill." It's a Carmelite Monastery situated on over 400 acres of rural countryside in the southeastern part of Wisconsin. Woohoo!

Tomorrow I'll be giving two talks at a conference they are running for young adults. My topic is "Rekindling Our Eucharistic Amazement, Rediscovering Our Mission."

Woohoo yet again!

I really believe there is never a shortage of things to be amazed by. Especially in these days of the incredible blossoming of technology - case in point, I'm typing on a touch keypad on an iPhone while listening to the soundtrack of Dances with Wolves, soaring above billowing shapes of clouds and sipping Sierra Mist. What the heck America!

I know, I know.... I didn't tell you guys about the iPhone yet. I'm so ashamed, and simultaneously elated. I made the fatal mistake of saying it's the "most visually stunning thing I've ever seen"... to my wife Rebecca. She just made that face, that cute face that is actually the most visually stunning thing I've ever seen.

Ahem...so... Where were we? WONDER! Now the irony is, I'll be poking fun at technology in this talk. My point being that we can spend so much time these days staring at screens that we can miss the wonder of the face before us. The sacramental signs that God tosses our way like so many kisses: other people, rain storms, spring flowers, good wine, songs, smells, sights that make the heart weep and we know not why. Can I get an amen? Clearly God calls me to speak about these topics because He really wants me to get the message myself. I find it funny that I have such a fiendish proclivity to technology. I guess you have to know what you're talking about, right? Yessss, precioussss, yessss.

Anyhoo, I hope to post some pictures and ponderings from the shrine. This service made available by technology by the way. Haha! Now let me turn this dang thing off. We just landed in Chicago for a connecting flight, and airports are awesome places to encounter the many-splendoured face of humanity.

New Podcast Up

Finally back in action after a little "technical difficulty," this week's podcast centers on Elizabeth Ficocelli's new book "Lourdes: Font of Faith, Hope & Charity"

"A fascinating look at Lourdes, one of the world's most popular Marian places of pilgrimage. Includes the history of the apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous, the response of the Church, the advent of cures and pilgrimage, and Lourdes today as a powerful center for physical, spiritual, and emotional healing. Featuring interviews with the Bishop, Medical Director, and other key personnel of the Sanctuary. Foreword by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, nationally acclaimed scholar, theologian, author, speaker and host of "Sunday Night Live with Father Benedict Groeschel" on EWTN."

Visit Elizabeth's website here and for the book by Joan Carroll Cruzon, "Incorruptibles," mentioned in this podcast, visit Amazon here.

Drinking Deeply

On this past Divine Mercy Sunday, sitting in the little church of the Assumption in Maybrook, New York with my wife Rebecca and her parents, two of the eight brothers and sisters, and a mob of nieces and nephews all around us, I got zapped. It was right at the line in the reading from 1 Corinthians 2....

"Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him."

I looked around at the little munchkins that call me Uncle Bill. I thought of my morning talks with my father-in-law on everything from philosophy to movies to the Faith. I thought of the tremendous love that flows from the Tabernacle, streams down from the Altar and breathes out from from the woman whose hand I held even tighter as this awareness and this awakening came toppling over me like a waterfall.

"Do you want a tissue?" Rebecca asked as the Gospel reading began.
"Heck no," I smiled.

I wanted to feel this a bit longer. It's not every day God gives you the salty taste of joy. In charismatic circles it's called the "gift of tears." I remember an old Irish Christian Brother who once told me, "Let the tears speak, Willy, let the tears speak."

I squeezed Rebecca's hand even tighter. How did I get here? What led me to become a part of this new family? Where was this torrent of love and emotion coming from? I just showed up at Church, part of the ritual of a Sunday. Who knew I'd get zapped?

"Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him."

In this Cosmic Dance, I find my steps directed here, now. What lies ahead lies in His Heart, what lies behind (and what a long and winding road it seems to me now) lies in His Mercy... His Divine Mercy. So why fear? Why complain? Why do anything but drink deeply from the font of grace in the sacrament of this present moment? God will provide, prepare, and put in our path the things we need, just as we need them.

As I sat there after Communion, in that Divine Bear Hug of He and I in the Eucharist, I thought of that Divine Mercy that has always been so near, ever since the heartaches and the sadness and the longings of my youth. He it was Who moved behind the curtain of my days, shone behind the star I watched outside my window, whispered behind the curtain of great paintings and great writings, from Van Morrison to Vermeer, cathedrals and the cornfields of Northampton. The Divine Mercy is God's own Heart, glowing, breathing, beating with Warm Love behind this earthly veil of flesh and bone, earth and sky, houses, hills, and the people I have come to know in this walk.

In all of this that lies behind and before me I pray.... Jesus, I trust in You.

Cooties

These kids deserve Oscars. This is beyond cute and will bring back some memories! At the same time, there's a certain sadness I can't quite nail down... thoughts?

Man Attacked by Flowers Survives, Barely

Thursday night, Rebecca and I made a visit to our local parish church for a little adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. We both recognized that we need to do this more often; to pour out our troubles to the Lord, just as a Hannah did in the Temple so long ago. Funny how I deliberated before we made the decision to just do it. There was the Freshmen retreat to plan, grading, a plane ticket to order for next Saturday, grading, the bug in my podcast that I can't seem to fix, (but I still love you iTunes!) and there was some grading.

In the end we just went to Him, and of course, it was awesome. And that's all He wanted... for us to go, in the midst of our busyness or "tiredness" at the end of a long day; to come to Him when we are weary and heavy-burdened. And guess what... He gave us rest. For just a few minutes, we did nothing but BE with Him, and pray.

One of things I love about the Easter Season is the INSANE amount of flowers that explode into the sanctuaries of churches all over the world after the Resurrection of Christ. The world may hate us and persecute us just as Jesus predicted, but I know that, secretly, at least the florists love us. (I wonder if they intentionally look for shop space next to Catholic churches? They could survive just on lily and poinsettia sales!)

As we knelt down to unpack our hearts before the One Who knows them best, an odoriferous wave of delight poured over us. It was crazy. There were flowers under the altar, over the altar, popping out of the pulpit, pouring out of the pews, climbing up the choir loft... and all of them screaming with pistils and petals waving "Watch out world! He is RISEN!"

So we just drank it in, sniffed it up, basked in the pungent scent of New Life in the Garden of the Resurrection.... and there we prayed for Life... life to the full. We can't wait for kids. CAN'T WAIT. And it brings to mind a line from Blessed Mother Teresa: "Saying there are too many children in the world is like saying there are too many flowers."

In our hearts, as in our church this Easter season, there can never be enough flowers.

Another Sign of the Things to Come...

More beauty breaking open from the cold shells of winter. A tree grows in Malvern Prep's campus near Good Counsel Hall.

I had a funny feeling the story wasn't going to end in that chilling darkness, bleak and drained of the robin's trill and the smell of grass. Life always finds a way, dwelling in darkness and obscurity only for a season.

Such is life... hope for the flowers and all the way up the scale of Being; fresh hope for us wrapped in our winter coats, ready to burst open at just the right time, when the warm breath of the Holy Spirit fills Adam's nostrils again and we are remade.... "Behold, I make all things new."

Spring is Springing!

Keep your eyes open and be sure to take the long way home. Beauty is all around us if we have the eyes to see and the time to kill. And kill time we must in this rat race! Blessed are the slow in traffic for they shall inherit the landscapes! (OK, maybe as a passenger. We don't want any "gaper delays.")