Guest House Daily Reflections
FRANCIS OF ASSISI: LET HIM OUT OF YOUR BIRDBATH!! Have you ever noticed that our Catholic devotion to saints often ends up either “domesticating” them or “elevating” them to such lofty heights that we ordinary mortals can’t possibly reach? Examples of “domesticating” St Francis are the many statues of him standing in a birdbath or […]
Guest House Daily Reflections
FRANCIS OF ASSISI: LET HIM OUT OF YOUR BIRDBATH!! October is St Francis of Assisi’s month. He died (Transitus) the evening of October 3, 1226 — exactly 800 years ago! Pope Leo, recognizing the significance of this anniversary, Pope Leo declared 2026 a special “Jubilee Year.” The pope desires not simply to honor the memory […]
Guest House Daily Reflections
HOPE: how we and our world need it! Hope isn’t a feeling or wish, but a conviction. St Augustine said that hope has two lovely daughters: anger (because the world isn’t the way God wants it to be) and courage (because we know Jesus left us his Spirit to heal it and bring about God’s […]
Guest House Daily Reflections
HOPE: how we and our world need it! St Paul writes that “hope does not disappoint,” though he knew well many of his plans were dashed by suffering. Through persecution, shipwrecks, and imprisonment, he persevered because of HOPE: “We even boast of our afflictions, knowing afflictions produce endurance and endurance proven character and proven character […]
Guest House Daily Reflections
HOPE: how we and our world need it! Confidence is a Gospel experience which always flows from genuine hope. Not confidence in ourselves and our efforts but in the never-failing presence and love of the risen Lord. Capuchin Bl. Solanus Casey often said, “Confidence is the heart of prayer.” If in the midst of my […]
Guest House Daily Reflections
HOPE: how we and our world need it! Daniel Horan, a contemporary theologian, recently wrote: “The hope God gives us is not naïve or an irrational belief in a magical reset of world history or freedom from the real perils of our time, but a call to stand in the face of pain, suffering, loss, […]
Guest House Daily Reflections
HOPE: how we and our world need it! Thomas Merton wrote, “We must sometimes expect our hope to come in conflict with darkness, desperation, and ignorance. The fact that the world is other than it might be does not alter the truth that Christ is present in it and that his plan has been neither […]
Guest House Daily Reflections
HOPE: how we and our world need it! Clement Harrold continues: “If faith is a bold transformation for our intellect, then hope is the same for our will. Without hope, our faith risks becoming sterile, inanimate, lifeless and disengaged (since faith can remain purely intellectual). Faith without hope is an exposed and endangered faith. Indeed, […]
Guest House Daily Reflections
HOPE: how we and our world need it! A Catholic author, Clement Harrold, recently wrote: “Even when the world appears increasingly evil and the Church feels rampant with corruption, hope gives us the assurance that God is in control, that darkness will not prevail and our salvation is still guaranteed, provided we remain faithful to […]
Guest House Daily Reflections
HOPE: how we and our world need it! During storms a ship’s crew confidently throws its anchor into the water beneath the ship. It obviously has no power to take away or even reduce the storm’s strength but during the storm it securely holds the ship. Knowing this gives strength, hope, and confidence to all […]