spirituality

When we see or hear something that is popular and powerful, but which is a bit off, containing untruths mixed in with profound truths, how do we respond? It’s an evergreen question, both in society at large and among people of faith. Today I’d like to look at how one great Saint of the Church, … Continue reading St. Maximus the Confessor and the Way of Upholding the Good

It’s a truism to say that the world is complex and so it’s natural for our response to that complexity to be complicated. But one of the things that is so wonderful and challenging about the lives and ways of the Saints is how often they just cut through all that complexity to offer the … Continue reading St. Pier Giorgio Frassati and the Way of Dedication to Change

It’s fair to say that the story of the Churches’ encounters with the Indigenous peoples of the Americas were, on the whole negative, and in many cases catastrophic. But there is one example that stands out as a shining light amidst the imperialistic darkness: the Russian mission in Alaska led by St. Herman of Alaska. … Continue reading St. Herman of Alaska and the Way of Standing with the Oppressed

Outside the writers of and individuals mentioned in the Bible itself, there is no Saint I’ve written about more than Julian of Norwich (who is not ‘officially’ a Saint because of the way the Roman Church defines these things but is absolutely a Saint for my purposes here). Two years ago, we spent the entire … Continue reading Julian of Norwich and the Way of Staying with Experience

Last week I went to my first Eastern Orthodox service in well over a decade. I was struck once again by its unique hymnography, which doesn’t shy away from either theological sophistication or deep cuts of biblical allusions, and which delights in literary phenomena such as irony and paradox. In all of this, this tradition … Continue reading St. Ephrem the Syrian and the Way of Glorifying God in Challenging Times