Carla Mae's Blog

Some time ago Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J (Pope Francis has removed the monitum on him) wrote of human suffering. He was a seminarian conscientious objector in the First World War, so was assigned as a stretcher bearer in the trenches. At night he would write by lantern-light.   As we prepare to enter into our Lenten season, what he says might surprise us. He reminds us that in our youth we are very busy. We teach, minister, care for our families; we are “on the move.” But in our later years, “We just can’t do what we used to do.” Guilt builds up. How can I be of service now? What good am I when I just don’t have the energy I used to have? We are diminishing, and this causes us sadness.   Then he turns this on its head. Pointing to the strange flow of Jesus’ life, he points out that Jesus had only three short years of active ministry. Then comes the diminishment of the passion. This is certainly not the way we would do things. But it is in that diminishment that Je...

  Our newly expanded Mission Statement first identifies a gate, a doorway: “ Through a communal and contemplative presence…” The word through surrounds you, like a blanket in a chill wind. It’s a way to be.   Next we identify our Dominican-ness: “Rooted in God’s transformative Word.” A subtle play on the meaning of the French word, Racine, yes? And take note, Word is capitalized. That means more than the scriptural word, although that is a primary place we find the Word-in-person. The Word here is the One who has come to be with us. The Word is Christ Jesus. How do we stay “rooted” in a person? Being rooted means being where your life-source is. It means you lose your life if you get “uprooted.” It means we have identified our life-source, the reason for our existence. We have also used an important adjective in front of it. This Word does not stand still. It moves. It moves in us and transforms us day to day. That means we are itinerant in the deepest meaning of...

The winter solstice has come. The light has shifted. Now the days grow longer. Light has won out, and the darkness slinks away, getting ready to return another time. Lights are everywhere. Christmas lights are still up, filling the night cold with multicolored beauty.   We are celebrating the greatest Light of all. The words of Genesis ring in our ears: “Let there be…Light!” Did you ever wonder how there could be light when, according to the ancient account, there was as yet no sun? What is the Light? Could it be the very Wisdom of God made manifest, and from this Wisdom, this very substance of God self-expressing in a Word, all creation spills out? Is it all made from Light? Now lest you think this is mere new age jibberish, scientists seem to be moving in this same direction. They keep looking for the most primary particle. So far the most basic they have found they have named the quark. And what is this very basic element in the universe? They have identified it as ...