Carla Mae's Blog

 As the saying goes, “What goes around comes around.” But make no mistake, when Ordinary Time appears at this time of the liturgical year there is a new twist. The Church is telling us something. Keep in mind that an Ordinary Time period follows the two central mysteries of our faith: the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery. Ordinary Time is ‘absorption’ time…time to soak the soul.  Our New Year begins with the celebration of Mary, Mother of God. Now why would Mary be placed before us to begin this time? Ah…because Mary is the one who ponders in her heart…and that is what we are invited to do. She is the Mother of believers, and that’s us.  The Word has bonded with our DNA…our carbon and calcium, our double helix. He asked Mary for a body so he could be part of our day-to-day struggle. Only by bonding with matter could he suffer from the inside, not just as a compassionate observer. The Epiphany reveals that this is universal…for everyone. On our side, we bond with him...

The New Year is here. We again receive the gift of time. As women and men of the Word, as Dominicans, in these reflections we have been keeping our ear close to the heart of the Church by listening to our Shepherd. Francis. This attentiveness has brought us smack against the topic of synodality, for this is where his developing thought for the Church leads in what he has written from Joy of the Gospel, to Laudato si, to Fratelli tutti, to Let Us Dream.  The ancient name for the Pope is Pontifex , which means bridge-builder, and that is exactly what this present Holy Father is doing: he is building a bridge. From what to what we might ask? He is bridging from Vatican II into the future of this community we call ‘Church.’ He is leading us into a future we must create as we walk it- together. The time is past for just taking ‘orders from headquarters.’ We need to listen to one another…to what the Spirit might be doing in one another, and pay attention. This is very new for some ...