Carla Mae's Blog

As Easter dawns upon us, as welcome as the blossoming of springtime, I am struck by the fact that so much of our salvation story takes place in a garden. There is the Garden of the Sinning in Genesis, when forbidden fruit was eaten from a tree. There is the Garden of Sorrow where Jesus suffers the agony of turning his human will to the will of his Father, to reverse the sinni ng. There is the Garden of Buria l, where they quickly bury Jesus, because the Sabbath is coming, without knowing it is just a temporary measure.  The n this Garden of Death and Buria l becomes the Garden of Life and Resurrection. The marvel, I think, is that all of these gardens exist wit hin us. We know about the sin thing. We know about the agony of struggle thing. We know about the deadening thing, But what does the life and resurrection thing look like? We ponder the Easter readings to find out. I suggest we position ourselves in the d oorway of our tombs and peek out as we peel the burial clothes fro...

We have the audacity of using the language of hope because of one remarkable fact: what we hope for is already here. Now, this is not your usual meaning of hope. I can hope for sunshine tomorrow, but it may or may not turn out that way. I can hope this crisis with the virus is soon over...but I’m not sure about what “soon” means. It may linger for several weeks or even months.  But the virtue of hope t hat Pope Francis is writing about ( On Hope , 2017), is remarkably different. As baptized Christians what we hope for is already present . We just don’t see it or experience it yet. Now, that is unbeatable assurance! The apostles in their early preaching were very clear. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, his overcoming of death, we will experience the same, for our baptism bonds us with him. This is the reason the early Christians greeted one another with “We shall always be with the Lord.”   This means that every loved one we part with in death, we will see again. It ...

Wash the windows, wipe down the walls, air the carpets…we know the routine. For our homes, that is. But what about our souls? Lent means springtime, so how do we do a clean-up there? I suggest you don’t give up anything this Lent. Instead, restore something. Open the windows of your soul and let in the magnificent Light of the Son, within your deepest being since your baptism. That act, done for you by loving parents, filled you with a marvelous light energy, a magnetic field, you might say. You are, spiritually speaking, surrounded by a light-capsule, and that means that you are off-limits to evil when it tries to penetrate your consciousness. Satan and his minions can be quite noisy, yes, but demoted angels can’t penetrate this Son-light. It is made from blood, shed by an unbelievable Lover. Can we leave our Son-light? Oh, yes…and when we do we become easy prey. Seances, Ouija Board activity, intentional rejection of our baptism, etc. can leave us quite defenseless....

In his little gem treatise on Hope, Pope Francis goes quite out on a limb. He says, “Now, this is my opinion, but women are more courageous than men.” (On Hope, 56) Then he proceeds to remind us of the story of Judith, who saved her people when they were absolutely desperate. Before she cuts off the head of the invading general, Judith rebukes the Jewish leadership for their lack of trust in God. Her language is interesting. What Judith says gives us a clue to how hope talks. She tells them their horizon of possibility is too narrow, and that their fear is paralyzing them. Then she shakes her head at the fact that they have given God five days to respond to their need. She says no to setting limits on God and hemming him in, tempting him and giving ourselves the chance of escaping his will. God saves, she says…and this can mean deliverance, or it can mean death. But God saves. This is hope talking. In the midst of our ongoing journey and our waiting, we, as a community of ...

Pope Francis is convinced that prayer can create hope where there is despair. What kind of prayer could do this? I suspect the answer is hidden in a line often found in the day’s Psalm Response: “Offer the Holy One a sacrifice of praise.” Now, what on earth is a “sacrifice” of praise? At first glance, praise doesn’t seem to have anything to do with sacrifice. Praise is exuberant, joyful, right? What kind of sacrifice might add to this praise?  To praise and trust God utterly in the face of the following, I think is a true “sacrifice.” · When I’ve prayed and prayed, and God doesn’t seem to hear · When I pray and things get worse · When it occurs to me that God is not listening · When I decide that I am not worthy to be heard · When I think I must be praying the wrong way · When I keep repeating myself as if God is deaf or needs to be reminded  All of these are my perspectives; they are my point of view. But scripture tells me otherwise: · “Ask, and you shal...

With the Baptism of Jesus, the Light has now been revealed to the Jews. It began with Mary and the angel, expanded to Joseph, then the shepherds, poorest of the poor, who were the first group to learn the Good News. Then comes those foreigners, the Magi. Next, it shines upon the Jews in the Baptism, when Jesus goes public for the first time. Finally, the apostles begin to learn who it is they are following at the wedding of Cana…so John tells us. And then there is us…and there is today. There is the evening News. John is the writer for all of this revealing of the Light into our darkness. He is all about Light , Life , and Love …the three “Ls.” In this first section of Ordinary Time, keep looking in the texts for the Light blinking, the Life springing up in the most surprising places, and the Love gently replacing the cruelty, bigotry, and woundedness of our broken humanity. Watch the evening news carefully. The readings of the small section of Ordinary Time are working fro...

We all know the game. You hide behind a pillow, or a newspaper…then you peek out and let your face be seen…and the little child squeals with delight. The scriptures say it this way: “Show us your face, Lord, and we shall be saved!” We are in the season of the Light, the Christmas/Epiphany season of the Church Year. The Light has come, but these weeks ahead are like a game of Peekaboo. It all began with Mary, who is amazed at the plan. She says, “OK, let it be…” and with these words she echoes the very words of creation in Genesis: “Let there be…Light!” and a new creation begins, growing for nine months in her womb. Then Joseph is brought in…then at the birth, the shepherds; then the Magi, representing all the nations. Next comes the apostles coming into the Light at the Wedding of Cana, and finally to all the Jewish nation at the Baptism of Jesus. Now the Light is out in the open…and as the Church Year flows on, we will see the game turn violent. We will try to rid...