Word Made Flesh

Dear friends, As I am writing this letter I am experiencing a freedom that I never knew existed. It has been three years since my wife and I have tried to sell our house so that we could pay back a very bad bank loan. It has been two months since the selling process finally [...]

I recently returned from 16 days of intense yoga training. It was an extraordinary experience. Even though I travel the world and find home in some of the roughest and most heart-breaking places on the planet, somehow going to this unfamiliar yoga institute nestled in an isolated beach front in Baja, Mexico, threatened nearly every [...]

The weather has turned cold in Walltown, and with it you can feel an expectancy in the air. This is Advent. We wait for Christ to come even as we remember how he came the first time, when there was no room in the inn. And we cannot forget our homeless friends who feel the [...]

*Originally posted December 10, 2011*  As I live in historically agrarian Eastern Europe, I notice that shepherds are usually either children or older folks. Stronger members of the family are responsible for more strenuous tasks. Flocks of sheep and goats are never fluffy and white, but spotted with mud and manure, emitting a repugnant odor.  [...]

A reflection on Matthew 11:2-11 Longing and waiting expectantly. Watching and waiting for whispered words of wisdom. Words of comfort and of grace. Yet a bleak sky and the untold cries of hundreds, thousands, millions do not leave me alone. Do not leave me in a solitude or the hope of silence this night. The [...]

The image of “I thirst” that Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity (MC) have printed beside the crucifix located in Nirmal Hriday, her first home in Kolkata has been imprinted on my brain for a long time. In a brash “I’m 22 and I care!” moment I had the same phrase tattooed on my [...]

Are my praises as loud as my pleas? Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.  As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him.  They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Mater, have pity on us!” [...]

The below Advent reflection was first posted on the blog, Godspace, as part of the Advent series, “Jesus Is Near – How Do We Draw Close?” You can read other daily Advent series reflections at http://godspace.wordpress.com/.   Advent – Attentive to God’s Nearness   There is something about Advent that sparks my attentiveness. For me [...]

Jesus come. Into my distracted and wondering mind. Into my fearfulness and anxiety. My insecurities and unhealthy tendencies. Into my bitter, unforgiving and resentful attitude. Jesus come. Into how I love. Into the words that I speak. The thoughts that I think. The things that I do. Into what I give. Into what I receive. [...]