St Clement of Rome Catholic Church

In 1967, while traveling on an airplane, the Canadian singer-songwriter, Joni Mitchell, was deep into a novel entitled, Henderson the Rain King. Early on, the troubled and middle-aged Henderson was on a plane destined for Africa when he looked down and saw clouds. After reading that passage, Mitchell remembered putting down the book, looking out the window and also seeing— clouds. Having received an inspiration, she immediately began composing the song, Both Sides, Now. The song employs a memorable verse to explore different…

Time is a very valuable gift given to us by the Lord. He is the owner of the vineyard where our “fig tree” is growing. It would be absurd to expect the fig tree to determine when its time is up. (Luke 13:1-9)  That right belongs to the owner of the vineyard. Similarly, we don’t decide when our time on earth is up. Regardless of our bearing good fruit or of our sterility; regardless of our preparedness, age, health condition, goodness or lack…

Already bruised by the skirmishes of life, we grown-ups let kids take refuge in a world of dreams, make-believes and incredible feats made easy by super-heroes. We do not want them to be scarred and traumatized by an early brush with the real world in which we must live. Alas, the world of grown-ups reserves many unpleasant surprises. At times, unceremoniously, we can be thrusted into surreal situations in which we would feel numb, disoriented, enveloped in darkness, trudging hesitantly…

We all sense that Lent is a special time of grace from God… but we might think that giving up a few little things for 40 days or so is all that it takes to get in spiritual shape and ready for Easter. Lent is perhaps the most intensely spiritual time of the year but must be so for a more comprehensive and radical reason; one that covers all aspects of life. It is our fundamental choice to be unconditionally…