NunEssential

A reflection by Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT: DISCERNMENT IN THE MODERN AGE One of the banes of modern life is the plethora of bad books, bad both in the sense of poorly written and bad in the sense of poisonous content.  It's an observation that can be applied to movies, music, TV, and other forms of human expression as well. This is not meant to be a moral judgment so much as a reflection on what constitutes healthy food for the soul.  We have great concern for the health of our bodies and our environment.  And we feed them and protect them accordingly.  At the same time, we seem to have much less conscious concern for what goes into our minds, our souls, our spirits.  We simply consume whatever is offered, no longer recognizing the difference between junk food and delicacy, nutrients and toxins. Entertainment of a rather mindless variety seems to be the common fare these days.  It is big business to translate  the  written form into visual form ...

Boston priest Fr Jason Worthley put together this powerful video about the typhoon in the Philippines. The devastation is stunning and so is the outpouring of love for the people.

A reflection from Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT Coming Out of Hiding  Making New Year’s resolutions can be a tricky business.  We may think our best interests will be served by addressing our diet and exercising  more regularly.  Our family and friends might prefer that our resolve center instead around curbing our negativity, our moodiness, our critical spirit, or our rash judgments.  We might decide we need to give extra time to charitable projects when our family or community would be happy to see us enjoy more time in their company.  We may even realize we need more prayer in our lives and determine to make space for it when God would prefer we look for Him outside the concept of an exercise to perform. There is actually one answer to all the needs for change we contemplate at the beginning of a new year:  Jesus Christ and the Trinitarian life He came to bring us.  Many of us know about Jesus.  Fewer of us really feel comfortable saying we ...