In Your Embrace

This reflection was given at St. Patrick's Seminary, Menlo Park, CA on Ash Wednesday (C), March 2, 2022.

13 February 2022 | Septuagesima Sunday | Menlo Park, Calif.

Beneath the moon and stars this Sunday night, let’s talk about obedience, sacrifice, and self-knowledge. What is the theological basis for Christian obedience? Does it have any inherent limits? I share some thoughts from my thesis research. In the Pickwick Papers, Sam Weller illustrates what it means to make a sacrifice: “to make something holy by giving it away for love.” Finally, St. Catherine of Siena gives us an important lesson on looking in the mirror.

Opening music: “They ate and had their fill,” arr. Josquin des Prez, adapted and sung by Heath Morber and Ruth Kenney, Champaign, IL, 2015. All rights reserved.

7 February 2022 | St. Romuald | Menlo Park, Calif.

Returning after a two-week break, I share my reactions to a friend’s priestly ordination, some thoughts on Dickens’ genre-crossing and the role of ghost stories in the Pickwick Papers, and one more practical suggestion on prayer. Plus: why do we do so many things three times in the Roman Rite?

Opening music: “Gospodi pomiluj,” arr. Grigory Lvovsky, sung by Choeur d'hommes Phoneomen, dir. Roman Imamutdinov, 2011. All rights reserved.

22 January 2022 | St. Vincent of Zaragoza | Menlo Park, Calif.

This week, we dive headlong into the Pickwick Papers, meet the eponymous gentleman and his erstwhile compatriots, and hear an unexpectedly bleak story in the midst of a merry evening! What might the clergyman’s tale have to tell us about Dickens’ own relationship to the Church? Also in this episode: the anthropological, historical and cosmic dimensions of liturgy, and what it all means for the music you hear at Mass.

Opening music: “Tota pulchra es, Maria,” sung by Harpa Dei, 2021. All rights reserved.

16 January 2022 | II Sunday after Epiphany | Portola Valley, Calif.

On this winter hike beneath the pine trees, I’m excited to tell you about a new homiletical method I’m learning in class, what Dickens can teach us about the extraordinary in ordinary faces and places, and one tip for giving thanks after Holy Communion! (Apologies for the audio issues in this episode.)

Opening music: “Nuptiae factae sunt,” from the Antiphonale Monasticum, sung by Alberto Rocco, 2012. All rights reserved.

11 January 2022 | Tuesday after the Epiphany | Menlo Park, Calif.

I’m back to school, and the Dickens 2022 Project has begun! In this episode, I share what it’s like to go on two silent retreats in one month or less, some surprising background on Dickens - the man, the myth(-maker), the legend! - through the eyes of G.K. Chesterton, and a theology of prayer based on the Book of Revelation (credit to Rev. Dennis McManus).

Opening music: “Ecce sto ad ostium,” sung by Voces Aequales, 1998. All rights reserved.

2 January 2022 | The Epiphany of the Lord | Roseburg, Ore.

At the dawn of the new year, I share 3 questions I’m using to prepare for 2022, as well as wrapping up last year’s Tolkien project and looking ahead to Charles Dickens! Plus: just what is the feast of the Epiphany, and what does it have to do with Christmas?

Links referenced in this episode:

Opening music: “Tribus miraculis,” antiphon for the Epiphany of the Lord, sung by the University of King’s College Chapel Choir, dir. Paul Halley, 2014. All rights reserved.