Ecce Quam Bonum – “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” (Psalm 133). We who are Catholic priests pray that Psalm at least monthly. We profess and celebrate it in our ordination ritual. The lived reality is only possible if we allow ourselves continued maturing and healing in our affectivity and our capacity for relationships – both on an individual and a collective level.
Most people, I find (just like me) have an array of defenses to avoid looking truthfully at what is going on – because that requires actually feeling the insecurity and (even scarier) feeling our unmet longing for love. Mining the depths of our desire can feel especially dangerous. It’s so much easier to stay on the surface. That is a problem for us priests who have said “yes” to celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom! If we avoid the longings of our heart and the felt sensations in our nervous system and body, how can we be truly integrated? How can our self-gift be embodied, wholehearted, free, and fruitful?
Any detachment the Lord invites us to is always for the sake of secure attachment in rightly ordered relationships. Authentic detachment allows us to claim fully and flourish in our identity as beloved sons and daughters of God.
What is it like when we who are celibate priests become truly secure in our relationships? I’ve certainly been on a long and non-linear journey from insecurity into security. My path of healing over the last seven years has often left me feeling like Frodo in Lord of the Rings. […]
Another Groundhog Day has come and gone. Normally in Wisconsin, February finds us pining for spring. In a more typical year, we would gladly welcome the prospect of only six more weeks of winter! This year, we’re wondering if the winter will ever come – even though most of us […]
I just took some time away at St. Vincent’s Abbey in Pennsylvania. Aside from opportunities for prayer and visiting friends, I had the unexpected surprise of finding myself in Mister Roger’s neighborhood. I had not realized that Latrobe was his hometown. I strolled down the hill from the basilica and […]
Presence and mindfulness garner much attention in the world of contemporary psychology and self-help. But they are rather important for Christian discipleship as well! The very virtues of faith, hope, and love are impossible without being present and mindful. They require receptivity, openness, vulnerability, and a sense of wonder and awe at the mystery of the other person, creation, and the living God.
We who are shepherds are often asked at a critical moment to hold with reverence the story of a suffering sheep. Whether or not we do so with kindness and care depends in large part on whether we, like Jesus, are brave shepherds who have gone before.
Those of you who know me better know that the last 7 years have been an odyssey of personal healing. It all started with an unexpected phone call on my 41st birthday. With my susceptibility to workaholism, my birthdays never tended to be different than other days. But this birthday […]