St. Joseph Novena

It has been a while since I've shared a Pray More Novenas novena, and wanted to make sure I mentioned the "St Joseph, Husband of Mary" prayer that will begin this Saturday. If you're already a member of the Pray More Novenas community, you are good to go, and if you're new, go here. I highly recommend it! Nothing like praying in, and with a community. In this case, one which is global.

Prayer is so much on my mind since I completed the first Ignatian retreat last month, and am now a week and a half into my Lenten one. Prayer for an hour every day is weird, I will tell you. It's weird because you don't know what will happen. And then it's extra weird because even in the random, distracting, unexpected thoughts that come up, all of that is a part of God's plan for you in that particular prayer period. Isn't that strange! And you can't come at it with a to-do list, or skim the Scripture beforehand and think, "Mmhmm, I know what I'm supposed to learn today." No, you don't. And that's pretty amazing because then God drops new things into your mind and THAT'S what you learn, and you go off with your mind and soul buzzing with all the things you don't know, and the little piece that now you know. And by "you" I mean "me."

My next article for Catholic Stand will be on how gratitude is a form of prayer. Meaning, one way to pray well is to thank God, for everything - for your world, for your self, for your feelings. That's a prayer, and an important one. That's one of the things He dropped into my mind.

Listen to my radio spot here

It was a pleasure as always to join John on the air - that is, Morning Air - as I did this past Tuesday. We discussed Ignatian spirituality and my experience with the one-week retreat in January. Listen to our conversation here; you can catch the beginning at about 29:10.

I was also recently approached by the Archdiocese of Boston about my article on prison ministry which they wanted to include in their newsletter for those involved in hospital, prison, parish, etc. ministry. The goal was to share one person's story (that's me) regarding how prison ministry works in the hopes of recruiting volunteers - and for those of you have found this site through that newsletter, welcome! I hope my story leads many new volunteers in Boston into that ministry.

Tonight I am having dinner at a L'Arche home in Washington, DC. I have been wanting to do this for a long time, and I will let you know how it goes.

How is your Lent going? Mine is prayerful and full of love, to be honest. Strange how a penitential time can teach you gratitude.

Next radio appearance: Tuesday, February 28, 9:30 a.m.

I am happy to announce that I will be back on the radio waves with Morning Air this coming Tuesday, February 28 at 9:30 a.m. You can listen in live here and I'll share the clip afterwards. We'll be discussing my most recent Catholic Stand article, "I'm a Mystic (And So Are You)." I'm actually starting another Ignatian retreat tomorrow for the duration of Lent, so there should be lots of good stuff to talk about.

We are now just a few days away from Lent. Holy moly!