In this video, you will learn about the top three Bibles used by Catholics and discover which one is the best choice for you.

• Finding Your Way around the Bible
  What a Catholic nun and a group of Evangelical teenagers taught me about the Bible
  Why most Christians have never read the Bible—and maybe you shouldn’t either
  Which Bible should you choose?
  Your guide to reading the Old Testament
]]> http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/21/which-bible-should-you-choose/feed/ 0 http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/20/the-surprising-gospel-message-of-the-green-lantern/ http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/20/the-surprising-gospel-message-of-the-green-lantern/#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:43:28 +0000 Nick http://www.faithfieldguide.com/?p=1055

In the climactic scene of Green Lantern, test-pilot-turned-superhero, Hal Jordan, leads his mortal enemy, Parallax, toward the sun, hoping that the gravitational pull will suck the monster toward a point of no return. Parallax is the personification of evil—a giant mash up of Medusa, octopus, and factory smoke. Parallax gets his power from the energy of fear. He induces fear in everyone he encounters, feeds on their fear, and grows larger from the energy. He has grown so powerful and fearful that he can now destroy entire planets. He is about to destroy Earth when he is confronted by Hal Jordan.

The will to overcome fear

Jordan has assumed the role of a Green Lantern, which is a member of an intergalactic corps committed to enforcing peace and justice and destroying evil wherever they find it. Jordan has been empowered for this superhuman role by donning a mysterious ring that harnesses the good “will” of the Universe. But Jordan remains “only human,” even when he is wearing the ring. In order to wield the power of the ring effectively, Jordan must overcome his own fear—through the force of will—and imagine how to defeat his enemy.

The primal conflict is between fear and willpower. Is Jordan’s will stronger than the fear that Parallax senses in him and seeks to exploit?

The gospel message

For me, the parallels to the Jesus-story are obvious. In the garden, on the night before his crucifixion, Jesus confronts his own fear. Scripture says that his anguish was so great that “his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). But unlike Hal Jordan, Jesus does not rely on his human will to overcome fear. He prays to the Father: “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

What Christians know from Jesus’ struggle with fear is that we cannot will fear away. We cannot defeat fear with only our human effort. But by submitting to the will of God, however, we can face any fear. The fear will not vanish, but neither will it defeat us. Jesus did not escape his time of trial by dreaming up a dazzling CGI special effect at the end of the story. But he did imagine a creative alternative to death. With God’s help, Jesus was able to see that physical death is not an end, but a beginning. Once he saw that, death had no more power over him. Fear was vanquished.

What do we fear?

Most of us are not being confronted with certain death today. Yet we all fear something. In most cases, we let that fear feed on itself, and it grows a little larger, a little stronger everyday. We might fear we are not good enough, not smart enough, not beautiful enough, not loveable enough. We might fear we are not worthwhile. These fears hold us back, convincing us we will fail. They whisper to us at night, robbing us of sleep. They prevent us from loving others, because we are afraid of rejection.

Just like Jesus, we cannot stop the fear. We cannot eliminate it. But we can overcome it. We can stop the feeding cycle that gives fear its power.

How Jesus’ disciples overcame fear

Three days after Jesus died, his friends were still afraid. They were hiding out, paralyzed with fear that they too might die. Jesus, now risen from the dead, appeared to them. He had one message for them: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

The antidote to fear is to get up and go do whatever it is we are afraid to do.  We are sent by the Father to confront our fear, just as Jesus was.

We don’t get a mysterious ring that gives us superhuman power. We have something better. We have the peace of Christ and the power of his Spirit.

]]> http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/20/the-surprising-gospel-message-of-the-green-lantern/feed/ 0 http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/13/why-most-christians-have-never-read-the-bibleand-maybe-you-shouldnt-either/ http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/13/why-most-christians-have-never-read-the-bibleand-maybe-you-shouldnt-either/#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 06:04:47 +0000 Nick http://www.faithfieldguide.com/?p=1023

When we think about reading the Bible, it is interesting to remember that throughout Christian history, most people have not read it. Consider these barriers:

• The list of books that are considered “biblical” was not finalized until the 400s.
• Until the invention of the printing press in 1450, written manuscripts were expensive to produce and few in number.
• Even after the printing press, most people—including Christians—were illiterate. It was not until the 18th century that literacy started to become widespread in Europe and the American colonies.
• It was not until the 19th century Industrial Revolution that printed books became truly affordable for most people.
• Even today, low literacy levels and expensive materials are barriers to Bible reading in some of the fastest growing Christian regions, such as Asia, Africa, and South America.

Why should you read the Bible?

The Living Word
 
The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. 'Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.'"
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 133

Today in the United States, most people own a Bible. Or if they don’t own one, someone in their household does. Not most Christian households, but most of all households. Even atheists own Bibles, it seems. “Owning” and “reading” are two different things, however. Studies vary, but it is clear that very few U.S. Christians have read the entire Bible, cover-to-cover.

That’s not all bad. There are many ways to read the Bible, and beginning on page one may not be the best way. The Bible is not one book with a lot of chapters that tell the history of God and the world. The Bible is a collection of books from different eras. The books were written by many different people, and they are written in many different styles. Some books, especially in the New Testament, are placed out of order chronologically. To try to read the Bible from page one to the end would be similar to walking into a library, picking up the first book you saw, and beginning to read the entire library in the order the books were shelved.

My grandmother and my mother were actually discouraged from reading the Bible when they were growing up. In their day, the thinking was that church teaching was based on Scripture and that the church would teach Catholics everything they needed to know that came from God’s word. While that’s true, it probably wasn’t a good idea to suggest Catholics avoid reading the Bible directly.

Today, the church strongly encourages Catholics to read the Bible. But, as we said above, we aren’t necessarily supposed to read it the way we read other books. We need a different method or plan if our Bible reading is going to be effective.

How to read the Bible the way the saints did

To come up with a reading plan, you have to first have a goal. Why do you want to read the Bible? Many Christians have a vague feeling of guilt that they haven’t read it. If the Bible is God’s word, and we believe in God, shouldn’t we spend some time finding out what God has to say?

That sounds like a good idea. But the fact is, God speaks in many ways. The Bible is an important and fundamental way of encountering God’s word, but it is not the only way.

St. Bernard, a 12th-century Scripture scholar and theologian, said that Christianity is not a “religion of the book.” The word of God is “not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living” (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 108). In fact, Catholics, and many other types of Christians, believe the primary way we encounter the living word of God is in the proclamation of Scripture in the liturgy.

For Catholics, then, a great reading plan would be to read the Bible according to the outline of the liturgical year. The church has created a list of readings from Scripture for every day of the year. These are meant to be read at Mass, but you can also read them at home. In fact, reading the Sunday readings before you go to Mass is a great way to prepare yourself for the liturgy.

Where to find the readings for Mass

You can find the list of readings for Mass in lots of places. Click here to go the the United States Catholic Bishops’ website, which provides you with the readings for today. You can click on the calendar on that page to get the readings for other days in the year.

If you prefer to read hard copy instead of on a computer screen, there are several periodicals and booklets that provide you with the readings of the day. Here is one of the best ones:

• Give Us This Day: Daily Prayer for Today’s Catholic (The Liturgical Press)

If you would rather listen than read, here is a link to a daily podcast of the readings.

And if you want to read the readings on your iPhone, you can purchase an app for 99 cents at this link.

Create your personal plan for becoming a Scripture virtuoso

If you are serious about reading the Bible, here are some steps to get you started:

1. Make a commitment to yourself to read at least the gospel of the day, everyday, for two weeks.
2. Begin your reading each day at a set time.
3. Read every day in the same chair, in the same place.
4. Begin your reading with this prayer from St. John Chrysostom—“O Lord Jesus Christ, open the eyes of my heart, that I may hear your word and understand and do your will.”

After two weeks, evaluate how you have done, and decide if you are going to continue reading Scripture every day.

In an upcoming post, we will talk about the best translation of Scripture to use for your biblical reading.

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See also these related articles:
• Finding Your Way around the Bible
  What a Catholic nun and a group of Evangelical teenagers taught me about the Bible
  Why most Christians have never read the Bible—and maybe you shouldn’t either
  Which Bible should you choose?
  Your guide to reading the Old Testament
]]> http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/13/why-most-christians-have-never-read-the-bibleand-maybe-you-shouldnt-either/feed/ 0 http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/12/what-a-catholic-nun-and-a-group-of-evangelical-teenagers-taught-me-about-the-bible/ http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/12/what-a-catholic-nun-and-a-group-of-evangelical-teenagers-taught-me-about-the-bible/#comments Sun, 12 Jun 2011 06:13:35 +0000 Nick http://www.faithfieldguide.com/?p=1027

I was standing in a bookstore with my mother; we were looking at Bibles. Who knew there were so many? I expected to find “The Bible.” The choices between “leather” and “leatherette” alone were enough to confuse me. We also had to consider paper and hardcover, red-letter and family, amplified and…I don’t know. Quiet? And there were also “translations” to choose from.

At least there, I was on firmer ground. Sister had told our seventh-grade class that if we didn’t already have a Bible at home, to buy the New American Bible translation. Mom and I found an inexpensive paperback and headed for the checkout lane.

The next day in class, Sister showed us how to find the New Testament. We spent the next several weeks reading and discussing passages from the Gospel of Matthew. Even though no one in my family had ever owned a Bible before, I knew many of these stories. I had been hearing them at Mass all my life.

It’s common to hear people say that Catholics don’t know the Bible. Sometimes that’s true. But for those of us who participate in Mass regularly, we do know many of the stories in the Bible. We just don’t always know what part of the Bible they come from.

The Bible for lunch

After seventh grade, my Bible didn’t get much use for a few years. Then, during my junior year in (public) high school, I met some Evangelical classmates. They carried their Bibles to school with them, which I thought was very weird. They would sit together during lunch and discuss passages from the Bible, much in the same way we had done during those weeks in seventh grade. Pretty soon, I was bringing my Bible to school and sitting with my new evangelical friends during lunch. By the end of that year, I could find my way around the entire New Testament—not just Matthew’s gospel.

For a few years after, I soaked up as much as I could about the Bible. I went to workshops sponsored by the Catholic diocese. I took a course in Old Testament my freshman year in college—taught by a Southern Baptist. I listened to cassette-tape courses by big-name biblical scholars.

Scotch Tape Bible teaching

And I began to train lectors at my college Newman Center. Many Catholic college students in the 1970s had grown up without reading directly from the Bible. And they grew up without any courses or workshops about the Bible.

As I would talk with the lectors, I realized they had no clue about what their readings meant. I was no expert, but I did want the lectors to understand what they were proclaiming. At that time, there were no lector guides. There were no quick, simple resources.

So I improvised. I used the introductions in my scotch-taped, yellow-highlighted, seventh-grade Bible to teach the lectors about their readings.

All that has changed now. Catholic children are often reading Bibles in grade school or parish religious education programs. Almost every Catholic teenager—if they are active in their parish—owns a Bible. Many have even read significant portions of at least the New Testament.

I’m no expert, but…

Even so, there are still a lot of people who want to know more about the Bible. I know a little more about Scripture now than I did in college, but I’m still no expert.

What I am is an active Catholic.

What I am is a person who loves Scripture.

And I’ve learned a few things over the years that have helped me understand what the church teaches and that have helped me to live more faithfully. (I still don’t get the difference between “leather” and “leatherette” though.)

If you would like to know more about the Bible, I’m going to share some of what I’ve learned in a series of posts here on the Faith Field Guide site. I’ll also recommend some resources for those of you that want to do some deeper study of the Bible.

You don’t have to be an expert either

Even if you know very little about the Bible, I hope you will share your reactions and questions in the comments box at the end of each post. By sharing, you will help others think of things they might also want to share.

And if you know a little more about the Bible or a lot about the Bible, I especially ask you to share your knowledge. We are all learners, and your insight will help all of us grow.

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See also these related articles:
• Finding Your Way around the Bible
  What a Catholic nun and a group of Evangelical teenagers taught me about the Bible
  Why most Christians have never read the Bible—and maybe you shouldn’t either
  Which Bible should you choose?
  Your guide to reading the Old Testament
]]> http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/12/what-a-catholic-nun-and-a-group-of-evangelical-teenagers-taught-me-about-the-bible/feed/ 0 http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/12/finding-your-way-around-the-bible/ http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/12/finding-your-way-around-the-bible/#comments Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:34:34 +0000 Nick http://www.faithfieldguide.com/?p=1035 In this video, you will discover some helpful tips for navigating your way to the Scripture passages you want to read. The Bible can seem confusing at first, but it’s really pretty easy.

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See also these related articles:
• Finding Your Way around the Bible
  What a Catholic nun and a group of Evangelical teenagers taught me about the Bible
  Why most Christians have never read the Bible—and maybe you shouldn’t either
  Which Bible should you choose?
  Your guide to reading the Old Testament
]]> http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/06/12/finding-your-way-around-the-bible/feed/ 0 http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/05/19/the-curious-history-of-auxiliary-bishops/ http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/05/19/the-curious-history-of-auxiliary-bishops/#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 15:41:12 +0000 Nick http://www.faithfieldguide.com/?p=930
My diocese is getting a new auxiliary bishop. This is the first auxiliary in the 30-year history of the San José diocese. There is a lot of energy and excitement all around the diocese about this historic event. And it has all made me wonder about why dioceses have auxiliary bishops and what an auxiliary bishop does.

What exactly is a “bishop”?

Before we get into that, let’s look at the role of the bishop in general. The office of bishop is one of three orders of ordained ministers in the church: bishops, priests, and deacons. Bishops have three primary roles. Their job is to:

1. Encourage growth in holiness
2. Lead (or govern)
3. Teach

All of these tasks are specific to a particular geographic area, which is called a diocese. Every bishop is assigned to a diocese, and within that diocese, he is the final authority on matters of holiness, leadership, and teaching in the church.

Isn’t the pope in charge?

Many people think the pope is the final authority. That’s sort of true, but it’s complicated. According to canon law, an individual bishop is the head of the diocese, and the only one above him is Jesus. However, a bishop is also bound to act in communion or unity with all the other bishops in the world. The person in charge of ensuring unity in the church is the pope. So an individual bishop cannot act outside of what the pope understands to be the unified vision of the church.

Where did “auxiliary bishops” come from?

So if that is the role of a bishop, what is the role of the auxiliary bishop? We can find references to “helper bishops” all the way back to Peter, the first pope. But the term, “auxiliary bishop,” wasn’t ever used until the 1500s. And Peter’s assistant bishops—Linus and Cletus—seem to be anomalies. The church didn’t have a widespread use of assistant bishops until the 600s. In that and the following centuries, Islamic leaders were taking over vast areas of what were previously Christian lands. As the Christian communities in the Mediterranean Basin began to collapse, many of the faithful and clergy—including bishops—fled to Europe.

Eventually, as these exiled bishops died, the church was faced with a decision. Should we simply accept the fact that a great many Christian dioceses no longer existed and move on with evangelizing new areas of the world? Or should we appoint new bishops to fill the vacant seats as exiled bishops died? The church chose to do the latter, even though these bishops could not actually perform the three-fold role of bishops in the dioceses to which they were assigned.

Thomas A. Daly, first auxiliary bishop of San José
 
Thomas A. Daly (born April 30, 1960) is selected to be the first Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of San José in California, USA. He was born in San Francisco, California.
 
Daly attended St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California, where he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1987. He served as the parochial vicar of Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Novato, and later as a teacher and campus minister at Marin Catholic High School. Later, he served as part-time chaplain to the San Francisco Police Department while concurrently posted as parochial vicar of St. Cecilia's Church. After these assignments, he became involved in the archdiocesan Vocations office; serving concurrently as Director of Vocations and president of Marin Catholic High School.
 
Daly was named auxiliary bishop of San José and titular bishop of Tabalta by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States on March 16, 2011. He attended his first diocesan event at the Mass in Celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Diocese of San José, and is scheduled to be ordained on May 25, 2011 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph.

Too many bishops underfoot

By the 12^th century, there were dozens and dozens of idle bishops living in Rome with little to do. The popes of that era began to assign some of these bishops to be temporary administrators of vacant dioceses in Europe—both to get them out of Rome and to provide short-term help to the parishes in European dioceses. In some cases, when a permanent bishop was finally assigned to a diocese in Europe, the previous administrator-bishop would remain on the scene as an assistant or auxiliary to the actual or “ordinary” bishop. That practice continued and grew and eventually became an official practice in church governance.

However, the ancient teaching of the church that one cannot be a bishop without being assigned to a specific place in order to encourage holiness, lead, and teach is still in place. So when someone in our time is ordained specifically to be an auxiliary bishop to an ordinary bishop, he is still assigned to his own diocese. However, it is always a diocese that has no Christians living there and sometimes no people at all. This kind of diocese is called a “titular diocese,” and a bishop assigned to a titular diocese is called a “titular bishop.” Assigning bishops to titular dioceses is a symbolic way of honoring both the ancient role of the bishop and the history of places that at one time were thriving communities of faith.

The job of an auxiliary bishop

The fact that an auxiliary bishop has no actual people to care for in his own diocese means that he is free to offer all of his services and gifts to the people of the diocese where he is an auxiliary. So he is still able to actually function in the three-fold role of a bishop—to encourage holiness, lead, and teach—but he does so under the guidance and authority of the ordinary bishop of that diocese.

The actual way that auxiliary bishops do that varies from diocese to diocese. Sometimes they work in the diocesan office, attending to matters the ordinary bishop delegates to him. In other places the auxiliary may serve as a pastor of a parish—often the cathedral parish. In very large dioceses, he may be placed in charge of an entire region of parishes. His exact role is ultimately determined by the ordinary bishop of the place in which the auxiliary serves.

]]> http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/05/19/the-curious-history-of-auxiliary-bishops/feed/ 0 http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/04/14/a-prayer-for-procrastinators-as-tax-day-approaches/ http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/04/14/a-prayer-for-procrastinators-as-tax-day-approaches/#comments Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:35:00 +0000 Diana http://www.faithfieldguide.com/?p=1111 Saint Expeditus, perhaps a fictional saint, is the patron saint of procrastinators. His feast day is celebrated on April 19 (four days after tax day) or, as his followers like to say, whenever you get around to it. Traditional images of him feature the words, hodie and cras, Latin for today and tomorrow.

I’ve done it again, Lord,

and missed another deadline.

Why can’t I ever be on time?

 

Imagine if Noah had pulled an all-nighter

or the Magi had put off making travel plans—

I guess if salvation had depended on me,

your will would never be done!

 

But you also chose the less punctual to show your glory:

Jonah, the ultimate procrastinator

and the infamous stragglers who wound up first.

 

Yet, Lord, I know that now is the time

and today is the day of salvation.

So help me do what needs to be done—

today and not tomorrow.

Keep me focused on the path—

looking ahead and not behind.

 

With the help of St. Expeditus

and all who patiently wait for me,

teach me to order the chaos of my day,

that each moment may be spent wisely

in timely service to you.

 

Amen.

Copyright © Diana Macalintal

]]> http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/04/14/a-prayer-for-procrastinators-as-tax-day-approaches/feed/ 0 http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/03/09/ash-wednesday-resources/ http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/03/09/ash-wednesday-resources/#comments Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:22:21 +0000 Nick http://www.faithfieldguide.com/?p=806 Dust to dust: a reflection on Ash Wednesday (Faith Field Guide)

 

Ash Wednesday Quiz (Faith Field Guide)

 

What Works: What Are You Giving Up for Lent? (Busted Halo)

 

What’s That on Your Forehead? My Popular Ash Wednesday Post (Catechist’s Journey)

 

Sample Intercessions for Ash Wednesday (Diocese of San José)

 

My Lent: Ashes, Addiction, and the Reality of Hell (Pace Rob Bell)

 

 

Ash Wednesday in Two Minutes (Busted Halo)

 

 

 

 

Dust (Trinity Cathedral)

 

 

]]> http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/03/09/ash-wednesday-resources/feed/ 0 http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/03/07/dust-to-dust-a-reflection-on-ash-wednesday/ http://www.faithfieldguide.com/2011/03/07/dust-to-dust-a-reflection-on-ash-wednesday/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:59:36 +0000 Nick http://www.faithfieldguide.com/?p=794

The first time I celebrated Ash Wednesday in a Latino parish, I was overwhelmed. People were lined up around the block; they kept coming all day and well into the night. Old people with canes and walkers, middle aged folks, 20-somethings, children, teenagers. Some folks were well-dressed; others looked like they might be homeless. Most were silent, resisting the efforts of the parish musicians to get them to sing or participate in the prayers. Many took ashes away with them in little balls of tissue to mark those who could not come.

It was clear that for thousands of the people that came to that church that day—and millions of others in the universal church—Ash Wednesday is the one day of the year that they must come. They need to come for the ashes. I often wonder why. I wonder what they see in the ashes.

Perhaps they see the earth. We come from the earth, and we will return to the earth. Many Latinos have been denied their place on the earth, stripped from their land, pushed or pulled into an alien land. Some have come to Ash Wednesday across dry, parched earth that must have the same gritty feel against their skin as the black ashes the minister traces on their faces.

A day of hope

Some might see hope. When all we have has been reduced to ashes, leaving us unable to find food or shelter, and dreams and plans have been scorched beyond recognition, there is either total despair or last hope. This is the day, the Scriptures tell us. This is the day the Lord finally took pity. This has to be the day.

A day of salvation

Others possibly see salvation. Christ became sin, says St. Paul. That sin was nailed to the cross. On the crosses ashed onto our foreheads might be the drink—the drinks—I had this morning before coming to church. In the ashes might be the hands that touched me roughly, shamefully, when I was a child. On my forehead might be black thorns of loneliness and abandonment. Today might be that longed-for day. The day of salvation.

Fear and doubt

Some, no doubt, see their failure in the ashes. Their divorce. Their abortion. Their betrayal. Their meanness. Their greed. They—we—wear our failure “out loud,” praying God’s gift is not in vain. Praying we will rise up from the ashes of our disappointment.

Fasting
 
By refraining from eating, we signify our oneness with the Lord, acknowledge our need for conversion, and give witness to our solidarity with those less fortunate. Catholics who are eighteen years and older and in good health are bound until their fifty-ninth birthday by the obligation to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Traditionally, the canonical obligation of fasting has been understood in the Church as the taking of only one full meal a day.
 
Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

There is something fearful about the ashes. Black. Cold. Cross. Death. Who has come to Ash Wednesday seeing cancer in the ashes? AIDS? Old age? Death’s dirty grip is strong. Some come to look at it, to behold the cross, to declare the victory.

Some come to Ash Wednesday with torn hearts, seeing the blackness of their grief. Their mourning is deep, and their weeping seems to have no end. The future promise of Easter seems hollow and too far distant. And yet they come.

A time for justice

Others stand with us this day because the time for justice has come. The Just One destroyed the power of the powerful and restored the order of holiness. Those previously crossed out of life are now raised up by the victory of Christ. We see that victory in the cross we now wear on this day. This is the acceptable time.

Something more

A young woman I encountered on that overpowering Ash Wednesday years ago came because she saw these things and more. She stood before me, and I traced the grittiness and the hopefulness of the life of faith into her forehead. She then raised her infant up higher, toward my hand. “Mi niña también,” she whispered. (“My daughter too.”)

She saw the future in the ashes that day.

See also these related articles: How to forgive enemies—and loved ones Repentance: the art of staying on course My first (true) confession Dust to dust: a reflection on Ash Wednesday

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