There’s a phrase from the sports world, “setting a high bar.” It means raising the height of the jump just beyond the mark the athlete think he can clear.
McKenna
Solidarity – in Life, Death, and New Life (Mark 14:1-15:47)
by Tom McKenna, CM | April 17, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 1 Comment
A remark I once overheard: “I don’t mind suffering when nobody knows about it – as long as somebody knows about it!”
John 3:16 – Read It!
by Tom McKenna, CM | April 3, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
If you’ve watched any sports events over the last decades, you’ve seen banners held high, calling attention to a famous passage in John’s Gospel.
A Closer Walk (John 2:13-25)
by Tom McKenna, CM | March 20, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
Early in St. John’s gospel, we see Jesus resolutely striding into the outer courtyard of the Jerusalem Temple, a space bordering on what the Jewish people acknowledged to be God’s own Dwelling place.
Gratitude: The Key (1 Cor. 9: 16-19; Mk.1:29-39)
by Tom McKenna, CM | March 6, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
A question: what is it that allows people to keep on giving? What is it that motivates someone who isn’t receiving any reward or payment to continue being generous?
A Divine Bias? (Ps 146; I Cor 1:27-30)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 25, 2023 | Formation, Reflections
The word “bias” doesn’t have an especially pleasing connotation. It usually means an unfair leaning toward one group and a blindness toward its opposite.
Outbreaks of Glory (Isaiah 49:3)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 11, 2023 | Formation, Reflections
Every once in a while when reading the Scriptures, something lights up, jumps out into the present time and place.
Broadening The Frame (Matthew 15:21-8)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Aug 26, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
An important element in this nurturing is what could be described as a frame, the boundaries through which they have been taught to look out at the world.
Not Enough (Is 55; Rom 8:39; Mt 14:13-21)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Aug 12, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
An often-heard question: “Is there enough to go around?” Sometimes asked out of kindness, it can also arise out of fear.
Receiving Communion (Mt 10:40, Lk 10:16; Jn 13:20)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jul 29, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
After impressing on the disciples who he is and what he stands for, he declares, “whoever receives you receives me.”
Facial Recognition (Ps 145; Matthew 11:28-30)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jul 15, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
Among the many obstacles thrown up at us in this time of Covid virus is “facial confusion,” the difficulty in reading the mood and disposition of the person talking to me from behind the mask.
In The Details (Mt 10: 26-33)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jul 1, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
When searching for a story’s heart, sometimes a seemingly insignificant detail turns out to be key.
The One Body (Deuteronomy 8; 1 Cor 10:17; John 6:57)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jun 17, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
You, me, all of us together are the Body of Christ.
Reaching Across (1 Samuel:20)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jun 3, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
Especially in these fractious times, how to move more toward unity rather than separation? How to help others to see past tightly held identity markers?
Louise and Light (Isaiah 58: 5,10)
by Tom McKenna, CM | May 20, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
Yet while walking those somber corridors, St. Louise came to discover right there in the gloom a flickering light that held her on course.
Setting Out
by Tom McKenna, CM | May 6, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
We meet two people setting out on a journey, both with God in mind.