McKenna

In The Details (Mt 10: 26-33)

by Tom McKenna, CM | July 1, 2020 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments

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 | June 17, 2020 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments

You, me, all of us together are the Body of Christ.

Reaching Across (1 Samuel:20)

by Tom McKenna, CM | June 3, 2020 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments

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 | 3 Comments

Yet while walking those somber corridors, St. Louise came to discover right there in the gloom a flickering light that held her on course.

The Body and Blood of Christ (Exodus 24:3-8; Mk 14:22-26)

by Tom McKenna, CM | Jun 2, 2021 | Formation, Reflections

There are actions that in their very enactment communicate more depth and meaning than the words that surround them.

Experiencing The Spirit’s Descent (Acts 10: 25-48)

by Tom McKenna, CM | May 19, 2021 | Formation, Reflections

When we meet love in our lives, we are experiencing The Spirit.

Setting Out (Acts 9:1-20)

by Tom McKenna, CM | May 5, 2021 | Formation, Reflections

As far as beginnings go, we’d have to look far and wide to find something more dramatic than the one portrayed in chapter 9 of the Acts of the Apostles: Paul knocked over and blinded on that Damascus road.

McKenna – Seeing better in the Vincentian Family

by John Freund, CM | Aug 19, 2015 | Formation, Reflections

In "Seeing Better" In the Vincentian Family Father Tom McKenna, CM asks what change goes on in anybody who steps inside Vincent's circle? (Homily at a gathering of the Vincentian Family in Belleville, Illinois 2010). ---------- Here's a good 21st Century question for...

There’s Authority and There’s Authority – Fr. Tom McKenna

by John Freund, CM | Aug 8, 2015 | Formation, Reflections

In Matthew’s 10th chapter, Jesus calls the disciples together and, as it says, “gives them authority” over the unclean spirits and diseases and illnesses. And by authority, Matthew means the power Jesus himself has been exercising, Jesus’ own power given Him by the...

The Giver in the Gift – Fr. Tom McKenna

by John Freund, CM | Aug 2, 2015 | Formation, Reflections

“The Giver In The Gift” - From what to who [Jn. 6, 24-35] Some years ago, there was a bestselling book entitled “My Grandfather’s Blessing.” It was about a relationship between a Jewish girl and her grandparent, who happened to be a Rabbi. As a sidebar theme, it...

Setting Up the “Grassy Places” Fr. Tom McKenna

by John Freund, CM | Jul 25, 2015 | Formation, Reflections

Setting Up the “Grassy Places” (John 6: 1-15), 17th Sunday To shake off some of the dust of familiarity from this very familiar scene in the Gospel (the multiplication of the loaves), let’s set it against its deeper backdrop. First off, there’s the condition of these...

Vincentians – A Reconciling Tradition

by John Freund, CM | Jul 19, 2015 | Formation, Reflections

“to be in this Family of Vincent and Frederick (and all its other peace-bringers) is to be influenced by this reconciling strain in the Family history”theme of being a reconciler, a bringer of peace, a person who would stand in the middle and work to bring disparate sides together.”

Fasting … vows with open hands

by John Freund, CM | Jul 15, 2015 | Daughters of Charity, Formation

On this happy day of Sr. Ellen Reilly’s vows, I hold out to you what might seem to be a strange topic: fasting. It’s got somber associations with negative things like restraint and refraining and penance. How does all that fit into an upbeat event like this? For one...