We’ve all heard the term “mood music.” It refers to the power music has to set a tone, move us through different feeling states.

by Tom McKenna, CM | March 22, 2023 | Formation, Reflections | 1 Comment
One of the heaviest of feelings is the one of being alone. You hear it in the cry of an infant, and more generally you catch it in the forlorn look of any lonely person.
by Tom McKenna, CM | March 8, 2023 | Formation, Reflections | 6 Comments
How many times have you heard people use the phrase, “I finally woke up?”
by Tom McKenna, CM | February 22, 2023 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
Some of the traits which come out in the Samaritan woman as she interacts with Jesus at the noonday well could paint her as a hard-hearted and difficult lady.
by Tom McKenna, CM | February 8, 2023 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
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.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 2, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
We’ve all heard the term “mood music.” It refers to the power music has to set a tone, move us through different feeling states.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 18, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
“God” is not just another word, but rather the designation of the overflowing reality at the heart of everything.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 4, 2020 | Formation, Reflections
In his unaffected way, he was voicing a truth that runs across the whole length of the Bible and all down the avenues of our faith: “I give help because I have been helped.”
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jun 8, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
“What Do I Do, Lord?” Gospel/Vincentian Discernment (Acts 1; John 15) There’s what you might call a woman’s quip about the man supposedly being the one who pursues the woman. It runs, “He chased her and he chased her and he chased her – until she caught him!” You...
by Tom McKenna, CM | May 25, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
St. Louise: Moving Toward Love (Is. 58: Mt. 25) There’s a famous quote attributed to Mark Twain: When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much...
by Michael Whalen, CM | May 15, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
For multiple and varied reasons the month of May has come to be associated with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In the United States it is the month in which Mother’s Day, First Communions, many ordinations and weddings are celebrated. It is also associated in the...
by Tom McKenna, CM | May 11, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
The Saints as Bibliography Acts 4:8 There’s a writer who characterizes the lives of the saints as “bibliographic entries onto the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.” A bibliography: a series of additions to the one story; i.e., variations on how Jesus’ story plays...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Apr 27, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
First, some scene-setting. You’re there with these other disciples, and this Jesus person is right in front of you looking you in the eye. He’s in the process of making this claim: “I and God are one. What you hear coming from my mouth is coming from God’s mouth.” And...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Apr 13, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
The Faces of God John 8:14 I once came across a psychological test aiming to measure a person’s trust in life or fear of it, life understood in its most general sense as existence or reality. It was getting at the question, “Down at your instinctual level, do...
by John Freund, CM | Apr 2, 2016 | Formation, Spirituality and Spiritual Practice
In a world of extremes, the Vincentian Family embraces a wide spectrum of approaches to addressing spiritual and material poverty. [Click here to view the complete listing of the hundreds of Catholic Religious, Lay Associations, and Non-Catholic groups founded in the...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 16, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
“Soaked Through and Through by Sense of God’s Reality” - Psalm 82 My Father loved and listened to classical music. Looking back on that, it’s a bit surprising because he was from a working class home, never graduated high school, played semi-pro football, and so on....
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 2, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
“Not Just Interesting, But Moving” (Exodus 3; Psalm 103) There’s a difference between things that are interesting and things that are intriguing, between things which make us curious and things which actually move us. I can pick up a score of a symphony and...