Through the ages, the episode of Moses and the burning bush has figured into the religious experience of many.
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by Tom McKenna, CM | July 24, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
Images for God — metaphors and visuals that catch something more fundamental and grounded than ideas for God.
by Tom McKenna, CM | July 10, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
We all know the phrase, “getting to the bottom of it.” It means digging down beneath the outside appearances to the inner core of something
by Tom McKenna, CM | June 26, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
I remember a man complaining that there was too much dissention in his family. He used a memorable phrase to describe their connections: “In a given month, who’s in and who’s out?”
by Tom McKenna, CM | June 12, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 4 Comments
The motto on the great seal of the United States is the Latin “E Pluribus Unum.” It’s translated: “Out of the Many, One.”
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 23, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
Through the ages, the episode of Moses and the burning bush has figured into the religious experience of many.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 9, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
In a Lukan parable, Jesus uses the image of “storing,” accumulating and building up a certain quality inside one’s heart.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 23, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
“Call,” a notion that figures prominently in the Scriptures, God summoning people to change direction. Heading nowhere in particular, someone senses an inner prod to take some new course.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Sep 13, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
A paraphrase of the opening line today from Isaiah reads: “How beautiful are the feet of the one who brings glad tidings, announces peace, carries good news, tells us that our salvation is here and now, and does all this by a life-changing proclamation. And that is,...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Aug 30, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
What Kind of God? (Wisdom 12:13-16; Psalm 135) I ask you to think of a particular boss in one of the jobs you’ve had over the years and also to recall the different ways in which you felt that boss regarded you. Did you feel he or she was indifferent to you, was...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Aug 16, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
Expecting and Seeing (Matthew 13:13) Some time ago I went to see a touring art exhibit featuring Monet’s water lilies. Laid out in three big murals that were hung together, it wrapped around the room to give the visitor a sense of being right there at the pond’s edge....
by Tom McKenna, CM | Aug 2, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
The Vincentian Witness Not that God needs it, but in today's culture do you ever get the urge to stand up for God? A spiritual writer recounted a conversation with a college friend after not seeing him for years. After catching up, the friend told him he had heard the...
by John Freund, CM | Aug 2, 2017 | Formation, Reflections, Systemic change
Today, as we hear the cry of your abandoned children, may we run to their assistance” as someone who runs to put out a fire”. May we not limp along favoring one leg.
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jul 19, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
Vincent’s Praying-Acting Cycle Years ago I heard Fr. Robert Maloney say something about St. Vincent de Paul I never forgot. “Hardly have I ever read somebody who could come down on one side of an issue and then 50 pages later say something the exact opposite.” And...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jul 5, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
To Be A Gospel Sign (John 6:30) In John’s gospel, the crowd in Capernaum asks Jesus, “What sign can you do for us?” To catch the full meaning here, it’s important to know John’s special use of the word ‘sign.’ He doesn’t mean it in the ordinary sense of one thing that...
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jun 21, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
“Come on In” (Ex 34, 2 Cor 13, John 3:16) The Feast of the Holy Trinity is an especially daunting one for the preacher. How even to touch on it, this Mystery of mysteries? A tentative step is by way of the imagination, and so I ask you to put yourself imaginatively...
by Famvin Media Resources | Jun 9, 2017 | Formation
Did you know that on the grounds of St. Vincent’s Seminary and the Vincentian Family Office in Philadelphia, adjacent to the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, there is a more than 100-year-old oak tree grown from a seed of St. Vincent’s oak which still stands near his...