November 5 I love curling up on the couch with a book as the weather turns cold. It's so cozy sitting there as the first snowflakes of the season fall outside the windows. Upstate New York brings those first flakes early, so I've already begun to enjoy that lovely pastime. With it, I've had the chance to reflect on snow days and stories. One of my favorite stories ever written is J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy; today's saint has left a legacy that lives in that story as well as in...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
September 24 My parish has an adult Bible study before Sunday mass. One of the passages we read today was Jesus' Great Commission to preach the Good News (Mt 28:19-20). We had a good discussion about ways to reach out and the importance of empathy. Today's story of a saint was one I had already planned on doing; it seemed especially appropriate in light of what others in our group shared today of the challenge and joy of being Christian. Blessings! ~ Dr. Eric St. Jerome with the Lion. From an...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read
September 17 When I travel with my parents, I have a tendency to drag them to sites off the normal tourist track (though I have trouble understanding what Massachusetts tourist wouldn't stop at the local Russian icon museum!). We had the good fortune to be together in South Korea and there I convinced them to go to Jeolduson—the hill of beheading, where hundreds of Koreans died for their faith. The shrine and museum there aren't designed for English-speaking tourists, but one could feel the...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read
September 2 The past couple weeks have been an exciting time for me as she and I moved into our first home that we actually own. It's been years in the making. Given how many people today find owning a house out of reach, we know how lucky we are or, rather, how God has blessed us. He took a while, but He works in His own time for our good. Today's saint is one of the great men of Africa whom God slowly brought from violence into poverty and peace. The grace God showed him and the example...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read
August 20 One of my loves is theater, and there is a long tradition of Catholic drama. It gave people joy during medieval festivals and continued to enlighten them in early modern times. Jesuit theater actually invented a number of techniques still used today such as having a trap door in the middle of the stage for actors to use in making dramatic entrances and exits. Today's saint is perhaps the earliest example of Christian theater. Blessings! ~ Dr. Eric Dr. Eric (right) and other teachers...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read
August 13 I've always loved the Franciscans. From the beginning, the Franciscan family had three branches: the male friars, lay "third-order" associates, and the contemplative women founded by St. Clare, the formidable lady of Assisi. Here is her story. Blessings! ~ Dr. Eric Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Clare. Cima da Conegliano, ca. 1510. Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access. St. Clare: The Medieval Patron of Television My first encounter with Saint Clare came on a Franciscan...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read
August 5 Today's saint is the secret to a good summer grill session. He's also the saint to rely on for standing up at a comedy roast or avoiding roasting in a house. It is a joy to introduce St. Lawrence, deacon of Rome and martyr. Blessings! ~ Dr. Eric St. Lawrence holding a grill. Manuscript Illumination with Saint Lawrence in an Initial C, from a Gradual. Don Simone Camaldolese. Italian, Florentine. ca. 1380–90. Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access. Dying Laughing: The Weird Humor of...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read
July 29 I apologize again for the missing email from last week. The blog post is available directly on the website and I have just sent that email as a follow-up. Here is the reflection for this week: lessons from two American martyrs in the process of canonization on the beauty, power, and sacrificial nature of vocation. Blessings! ~ Dr. Eric Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, where Fr. Stan ministered and died. Photo by LarissaGomez. Wikimedia Commons CC 4.0. The Shepherd Cannot Run: Joy, Sacrifice,...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read
July 18 I apologize for this email. It appears not to have gone out last week as it was scheduled. Of course, we're all imperfect, which is appropriate for the saint in this missed email. With God's grace, our mistakes don't detract from our holiness. Instead they give us the opportunity to grow more fervently in love with Him as He wipes them away in His mercy. Blessings! ~ Dr. Eric Mary Magdalene and companions at the foot of the cross. Ecuador, 18th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art Open...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read