From Season to Season

A few days ago, I began reading Uncommon Gratitude: Alleluia for All That Is , a book co-authored by Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B., and Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. While the premise of the book is fairly straightforward, it provides a perspective on life that hasn't been explored often before:  Life itself is an exercise in learning to sing alleluia here in order to recognize the face of God hidden in the recesses of time. To deal with the meaning of alleluia in life means to deal with moments that do not feel like alleluia moments at all... alleluia is not a substitute for reality. It is simply the awareness of another kind of reality--beyond the immediate, beyond the delusional, beyond the instant perception of things. One of the oldest anthems of the church, alleluia simply means "All hail to the One who is." It is the archhymn of praise, the ultimate expression of thanksgiving, the pinnacle of triumph, the acme of human joy. It say...

Almost immediately after Pope Francis announced his intention to canonize Blessed Junipero Serra—the priest who founded a number of missions in modern-day California in the early 18 th century—a veritable firestorm of criticism began. One of the most recent voices to weigh in is Ricardo Lara, a California state senator who wants to remove Serra’s statue from the U.S. Capital’s National Statuary Hall , citing that the Franciscan Friar was "too controversial."  The statue of Bl. Junipero Serra in National Statuary Hall. President Obama’s recent comments about the Crusades at the National Prayer Breakfast , the ongoing debate about Serra, and even the celebration of Saints Cyril and Methodius (along with the Saint Valentines... yes, Valentines ) on February 14 have led me to reflect on how we view the saints and what they should and could mean for us. In a recent editorial on this theme in America Magazine , Fr. James Martin, S.J., wrote: Canonization does n...