2012.
Have you heard the bad news?
The world is going to end.
Yes. I know, I know: another 2012 joke.
Its overdone, used too much,
and while we used to laugh,
it is a little bit canned by this point.
But its true, you know.
The world is going to end.
Maybe not this year, but it will.
Your world is going to end.

I am thinking of the story in the gospel about the woman and the two gold coins (Lk 21:1-4). On the face of it, it is a story about an act of selflessness and faith. Every time we place money in a box, we do so with the hope that whoever takes it will put it to good use. For the woman in the story, though, it is an act of faith with very serious physical repercussions that left her completely at the mercy of others. We have to hope …

I will be ordained a deacon in twelve days..
But…you know….who is counting.
The question comes: “So, are you nervous?”
The response: I have no idea what I am.
How do I explain that every day my stomach
wants to jump out of my mouth?
My prayer life is rocky, I cannot focus,
and I am completely restless.
How do I explain that my line of conscious thought
is whipping around like a downed power cable or a firehose;

It is not Pascal’s wager…except maybe on my worst days. It is not blind man’s bluff…except when I cannot feel Her presence. It is not the God of the Gaps…except for when I look at Hubble images. God is not any of these things, really, except for when I need Him to be. Then I turn to those old proofs because, at the time, I cannot recognize God in the here and now. I need the structure because I cannot always find the presence of Grace on my own.
Yet, when …