Prayer is both our overarching theme and our underlying foundation during Lent (and during life!). Without it, nothing moves forward or expands outward. So today, even for just five minutes, sit with God in prayer. Don’t just move your lips; open the “ear of your heart,” as St. Benedict instructed. Prayer is not just talking; it is listening for the Spirit to speak to us, but that can only happen when we settle down in silence and pay attention with our very being.

If you’d like to continue this conversation on prayer, listen to the newest Life Lines podcast: “Living on a Prayer: Inspiration for Lent and Beyond” at the link below. And don’t forget to the subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss any episodes!

The post Prayer is a non-negotiable on the Lenten journey appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

You can get this book in the standard pocket-sized version for only $1.99. If you buy 50 or more — for, say, a parish, a group, or a really big family — the price drops to 99 cents a copy. What a deal! It’s perfect for carrying in a purse or a pocket. Easy to take with you so you don’t miss a day. You can also get a large-print version for only $5.95, which is really nice if you prefer to keep this in your personal prayer space or on a nightstand and like a book with a little more heft. You can get the e-book for only 99 cents, if digital is more your speed. And you can get any of those variations in Spanish. Something for everyone. (Order soon so there are no issues with potential shipping delays, as has been common during COVID.)

This is my fifth book of seasonal Scripture reflections for Liturgical Press. I want to thank all those who have journeyed through past Advent, Lent and Easter seasons with me. I hear from so many of you, and I am so grateful for your emails, letters, comments, and observations.

If you go to the Liturgical Press website, you can get a taste of what’s inside this year’s book. They have the introduction and the first two reflections posted HERE.

Here’s an excerpt from the introduction:

“It’s easy to think, as we begin yet another Lenten journey, that we know the drill. We’ve been here before; we know what’s coming. But the truth is that Scripture is a living thing, always new. I know this firsthand because every time I sit down to write a Lenten reflection about a Scripture passage I’ve heard or read too many times to count, something jumps out at me and makes me say, ‘How did I not notice that before?’ We hear every Scripture reading differently depending on where we are on our life journey, our spiritual journey, or maybe just what side of the bed we woke up on that day. God meets us where we are, and, if we’re paying attention, we can hear God, see God, recognize God in unlikely places, in stories we think we know. When we take time to listen for the still small voice, a scene, a sentence, a word calls out to us as if surrounded by blinking neon lights along a dark
highway, and we are found, even if only for a few minutes…

“…To be honest, there were many days when I sat down with a set of Scripture readings and could not imagine what I might have to say that could be helpful to you. But, after sitting with the Scriptures, reading and rereading, taking them for a walk, sharing a cup of coffee with them as the sun rose outside my window, something always found its way off the page and into my heart, like a delicate shoot pushing through the cold, hard earth of winter into the warmth and light of spring.”

If you begin this journey with me on Ash Wednesday, which falls on February 17, we will be awaiting the delicate green shoots of spring by the time we wrap up on Easter Sunday, April 4. For some — like my family and friends in my old stomping grounds in Austin, Texas — spring will be pushing toward summer at that point. For those of us in the northeast, snow could still be on the ground. Regardless of geographic location, however, we will all have traversed the desert of Lent and Holy Week to emerge into the lush landscape of Easter and resurrection. I would be so grateful if you’d let me walk with you.

The post Lent is coming fast. Don’t go it alone. appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

These are not your average Scripture reflections. Wherever I am in my spiritual life at the time I’m writing, that’s what you’ll get. Titles such as “A Spiritual Tattoo,” “Grit and Grace,” Code Blue” and “The Space Between.” Think less heady, more real. In other words, I don’t write like a theologian but like the person who sits next to you in the pew.

To top it off, this is a totally affordable option. Only $2 per copy, and if you buy in bulk of 50 copies or more, that price drops to $1 per copy. Just click HERE and place your order. The regular edition is pocket size, so you can carry it with you wherever you go; there is a large-print edition which is larger. (Local friends: I do have copies for purchase if you’re buying small amounts. PM me to let me know how many you want to buy.)

Here’s what two of my favorite Catholic writers had to say about my book of reflections:

If you have ever fallen short of your Lenten resolutions, take this book with you wherever you go this Lent! Whether waiting at a doctor’s office, silently sitting outdoors during your lunch break, or deliberately spending time with Jesus at Adoration, Mary DeTurris Poust’s insightful words in Not by Bread Alone will walk you through each day’s Scripture readings, helping you reflect and meditate on the graces waiting for you during this beautiful season of Lent. Day by day, moment-by-moment, this Lent can, and will, be different. — Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda is an award-winning author, including, The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run: Fr. Stanley Rother, Martyr from Oklahoma and Rosemary Nyirumbe: Sewing Hope in Uganda

And another:

“Some years we approach our Lenten disciplines with a sense of
enthusiasm; we’re ready for the challenge of the desert; we know
we will emerge stronger for our time spent thirsting, climbing, and
stepping forward in faith. In other years, we may look at Lent with
wary eyes, all too familiar with the weight of our faults, and
daunted by the bright empty heat into which we must carry them,
until we find Jesus, to whom they may be surrendered. Whether
you are anticipating Lent as an adventure to be embraced or as a
scorching sojourn made in heat and light, Not by Bread Alone is the
perfectly balanced Lenten companion for your daily contemplation.
Mary DeTurris Poust has a peculiar gift for finding the common
experiences with which we can all identify and rendering them into
profound meditations that are both consoling and instructive—the
perfect assist through a season of wandering and hope.”
— Elizabeth Scalia, author of Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols
in Everyday Life and Little Sins Mean a Lot

The post Looking for a Lenten guide? Here you go! appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

Grace is one of those elusive things. We kind of get it in an indefinable sort of way, and yet it can be so hard to grasp, like trying to catch a cloud. We know we need grace to get through this life, to get through this day, but it can be easy to miss, even when it’s right there in front of us. We have to want it and watch for it. But how do you watch for something when you’re not quite sure what you should be looking for?

Back when I was writing “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Catholic Catechism,” I struggled to define grace in a way that would make sense to people, especially people who may have never contemplated that word or what it might mean in their lives. To make matters worse, we Catholics get into categorizing kinds of grace: sanctifying or deifying, habitual, sacramental, and even special graces and states of grace. If we’re not careful, we can begin to believe that grace is so complex and lofty it’s off limits to just-struggling-to-get-through-every-day kind of people. The reality is, it’s ours for the taking.

Grace is a gift we get for no other reason than simply showing up in this life and turning toward God. The catechism defines grace as the “free and undeserved help that God gives us.” Or, to put it another way—with a rock-star spin: “What once was hurt, what once was friction, what left a mark, no longer stings. Because grace makes beauty out of ugly things. Grace finds beauty in everything. Grace finds goodness in everything.” That’s a line from the U2 song “Grace,” and it really is a perfect description— so simple and yet so beautiful, like that silver necklace sent years ago by a long-distance friend, and which now hangs from my neck once again.

My friend Cathy A., whom I have never met in person, had become such a close virtual friend, a soul sister, really, that she knew instinctively when I needed some grace, even if it had to be mailed directly to my house in a padded envelope. That’s how grace works—not literally, but spiritually—arriving when we least expect it, in surprising packages, from far-off places or maybe from right next door. It’s there, if we keep our hearts open, coming at us from all directions, lifting us up and carrying us forward.

Grace does not punish or seek an eye for an eye. Grace does not exist in a what-goes-around-comes-around reality. Grace supersedes all of those human constraints and goes straight for the heart. Grace heals, grace saves, grace loves—always.

As we journey through these last days of Holy Week, we know all too well that we must go through absolute darkness and desperation to get to the ultimate light and salvation of Easter. But even in darkness there is grace, maybe especially in darkness. Even in the cross of Good Friday, even in the cross that casts a shadow across your life today, whatever it may be.

Before I wrapped up this column, I signed on to Twitter and saw this tweet from Pope Francis: “If we learn to read everything in light of the Holy Spirit, we realize that everything is grace!” Maybe grace isn’t so elusive after all. Maybe it’s right there in front of you. Grab it now before it slips away.

This column first appeared in the April 13, 2017, issue of Catholic New York.

The post Finding grace, even in the shadow of the cross appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

The post He is risen. Alleluia. Alleluia appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

We see Jesus on the cross today and hear him forgiving his persecutors, forgiving us. It is a powerful scene, but it is more than just a scene out of our faith history. Jesus’ way is supposed to be our way. Forgive, forgive, forgive, even in the face of the most unreasonable suffering and injustice. Are we willing to forgive as Jesus did?

Today you will be with me in Paradise.

The “good thief” has always been a favorite of mine. Imagine in your last dying moment that you utter a few kind words and are assured by Jesus himself that you will be in heaven with him that day. It would be nice to assume that in that situation I would have taken the path of belief, like the good thief, but there is a much bigger part of me that probably would have been like the unrepentant thief, expecting mercy and miracles despite faithlessness.

Woman, behold your son…

At last a comfort in the midst of all this misery. God gives us a mother for all time. He reminds us that his mother is our mother, who, with a mother’s unconditional love, will open her arms to us when we are desperate, when we are hurting, when we are searching for peace and a way back to the Father.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Despair, despair. If Jesus can feel despair, what hope is there for me? Then again, Jesus’ moment of despair reminds me of his humanness and that gives me hope even in this dark moment. God became man, walked on earth, suffered torture and death beyond our comprehension. My God is fully human and fully divine. My God knows what it means to live this earthly life, and so my God knows my small sufferings and heartaches and will not turn His back on me.

I thirst.

The wretched physical anguish of the Crucifixion is coming to bear. It is almost too much for us to take. Jesus, water poured out for the world, thirsts. And yet in the midst of this suffering, we remember Jesus’ words to the woman at the well, the woman to whom he first revealed his identity: “…whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.” (John 4:14)

It is finished.

Jesus has completed his mission of redemption. Darkness descends, the earth shakes, the temple curtain tears in two. We see Jesus’ anguish near its end. We should be reduced to trembling at the enormity of his suffering, his gift to us. Unlike his followers who were plunged into fear and despair at this moment, we have the benefit of hindsight. We know what is coming. We know that his Crucifixion was cause for our salvation. His death a victory. His earthly end our eternal beginning.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

Jesus is going back to the Father, back to where he started before time began, but he will not leave us orphans. We patiently wait to celebrate his Resurrection, to rejoice in our unearned windfall. We wait, pray, watch, listen — hopeful, trusting, faithful. We begin our vigil now, waiting for the darkness to turn to light.

Stained glass window from the Mary Chapel at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Delmar, NY.

The post Seven Last Words: a Good Friday reflection appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

“So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feel. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

–John 13: 12-15

Detail of stained glass window from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany.

The post Holy Thursday: “I have given you a model to follow.” appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

I’ve always had a tiny bit of a soft spot for Judas Iscariot. I know. It sounds crazy at best, traitorous at worst, but it’s true. When I hear today’s Gospel and fast-forward in my mind to what I know is coming, I ache a little for what I have to assume was terribly misguided good intention on Judas’s part.

Surely he didn’t want Jesus killed. He thought Jesus would prove himself once and for all. When he finally realizes what he’s done, Judas does something even worse than his betrayal: he doubts God’s mercy. We all know that had he gone to Jesus, even as Jesus hung on the cross, Judas would have been forgiven. But Judas just didn’t really grasp who Jesus was, despite living with him and witnessing miracle upon miracle. Judas was too focused on worldly things and his own agenda.

How many of us fall into the same trap, molding Jesus into someone who fits our own worldview or agenda, and at the same time underestimating the love and mercy that is ours even when we disappoint, betray, injure, and fail?

We all harbor at least a sliver of Judas somewhere deep inside. Jesus lets us make our choices, even bad ones, but opens his arms to offer us forgiveness again and again. Do we, unlike Judas, understand the enormity of God’s mercy?

Give Us This Day is a monthly personal prayer subscription periodical with Scripture readings for each day; Morning, Evening, and Night Prayer; daily reflections; and more. Click HERE to learn more.

The post We each harbor at least a sliver of Judas appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

I talked about all of this over on the Morning Air Show on Relevant Radio this week. If you missed the show yesterday, you can listen here today. I’m up first, so you can just click play and my interview will come up right after the intro.

The post Lent: How are you doing one week into the journey? Listen now for encouragement from yours truly appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.

The first step to developing a healthy relationship with food and turning our meals into moving meditations is to become more mindful about everything surrounding our meals, from the foods we choose, to the atmosphere around us, to our mealtime conversations and habits.

Today I’ve got the perfect little bonus for those of you looking to get a better handle on your meals and your mindfulness. Ave Maria Press has created the beautiful bookmark you see on the right, giving you the Cliff Note’s version of how to transform meals into meditations. Keep it in your favorite book, or, even better, post in on the fridge where it’s more likely to hit you at the exact right time. Leave one in your car or at your desk if you tend to eat on the go or while you work.

You can download the bookmarks here in sets of two or five. Print them out for your personal use or for use with a group of like-minded friends. Support is always good when it comes to battling food issues!

Cravings set of five bookmarks

Cravings set of two bookmarks

If you’d like to take this to a deeper level, check out my book Cravings: A Catholic Wrestles with Food, Self-Image, and God, which offers a thorough look at the connection between food and spirituality as well as practical exercises to get you moving in the right direction.

The post Changing your meals from mindless to mindful appeared first on Not Strictly Spiritual.