How would aliens reconstruct skulls that they discovered here on Earth?

Friday, March 25 marks the 35th anniversary of the publication of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Mother of the Redeemer in 1987. One might ask, “Why should I care about such an anniversary?” However, the Church does care about it, asking herself how the anniversary of a teaching document might speak to us in the light of changed circumstances. The anniversary, if we attend to it, renews the grace of the original event.

There’s a saying in the Media Literacy Education community: “Media Literacy isn’t just teaching with media, it’s teaching about media.” I believe this could also apply to prayer and the media: “Let’s not just pray with media (e.g., praying with a prayer app), let’s pray about the entire world of media itself.”

As the world feels like it might give way into dust, I’m clinging to a promise of hope. I can still feel the faint dry spot on my forehead where it was marked with ashes. We haven’t been promised permanence, and that annoys me. And still. The eternal Word promised to be with us always. Hope is falling, even here.

A close friend of mine had a friend who was dying of cancer. When this man got his diagnosis his wife left him. She had never envisioned a life in which she would have to care for a dying husband. I have no idea whether she was incredibly shallow or had some severe phobia about disease and death.

The carnage has begun. Is there any way it can end without the annihilation of Ukraine? NATO has (rightly) refused to enter the fray, fearing that its participation will lead to the further spread of war and possibly to nuclear war. Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are having no effect on the fighting. It may be months before economic sanctions bring Russia to its knees. Ukraine’s heroic defence is no match in the short run for Russia’s military might.

The world sits on the edge of its collective seat as the horror of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to unfold.

When I first met Jesus at age 15, I was gung-ho for penances, self-sacrifice, offering up little sufferings, practicing mortifications, etc. In fact, I had picked up somewhere along the line that agony was the essence of Christianity and sanctity.

There is an old saying, “Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.” The truth is that we are all a complex blend of saint and sinner whose scales of sanctity teeter on a delicate balance throughout life.

In February I decided to read Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. It was written 702 years ago and remains an exhausting, thrilling ride of the imagination. In essence, it’s one long poem that reads like an adventure novel, though few novelists have ever written a story so rich and holy.