Lent and fasting also makes me think of avoiding waste. Of cherishing what we have - especially compared with other people in other countries. Enough food and clean water - what blessings they are. Remembering this, I think twice about how long I remain under the shower, and throwing away food feels very wrong ( Read more... )

We all have our crosses to carry in this life. Bigger ones, smaller ones, sometimes they seem heavier, sometimes we almost forget about them... And maybe sometimes we are close to desperation, wondering why, why us, why do we have to bear exactly this cross... And then later we look back and see the blessing in disguise. Or the reason why we had to ( Read more... )

A good friend of mine wrote: Goodness is its own reward. He could help me out with something I really felt strongly about, and I am very very grateful. Saying he doesn't want something for it, that goodness is its own reward - yes, words like these make me believe even more in the good in people. That really we ARE good inside. That we are not all ( Read more... )

This is not only for Lent. These are things I always want to try not to do.

One of them is lying. Why do we have to do things like say we're not home when we are, or say we did something when we really didn't... is it really worth it? To spare us a little bit of possible humility, do we have to forsake truth?

Another thing is hold grudges. I believe ( Read more... )

Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. Nine months before Christmas, we remember the day when the angel came to Mary and told her she was going to have a child ( Read more... )

I remember reading how Mother Teresa said we can always pray, we can pray while we work.... Prayer does not need to be something so detached, something separate. Yes there is a time for contemplation too, but that does not mean that somebody who prays has to neglect other things ( Read more... )

It is good to once again remember how miraculous this world, and especially LIFE, is! I look out the window and see the lights of surrounding houses. How special just something "simple" as this really is. The beauty of lights in the darkness. And every light could tell a story, of somebody who lives there, something that is taking place there right ( Read more... )

Why do we so often struggle with our destiny, with our situation? Because we are not satisfied with what we have ( Read more... )

What really is repentance ( Read more... )

Tonight at an evening mass at a church in Basel, the priest sad a short homily about the greatest commandments. Jesus says that thegreatest commandment is to love God, with all our heart, with all or understanding, with all our strength. And that there is a second that is like it: To love our neighbor as ourselves ( Read more... )