Dear Peregrina: I had lost track of the fact that today is the first year anniversary of a profound irruption of challenging experiences into your married relationship. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “irruption” in this way: “The action of bursting or breaking in; a violent entry, inroad, incursion, or invasion, esp. of a hostile force or tribe...  Read More

Dear Peregrina: I was thinking about this quote this morning from the writing of Anne Lamott: “I do not understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” Besides it being an insightful quote, I was struck by her use of the pronoun “it” to describe divine grace, and found myself wondering about this. Why? Because...  Read More

Dear Peregrina: I might as well admit that I feel awe whenever I have the chance to go visit Crater Lake, which I did recently, when I was driving on June 17th, making my way with Lexie (the car) towards Los Altos, CA, and to the Jesuit Retreat Center there, for the sake of directing the Long Retreat. One assumes that the awe induced there at Crater Lake in all but those deadest of soul has ...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: You gave to all of us in your talk this morning a substantial grace. Thank you. I find myself needing to take the time today, and perhaps for several days, to let have access to me all that you spoke. I have learned that all of us need to learn better that a significant grace may take a long time fully to absorb, and correctly to understand.What is it about divine grace that puzzles...  Read More

It is one of the beautiful things about good people that they feel deeply the effects of difficult, even grindingly hard, experiences happening to those whom they love. And often, it appears that such friends grieve more intensely than him or her into whose life came suddenly terrible news and incomprehensible sorrow. This capacity for empathy is...  Read More