Inspired by Scholastica

Apocryphal stories about Mary Magdalene depict her as a penitent prostitute or a woman with seven devils. There is no validity for this in Scripture. She was always one of the women disciples who accompanied Jesus and stayed with him at the crucifixion. After his death, she came to the empty tomb to anoint the body and, instead, encountered Jesus in the garden. She was then commissioned to tell the apostles the good news of Jesus being alive. Of course, the apostles did not believe she had seen the Lord and had to see for themselves. They probably thought Jesus would appear to Peter or John first. They had their eyes opened. Not until recently did the Catholic Church acknowledge Mary Magdalene's importance. St. Thomas Aquinas named her the "apostle to the apostles." A few years ago, Pope Francis elevated her memorial to a feast, like the other apostles. Hers is a familiar story of women not being believed or considered important. Throughout much of history, women have bee

The new James Webb Space Telescope, which reveals the depths of space back to the beginning of time, made exciting news this week. The little square on our screen with thousands of colored pinpricks represents a minuscule section of space with myriads of galaxies, stars, and dark holes that are light years away. The ordinary person finds this hard to grasp, but astronomers and astrophysicists are thrilled at  how much more they will be able to learn about the universe with this high-powered telescope.  I am sure the prophets and psalmists, who proclaimed the wonders of creation perceived only with the human eye, had no idea what more there was to see. Yet, they knew God had created a magnificent universe and they praised God for all that he had made. They would have run out of words had they really beheld the mysteries beyond the wonders they saw. And how do we react to these magnificent revelations? Certainly most of us are awestruck, amazed, flabbergasted. The mystery of the universe

Recently, I was reading about waking up to gratitude - gratitude for being alive, for being healthy, for having a comfortable bed, for having air conditioning, for having a shower with hot and cold water. I thought of how many people in the world have none of these things. Most of us just take them for granted, but we need to consciously give thanks. As I begin each day, I find so many more things to be grateful for: freshly brewed coffee, orange juice, fresh bread, and a choice of fruit. Then, I look outside, and I rejoice in the trees and multi-colored flowers, the squirrels and birds, the bees pollinating the flowers, the sun brightening my world. Awareness fills my soul with gratitude. As I open my eyes wider, I rejoice in family and friends, for TV, computers, dishwashers, and phones and electricity to make them work. I pick up a book I'm reading and am glad for writers and poets who lift my spirits. I see children playing in the yard and smile at their clever antics and energ