Jonathan Ryan's Blog, page 12

Things Keeping Us Going: Winter Weather Edition

Here in New England, this winter has been rather mild—until this past week. We began the week with a short snowfall that only dropped a few inches of snow. It was just enough for everything to look like a ski resort brochure. For those of us from hearty northern stock, having a few days of […]

Dark Devotional: Who Recognizes Jesus?

Sunday’s Gospel leaves me with some questions. The first one is about who among us recognizes Jesus? The second is, who does Jesus address in this situation? Let us go back a little bit. Jesus is not exactly catapulted to the top tier of society – not that I’m sure he’d want to be there. […]

Was St. Joseph a Jerk?

  “Was St. Joseph ever a jerk?” The young woman asking the question had already asked it of Mary and Jesus, and much to her chagrin the answer had been no—they were perfectly sinless. She stood on the steps illuminated by Christmas lights, worry lines showing on her forehead. The young woman has autism and […]

TKUG for January 25th

This is our first Things Keeping Us Going of the new semester AND of the new Biden-Harris administration. So, there is a busy week ahead of us. Knowing that, I should have spent more time getting stuff done this past weekend. Instead, I played with my grandson–The Very Best Baby–and then, inspired by Amanda Gorman’s […]

When a Good Catholic Girl Goes Bad

  I was so skinny as a teenager that the pediatrician started asking concerned questions about my relationship to food. Really I was just skinny, but she was right to ask. She said, “It’s the good ones you have to worry about. It’s the conscientious, high-performing kids who get eating disorders.” I was a good […]

Dark Devotional: Haunted by God

  Four years ago, I parked my wheelchair behind the rows of pews in the mostly empty church before the baptism of one of my nieces. I bent my head in silent meditation, so it seemed to any on-lookers that I was lost in prayer. Was I though? I don’t think at that time I’d […]

Prayers of the Faithful on Inauguration Day

Please pray with us for our country:   For taking the planet’s resources for granted, Lord have mercy. For putting immigrants in cages, Lord have mercy. For tolerating rampant racism and misogyny, Lord have mercy. For the theft of native lands for profit, Lord have mercy. For trampling upon the mentally ill and the vulnerable, […]

TKUG–Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Edition

photo by Wikimedia commons   It is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the US. In past years, I would enthusiastically share quotes on social media, read children’s books about the man and his work to my young students, and occasionally attend the powerful service that the St. James Baptist Church in […]

Dark Devotional: You Will Be Called

  [Andrew] first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” — which is translated Christ —. Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” — which is translated Peter. –John 1:41-42 You are […]

Things Keeping Us Going for January 11th

It’s been a rough week around our nation. For me, my preschool classroom has been a sanctuary from the Covid-19 surge and the insurrection at our capitol. It has given me tremendous hope to see these tiny humans play and learn together. They work REALLY hard at managing their big feelings, and showing kindness to […]