Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 15

February 4, 2020

“My Son Absalom!”

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Consider the life and death of Absalom.

He was David’s third son and possibly his favorite of his older group of sons. He inherited David’s good looks—and other less admirable attributions. Angered by the rape of his sister by one of their half-brothers, Absalom waited two years, then killed the half-brother. Three years in self-imposed exile followed before...

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Published on February 04, 2020 05:43

February 2, 2020

Martyrdom, and What You Won’t Find in Brotherhood of Saints

I’m closing in on 25 percent complete onBrotherhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration(thinkSisterhood of Saints,only guys). That’s a good thing, since it’s due to the publisher on May 10 (to be published in October!).

Each day, I listen to whoever wants to talk. I’m waiting for the Doctors of the Church to be ready; they aren’t yet, but I know they will be. After all, they’re wise teachers, correct? And their feast days are saved for slots in the page-a-day format.

But lately, a lot...

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Published on February 02, 2020 04:44

February 1, 2020

Friends in Faith: Jean Sweeney

I wanted to include a short profile of my friendJean Sweeney in an upcoming book, but when Jean read it, she said I had given her “too much credit” for ministry to a friend. In typical Jean fashion, she went on to say she hadn’t been doing that much recently anyway… like helpingwomen who were formerly incarcerated and are dealing with the difficulty of finding jobs, of reuniting with their families, of struggling with substance abuse. Like letting a woman live with her for weeks until the...
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Published on February 01, 2020 09:16

On the Nightstand: “Living Memento Mori”

Emily DeArdo is tough. She was diagnosed with end-stage cystic fibrosis when she was just eleven, and fifteen years ago had a double lung transplant. In her first book, she uses the Stations of the Cross as a framework to share her story of living life in true awareness that it will end. I like the concept of momento mori; for Emily, it’s far more than a concept. What’s on your nightstand?
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Published on February 01, 2020 00:42

January 28, 2020

Those Delightful, Annoying People

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

That woman at work who’s always right, right, right, and takes pleasure in telling you you’re wrong, wrong, wrong.

That twentysomething guy who’s watching his phone instead of his dog or the traffic light as he walks into the intersection on a red light.

The person in the car ahead of you who is driving the speed limit and there’s no way for you get into the...

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Published on January 28, 2020 03:43

January 21, 2020

“This Is the One”

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “TheLordhas not chosen any of these.”Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”He sent and brought him in. Now he...

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Published on January 21, 2020 07:38

January 14, 2020

Leaving the Land of “Less Than”

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

We all have moments where we feel “less than”: less than a family member, a friend, a colleague, maybe even an enemy. Often, we’re wrong, and recover our equilibrium after we stop think about our emotion… or maybe we pray, or maybe we come up with a juicy rationalization to power us past our feelings of inadequacy.

But in Hannah’s case, she didn’t just feel less...

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Published on January 14, 2020 03:44

January 12, 2020

2020: Your Words

Congrats to Sister Jane of New Jersey, who won a random drawing for a $20.20 Amazon gift card. Here’s what Sister Jane said about why CONFIDENCE is her word for 2020:

“I opened my reflection book, HE AND I, to the word that Jesus gave Gabrielle for one year, and took that. It’s CONFIDENCE, which is similar to your Trust. I feel that it encourages me to continue placing my confidence that Jesus is working everything for good because I love Him (Rom. 8) even if I cannot see it at the time. For...

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Published on January 12, 2020 10:04

January 7, 2020

In This Is Love

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me atYour Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

How much does God love us? We get the lyrical answer in today’s first lectionary reading:

In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.(1 John 4:10, NRSVCE)

That’s right. So much that He sent His son to pay for our sins, not because we’d been so faithful or well behaved, or even because we...

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Published on January 07, 2020 03:49

January 1, 2020

The Word for 2020: Trust

Last summer, I was feeling pretty stressed about a lengthy trip, and decided to de-stress by checking my Instagram feed. My longtime friend Meredith Gould had posted some of her mosaics, and this one spoke to me. It seemed it had already been sold, but when I contacted Meredith, it was still available. When it arrived, I posted it in my feeds and my even-longer-time friend Patricia Lorenz noted that she’d decorated a little jar with the same word, and I could have it. That made me decide...
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Published on January 01, 2020 04:56