From Safari… With the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the Christmas season ends. Short period of Ordinary Time begins Monday, as February 18th is Ash Wednesday. By his baptism by John, Jesus’ forever changes the nature of baptism. For John the Baptist, baptism was an outward expression of turning one’s heart to God. Jesus, already at one with the Father, is baptized by John, as act of self-emptying, sharing in our human nature. The descent of the Holy Spirit, is another epi

As I share in this month’s FlockNote, growing up, I tried a couple of times to position the Magi from our family nativity scene starting from the hallway and making their slow way from Christmas to Epiphany across the living room to the stable at the foot of the Christmas tree. This interfered clearly with my mother’s plans to vacuum and with everyone’s navigation of the room, so it didn’t get much traction. But for me, it captured the movement and momentum of these searchers

From Safari… My faith journey found me on loan to Crookston Diocese (or was I traded for two priest, undisclosed cash and a future number one pick) 40 years ago. I was assigned to Sacred Heart parish in East Grand Forks, as associate pastor (in today’s jargon Parochial Victor), One of my duties was a part time teacher in the parish high school. Sr. Basil, the principal, had a strict dress code. One item on the do not wear list was blue jeans. She always commented that clothin

This Thursday … a Most Blessed Christmas of Hope! The calendar points to winter’s arrival with the shortest day of the year on December 21. The longer time of darkness certainly mirrors the concerns of many hearts in difficult and fearful times in our world. How much more, then, do we understand the great joy of the shepherds, the Magi, Joseph, and Mary at the Good News that the Light of the World has come: “Today a Savior has been born for you, who is Messiah and Lord.” As w

From Safari….. Veronica was a spunky little lady. At eighty five, she swam laps every day in the pool. She loved people and they loved her. An academic she studied everything from Thomas Merton to Ira Progoff. She spent time as a spiritual director and helping out where she could. Her hearing impairment allowed her hearing aid to become a means of instantaneous centering. Finger to ear, she would switch off the hearing aid - -- and that, quite simply, was that. She then found