A Blooming Arrow

Photo of snail, anemone, and dahlia with text overlay of the Shalom Snail couplet, "A Blooming Arrow."
โ€œA Blooming Arrowโ€
A reflection on Ephesians 2:1-10
Monday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time (Year II)
ยฉ๏ธ2022 Gloria M. Chang

How does Godโ€™s love draw us toward him as his blooming arrow for eternity?

You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you once lived following the age of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient. All

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If Every Flower Wanted to Be a Rose…

โ€œIf Every Flower Wanted to Be a Roseโ€ฆโ€
The wisdom of St. Therese of Lisieux โ€œin a snailshellโ€
A reflection on Mark 10:35-45
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, โ€œTeacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.โ€

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Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

โ€œThe Call of Nathanaelโ€
John 1:45-51 in a tercet
Feast of Saint Bartholomew
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

Philip found Nathanael and told him, โ€œWe have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.โ€

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Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

โ€œUnless a grain of wheatโ€
John 12:24-26 โ€œin a snailshellโ€
Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

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Resurrected Saints Shall Fly

โ€œResurrected Saints Shall Flyโ€
Mark 12:18-27 โ€œin a snailshellโ€
Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and put this question to him, saying, โ€œTeacher, Moses wrote for us, โ€˜If someoneโ€™s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.โ€™

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Born an Original

โ€œBorn an Originalโ€
A reflection on Ephesians 1:3-6 and the wisdom of Blessed Carlo Acutis
Solemnity of Corpus Christi
ยฉ๏ธ2023 Gloria M. Chang

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In

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A Holy Man in Camel’s Hair

โ€œA Holy Man in Camelโ€™s Hairโ€
A reflection on Mark 1:1-8
Second Sunday of Advent (Year B)
ยฉ๏ธ2023 Gloria M. Chang

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way.

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Friend, Go Up Higher

โ€œFriend, Go Up Higherโ€
Luke 14:7-11 โ€œin a snailshellโ€
Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. 

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Seal of the Saints

โ€œSeal of the Saintsโ€
Revelation 7:2-4 โ€œin a snailshellโ€
Vigil of All Saints Day
ยฉ๏ธ2022 Gloria M. Chang

I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, โ€œDo not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.โ€

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