The Mountain of the Lord, Day 3

“The Mountain of the Lord, Day 3”
Isaiah 2:4b
©️2020 Gloria M. Chang

He shall judge between the nations,
and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.

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If Every Flower Wanted to Be a Rose…

“If every flower wanted to be a rose…”
The wisdom of St. Therese of Lisieux “in a snailshell”
A reflection on Mark 10:35-45
Sunday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

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Peonies, Day 19

“The Eternal Tao (Panels 3 and 4)”
©️2020 by Gloria M. Chang

“The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The named is the mother of myriad things”

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 1, translated by Derek Lin

God is both hidden and manifest (nameless and named) in relationship to spiritual creatures. … Read the rest

Peonies, Day 18

“The Eternal Tao (Panels 1 and 2)”
©️2020 by Gloria M. Chang

“The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name”

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 1, translated by Derek Lin

Tao is the word used to translate Logos of St.… Read the rest

Walking like Christ

Christ Pantocrator, 13th century Serbian icon

30th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday (Year II)

Luke 14:1, 7-11

“One on tiptoe cannot stand.”

Lao Tzu1

Even with special ballet training, medical experts say that dancing en pointe for extensive periods can cause severe injury and foot damage.… Read the rest

Vanity of vanities!

From the Schedelsche Weltchronik or Nuremberg Chronicle (1493).

25th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday (Year II)

Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! …The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear satisfied with hearing.

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The Net

Chinese painting of the Nativity of Christ. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5.

17th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday (Year II)

Matthew 13:47-53

The net in the Gospel parable caught fish of every kind, just like the net after Jesus’ resurrection:

“So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn” (John 21:11).… Read the rest

We Are Family, Day 4

Ten Thousand Things Say, “Amen!”
©️2020 by Gloria M. Chang

The Ten Thousand Things

The Chinese Bible translates Logos (Word) in the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel as Tao (literally, the Way)—the universal and transcendent guiding principle in the cosmos.… Read the rest