by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on February 8, 2012 · 5 comments
. . . It’s time to come clean and confess. I owe TSW readers the truth, and just can’t go on living this secret any longer. I’ve been seeing someone. I can’t really say she’s my soul mate just yet, but I find her mesmerizing and alluring in her own peculiar way. She lives far beyond my state in life, but now I feel incomplete without her. There is little so painful as unrequited love. There! I’ve said it! So, who is this new spark of joy in my life? Why, who else could she be but Lady Grantham, the Dowager Countess of Downton Abbey? Yes, yes, I know she’s old enough to be my mother, but – like justice – love is blind, and sometimes it’s deaf and dumb, too. Most people who spend five minutes with the elder Lady Grantham want to flee for cover, but I see beyond this matriarchal conniver to a heart laid bare by a looming threat: the winds of change. The incomparable British actress, Maggie Smith, plays the role to perfection. . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on February 1, 2012 · 17 comments
. . . For Father Georges Lemaitre, for me, and now for my friend, Joseph, there comes a point when “a profoundly improbable sequence” of events crosses a border into the profoundly impossible. Science has promised a better explanation for centuries, but it hasn’t ever delivered one. Creation and our Creator become the sole rational explanation for what seems otherwise irrational and impossible: life itself, and not just life, us! – the impossible mathematical odds against the very existence with which we ponder Him. And thus far, at least, we ponder Him alone. “I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details.” Albert Einstein . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on January 25, 2012 · 14 comments
. . . Saint Stephen, the first martyr in the Christian world, was stoned to death. Stephen was one of “The Seven” appointed to serve tables – the traditional role of a deacon – in the Church at Jerusalem. He was brought before the Sanhedrin to answer for placing final authority in Christ instead of in the high priest and Temple. The mob was stirred up against him by the Sanhedrin, and he was stoned. No one present at the stoning of Saint Stephen could have possibly predicted the transformation of Saul into the Apostle Paul. Consider this one passage and feel its chill: . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on January 18, 2012 · 4 comments
. . . As America remembers the call of Martin Luther King, Jr., to “Let Freedom Ring,” a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision did just that for freedom of religion. . . . As I considered what to write this week to help honor and remember Civil Rights in America, I cannot help feeling oppressed by some urgent unfinished business. I wrote about it at this time last year, and I urge you to mark this Civil Rights observance by reading this and passing a link along to others. There is a denial of basic human rights in our culture, and it’s a threat to the most basic human freedom: the right to exist. . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on January 11, 2012 · 8 comments
. . . Ted made the very same point that I made above about the news media letting pass an opportunity to truly expose and effect sexual abuse: “I hope the pendulum swings back to some degree. I never agreed with zero tolerance. There has to be some respect for priests as basic citizens presumed to be innocent . . . The lack of balance in regards to the Globe and NY Times coverage indicates that they have clearly missed a chance to address societal child abuse. This belies a more sinister agenda by people who want to destroy the Church. Since the level of sexual sin in our society is so great, it makes people somehow feel good to persecute the Catholic Church for its abuse problem as a way to feel absolved of their own sin in some way.” . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on January 4, 2012 · 18 comments
. . . So my resolution for the New Year in 2012 is to let the mourning of loss become the triumph of the Spirit. It’s a tough sell to a world that measures success in the most material of terms. It’s an even tougher sell within me, however, having to witness the world of grace from within prison walls, at least for now. Hence, the resolution. . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on December 28, 2011 · 21 comments
. . . A “cup o’kindness” in the Scotish tradition is usually something with the words “single malt” imprinted on the label. That, too, is not possible in prison. But I have some Starbucks coffee I’ve been saving, and I plan to brew it on New Year’s Eve. I’ll have a cup o’that in honor of you, the friends I have met on this long and winding road. These Stone Walls is such a strange and unlikely place, yet it exists, and from it every week you let me reach into your hearts in friendship, and with a shared vision of grace at work in our world. . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on December 21, 2011 · 18 comments
. . . But this morning, my Japanese friend, Koji, stopped by with some coffee he brewed using an old sock. (Trust me, you don’t want the gory details!). Koji handed me a cup – it’s pretty good, actually – and asked, “What can you tell me about the Magi?” That was odd because I’ve been thinking of writing about the Magi for Christmas. I told Koji I’ll let him read this post when finished. Maybe he’ll bring me more coffee made with that old sock of his. Lord, give me the strength to bear my blessings! Anyway, there’s no better place to begin the Magi story than St. Matthew’s own words: . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on December 14, 2011 · 20 comments
. . . Offering Mass in a prison cell is a little like offering Mass in a battlefield. We don’t have the luxury of an altar, and must make do with what we’ve got – which isn’t much. In the middle of the floor in this eight-by-twelve-foot cell are two concrete stumps that protrude about two feet out of the concrete floor. Just inches to one side of my stump is an iron bunk, and inches to the other side is a concrete counter protruding sixteen inches from the stone cell wall. At first, I offered Mass sitting on the concrete stump with my Mass kit spread at the edge of my bunk. One of my treasures is a Hammond World Atlas. Whenever TSW readers post comments that mention where they are, Pornchai and I like to find their town or city in the Atlas. So far, we have had readers from 31 countries. . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on December 7, 2011 · 19 comments
. . . My call to action is as simple as that. Help us spread news of this book. Consider giving it to the priests you know. Consider reading it yourself. Above all, encourage the priests you know and make them a part of your daily prayer. And there is another way you can help, especially now as we prepare to revisit my own case for a possible new appeal in the new year. If you like this post – or any other – you can help by tweeting it, pinging it, sending a link to your e-mail contacts, Facebook pages, and posting the link in comments on other blogs and Catholic websites. There is a viral effect among faithful Catholics, and its power should not be overlooked. . . .
