Spring Water

I'm writing this from a little studio near Bennett Spring State Park in southwest Missouri.

This is an old family favorite spot - spring-fed stream, cold water, trout fishing. My dad brought us here when we were boys, and we brought our boys in turn. It's the kind of place where memory and moving water run together.

I drove down after my second day of Knights of Columbus training. Tomorrow morning: the stream, maybe some trout, definitely some silence.

Suzanne encouraged me to find a place instead of sleeping in the car. So here I am.

Read the full reflection: Spring Water

The Suit

Monday was my first day with the Knights of Columbus team. What I didn't know - because I'm not in the group chat yet - was that everyone had been told to "dress to impress" with the VPs visiting.

I wore a dress shirt and slacks. Everyone else was in blue suits.

My dad always said: "Always dress one step better than you think you need to." That advice held me to the dress shirt instead of the polo I almost wore - but I should have taken it up another notch.

After Monday, I drove to four stores looking for the right blue suit. Wore it Tuesday. Felt like myself again.

Lesson learned. Show up ready. When in doubt, go one step further.

Family Scattered

Right now: Suzanne, Matthew, and Andrew are in Dallas, visiting her aunt and uncle. Thomas and Joseph are at home, working their shifts. I'm here at Bennett Spring.

Matthew leaves for Air Force Basic Training next Tuesday. Less than a week.

We're savoring these final days. Soon he'll be somewhere we can't follow, becoming someone the military will shape. We've done what we could. Now we watch him go.

Please keep him in your prayers.

Friday: Feast of St. Thomas

This Friday is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle - the name day for our oldest son.

Thomas, who doubted and then believed. Thomas, who said "My Lord and my God" when he finally saw. A good patron for a young man learning to see for himself.

And this Friday's Two Lamps brings Thomas to Kerala one more time - to visit the first of his daughters to be raised to the altars of the universal Church. The timing is grace.  

This Sunday's Readings

The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time brings one of the most tender passages in Scripture - Matthew 11:25-30:

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Zechariah gives us the image of the king who comes meek, riding on a donkey, proclaiming peace. And the Psalm reminds us: "The LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down."

The theme is rest. Real rest. The kind that comes from letting Him carry what we've been white-knuckling.

That's why I'm at Bennett Spring tonight.

Sabbatical Update

After last week's newsletter about my sabbatical from active parish ministry, Suzanne and I received a wonderful note from a beloved former pastor, congratulating and encouraging us. I really appreciated that.

The sabbatical continues. I'm still treasuring my standing Sunday Night Holy Hour with Vespers - that rhythm remains.

And I'm discerning: the shape of the next five years of diaconate, the writing, how it all fits together.

Two Lamps

Last Friday: Issue 08 - The Two Deacons

Saint Lawrence of Rome and Saint Francis of Assisi, at the hermitage of La Verna, September 1224 - published on my fifth ordination anniversary.

This Friday: Issue 09 - The Convent at Bharananganam

Saint Thomas the Apostle and Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception. A small infirmary cell at the Franciscan Clarist convent in Kerala, India, an evening in late July 1946. The dying Sister Alphonsa is visited by the apostle who planted the seed of the Syro-Malabar Church nineteen hundred years before.

It publishes on July 3 - the Feast of St. Thomas - which is also our Thomas's name day. The coincidence is too good.

TwoLamps.org

Lux Perpetua

The Living Thread and The Lost Crown continue. The two tracks are converging now - Joshua is beginning to see how the threads connect.

LuxPerpetua.net

What I'm Reading

The Spiritual Benefits of Fishing - America Magazine On why standing in moving water is its own kind of prayer.

Resting on Sundays Means Something - Catholic Answers On the Sabbath as protest against the servitude of work and the worship of money.  

Learning to Be Still - Word on Fire Silence as the condition for hearing.

What I'm Praying This Week

For Matthew - his last days at home, his journey ahead, his formation.

For rest - real rest, the kind Jesus offers.

For the August Domus content I'll be tackling when I get home.

For all of you carrying burdens you haven't set down yet.

Domus Formation

WeAreDomus.com - Start a free trial. Hearth & Altar for families. Eventide & Altar for the second half of life. Iron & Altar for men. Vessel & Altar for women.

WeAreDomus.com/Daily - The free daily email. Catholic news for families.

Final Word

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

— Matthew 11:28

Lord, I'm coming.