Three Endings
This week holds three endings in our household.
Friday is my last day at Adobe, after just shy of eighteen years.
Friday is also Matthew's last day of high school.
And next week, Andrew finishes eighth grade.
Three endings. One household. One week.
T.S. Eliot wrote: "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from."
I've been sitting with that line - and with what it means to close chapters well, to notice what we're carrying forward, to let endings be endings before we rush into what's next.
Read the full reflection: The End Is Where We Start From
This Sunday: Mother's Day
I'm preaching at all three Masses this Sunday - Sixth Sunday of Easter, Mother's Day.
The Gospel gives us Jesus' promise: "I will not leave you orphans."
On Mother's Day, those words land differently. Most of us learned what it means to NOT be orphaned from our mothers. But I know this day is not simple for everyone - those who are grieving, those with complicated relationships, those who longed to be mothers and couldn't.
I'll be telling the story of St. Magdalene of Canossa - a seven-year-old girl abandoned by her mother, who stood before a statue of Mary and called her "Mamma." And Mary didn't leave her orphaned.
We are never truly without a mother.
If you're at St. Elizabeth this weekend, I'll see you there.
What I'm Praying This Week
For a good ending at Adobe - gratitude, not nostalgia; closure, not clinging.
For Matthew as he crosses this threshold into whatever comes next.
For Andrew as he finishes middle school and prepares for high school.
For Suzanne, who has held this household together through every transition.
And for all of you navigating your own endings and beginnings.
What I'm Reading
Beginnings and Endings - Franciscan Media "We come to the end of something and wonder, What comes next? The one common denominator is uncertainty." A beautiful reflection on transitions.
Resetting Your Career in Midlife - Denver Institute for Faith & Work Gordon Smith: "To embrace our vocations in midlife means we accept with grace our limitations and move beyond illusion about who we are." This piece helped me think about what I'm carrying into the next chapter.
The Quiet Crisis of Midlife - Richard E. Simmons III "Midlife transitions are often seasons of reorientation, not reinvention." For anyone in the middle of a major life shift.
Faith at Midlife - Lynne Baab On the drive toward more time alone, more reflection, and the spiritual paths that open when we're willing to sit with endings.
Domus Formation
This is what I'm stepping into - the work I believe I'm made for.
WeAreDomus.com is the hub for everything we're building. Household prayer & formation. One reading. Five minutes. Every day. Here's what's live right now:
- Hearth & Altar - Daily Scripture for families with children
- Eventide & Altar - Daily Scripture for the second half of life
- Iron & Altar - Daily Scripture for Catholic men
- Vessel & Altar - Daily Scripture for Catholic women
- The & Altar App - One app, one household subscription, personalized paths for everyone in your family (Android live; iOS in review)
Start a free trial at WeAreDomus.com.
And if you just want something free and daily, WeAreDomus.com/Daily delivers Catholic news for families every morning. No subscription required.
Lux Perpetua
The serial novel continues.
Ordo: A Chronicle of Lux Perpetua unfolds in two tracks - The Living Thread (Mondays) and The Lost Crown (Thursdays). Present-day mystery meets seven centuries of history.
Joshua David Maren inherited his grandfather's house in Alton, Illinois. What he found in the basement is changing everything he thought he knew.
Chapter 8 of The Living Thread is now live. The story is building toward something.
LuxPerpetua.net - The light that was never put out.
Final Word
"All things are passing; God never changes."
— St. Teresa of Ávila
Here we go.
Michael
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