Rachel Allen's blog

That’s right, I said it: Happy Easter! Weird title for a blog post in May? Maybe, if you’re not Catholic. But I am… so, Happy Easter!

I’m sure that by now your stash of Easter candy is long gone – and if it’s not… keep those Peeps far, far, far away from me. They’re probably so stale that they could be used as weapons in an emergency situation. And yes, Easter Sunday was over a month ago, so for most of the world, Easter is a distant memory. They’re ready for the next holiday. There are surely some retailers already plotting for next Christmas.

But for us – Easter is still in full swing. It seems hard to believe, but today is Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter in the liturgical year. That means that we’ve still got some time left to celebrate, to feast, to bask in the joy of the Resurrection before we officially move into Ordinary Time after Pentecost at the end of the month. Read more »

It’s March for Life weekend. Hundreds of thousands pilgrims are flooding into Washington, D.C. right now, traveling by bus, plane, car – whatever it takes, however long it takes, for the 39^th annual march protesting Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States. While it’s hard to get a concrete number, last year’s March had an estimated 400,000 participants. And some reports believe that half those marchers are under the age of 30. Our own Office of Youth Ministry’s The Way, The Truth, and The Life pilgrimage is taking around 500 people. Read more »

We are just about ten days away from the implementation of the revised Roman Missal – but you already knew that, didn’t you? I’m sure that you, along with the rest of the English-speaking Church, have been eagerly learning everything you can about what words are changing, and why, right?

Oh…just me, then? Read more »

How do you like to picture Jesus?

I don’t mean to conjure up the dinner table scene from Talladega Nights (although I do sometimes like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo t-shirt). What I want to know is what you honestly see when you think about Jesus. Is he at a carpentry bench, or on a hillside with a sheep over one shoulder, or sitting at the Last Supper?

Every once in awhile, it’s good to have something come along and challenge our Jesus-picture. Read more »

I’m sure no one else has this problem, but frequently in church my mind begins to wander. When this happens, the best way for me to get back on track is to choose something to focus on – opening the missal to follow along with the Mass parts, closing my eyes and envisioning the Gospel, or usually, just staring at the crucifix above the altar. I can’t help but fix my gaze on Jesus’ outstretched arms. Every time I meditate on the image of him hanging there, I always find more love.

But on Good Friday, it was the empty tabernacle that caught my eye. Read more »

(No, I just have a lot of feelings…)

Confession time: I really, really, really love the show Friends. I watch all ten seasons regularly, I dominate Friends trivia, and Gretchen and I even sneak Friends references into our talks on REAP retreats. I’m not condoning every message of the show; I know there are many situations that don’t respect the virtue of chastity, in particular. But regardless of some of the lies about sex and sexuality, many scenes in the show scream out truth. Read more »