Desolation is the feeling that nothing matters, nothing can ever be set right again. God has no redemptive power and the world is meaningless. Desolation is the great abyss and Ignatius knew that we will all face it. Sometimes desolation is so severe that it takes over our minds to the point that we cannot […]
Read More »In 1980, New York State decided to take a look at how the mentally ill were being treated in society. They found some horrifying news as they looked at the state psychiatric hospitals. All it took for one to be “committed” to a state run psychiatric institution was the signatures of two psychiatrists. Obviously that […]
Read More »When the horror of September 11th came upon the United States my friends with children fought vigorously to keep their children away from the television screen. Others even fought to keep themselves away from the images we know all too well from that day. Many wondered what to tell their kids when they returned home […]
Read More »From this morning’s NY Times: For more than 30 years, the University of Colorado has enforced a sensible policy banning guns from its campuses. The ban worked well until March, when the State Supreme Court agreed with a student’s complaint that it violated a state law allowing citizens with “concealed- carry” permits to carry guns […]
Read More »At the Vatican today a man is threatening to jump off of the dome! How he got up there in the first place is a question I’d like to ask. Vatican security is trying to talk him down. The networks will steer clear of live coverage in case of the worst scenario. So please pray […]
Read More »So now it can be told, I started working out again just before Lent started. I’m down roughly 13 pounds even with being inconsistent with workouts because of Alternative Spring Break (I missed a week and then the trainer was out of town the following week). I’ve added a lot of muscle and dropped a […]
Read More »This is amazing. A hat tip to Lydia Moore, my colleague who supports the Catholic volunteers with Marion and I. I know she’s speaking to women mostly here. But I really resonated with this, especially the “crestfallen, because not enough strangers found you suitable” part. I used to hate going out to the “meet markets” […]
Read More »Barenaked Ladies has a great song called “War on Drugs” in which they discuss the Bloor Street Bridge in Toronto. It was the 2nd highest suicide site after the Golden Gate Bridge in North America. And so the city decided to build a net to catch people if they decided to jump. It took a […]
Read More »Ashley Womble is writing a memoir on Salon and this piece about her homeless brother will resonate with anyone who has experience working with homeless people with mental illness. “Do you consider yourself homeless?” I asked. “Oh, yes!” he answered proudly. I wondered if the constant motion of wandering from town to town, never knowing […]
Read More »Fran, over at St Edward’s Blog writes today after a serious illness landed her in the hospital in need of relinquishing one gallbladder. Her thoughts on the gratitude of not merely recovering but of the gift of awareness throughout her procedure (which included several complications) simply amazes me. In any event, I did not eat […]
Read More »
