Tag: faith blog

Growing through the seasons of the church year

July 14, 2025

I have spent time pondering the idea of growing in faith at times that organically or spontaneously occur in our own life cycle (I have experienced that!) or focusing on growing in step with the organized calendar of Christianity’s liturgical seasons.   Really, I don’t think it needs to be an either/or – it can be both/and.  Faith growth that sprouts at our own times – based upon the seasons and circumstances of our own personal lives – sprouts and grows depending upon our own situations.  Our own circumstances are infinitely varied.   With this growth, I like to think of it happening within a phrase I recently came upon – within “The Hermitage Within.” What, though, of faith development that is nurtured by liturgical seasons?

With Pentecost some time behind us, we are well into what the Christian liturgical calendar (for many liturgically-oriented denominations) calls “Ordinary Time” – the times in the year that are not part of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter.  Our first period of “Ordinary Time” in the annual liturgical  calendar (the calendar itself starts at the beginning of Advent) is between the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (after the Christmas season) and the beginning of Lent.  Our second period of Ordinary Time happens between Pentecost and the beginning of Advent.

When we talk of “Ordinary Time” in our liturgical calendar, we are not simply describing “ordinary” time in the sense of “plain” or “a period of nothing special.” Rather, the term “ordinary” comes from the word “ordinal” – meaning numbered/ordered (“1st Week of Ordinary Time,” “2nd week of Ordinary Time,” etc.)

So, what are we – as parishioners – to do with this counted (ordinary) time on our liturgical calendar?    Our personal and communal faith need never be “ordinary” in the sense of “plain,” or “nothing special.”   God loves us and we are adopted daughters and sons of God.   We always have the opportunity to allow God to transform us into the people God intends for us to be – there is absolutely nothing “ordinary” about that!   Such transformation – when we surrender to allowing God to change us – truly is extraordinary.  We absolutely can surrender to this process year-round – including during “Ordinary Time.”

Liturgies – every church service we attend – is designed to help us surrender to this transformative encounter with God.

Looking for a deeper encounter with liturgy when you attend church?  Be fully present – attentive with no distraction.  Pray before church, ask God to help you to fully experience the service.  Get involved in church beyond attending on Sunday.   Volunteer at church – volunteering requires being attentive to what’s happening – a great bonus! Read faith books regularly. In short, be an attentive participant!

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you subscribe to follow this blog (it’s free – thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them and invite them to subscribe (thank you!).

Book Review: Paths to the Heart – Sufism and the Christian East

July 13, 2025
Book: Paths to the Heart
Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East

I have recently been reading books about Eastern Orthodox Christianity. I have a particular interest in the contemplative tradition within Christianity and have discovered that there is a strong contemplative aspect within the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East is a compilation of presentations from a conference held shortly after 9/11 where a group of people met to discuss similarities of the religious views between the Christian East (i.e.., Eastern Orthodox) and Sufi Muslim.

I am more than half-way through this book. What emerges in this book is engaging observations about the contemplative aspects of Eastern Orthodox and Sufi Islam. For anyone interested in the contemplative aspects of Eastern Orthodox, Sufi Islam, or both….. Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East is an insightful read.

For my particular area of interest – the contemplative prayer aspect within Christianity – I am learning in this book about Hesychasm – described by Wikipedia as “a contemplative monastic tradition in the Eastern Christian traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches in which stillness (hēsychia) is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer. While rooted in early Christian monasticism, it took its definitive form in the 14th century at Mount Athos.”

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you subscribe to follow this blog (it’s free – thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them and invite them to subscribe (thank you!).

The many moods of prayer

July 5, 2025
Trinity of candles

In the book Reading Lolita in Tehran, author Azar Nafisi writes of learning from her introverted husband about “the many moods and nuances of silence: the angry silence and the disapproving one; the appreciative silence and the loving one.”

There are, likewise, “many moods and nuances” in the silence of personal prayer:

  • The awe when we encounter God’s presence
  • The lonely distance when we feel separated from God
  • Our outpouring of self – our emotions and experiences – when we offer everything within us and within our lives to God
  • Angst when we bring the frustrations of our human experience to God

Then, there are the “many moods and nuances” of public prayer:

  • The psalms we sing in church to bring to God our wide range of human experience and petitions
  • Intercessory prayers we “offer up” at church
  • The joy inherent to our “songs of praise”
  • Rote prayers during services – The Lord’s Prayer, etc.
  • Prayers offered at public events

Just as there are many variables and phases in our relationships with people, there are changing variables and phases in our relationship with God.   This is a good thing.

Whatever we might expect of prayer, our prayer needs to be active, regular and ongoing, dynamic, and changing.  We grow and change over time.   Therefore, our relationship with God cannot be what it was when we were children.  Or when we were teenagers.  Or five years ago.   While God is ever God’s-self, the relationship between us and God is ever adjusting to “where we are” in that relationship and – if we actively pray on an ongoing basis – adjusting as we move through our lives………… 

How does one pray? 

Just as we have many differing relationships with the various people in our lives – and a variety of ways that we communicate with the people in our lives – there are any number of ways of communicating with God. A prayer style that works for one person may be very different than what works for the next person. Here are several approaches to prayer:

  • Rote prayer (formal, memorized prayers – these are often provided to us by our houses of worship). Prayers such as the Lord’s Prayer are full of meaning and help us learn to pray. Such prayers give us ready prayer content that we can easily put to use.
  • Psalms. The Book of Psalms – which were meant to be sung – are summarized by Wikipedia thus: the Book of Psalms are “an anthology of Hebrew religious hymns…including hymns or songs of praise, communal and individual laments, royal psalms, imprecation, and individual thanksgivings.  The book also includes psalms of communal thanksgiving, wisdom, pilgrimage, and other categories.”
  • “Talking to God.” Our spontaneous thoughts and words directed to God. God wants to have a relationship with us; relationships are two-way, be open to feeling God’s presence in response.
  • Contemplative Prayer. Resting reflectively in prayer, without a need for words or any human language. Contemplative prayer can – and for some people, does – include a sense of God’s presence in prayer. For more information about contemplative prayer, visit Contemplative Outreach.
  • Praying the Rosary. The rosary is a reflective way of praying a set of rote prayers with a formulaic set of Catholic prayer beads (focusing time on specified topics). Instructions for praying the rosary is available here.
  • Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina “describes a way of reading the Scriptures whereby we gradually let go of our own agenda and open ourselves to what God wants to say to us” (this particular description provided by the Carmelites).
  • Singing at church. “Those who sing pray twice” (a popular phrase in churches).
  • Intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer that we pray for other people. We come to God with the challenges of those who are in need of support.

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you subscribe to follow this blog (it’s free – thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them and invite them to subscribe (thank you!).

List: How many ways to pray (types of prayer)?

May 10, 2025
image of Christ
depiction of Christ

variety of prayer options available within Catholicism.

Catholic prayer is a vibrant and varied tradition, bringing to fullness a life-giving relationship between us and God. Jesus came “that we might have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). “…prayer is not merely an exchange of words, but it engages the whole person in a relationship with God the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit” (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB).

How many ways are there to pray?

The essence of prayer is communication, a relationship with God, a being-with or being-in-the-presence-of. When we find a relationship with God – an interactive, two-way interaction rather than a one-way monologue (we wouldn’t relate to the people in our lives exclusively via uni-directional monologues!) – there comes a discovery that God is present with us in prayer.

A friend said to me, “prayer is a very personal communion with God that is meant to be personal, and unique to you….People are… very different in their personal experience in prayer, and that in itself is a beautiful thing.”

Just as we have many differing relationships with the various people in our lives – and a variety of ways that we communicate with the people in our lives – there are any number of ways of communicating with God. A prayer style that works for one person may be very different than what works for the next person. Here are several approaches to prayer:

  • Rote prayer (formal, memorized prayers – these are often provided to us by our houses of worship). Prayers such as the Lord’s Prayer are full of meaning and help us learn to pray. Such prayers give us ready prayer content that we can easily put to use.
  • Psalms. The Book of Psalms – which were meant to be sung – are summarized by Wikipedia thus: the Book of Psalms are “an anthology of Hebrew religious hymns…including hymns or songs of praise, communal and individual laments, royal psalms, imprecation, and individual thanksgivings.  The book also includes psalms of communal thanksgiving, wisdom, pilgrimage, and other categories.”
  • “Talking to God.” Our spontaneous thoughts and words directed to God. God wants to have a relationship with us; relationships are two-way, be open to feeling God’s presence in response.
  • Contemplative Prayer. Resting reflectively in prayer, without a need for words or any human language. Contemplative prayer can – and for some people, does – include a sense of God’s presence in prayer. For more information about contemplative prayer, visit Contemplative Outreach.
  • Praying the Rosary. The rosary is a reflective way of praying a set of rote prayers with a formulaic set of Catholic prayer beads (focusing time on specified topics). Instructions for praying the rosary is available here.
  • Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina “describes a way of reading the Scriptures whereby we gradually let go of our own agenda and open ourselves to what God wants to say to us” (this particular description provided by the Carmelites).
  • Singing at church. “Those who sing pray twice” (a popular phrase in churches).
  • Intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer that we pray for other people. We come to God with the challenges of those who are in need of support.

My favorite Catholic pray-ers:

  • Teresa of Avila, (16th-century mystic, Doctor of the Church, Carmelite nun, reformer of the Carmelite religious order, Carmelite saint)
  • John of the Cross (16th-century mystic, Doctor of the Church, Carmelite monk and priest, co-reformer of the Carmelite religious order, Carmelite saint)
  • Edith Stein, Carmelite nun, Carmelite saint
  • Fr. Thomas Keating, founder of Contemplative Outreach

Books for further reading:

Clinging: The Experience of Prayer (Emilie Griffin)

The Tradition of Catholic Prayer (The Monks of Meinrad Monastery)

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist (and is a member of the Association of Catholic Publishers). Blogging is sustainable via blog readership (i.e. readers/subscribers). If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you subscribe to follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them and invite them to subscribe (thank you!). 

Good Friday, Tenebrae, grace, pending resurrection

April 18, 2025

Welcome to Good Friday.

In his book Beyond Tenebrae, author Bradley J. Birzer writes “I am fascinated by the recognition of Tenebrae (…..3 pm on Good Friday)…… The extinguishing of light, candle by candle, the stripping of the altar, the bearing of the books, the departure from the chapel in a deafening silence.” As we move through Holy Week, I am

God’s grace in our lives and the transformation offered us as a result of the resurrection are how I find my being within Christianity. I wrote in a recent post, “We are indeed ‘a resurrection people,’ our redemption is made possible as a result of Christ’s death on the cross.   There’s a redemptive joy possible through God’s ability to transfigure us – when we allow God to work in us – that motivates my continued prayer life…..”

As you experience Good Friday today, make it an encounter with Christ rather than just another day. Reflect: what are your plans for the upcoming Easter season (the time between Easter and Pentecost)? This is a great season within the liturgical year to surrender into a transformative relationship with Christ, allowing God to move us more fully into the people we are meant to be. If anyone is pondering whether it’s worth it to surrender into allowing God to transform our very being, just ponder how well one’s inner life and life circumstances are going without surrendering to God being in charge – that should satisfactorily answer whether to turn one’s life over to God. This opportunity to surrender is one in which “I have been Crucified with Christ. It is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). We give up any pretense of running our own lives. Acts 17:28: “For it is in God that we live and move and have our being.”

Easter is coming! Alleluia!

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist (and is a member of the Association of Catholic Publishers). Blogging is sustainable via blog readership (i.e. readers/subscribers). If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you subscribe to follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them and invite them to subscribe (thank you!).

Book Review: Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies

February 20, 2025
Book: Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies

This is an interesting and broadly-written book for anyone interested in the what-and-how of religious services in the various Eastern Orthodox churches – Armenian, Byzantine, Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian, and Maronite traditions.

This densely-written academic text dives into intricate and comparative detail of many aspects of church services for each of these traditions – including historical developments of each tradition.

In this book, the reader learns:

  • In the early Syrian rite, baptism was viewed as “rebirth to something new” rather than the western view of baptism being our “death, rebirth, and rising with Christ” (pages 21-22).
  • I was surprised to discover that in the early centuries of the Syrian Orthodox tradition, the Syrians considered the Holy Spirit to be “Mother Holy Spirit” – complete with references in liturgical prayers about the Holy Spirit acting as the “womb” of people’s faith (page 23).

This book is worth reading.

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist (and is a member of the Association of Catholic Publishers). Blogging is sustainable via blog readership (i.e. readers/subscribers). If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you subscribe to follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them and invite them to subscribe (thank you!).

Feast Day of Hildegard von Bingen

September 17, 2023

Above: Hildegard’s own artwork of the Trinity

Today – September 17 – is the Feast Day of Hildegard von Bingen: a saint, polymath (a person with significant multiple talents), and Doctor of the Church (Doctors of the Church are saints recognized for having made significant contributions to the Catholic Church).

I have been listening to Hildegard’s music for several years. She lived her life in the region of Germany where my father’s mother’s ancestors later lived and was a Benedictine (I am a parishioner at a St. Benedict parish – another personal reason to like her!).

Hildegard – with her wide-ranging interests, talents, activities, and achievements – is broadly popular across many social strata.

The following summary of Hildegard’s life comes from Wikipedia:

“Hildegard of Bingen… c. 1098 – 17 September 1179)…. was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner during the High Middle Ages. She is one of the best-known composers of sacred mononphony, as well as the most recorded in modern history. She has been considered by scholars to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany.”Hildegard of Bingen… c. 1098 – 17 September 1179)…. was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner during the High Middle Ages. She is one of the best-known composers of sacred mononphony, as well as the most recorded in modern history. She has been considered by scholars to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany. Hildegard’s convent elected her as magistra (mother superior) in 1136. She founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165. Hildegard wrote theological, botanical, and medicinal works, as well as letters, hymns, and antiphons for the liturgy. She wrote poems, and supervised miniature illuminations in the Rupertsberg manuscript of her first work, Scivias. There are more surviving chants by Hildegard than by any other composer from the entire Middle Ages, and she is one of the few known composers to have written both the music and the words. One of her works, the Ordo Virtutum, is an early example of liturgical drama and arguably the oldest surviving morality play. She is noted for the invention of a constructed language known as Lingua Ignota.”

A timeline of her achievements is listed here by worldhistory.org .

If you would like to read up on individual saints, Hildegard’s life story provides many interesting facets to read up on.

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist and The Books of the Ages. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog post, please share it with them (thank you!).