Jacques Maritain being Jacques Maritain (On the Grace and Humanity of Jesus, 125—absolutely one of the best books ever written in my view):

Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, and post the second sentence. "The Lord made me come into His repose, As with a spear He fixed my heart."

A poem — just a poem.

I was looking for available copies of this book for another reason, but one gifted and dedicated by Raïssa herself showed up in the search. Ordered without hesitation. Just arrived yesterday. Ah, so beautiful—and a signature so delightfully familiar, yet original, from the Œuvres complètes!

Conservative Catholics, for years: Women have a Special Genius that is receptivity to others & others’ suffering, our essentialist gender views are not sexist because we value that genius so much. 🥰 Right wingers today: Toxic maternal empathy is a threat to the nation & must be forcibly suppressed.

Special Mass, on Sunday, for the K of C. Ah, well, I guess they've colonized the Sunday obligation. Every EMHC—just them and the priest. I walk past two of them to receive from the priest, thank you very much. There are only two letters in that organization's name that don't make my skin crawl.

Le harcèlement en ligne c'est comme le trolling : répondre et interagir c'est donner (inévitablement, systématiquement) des munitions à leurs auteurs. Je crois qu'il ne faut jamais engager, mais ignorer voire bloquer (après avoir documenté au besoin).

Pope Leo continues to show himself a disciple of the contemplative tradition that's espoused in Novo Millennio Ineunte (also esp. NMI 49 and Dilexi Te 5, 79):

Epiphany reading:

“We must, therefore, constantly examine our spirituality and the ways in which we express our faith, in order to ensure that they are truly incarnate. In other words, we must be capable of contemplating, proclaiming and praying to the God who meets us in Jesus...

“Made holy by the Holy Spirit, we receive Christ as one who lives in our inmost selves, and with Christ we receive the Father, who makes his dwelling place among those disposed to receive him.” — St. Basil

“Prayer is to be commended, for it places into our heart thoughts of God. And the indwelling of God in the soul is this: God being firmly set, through his actions and ours, in our memory.” — St. Basil

No se olviden de los pobres. Así tendremos esperanzas de que Dios no se olvide de nosotros.

May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us, besieged as we are by so many uplifted voices, the general noise and uproar, in our seething and over-sensitized modern life. ~ Pope St. Paul VI (Office of Readings) #HolyFamily #Christmas

À la crêche le soir de Noël, de quel côté sont pauvreté et vulnérabilité ?

«For Balthasar, Jesus’ willingness to experience the vicissitudes of human life tells us something about who God is in eternity. The all-powerful God shows himself to us through the medium of vulnerability.» Excellent essay, rigorous, charitably feisty.

Although I'm always in the mood for a good theology of vulnerability, the lead up to Christmas just heightens the feeling (Brendan Byrne, A Costly Freedom, xiv):

As my favourite Christmas carol puts it: Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease.

A very much “more than 𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘪” reflection on the entrance antiphon and responsorial psalm for the Fourth Sunday of Advent:

“Mother Earth and all she gives birth to belong to Grandfather. All the world and those who live on it are his. He formed the land on the ancient deep waters and shaped the solid ground on the rivers.” Psalm 24:1-2 FNV 4th Sunday in Advent

This problem was, I think, at the heart of Pope Francis' theology of contemplation:

Pope Leo: “Creation is crying. But many powerful people do not hear this cry: the wealth of the earth is in the hands of a few, very few, increasingly concentrated – unjustly – in the hands of those who often do not want to hear the groaning of the earth and the poor.” www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

“It is the Spirit who is the protagonist of the Church’s historical mission. The Church must move beyond an activist mentality and open itself to the contemplation of the work of the Spirit within Christian communities and throughout the world.” — Achiel Peelman

The colours and the framing just feel like this time of year, this time of day:

I have no words for my gratitude to the Pgaz K'nyau (Karen) in the mountains of Chiang Mai province. For the past 12 years, everything good I've done flows out of the weeks they healed and saved me.

"When we can suffer and love, we can do much, the most that a person can do in this world.” #SaintCharlesdeFoucauld

"It is the duty of all of us Christians to remain always in prayer." (St. Gregory Palamas)

It was a big moment when it occurred to me that perhaps when the saints talk about "dryness" in prayer we might take that in the sense of the opposite of sweetness, like with drinks.

Hey, it's my favourite contemplative theme shift!

One of my favourite reflections at about this time during Advent:

One of my favorite things about the snow is how it turns all the shadows blue

My favourite comment on this at the moment: ”In the incarnation of the Word, God ‘pitched tent’ among us. People live in tents in two situations mainly: when, for recreational purposes, they go camping and—much less happily—when, as refugees, they are homeless. Both, but especially the latter,

One of the most impactful things I heard from Gloria Purvis, a black Catholic, when asked what would one thing she would suggest to white people beginning to deconstruct unconscious bias was “Get an image of Jesus depicted as a black man, and use it in your devotions.”

At lunch today, my uncle, who is a Baptist pastor who works at the organizational level, showed me this book on his phone, checking if I was aware of it yet. He told me his own copy arrived while he was on a work call with one of the authors. My Baptist family can be so wonderfully decolonial!

“Jesus responds by directing our gaze toward... the least, the poor, the sick who speak on his behalf. Christ announces who he is by what he does... In fact, by encountering Jesus – lives previously deprived of light, speech and taste regain meaning – the blind see, the mute speak, the deaf hear.”

New entry on favourite authors list:

“I am truly your merciful Mother, yours and all people who live united in this land and of all the other people of different ancestries, who love me, seek me, trust in me. Here I will hear their weeping and heal all their sorrows, hardships, and sufferings.” — Mary to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

“Mary… wants to meet us, as she met Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac. She wants to stay with us, begs us to allow her to be our Mother… She came to accompany the American people on this very hard path of poverty, exploitation, socio-economic and cultural colonialism.” — Pope Francis (2022-12-12)

Post your favourite work of art from 50 years before you were born (strictly accurate edition)

Admire beauty now, belong to this place with shovelling effort later

A poem for Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin:

Alberta Justice Colin Feasby’s decision on a proposed referendum question affirmed it would violate Treaty Rights, Section 35 of the Constitution, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It's a decision the Confederacy of Treaty Six Nations is applauding. www.aptnnews.ca?p=280917

“God is revealed in the vulnerable, and our response to them is our response to God.” — Henri Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak

When I started studying engineering a decade-ish after the École Polytechnique shooting, I quickly became aware of the boys-club dynamics that were taking place around me. Every last part of the interlocking problems needs continual attention.

Pope Leo asked participants in a conference on AI, “What does it mean to be human in this moment of history?” Then he answered in reference to contemplation.

God is mystery, a beckoning word, and God calls us out beyond our narrowness. - Gerard W Hughes SJ

I really enjoyed this recent podcast with Terry Wildman. He's lead translator and project manager of the First Nations Version, so if you're interested in that (FNV New Testament works great as an additional translation for lectio divina and, if you're free to, FNV Psalms in LotH)—check this out:

Pope Leo's connection of AI critique to contemplation and the transcendantals comes via the DDF's doc on AI, specifically quoting the relevant number before: contemplativeinthemud.com/2025/07/12/a... It ultimately comes from—no surprise here—Augustine: contemplativeinthemud.com/2025/06/01/w...

“True care does not originate in strength but in vulnerability — when a woman or man dares to empty their cup, they make space for another’s pain, and in that shared weakness real healing begins.” — from Out of Solitude

I lived for over a decade in Asia. Accordingly, I have a little bit of a relationship with Francis Xavier. A feast day 🧵 First, this is a beautiful setup at the Chapel of Francis Xavier on Coloane Island.