Spirituality

By Fr. Glenn Jones

Ah, spring … flowers blooming, trees budding, birds nesting. Riots raging.

Kind of a perfect storm this year. Nerves were already on edge because of the coronavirus pandemic and people having to be cooped up for so long, the uncertainty of possible contagion, shortages of goods, so many persons losing their jobs because of the various quarantines and strictures put in place … not even to mention the families affected by the loss or illness of family members. Family separations, lack of funds, lack of essentials … and you have a kettle of frustration just below boiling point. Add

By Fr. Glenn Jones

Now we come to another Memorial Day weekend in remembrance of all those who have died in our service, not only to our nation, but to our states and all local communities … those who volunteered to go in harm’s way. Though they may cite different reasons for entering their various occupations, the soldier, the firefighter, the policeman, the emergency responder of every stripe knows in the back of his mind that he may be called to that ultimate sacrifice for his fellow Man. 

And so this weekend we honor all who have done just that, for as Jesus so beautifully says: “Greater love has no

By Fr. Glenn Jones

“Fleas, fleas, fleas…”… the first line of one of a favorite poem when taking Spanish eons ago, in a text … alas … long lost, and which even Google, it seems, cannot find. The “speaker” a cat, ceaselessly besieged by the little biting buggers … lamenting his fate and cursing his tormentors.  Been there, done that … having rented a room decades ago from someone who owned a flea magnet for a pet, whose little hitchhikers seemed to find my flesh quite delectable. Such a lovable dog, though—a good ol’ Lab. How can you get mad at a Lab? It’s the eyes….

That was such a great poem because it was such

By Fr. Glenn Jones

A very happy and blessed Mothers’ Day to all of you moms/grandmothers out there! A rather tough Mothers’ Day for you this year, I fear, as it’s likely that many of you are separated from children/grandchildren not only by miles, but in an abundance of caution over this COVID situation we’re stuck in. Like I’ve often seen on Facebook from older ladies over the last few weeks: “Call grandmothers away from their grandchildren … because we are NOT okay!!”  Ah … the joy of grandparents—to spoil the little ones and to bask in their love. (“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged…” Proverbs

By Fr. Glenn Jones

As luck would have it, my little window faces east, giving wonderful views of the Sandia Mountains as the sun is setting … basting them with an evening “watermelon” reddish tint from which they purportedly derive their Spanish name … the latest beauty beheld in a lifetime of visual wonders. Sunsets over Shiprock, dawn on the ocean, Maryland trees shimmering with a thousand fireflies on a spring evening, snowfall in the Los Alamos canyons … the night sky over a totally-darkened landscape—something we count ourselves fortunate to continue to be able to find in New Mexico. (“…the

By Fr. Glenn Jones

I’ve become rather fond of the trails at Petroglyph National Monument on the edge of Albuquerque since leaving the beauty of the forests and canyons of Los Alamos and vicinity. The juxtaposition of temporal images at that monument becomes an object of contemplation as people make a circuit (or two, or three) on the trail.

The now eerily-silent extinct volcanoes to the west erupted about 200,000 years ago, pouring forth the molten lava now frozen into the blackened cliffs which blanket the sandy terrain. Over millennia the hills eroded, the valley deepened. Fast-forward to

By Fr. Glenn Jones

Ah … humanity’s hubris … our refusal to believe that there may be things beyond human intellect … a byproduct, perhaps, of being unexcelled by any other (known) creature. Certainly our human capacity has yet to reach its limits, but limited it must be. Like computer memory, our own “memory” and computing capacity is finite—even collectively. Just as cattle are incapable of higher-level mathematics (other than “cow-culus”—yuk, yuk), there is a point in which our minds will simply hit a wall. Like a juggler, we’ll only be able to keep so many balls in the air at once.

Encouraging

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

So it begins…

Already there are numerous reported scams of those who would rob others of the stimulus the government has offered … in the midst of one of the most financially-challenging periods in many of our lifetimes, no less. Just a warning: If someone calls asking for your bank and account number or your SSN, DON’T give it to them! It’s a sad reality that we have to be wary of heartless scammers who literally rob even the elderly of their life’s savings.

Most persons would likely never stoop to doing something so contemptible … so dishonorable.  But then … thinking about such