Posted by Carol Johnson on 5/01/23
The Colombian seminary I attended was a long five-story structure like a hotel building. The main door was big enough to allow cars to go in and was closed at night. Seminarians could not go out most of the time, except with permission. On Friday afternoons and Sundays, we ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 4/23/23
The Holy Land, which I visited six years ago, is called holy because it is where the Lord was born and lived. The name Holy Land makes us think, by contrast, that there is another kind of land, an ordinary land if you will. That ordinary land is all ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 4/17/23
When the father of the rector of our Seminary died, all the priests and seminarians went to the funeral. The funeral was held in Bogota, about one hundred miles away. After the Mass, we all went to the cemetery as well. Bogota is a city of several million people, ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 4/11/23
Happy Easter! In his version of the story of the women arriving to the tomb early in the morning of the Lord’s Resurrection, Saint Matthew tells us about an angel of God descending from heaven. A great earthquake is produced by the landing of the angel. The angel then ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 4/11/23
Several years ago, a lady volunteered to help me with my English pronunciation. You are very much aware that I need that. One day I could not produce the sound of a word and she tried different ways for me to get it. After several attempts, she puts her ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 4/07/23
I would like to share my experience as an apostle for Holy Thursday Mass with you when I was 9-10 years old. The practice in my hometown was that boys my age were the apostles for the washing of feet. My two brothers and I were apostles more than ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 3/26/23
In the XVI century when people from Spain were in Colombia, a representative from the king of Spain who worked in the town next to my native town, asked an artist to paint a portrait of Our Lady of the Rosary. He wanted to have it in his small ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 3/19/23
I would like to focus my reflections today on the importance of being able to see spiritually, to see as God sees as God told the prophet Samuel. To see spiritually is important because we need to see the world beyond the appearance of the material. To see spiritually ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 3/12/23
I was told that, centuries ago, in many cities in Spain there were public fountains for the people to draw water for daily consumption. A statue of Saint John the Baptist was usually placed overlooking the fountains, perhaps as a reference to baptism. People would come to draw water ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 3/05/23
I would like to focus today’s reflections on the importance of prayer, prayer especially as a source of encouragement in the face of tribulations. The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was the Cardinal of Chicago when I was studying at that city’s seminary in 1996. At that time Cardinal Bernardin ... Read More »