Author: Fr. Barnabas Powell

There’s a prevailing notion that the mere granting of mental assent is believing. But is that really true? Does simply saying you think something is true mean you truly believe it? I know we live in a society that likes to reduce life to “manageable” sizes. We want to reduce achievement to “imagine the possibilities.” We want “positive thinking” to replace the hard work of following through. We want the mere good…

Here’s a brain teaser for you: One special place sets you free to make all places special; but if all places are special without one particular place being special then no place is special! Huh? Sorry this comes on a Monday morning, but it never hurts to get the intellectual juices flowing early! It’s the concept of “sacred space” that is at the heart of most serious theology. The revelation that a…

We live in an age where “marvelous” and “wonderful” have been tamed. We hear these words and immediately get excited about the “good” things happening! But this definition that “marvelous” and “wonderful” always mean “pleasant” and “positive” things is a reflection of our own shallow age. Through centuries of human existence, these words have also conveyed dread and fear. A “Marvel” and something that causes “wonder” can flow equally (and usually more…

It is said that the greatest chess players “see” at least 4 moves ahead at all times. This is why they can anticipate their opponents’ moves and be ready for them. This is also a huge advantage in military strategy. The best generals know their adversary so well that they can anticipate the moves of their adversary and then plan for a counter strategy. In fact, it has been said that the…

Years ago, in my police officer days, I got assigned to the local DUI Task Force. This was a multi-jurisdictional team of officers specifically trained to combat driving under the influence and a direct result of the work of Mothers against Drunk Driving that had formed in our community. I really loved this assignment because of our extra training and the fulfilling opportunity to really make a difference. One of the most…

They even have a name for it; it’s thanatophobia. Of course it’s based on the Greek word for death – Θανατος and φοβος – literally the fear of death. It can become so bad in a person that they are terrified of dying every waking moment. Horrible! And yet, we live in such a death denying culture we even comment at funeral homes “Does’nt he look good? He looks almost alive.” We have…

“You may ask yourself: How did I get here?” “Same as it ever was!” (An old favorite) SSDD! You know, “same stuff, different day.” That’s the way a buddy of mine would answer as we started our workday at a factory where I worked after school in my teenage years. He had been with this company for many years and had had the same job in the factory refurbishing water meters. His…

“You’re the meanest daddy in the world!” With that declaration, my daughter informed me that I was both unfair and unreasonable to expect her to clean up the mess she had made with the play dough. By the way, I’m convinced play dough was invented by demons for the tormenting and temptation of parents! From my daughter’s immature perspective, she saw no problem between her freedom to leave the living room a…

My grandmother use to confuse me when she’d comment about a particular friend of my grandfather’s. She’d look at the man as he was driving away from their home after a visit and say “He’s a smart boy but he ain’t got no horse sense.” “Horse sense?” I’d hear that and wonder what in heaven’s name that could mean. It was years later I learned that this was a way of saying…

When I was a boy, I was blessed with a vivid imagination and an active interior world. For those of you with something of a whimsical bend, you know what I’m talking about. In other words, math and science weren’t my strong suits in school. I was always reading a story (science fiction was my favorite) or falling in love with literature, especially the myths and legends and fairy tales of the…