Oddwalk Ministries

Category: ministry

amazing, catholicism, good news, holiday, Jesus, JesusJusticeJoy, lent, liturgy, ministry, music, oddwalkia, prayer, reflection

Rising from the Ashes

Yesterday, I (Orin) and Shannon had the privilege once again of leading music ministry at the Diocese of Belleville Illinois Chrism Mass.  Here are a couple photos of the Cathedral of St. Peter we took yesterday.

 

 

It was impossible to be there without superimposing the images which all over the media on Monday of Notre Dame in Paris.

We have found out since Monday that much of the structure as well as precious pieces of art, relics, the organ, the windows, and so much more survived, after the worst was rightly feared.  There is much to clean up of course, and much to rebuild — years and years worth of effort will be needed to restore the magnificent building.

The thought of “restoring a church from its ashes” causes me to ponder other churches in similar contexts.  Several historically black churches in Louisiana have been recently set ablaze and need to be rebuilt for instance.  And the Church which is the body of Christ, the people gathered by Christ himself, whether the Church of Notre Dame, or at these Louisiana congregations, or the Church Universal, needs to be restored and rebuilt as well.

It is of course the time of year when we journey from Ash Wednesday to Easter and, hopefully, have considered prayerfully what it is about our own spiritual lives that needs to be, with Christ’s salvific power, raised from the ashes and created anew.  The best time to begin that process was Ash Wednesday itself, of course.  The second best time is right now.

Blessings to all of you on this most holy time of our year.

catholicism, JesusJusticeJoy, Justice, ministry, oddwalkia, Welcome

What In The World Is Going On In El Paso?

This week, we have a guest-writer for Jesus-Justice-Joy. We are so grateful that immigration attorney with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Maryknoll Lay Missioner, and Shannon’s cousin, Heidi Cerneka, has graciously agreed to share a few thoughts from her experiences working with migrant people in El Paso, Texas.  I am Shannon Cerneka’s cousin, currently working…

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Jesus, JesusJusticeJoy, ministry, reflection, retreat, video

Seeing the World as God Sees

Hello from Orin… Shannon and I had the privilege of presenting a couple days of retreats for the sophomores of St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon, MO (“Mofallon,” as there’s also an O’Fallon relatively nearby in Illinois), yesterday and earlier today. We were challenged to create a whole new retreat for the days, as some of the students there have also been on other retreats we’ve given (parish confirmation retreats for instance). I’m grateful to Shannon who took on nearly 100% of the work in crafting our new content, tracing a path of “how we see ourselves” to “how others see us” to “how God sees us” to “trying to see others as God might.” Then of course, a final piece on how to live that in day to day life. The days seemed to be successful, and we look forward to presenting this retreat again on other occasions.

It’s a bit corny, and we’re open to other suggestions if anyone knows of a similar-but-better-produced video, but part of the day was spent watching and discussing this brief clip. Perhaps you’ll be able to glean some with of spiritual growth from it too. Enjoy!