Author: Ellie Harty

Gaudete Sunday is almost upon us. In the midst of waiting in ever-advancing darkness in this Advent season, we are given a liturgical breather. In the midst of our penitential preparation for the birth of a new life and a new way, we can take a moment to rejoice that it is coming and celebrate…
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I remember chastising my children (and, at times, husband), “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it,” of course in a tone of voice that completely nullified what I had just said forcing me to follow with, “And do as I say, not as I do!” (So humbling.) But the point of my…
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I’ll be dining alone this Thanksgiving– perhaps as many of you– for the first time in my life. Of course, it’s sad. I’m tempted to fill the next line with a series of tearful emojis, comically expressing what is – let’s face it a bit of heartbreak – okay, actually a large slice.  Still… Like…
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We need new words for this new world we’re entering, and I thought “anthropause” was one of the most compelling among them. It refers to the breathing space we have recently had – and may temporarily have again – in our high-paced human activity during the pandemic, a space in which air became clearer, sounds…
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Right now we are pulling up in our collective vans to move once again, this time into a new era in our country, in our world, in our Church.  And, as with every move, it’s time to decide what we will take with us and what we will leave, knowing even that will never be…
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And so we wait – on this Election Day – in this pandemic year – on this evolutionary revolutionary earth. We wait for forces other than just our own to determine our fate.  We wait to see when and if our voice has joined in unity with theirs. We wait to applaud – or just…
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This week, there really is an “elephant in the room”: the upcoming election – and, well, you know, another particular “elephant” – making it difficult to think about anything else. Having acknowledged that is our situation today, however, I would like to point a way forward to a brighter future – also definitely needed this…
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I belong to a small faith group (small in numbers, hopefully not in faith!) whose recent discussion topic was: How do we live with uncertainty. Easily, I ventured, especially compared to living with its opposite which I have always found infinitely more difficult. Really, I wondered, how do we possibly manage to live with the…
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The American poet Louise Glück has just been awarded this year’s Nobel prize for literature. Here is one of her poems: Celestial Music I have a friend who still believes in heaven. Not a stupid person, yet with all she knows, she literally talks to God. She thinks someone listens in heaven. On earth she’s…
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What possibilities arise when we take on rearranging world-wearied words, exhausted expressions, tiresome traditions, tedious tenets, parched principles, prosaic practices to discover, or even create, something utterly fresh, invigorating, maybe even electrifying! In fact, perhaps the one good thing that comes out of the Catholic Church’s centuries old ban on any other than male words,…
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