The Christian life is embedded in the cross. The ashes are imposed upon us making the sign of the cross on our forehead. It is a reminder that yes, we will die and return to dust, but that is not the last word.

In the wilderness, harsh as it is, I cannot continue to prop-up the illusion that I can ignore my brokenness or deal with it in my own power. In the wilderness, I am offered the opportunity to face the truth about myself and trust the Father’s voice.

Advent is a season for such holy hunger. Advent, this time when we as the Church inhabit Christ's first coming as a way to look forward to his second, names that hunger and in some sense gives us a taste of what it might feel like to be truly satisfied.

The gift of hospice is to provide comfort and care to patients nearing the end of life and their families. The gift of the hospice chaplain is to bring the extraordinary message of Easter.

The one who could have called legions of angels to vanquish the legions of Rome, but who instead offered himself up by turning the other cheek, becoming in his death the truly meek one who would inherit the earth.