Whenever I encounter the Scriptures telling of Jesus and His disciples together in the Upper Room, my heart and mind automatically travel to the O’Connor Room at Nazareth Farm.  Wood grain walls, sunlight streaming in through the windows along with a gentle breeze, and a not-so-subtle reminder that we are truly on Holy Ground. I […]

Today, Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, marks the beginning of Holy Week, as we journey with Jesus through Jerusalem, to Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and ultimately to the joy-filled Easter Sunday. While there are so many layers and key moments found within today’s Gospel, I am continually brought back to one theme: love. The […]

Every time I read Jesus’s prediction of his impending death, I am troubled and confused. What does he mean when he says his death will glorify God’s name? How am I supposed to “lose my life?” Now more than ever, I feel like I have already sacrificed so much due to a global pandemic. Where […]

This week, the Gospel tells us that everyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life, and whoever lives by the truth will come into the light, and Jesus will be watching. Sounds pretty straightforward enough, right? Not really. I believe that if I plant seeds and water them, a flower will grow. The reason […]

“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark.”- Rabindranath Tagore I have never liked the dark. During the camping trips my family took when I was a child, as night came, I felt safe so long as I had the nearby hand or presence of one of […]

Although we are only in the second Sunday of Lent, Holy Mother Church has given us a wonderful and hopeful set of readings in this penitential season. For many of us who have done a service week at Nazareth Farm, the Gospel today will sound very familiar. The story of the Transfiguration is one that […]

Sometimes it feels like we’ve already been in the season of Lent for a year. Throughout the pandemic, there’s no doubt that we’ve all been experiencing our own forms of the desert; so there’s something very familiar and relatable when we read that, “The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert.” I imagine that Jesus experienced […]

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, and with it, a call to live a life of love and sacrifice like Jesus. But what does it mean to live like Jesus? Ever since I began as a staff member at the Farm in September of 2019, to live as Jesus lived has taken […]

On this Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, my soul is filled with so many memories of how my spiritual life has transformed over the past decade. I have memories of going to church as a child with my family. I know I went to CCD classes for confirmation prep, but truthfully most things […]

It’s easy to make granola. A few cups of rolled oats, seeds, some cinnamon-honey syrup for the glaze that makes those of us who are allergic to nuts weigh out the cost of a forbidden taste against the epinephrine shot into our thigh. The Farm recipe calls for walnuts, almonds, and pecans, and the simple […]