MSI Press Blog

  People rarely come to interfaith gatherings because they’ve lost faith. They come because something inside them is expanding—an intuition that the Divine might be larger than any single vocabulary we’ve invented. Interfaith doesn’t ask people to trade their tradition for another; it invites them to listen across boundaries without fear of losing themselves. The Quiet Stretch Interfaith attracts the ones who feel that tug toward something wider. They’ve prayed in one language all their lives yet find themselves moved by a chant in another. They’ve seen kindness in people whose theology doesn’t match theirs and realized that grace isn’t proprietary. For them, curiosity isn’t rebellion—it’s reverence. The Seasoned Seekers Some arrive because they’ve lived long enough to see that “us versus them” never produces wisdom. They’ve watched division wear people down and want a better way. Others come because love or friendship made the world more porous—a marriage, a neighbor, a shared los...

  Today the Church celebrates St. Boniface , a saint who stands at the crossroads of two identities: priest and martyr . The Liturgy of the Hours reflects this beautifully. When you open Morning Prayer, you’ll notice that the Church gives you two Commons to draw from— the Common of Pastors and the Common of Martyrs —because Boniface embodies both vocations in their fullest form. And if you pray the Office during Easter Time, you’ll see yet another layer: the Church shifts the tone of the martyr texts to reflect resurrection hope. Boniface’s witness is not only about the sword that killed him; it is about the risen Christ who sustained him. A Life Formed by the Priesthood Before he was the “Apostle to the Germans,” Boniface was simply a priest who loved the Church. He was a scholar, a teacher, a man who believed that evangelization required clarity, formation, and unity. His priesthood was not glamorous. It was patient, administrative, pastoral. He wrote letters. He corrected erro...

    Spain   (after Jordan – Arabic words – the Moors); I knew a lot more Spanish words after living in Jordan. Spain, to me, was a reward for learning Spanish though I was sent there for work and had a native speaker in our group, so it did not matter whether I could speak Spanish for the business part of the trip. Yes, of course, it did help being able to understand and communicate without interpretation. The language was not the Spanish (Spanglish) of Salinas, and certainly one could not throw in some English words and expect comprehension—although Arabic words might have done the trick. Having recently lived and worked in Jordan, I was surprised at how many of the Spanish words had arisen from the influence of Arabic, through the Moors, course. The hotel I stayed in was located across from a beautiful Catholic church that had a Mass every evening. I attended—every evening. My San Juan Bautista experience was quite helpful here: I knew the language of the Mass, the so...