LINK TO DEEPAK CHOPRA INTERVIEW

A short segment of the interview I did with Deepak Chopra that aired today has been posted on the ABC NEWS website. Click here: ABC News

INTERVIEW WITH DEEPAK CHOPRA

My interview with Deepak Chopra will air on the ABC NEWS NOW network tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 28th at 5:30 p.m. and then at various times throughout the week. Check www.abcnewsnow.com for full information and daily scheduling.
Deepak talks about his new book, The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore, as well as ways to live a more spiritual 2008. It is our "NEW YEAR'S" show. If you don't get ABC NEWS NOW network in your area, request it from your cable provider. I will also post links to view the interview with Deepak online, once they are available. Blessings+

1st Show Debuts on ABC NOW

My first show on ABC NOW debuted yesterday on ABC NOW. It is on THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS. It will also run over the weekend and throughout Christmas week. If you don't get ABC NOW, you can watch the two-part interview by clicking on the following links. Enjoy. And have a BLESSED and THANKFUL CHRISTMAS+
Click here: ABC News Part I of Interview
Click here: ABC News Part II of Interview

NEW MORNING on THE HALLMARK CHANNEL

I will be interviewed on the television show NEW MORNING on Tuesday, December 18th. NEW MORNING airs on the HALLMARK CHANNEL from 7-8 a.m.

FOX's HANNITY'S AMERICA, December 16th, 9 p.m.

Today I taped (by remote, from Orlando) and interview for Hannity's America on the Fox News Channel. The show will air this Sunday at 9 p.m. (though my segment will air closer to the 9:30 p.m. slot). The segment is on: THE LOST YEARS OF JESUS.

NEW SHOW ON ABC NOW

The ABC Television network has offered me the opportunity to host a weekly show on their ABC News NOW network. The show is called ALL TOGETHER NOW and has the potential to reach 33 million subscribers, who can view the show on Cable Television, the Internet, and even on Mobile phones. For more information about the network and how you might view the programming, please visit the website http://abcnews.go.com/abcnewsnow .
To view the Videos of posted shows of ALL TOGETHER NOW, click on the website: http://abcnews.go.com/abcnewsnow/Shows/
I will tape my first show on December 21st and it will be available on the network soon after the taping. Check the schedule on the website for details. I will also try to post updated information as I receive it.
As you will see, the show will feature people who are making a difference in the world. Please feel free to send along any suggestions if you come across remarkable people and projects you think more people should know about. Send any suggestions via email to SoulProviderBook@aol.com Thank you. Advent peace.

ADVENT

Back from Thanksgiving and Advent is now upon us. I will celebrate the first weekend of Advent, December 1/2 at St. Helen Church in Pearland, Texas, close to Houston. I was there some years ago to give a parish mission and am happy to return for a weekend Revival / Retreat. I will try to post some reflections on Advent when I come up for air...soon! Blessings+ Fr. Edward

ABC NEWS INFLUENTIAL INTERVIEW

ABC has posted a few minutes of my 12 minute interview with Bill Blakemore. They can be seen by clicking on the following link: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3866358

THANKSGIVING

This weekend (November 17/18) I will give a weekend retreat/revival at OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH in Daytona Beach, Florida. After that I will travel further south to be with my father and family for a quiet Thanksgiving, our first "holiday" since the death of my mother. I can't say that I'm looking forward to it, though the strength of family and the opportunity to be together is a blessing. The one who is not there will be sorely missed however.
As we take time next week to be thankful for our blessings, may we all savor the people whom we have been given to love and who love us. Blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving to you...and perhaps more from the sunshine state.
+Fr. Edward

ABC NOW- INFLUENTIAL, NEW MORNING

My interview with ABC's Bill Blakemore on ABC NOW will air Monday, November 12th. Check local listings for times. The segment is called INFLUENTIAL.

Tomorrow I will tape my last interview for NEW MORNING on the Hallmark Network. It will air on December 18th. (NEW MORNING is seen daily from 7 a.m.-8 a.m. on HALLMARK.) Unfortunately, they are ending the series in December, but I am fortunate to be one of the last guests on this fine show. NEW MORNING will continue to have a life on the web at faithstreams.com

SOUL PROVIDER AUDIO and INTERVIEWS

Soul Provider AUDIOBOOK is now available. It can be purchase in CD format (7 CD'S, 9 hours of listening) or as a downloadable version at audible.com. I read the book. Information and links to order are available on the Home page of my website at: www.EdwardLBeck.com

A portion of my recent interview on Good Morning America RADIO on XM RADIO with Hilary Barsky is available at:
abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3801211

Today I will tape an interview at ABC in New York with Bill Blakemore. It will be for the INFLUENTIAL segment on ABC NOW. No air date, as of yet, but check back for postings. Blessings+

UPCOMING INTERVIEWS

NPR RADIO: My NPR RADIO interview with Faith Middleton can be listened to at the following link. My interview starts at 14:15 on the web timeline.Click on: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wnpr/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&sid=15&id=1175120&pid=173


GOOD MORNING AMERICA NOW: My interview with Chris Cuomo of ABC News will air tomorrow (November 1st) on ABC NOW at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. A minute of the 10 minute interview can be viewed at: CLICK ON: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3804320&affil=wftv/

HANNITY'S AMERICA: My segment on HANNITY'S AMERICA with Sean Hannity will air this Sunday, November 4th at 9 p.m. on the FOX NEWS CHANNEL. It is the BEYOND BELIEF segment.

HANNITY'S AMERICA and GOOD MORNING AMERICA NOW

Today I taped a segment for HANNITY'S AMERICA on the FOX NEWS CHANNEL that will air this Sunday, November 4th, in the 9-10 p.m. hour. It is a segment on the origin of "666". What does it mean? Why are people still fascinated by it? Is there an anti-Christ, perhaps among us?

Tomorrow, I will tape a segment on GOOD MORNING AMERICA NOW with Chris Cuomo of ABC NEWS. We'll talk about the California wildfires and my book, SOUL PROVIDER. I don't have an air date for that segment yet, but I suspect it will air on Thursday. I'll confirm when I find out.

Blessings+ Fr. Edward

NEW YORK TO ATLANTA and HANNITY'S AMERICA

My thanks to all who made the New York retreat and book event at HOLY TRINITY CHURCH this past weekend such a success. The community there, led by the estimable Msgr. Thomas P. Leonard is a beacon of light on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I feel privileged to be associated with such a wonderful group of people.

Tomorrow I will tape a segment for FOX'S HANNITY IN AMERICA'S "BEYOND BELIEF" segment. I am not sure of the air date yet, but I will post as soon as I know.

Next weekend, I will be giving a weekend retreat at IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CHURCH in Atlanta, Georgia. I look forward to seeing some old and new faces. Another wonderful faith community. Blessings+ Fr. Edward

CD AUDIO of SOUL PROVIDER

I've just received word that the CD Audio Version of SOUL PROVIDER will ship next week. I do the reading. It may be ordered at that time through my website at http://www.edwardlbeck.com/ It will be 7 CD's, with 9 hours of listening.
Also available in mid-November will be the downloadable version from http://www.audible.com/

WHERE IS GOD IN THE CALIFORNIA FIRES?

As California burns, pundits and religious leaders are weighing in on the question of : Where is GOD in the midst of this?
The blog www.rapturealert.blogspot.com is suggesting that the fires are God's judgement: "There is biblical precedent for us to at least suspect that Governor Schwarzenegger's recent forwarding of the homosexual agenda in California has brought God's judgment upon its lands. Without a doubt...Could it be that what we are presently seeing on the national news is California spewing out many of its inhabitants as a result of same? Quite possibly but only God knows for sure if that's the case."

On his radio show, Glenn Beck said: "I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today." What does Beck Glenn mean by that statement? Is God punishing those who "hate America?"

It is always discouraging to me when people use human suffering and tragedy to make moral or political points and put the blame not only on those suffering, but on God. This is an imperfect creation. God seems to have made it that way. And we are not protected from all harm in our lives. Stuff happens, and we don't always understand why. What we are assured of is that God is with us in the "stuff." That may be scant consolation when we're in the midst of it, but I'm afraid it's all that we get. Job learned that a long time ago. When Job questions God about his innocent suffering, God's response from the whirlwind is basically, "I'm God and you're not. And you will never understand my ways nor the ways of the created order totally." In a showy explanation God questions Job to make him see his relative insignificance in the greater schema of things: "Were you around when I created the world? Can you move the sun and the stars? Well, then, close your mouth." And that's what Job eventually does: puts his hand over his mouth. Whether our hands are over our mouths in horror or humility, sometimes no words are best, for none suffice. Yet, we are left with important questions to ponder:

1) If God is all powerful and controls nature, then why doesn't he stop the winds and cool the temperatures, thus ending the fires and the tragic loss of life and property?

2) Can tragedy, such as the fires, ever be seen as God's judgement?

3) How are we to understand innocent human suffering?

4)Does prayer help at a time like this? Does prayer change "God's mind?" Can prayer stop the destruction?

5) Do all of the religious traditions belief the same thing about God's activity or lack thereof in the world?

I'm not going to answer these questions, but I'll be thinking about them along with you. And our prayers continue for all those caught in the devastation of the fires in California. The promise of better weather with lesser winds gives hope. Is that an answer to prayer...or just nature taking its course? You decide.

NPR RE-SCHEDULING OF INTERVIEW

Well, for those of you who tuned in to The Faith Middleton Show on NPR today to hear her interview with me, I apologize. They re-scheduled the airing, and I didn't get the information until late. It has now been DEFINITIVELY scheduled for Tuesday, October 30 at 3:20 p.m and 11:20 p.m. You can listen to the broadcast LIVE at http://www.wnpr.org/radiomiddleton.asp

The retreat and book event in Sarasota was a smashing success. Over 400 copies of SOUL PROVIDER were purchased. The community there is alive, welcoming, and faith-filled. Thanks to all who made the weekend such a success. It was "Africa-hot" for October, but the air conditioned church made it all quite bearable. And the spirit of the community there made it so much more than that. Thanks again, Fr. Edward

SARASOTA WEEKEND EVENT

Tomorrow I will travel to Sarasota, Florida where I will lead a weekend RETREAT/REVIVAL at a wonderful parish: St. Thomas More Church, 2506 Gulf Gate Dr , Sarasota, FL ,(941) 923-1691. I will preach at all of the weekend Masses, and then give a REVIVAL SERVICE on Sunday, October 21st at 4:30 p.m. If you are in the area, stop by. This is a wonderfully alive parish with a welcoming congregation and vibrant ministries.
Some advance notice: Next Weekend,OCT. 27/28, I will give a similar program in New York City at HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, 213 West 82nd Street, New York, 212-787-0634. Once again, I will speak at all of the weekend Masses, and then we will have an event in the Church at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28th. Please join us if you are in the area. Peace and blessings+

SOUL PROVIDER RELEASED, NPR INTERVIEW

Tomorrow SOUL PROVIDER is finally released. It really is a bit like sending a child into the world (or so I am told!) You can only take it so far, and then you turn it over and hope for the best. And that is my hope for SOUL PROVDER- the best. It is a very different book from my first two. I hope those expecting something the same as those, will give this one a chance. I think the climb may be worthwhile. Happy Reading!
Tomorrow, I will also tape an NPR Interview for THE FAITH MIDDLETON SHOW. It will air on Monday, October 22nd from 3-4 p.m. and then again from 11 p.m.- 12 midnight. You can listen live at the website : http://www.wnpr.org/RadioMiddleton.asp
Peace and blessings+

Who Speaks for Christians?

It's hard to understand how people like Ann Coulter can wear the banner CHRISTIAN, and say the things that they do. Surely her message and those of her ilk are not compatible with the Gospel of Jesus. The following news report demonstrates the latest ridiculous round of outlandish comments, spewed simply to sell more books. I suppose it won't stop until networks stop putting people like her on the air. All to say she doesn't speak for THIS Christian.

Ann Coulter on CNBC Show: Jews Need 'Perfecting'

By E&P Staff

Published: October 11, 2007 12:15 AM ET updated 1:30 PM ET

NEW YORK Appearing on Donny Deutsch's CNBC show, "The Big Idea," on Monday night, columnist/author Ann Coulter suggested that the U.S. would be a better place if there weren't any Jewish people and that they needed to "perfect" themselves into -- Christians.

It led Deutsch to suggest that surely she couldn't mean that, and when she insisted she did, he said this sounded "anti-Semitic."

Asked by Deutsch whether she wanted to be like "the head of Iran" and "wipe Israel off the Earth," Coulter stated: "No, we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say. ... That's what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament."

Deutsch told E&P's sibling magazine, Adweek, today, "I was offended. And then, and this was interesting, she started to back off and seemed a little upset."

Asked to gauge her reaction, Deutsch said, "I think she got frightened that maybe she had crossed a line, that this was maybe a faux pas of great proportions. I mean, did it show ignorance? Anti-Semitism? It wasn't just one of those silly things."

SUMMER WEEKEND IN OCTOBER

Well, if we had any doubts about global warming, these days of "fall" surely dispel them. In New York it feels like the dead of summer. Strange to see it getting dark earlier, and yet still HOT. Not that I'm complaining. The cold of winter will be here soon enough. Enjoy this while we can.

This weekend I will gather with family and friends to celebrate the upcoming release of SOUL PROVIDER. I'm conscious of my mother not being here to celebrate with us. She died unexpectedly on April 1,2007 after a few day's battle with an aggressive lung tumor. She was so looking forward to reading this book. She had enjoyed my first two, always searching for stories about herself...and then complaining about them. I miss her excitement about the book. And, of course, the first story in the new book is about her. I trust she is celebrating with us from afar. This one is definitely for you, mom.

Audio Version of SOUL PROVIDER

Well, I barely have a voice left. I have been in a recording studio for a few days recording my new book, SOUL PROVIDER: Spiritual Steps to Limitless Love. It was quite a process. It took about 18 hours to record it, but it will only be about a 7-8 hour Audio Book. (That's 7 to 8 CD's, at one hour each.) This books lends itself to the audio format because the 30 Steps can each be an individual track, to be listened to whenever is convenient. I worked with a very able producer, John McElroy. I felt in good hands.
I'm still trying to catch up...and when I do I will attempt to be more faithful to blogging. Promise. Peace.

Back but NOT

I've returned from my weeks on the road, and as you can tell I was NOT diligent about blogging. I guess I needed a break from internet and 24 hour access. But, back to the real world. I will be in a recording studio here in New York for the next couple of days recording my new book, SOUL PROVIDER: Spiritual Steps to Limitless Love. It will be available on CD and downloadable audio from audible.com. These will be LONG days, so again I probably won't be blogging, but I promise to be more faithful once this week is over and I'm back in to a routine. Fall kind of makes that happen, doesn't it? Enjoy the beauty of these days. Be back soon. Peace.

Tears

Quote of the Day: President George W. Bush
(RNS) “I've got God's shoulder to cry on. And I cry a lot. I do a lot of crying in this job. I'll bet I've shed more tears than you can count, as president. I'll shed some tomorrow.”
-- President George W. Bush, in an interview with journalist Robert Draper for his new book, “Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush.” Bush's comments were quoted by the Associated Press

Many of us are crying with you, President Bush, and we have been since this war began. The photograph yesterday used to advertise the HBO Special with James Gandolphini, ALIVE DAY MEMORIES, was heartbreaking. A soldier dressed in all of his medals, without any legs. Just some high tech prostheses, left in full view for millions to see...and ponder. The toll this war has taken on our troops and our nation is great. Any no matter what your politics, there is no arguing with that. Maybe God is crying, too.
A Note: I'll be traveling over the next few weeks, so entries may be spotty depending on time and availability. I'll do my best to keep up. Blessings+

THE SECRET

I'm a bit late int0 THE SECRET bashing, but it's hard to do when you're an author, especially one who has a new book coming out next month. Any negative comments heaped on a runaway bestseller have the potential of being viewed as sour grapes. But not this time, because I really do think that THE SECRET is a waste of time. Even the format and layout of the book seems cheesy to me. We've known the benefits of postive thinking for a long time. Yes, we all know that thinking positively sometimes produces positive results. It's not rocket science. Yet, to say that the UNIVERSE is in alignment to produce only good and positive for you if you place yourself only within this postive energy--and negative if you don't--is hogwash. It simply doesn't explain the age old dilemma of bad things sometimes happening to good people. We don't always cause our misfortune. And most times it has nothing to do with positive or negative thinking. It's the human condition. It's the way the world is. We will suffer. We Christians believe it's a mysterious participation in the Paschal Mystery of Christ, who assures us we are not along in our struggle. That may seem scant assurance when one is in the midst of turmoil and loss. However, we simply will not get all of the answers in this lifetime. When Job questions God about his undeserved suffering and demands answers, he doesn't get any. Bascially, God's response from the Whirlwind is, "Because I'm God, and you're not." End of story. Mystery, yes. Satisfying? Not always. Do we have a choice? I don't think so. That's not to rain on positive thinking and on celebrating all that is good and holy about this marvelous gift of life. But when we don't get everything we have hoped for--or thought positively about-- let's not beat ourselves up by saying, "Oh, I guess I just wasn't positive enough." Sometimes that's just the way life is.

The following article says it well, I think:
'The Secret' and the prosperity gospel teach that what you think is what you get. But that message is unhelpful and untrue.
By Patton Dodd

Long before "The Secret" had readers talking about how we attract good or bad things to ourselves according to how we think, I was a young convert to Christianity who believed that the message of Jesus was, well, that we attract good or bad things to ourselves according to how we think. It was 1994, I was a new Christian, I was tender of heart, and I was impressionable. At the Pentecostal university I attended, not everyone embraced what is known as "the prosperity gospel," but somehow I was drawn to people for whom prosperity teaching—the idea that God wants us healthy and wealthy—was part and parcel of the life of faith. So, I carefully considered the counsel of a fellow student who told me that if I had faith, I'd never have another cold. I prayed alongside a fellow student who "claimed in faith" that God would provide him with a new Toyota 4x4. Passages like Mark 11:23-24, where Jesus says that anyone who has enough faith can cause a mountain to leap into the sea, began to haunt me as standard-bearers for whether I had faith at all. And then I lost my faith. I'll not blame prosperity teaching alone for my years of pained spiritual searching. But it was a lie that was hard to shake. To this day, when I have a bad day or a great need, somewhere in my mind is a voice accusing me of not having enough faith. That is the legacy of the prosperity gospel. It's a perversion of Christianity that encourages empty optimism and false faith. I hope it fizzles out before the end of my lifetime, but indications are that it will only grow. The prosperity gospel goes by various names (Word-Faith, and more) and many forms, from Joel Osteen's squishy "Just smile and receive happiness" approach to Creflo Dollar's direct name-it-and-claim-it approach to Bishop Bernard Jordan's "laws of thinking" approach. No matter its guise—and some practitioners, like Osteen, don't admit to being practitioners—Christian prosperity teaching emphasizes one or more of these doctrines: - God wants to bless you with health and wealth; - Health and wealth are a sign of God's favor; - Having the right thoughts and professing the right beliefs are the keys to receiving God's blessings. In other words, you gotta believe it to receive it. And in still other words, the opposite is true: if you confess the wrong beliefs or think the wrong thoughts, you can expect to get the wrong stuff. What you think and say is what you get. As Kenneth Hagin, the father of the Word-Faith movement, put it: "Say it, do it, receive it, tell it." As Rhonda Byrne, author of "The Secret," puts it: "Ask. Believe. Receive." Rhonda Byrne is not a Christian prosperity preacher. But her message is a close cousin of the beliefs of millions of Christians who are influenced by prosperity teaching. Note Ed Gungor, who says that the main problem with "The Secret" is that it doesn't tell people about Jesus. Note Bishop Bernard Jordan, who tells us he affirms Byrne's, and whose book "The Laws of Thinking" is basically a longer, clunkier, Christian-y version of "The Secret." Most of all, note the biggest movement happening in global Christianity: the rise of prosperity-oriented Pentecostalism in the southern Hemisphere, where, to be sure, the message that life can be better is a godsend for the impoverished. The current Christianity Today cover story observes this rise, showing how Christianity in Africa has been greatly influenced by the American prosperity gospel and reporting the results of a 2006 Pew Forum survey, where 80-96% of Africans surveyed (in three different African countries) said they believe God grants material wealth to people who have enough faith. "The Secret" and its Christian cousins are not flash-in-the-pan cultural trends. In some quarters, the Power of Positive Thinking has all the authority of doctrine. "Be optimistic" is the new gospel, and God's core message to humankind is: Chin up!

Mother Teresa, Dark Night of the Soul, and Depression

This week the new book about (and by) Mother Teresa is released by Doubleday. There has been a lot of press about the book, including the cover story of TIME magazine. Mother Teresa is in the news again because it has been revealed by her letters that she had doubts. I'm not sure why this is such big news. Did we think she didn't have doubts? Don't all saints? Don't all people? Perhaps, but most were struck by the extent of her doubts and how long they lasted. It was not too much of a surprise for me because the founder of my religious community (The Passionists), Saint Paul of the Cross, had 50 years of desolation and darkness when he felt as though God was far from him. His "Dark Night" was oppressive and, perhaps, "depressive"?
In the following article Therese Borchard finds hope and solace in Mother Teresa because the saint's doubts and darkness have helped Therese deal with hers, which are rooted in her struggle with depression. She comes to see that sometimes it is in the darkness that one finds the light.

Mother Teresa: My Saint of Darkness and Hope
"If I ever become a saint—I will surely be one of 'darkness,'" Mother Teresa wrote in September of 1959. "I will continually be absent from heaven—to light the light of those in darkness on earth."
Two years earlier she wrote this to Archbishop Perier of Calcutta:
There is so much contradiction in my soul.—Such deep longing for God—so deep that it is painful—a suffering continual—and yet not wanted by God—repulsed—empty—no faith—no love—no zeal.—Souls hold no attraction—Heaven means nothing—to me it looks like an empty place—the thought of it means nothing to me and yet this torturing longing for God.—Pray for me please that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything. For I am only His—so He has ever right over me. I am perfectly happy to be nobody even to God. . . . .
As a person who battles despairing, intrusive thoughts during many of her alert (caffeinated and non-caffeinated) hours, I found great consolation in the personal writings of Mother Teresa included in a compilation entitled "Come Be My Light," edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk, M.C. And I wept many times throughout the book, mostly at her graciousness toward God in her suffering. "I want to smile even at Jesus and so hide if possible the pain and the darkness of my soul even from Him," she wrote.
I spent a week with Mother Teresa and her Sisters the winter of 1994. I stood beside her for about two hours as we distributed Christmas gifts to orphaned children. I sensed a sadness in her. But her light overshadowed it. Unlike a person wrapped in severe depression, wearing the expression of despair, she exuded light and hope. When she prayed, her deep love for God was visible, even contagious.
This saint of darkness has much to teach me about how to live with inner anguish.
First of all, I should stop referring to my depression and anxiety as the "Black Hole," (singular and capitalized), and call it, as Mother Teresa described her difficult places, the "dark holes." Because the darkness is never black, or without any light at all. Her legacy is proof that hope and faith and love prevail, even in the dark night.
And depression isn’t one place of despair with capital letters. It changes every minute we breathe, especially as we enter into deeper communion with God, even if we don’t feel that communion. It’s plural because we always get to try again, the same reason my son David’s pencils don’t have erasers. His kindergarten teacher doesn't believe in mistakes, just "happy accidents."
And, most importantly, all of our suffering can be used for the good. I’m not sure how Mother Teresa was able to regard her times of spiritual agony as the meeting place for she and God, or how she appreciated her pain in order to bring souls to God. Because when I’m in that place I can’t stop cussing him out.
I remember my own conversation with God one afternoon over a year ago. I had just flunked out of a six-week outpatient program for depression ("You are in no way ready to be discharged, but your insurance won’t cover you anymore, so goodbye"), having tried 21 different medications, plus every alternative method imaginable (acupuncture, magnets, Chinese herbs, fish oil, vitamins, craniosacral therapy, yoga), counseling, cognitive-behavioral worksheets, gratitude journals, prayer and meditation, and daily six-mile runs. The conversation, which happened while I was swmming laps, went like this:
Okay, God. I’m finally starting to accept the fact that I will live the rest of my life wanting to die. And I’ve already promised you that I won’t take my life. Since enjoyment of life is pretty much ruled out, I’m going to just devote all my time to your cause. In exchange, I’d like you to take me earlier rather than later. Deal? I was crying so hard that my goggles filled up with tears every two laps (it was better than chlorine, but still). I didn't appreciate anything about it. Even though I was wearing clear goggles in a fluorescent-lit room (equivalent to at least 15 mammoth HappyLites--the kind sitting on my desk), it was my dark night, and I'm glad Archbishop Perier wasn't around to talk to.
Because, when Mother Teresa told him about her darkness, this is what he wrote:
With regard to the feeling of loneliness, of abandonment, of not being wanted, of darkness of the soul, it is a state well known by spiritual writers and directors of conscience. This is willed by God in order to attach us to Him alone, an antidote to our external activities, and also, like temptation, a way of keeping us humble in the midst of applauses, publicity, praises, appreciation, etc. and success. To feel that we are nothing, that we can do nothing is the realization of a fact. We know it, we say it, some feel it. That is why stick to God and like the little Bernadette at the end of her last retreat wrote: God alone, God everywhere, God in everybody and in everything, God always. According to St. John of the Cross, the Carmelite mystic who composed the poem, "The Dark Night," the deepening of love is the real purpose of the dark night of the soul. The dark night helps us to love more deeply.
And Meister Eckhart once wrote, "Truly, it is in the darkness that one finds the light, so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to us." How appropriate, then, that Mother Teresa’s writings be entitled "Come Be My Light." This saint of darkness is my light.

New Jewish Prayer Book

It is reported in today's New York Times that the nation's largest Jewish movement, Reform Judaism is "preparing to adopt a new prayer book that was intended to offer something for everyone- traditionalists, progressives and everyone else--even those who do not believe in God." It is the first new prayer book in 32 years, offering 4 versions of each prayer, in Hebrew and in English. Not surprisingly, the more traditional prayers are on the right side of the books, and alternative versions are on the left. Interesting idea. The prayer book is expected to be released in about one month. I wonder if this would work for Catholics? I don't think so. Then there would be arguments everywhere about which prayers to use in which parish. Some would sit on the left side of the church, some on the right. Not a good thing. It might, however, be an improvement to reverting to the Latin Mass. Yes, I know it's only for those who want it, but it says something about the general direction in which we are heading. I just wonder who is going to be saying these Latin Masses? And how many are actually going to go to them? We shall see.

Labor Day

It doesn't get much better than Labor Day weekend in New York City with this weather. In my homily yesterday I said that Labor Day is kind of a strange holiday when we celebrate work by taking off from WORK. Shouldn't we actually be working OVERTIME to celebrate work? Honestly, most of us don't want to so much celebrate work, as be done with it. But that may be one of the problems. Many people are dissatisfied with what they do for a living. The ideal that our jobs are fulfilling and help us to create and make a positive contribution is just that- an ideal. I'm lucky that my vocation is interwoven with my "job" and I get to have real fulfillment in what I do as a priest. Many simply don't have that. I feel badly for people who have to drag themselves to work everyday because they really don't want to be there. A long time ago I heard a call to leave Wall Street and that "prosperous" track behind. And I've never looked back. I'm so happy I had the ears to hear that voice beckoning me into another way of living and viewing the world. I can't imagine what my life would have been had I taken a different turn. And I'm still so excited for all that lies ahead. So, workers of the world unite! And here's hoping that more of us can actually celebrate our LABORS and find true fulfillment in what we do. Enjoy being OFF from WORK today! Blessings+

SOUL PROVIDER: Spiritual Steps to Limitless Love

"Father Edward L. Beck's Soul Provider explains the steps of a classic spiritual guidebook in a way that is apt for the modern world and attractive and useful to readers interested in making their lives meaningful. Anyone can apply these instructions about what to give up and what to adopt, whatever their own personal faith, or, indeed, even if they have none. Here is clear evidence of the role religion can play in promoting basic human good qualities such as love, compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness in the world today."
-His Holiness the DALAI LAMA

“Edward Beck is a profound, loving, and fierce force for good in this world.”
-Anne Lamott, New York Times bestseller author



“Beck, a Catholic priest, has an extraordinary gift for diving into the Christian spiritual tradition and emerging with profound perspectives and wisdom that speak directly to the heart…A gifted writer and storyteller, Beck delivers straightforward, honest and at times poignant prose...and many people will benefit.”
-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review