Mining the Now

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   December 21, 2025

If you’re reading this post, you probably already know that I’m a lover of words. The  sound of them. The feel of them on my tongue. The music they make when poetry is spoken aloud rather than read silently. I appreciate the way words coax me to put my own hungers on a page in full view of anyone who might discover them. I notice the courage words demand from me when I sit at my laptop and prepare to launch them out into the universe, where I pray they’ll receive a tender hearing.

This may explain my delight when, as a younger writer, I first noticed the opening sentence of John’s Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word.” (John 1:1) I was impressed, thinking the Evangelist and I were very much in sync with our shared emphasis on the primacy of words. I learned that this was actually so much bigger than my limited vocabulary. This was and is the Word that encompasses all desires, every longing of the human heart. This Word was and is the embodiment, the enfleshing, of the Holy One’s unconditional love for each of us.

On this fourth Sunday of Advent, this Word makes an appearance in an antiphon traditionally used for evening prayer: “For when peaceful stillness encompassed everything and night in its swift course was half spent, your all-powerful word from heaven’s royal throne leaped down from heaven…” (Wisdom 18:15).

Can we hear urgency, longing, and something like a holy impatience as if the Word simply could not wait even one more second to be among us? And when this Word entered our time and place, the name chosen for us to call the divine is Emmanuel, God with us. Not ruler, sovereign, or any other title of power that might intimidate us or keep us at a formal distance. Instead, the Word becomes a name that speaks of closeness and accompaniment. The Word chooses intimacy. The Word takes on our human flesh, our human condition. The Word inhabits a name that’s invitational and relational: Emmanuel, God with us. God with us to convince us beyond any doubt that within us and around us and all throughout our world is where the Holy One chooses to be.

It is exactly that Word who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The MESSAGE Bible opens up a fresh understanding of what those familiar words call us to in this translation: “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” Sit with that for a moment. Mine the layers of meaning and implication.

If we gather this Christmas in song, in worship, in celebration, around a table set with love or beside a Nativity scene, let us remember Emmanuel, dear neighbor, God with us. Let us recognize and open the doors of our homes and our hearts to this Word who has moved into our neighborhood. Let us find the Holy in every person and place in our world, especially in those places where love is in danger of being extinguished. Let us welcome our kin here and now, everywhere, and at all times. May it be so!

Takeaway
Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
You may want to place before you an image of the Nativity as well as a representation of people from a culture other than your own.
Where might you find Emmanuel in this Christmas season?
Welcome the infant Jesus into your corner of the world and thank him for being born among us once again.

Featured Images:  Noah Black, Unsplash; Chris Koellhoffer, Nativity set from Mexico

NOTE:
Wishes for a peaceful celebration of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or however you mark this holy season. Thank you for all the ways you welcome the Holy One into your everyday life.

Know that I’m grateful for your prayer and support as I struggle to find words to send out into the universe with each post of  my blog, Mining the Now. Thank you for meeting my words with tenderness and welcome. I look forward to being with you once again in the new year to come and far beyond.

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

Go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org)* In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe” and follow any prompts. When you receive an email asking you to confirm subscribing, be sure to confirm. Otherwise, you won’t be subscribed to future new blog posts, and I don’t want you to miss even one!

*NOTE: If you are trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll be taken to what’s on the left hand column (on a laptop or PC). Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following!

 

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM    December 7, 2025

One of the side effects of living through an often frigid and icy winter season is its impact on roads and highways. Sooner or later, we’re almost guaranteed the appearance of the dreaded pothole. Small indentations, not so bad, but larger holes can puncture a tire or seriously damage an axle. I speak from the firsthand knowing of one who has encountered and lost the battle with just such an unwanted opening.

So imagine my surprise when, on a human rights delegation to Haiti in 1995, I was among a dozen people crammed into an old van as we drove painfully slowly up the steep climb towards Cap-Haitien on the north shore of Haiti. There were no guard rails on this narrow road, which was barely wide enough for a single vehicle to proceed. No guard rails, but definitely potholes so large they could easily have swallowed our entire van with room left over. What to do? How to proceed?

Suddenly, a band of ten-year-old boys leaped in front of us. With shovels in hand, they yelled at our driver to stop, and then with great excitement and gestures explained their mission. The boys, hoping to earn a few Haitian gourdes to feed their families, wanted to go ahead of us all the way to Cap Haitien, filling in the potholes before us as we traveled. I smile still, remembering what it was like to encounter an Advent scene in the middle of February.

So this season whenever I hear THE MESSAGE translation of Luke 3:5-6, quoting Isaiah 40:3-5, I’m back on that road to Cap Haitien:

Prepare for God’s arrival.
Make the road straight and smooth,
a highway fit for our God.
Fill in the valleys, level off the hills,
smooth out the rut, clear out the rocks.
Then God’s glory will shine and everyone will see it.

Advent calls for just this sort of faithful labor and creative reimagining. As we gaze at our world that is both beautiful and broken, where might we notice the “holes” of incompleteness, the forgotten but needed soul work, the openings to forgiveness and repair? What are the “valleys” in need of filling—with gratitude, with more engaged prayer, with deeper hopefulness? What rough edges or hardness of heart needs smoothing to move us towards a softer, more tender welcoming of the Christ Child present in everyone we encounter? With the grace of the Holy One, are we ready to get out our shovel to dig and fill in what is lacking? Oh, may it be so, this Advent and always!

Takeaway
Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
You may want to place before you a shovel, a hammer, or some other symbol/image that speaks of repairing and restoring our world.
Begin with your own heart as you reflect on the suggested questions in the reflection above.
Ask the Holy One, the source of grace in repairing and restoring, to help you with filling in any empty soul spaces that you may notice this holy season.

Featured Images: Matt Hoffman, Unsplash; Tomoe Steineck, Unsplash

NOTE:
Part of the story of my Haitian encounter was excerpted from Advent Here and Now, a booklet of reflections for each day of Advent that I authored in 2010.

Thank you for your prayer for all who were part of the Advent evening of reflection at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Ridgewood, NJ, December 4. Special thanks to the Women’s Cornerstone members and members of the MOMS group who shared their wisdom and insight so tenderly and generously. It was a homecoming of sorts for me to return to and pray with these dear friends of many years.

December 8: Please remember in your prayer my community, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Scranton) as we celebrate our feast day on December 8. You and your intentions are always in our hearts and in our prayers of gratitude.

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

Go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org)* In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe” and follow any prompts. When you receive an email asking you to confirm subscribing, be sure to confirm. Otherwise, you won’t be subscribed to future new blog posts, and I don’t want you to miss even one!

*NOTE: If you are trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll be taken to what’s on the left hand column (on a laptop or PC). Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following!

 

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   November 23, 2025

I imagine God’s dream for us as abundant life for everyone, no exceptions. Before I moved to the Scranton area in 2010, I knew that Friends of the Poor (now joined with the Catherine McAuley Center) was sponsored by my Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Scranton), and founded by Sister Adrian Barrett, IHM in 1986. That the mission of Friends of the Poor (FOP) was to ease the burden and enhance the quality of life for all those living in poverty. That it brought together in friendship those who have the desire to give with those in need of assistance. Still, I was unprepared to imagine what that dream might actually look like in real life.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 2010, I volunteered to be among hundreds of FOP volunteers. We assisted in ways great and small to bring to reality an annual Thanksgiving dinner planned, prepared, and served by Friends of the Poor, who, incredibly, had no RSVP to inform them of an expected number of guests. The Scranton Cultural Center opened its doors and over fifteen hundred (now many more) friends in need and friends alone for the holiday surged into a grand ballroom decorated for the season. Every table was draped with a white cloth and holding roses in a bud vase, along with a bowl of chocolates for sharing. Musicians on stage filled the hall with notes of hospitality and joy. Words of welcome, gratitude, and grace formed a prelude to the feast. As a volunteer server, I spent the afternoon squeezing between tables to carry plates heaped with a hot Thanksgiving meal to each guest, later ferrying a second meal boxed to go for our friends.

When there was finally a lull in serving, I climbed up to the balcony to survey the scene below. I gasped. Because looking out from this perch, I saw enfleshed in the hall below me the embodiment of the Holy One’s dream for our world. I saw strangers from differing backgrounds and experiences all brought together by the desire for a meal and the desire to belong to something greater than themselves. I saw a movement toward the deepening community and spaciousness of heart for which we all long.

So whatever table we might be gathering around this Thanksgiving holiday, wherever the conversation leads us, may we remember the significance of the table and its symbolism as Joy Harjo imagines in “Perhaps the World Ends Here”::

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.
It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.
At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children.
They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.
This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.
Wars have begun and ended at this table.
It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.
We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.
At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.

Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

Takeaway
Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
Imagine the kind of table gathering you hope to create not only for holidays, but for every day.
Ask the Holy One to help you set your table with patience, with gratitude, and with largeness of heart.
Then invite the Holy One to sit down and eat with all who are gathered.

Featured Images:  Stefan Vladimirov, Unsplash; Nathan Dumlao, Unsplash

NOTE:
Blessings of the Thanksgiving holiday to you, to those you love, and especially to those who are without safe gathering spaces or food or table or home at this time: the people of Gaza, of Ukraine, of South Sudan, and every area of our world struggling with food insecurity.

Please hold in your prayer all who will be part of:
December 4
Advent Evening
Women’s Cornerstone
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church
Ridgewood, NJ

May we meet the season of Advent ahead with openness of heart and a listening spirit.

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

Go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org)* In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe” and follow any prompts. When you receive an email asking you to confirm subscribing, be sure to confirm. Otherwise, you won’t be subscribed to future new blog posts, and I don’t want you to miss even one!

*NOTE: If you are trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll be taken to what’s on the left hand column (on a laptop or PC). Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following!

 

 

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM    November 9, 2025

It may seem like sacrilege for a writer to admit that sometimes, there really are no words. Sometimes, the sheer weight of what we carry is beyond the limits of language or verbal skills. Sometimes, the only way to express our burdens is through sound, the subtle announcement of a deep, prolonged, expressive sigh.

Spiritual directors, counselors, therapists, and many others are trained to notice the significance of words as well as what is underneath the words, or what might be present but unspoken or not yet named. And lately, I’ve been noticing a whole lot of wordless messages being sent out into the world around me. Among them:

The mother with toddlers sitting in her shopping cart, telling the little ones, “No, we don’t need that right now. Let’s put it back.” Sighing after she speaks, discerning that the cost of even basic food items is beyond her family’s budget.

The man pumping gas into a truck that’s essential for his work as he watches the digits climb higher and higher. His sigh might reveal a worry that he can’t sustain the cost or the pressure of his job for much longer.

The activist pouring energy and passion into efforts to shape a more just and inclusive world, then stepping back to evaluate what difference those choices might have made. Sighs of wondering.

The hospital room where a family member accompanies a critically ill patient. When we step outside, she looks at me, shakes her head, and sighs. Her exhale communicates weariness of body and heaviness of heart as she struggles to hold onto hope.

After becoming aware of the frequency of sighs I’d been encountering in everyday living recently, I was particularly primed to take notice when I came across these words of the prophet Muhammed: “Let him groan, for groaning is one of the Names of God in which the sick man may find relief.” Ah, I thought, that’s it: groaning and sighing as the Names of God. Sometimes, no words are necessary.

What a hopeful and consoling spin this puts on our response to being paralyzed by despair. Or broken by pain. Or overwhelmed by the cruelty of the world. Or frustrated by our inability to save others. Or mired in the quicksand of our meager resources.

What grace to imagine that when we have no words, when groaning or sighing is the only avenue of expression available to our souls, we are actually praying the name of the Holy One who never abandons, who accompanies us always. May we take notice of these sounds, these attempts by our breath. May we recognize and name them in ourselves and others. And may the God who is endless love and unlimited compassion hear in our groaning and our sighing our deepest prayers.

Today might hold an invitation to notice how these wordless Names of God are being breathed into the world within us and around us and to attend to the words of the Guatemalan poet and activist Julia Esquivel:

“When it is necessary to drink so much pain,
when a river of anguish
drowns us,
when we have wept many tears
and they flow like rivers
from our sad eyes,
only then
does the deep hidden sigh of our neighbor
become our own.”
(“The Sigh” from “The Certainty of Spring”)

Takeaway
Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
Let out a groan or a sigh as an expression of any anxiety or unrest you hold in your heart.
Repeat this as many times as you desire, trusting that the Holy One hears your cry and is responding.
When you are ready to move on, bow down, give thanks, and inhale deeply.

Featured Images: Daniele Levis Peluse, Unsplash; Falaq Lasuardi, Unsplash

NOTE:
Blessings of the Thanksgiving holiday to all who celebrate. No matter what is unfolding in our lives, may we find many reasons for gratitude. May we listen attentively to all that is shared aloud and honor whatever we continue to hold in the silence of our hearts.

Especially at this time of year, I offer my profound thanks for all the ways you support my ministry of words in my blog, Mining the Now. Happy Thanksgiving!

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

Go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org)* In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe” and follow any prompts. When you receive an email asking you to confirm subscribing, be sure to confirm. Otherwise, you won’t be subscribed to future new blog posts, and I don’t want you to miss even one!

*NOTE: If you are trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll be taken to what’s on the left hand column (on a laptop or PC). Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following!

 

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   October 26, 2025

Right now in the Northern hemisphere, one season has come to an end while another is just beginning. For perennial flowers, it’s nearing the deadline to surrender and let go. Time to shapeshift and move on. Black-eyed Susans read the calendar first, blanketing the ground with a golden carpet. Next door neighbor echinacea noticed and proceeded to fade its bright pink petals to a somber, dusty rose. Out in the yard, the cheeks of squirrels bulged with a harvest of fallen acorns, while leaves were leaping to the ground. Overhead, geese have been lining up in formation, flapping their wings as they travel to Southern neighbors. Knowing what’s to come, I long to join them.

With a chill in the air, all seems as usual. Except for the lilac bush. What should show only leafless twigs after blooming a bright purple in the spring was now sprouting something out of turn. White flowers! In late October! Clearly, someone had missed the memo or turned the calendar pages incorrectly. Was this the one member of the created world that had not mastered the art of knowing when it’s time?

So I wondered until I learned that drought and excessive heat can cause a lilac bush to bloom out of season, first forcing the plant into a dormant-like state. We had experienced several summer weeks with extremely hot weather coupled with rainless days. Once cooler temperatures returned, the lilac responded to new information that it was safe to come out of hiding and open prematurely. What seemed to be a misreading was actually something different: an attentiveness to the reality of the season, sort of like Mary Oliver’s description of trees that had been badly battered by a hurricane but refused to give up:

“toward the end of that summer they
 pushed new leaves from their stubbed limbs.
It was the wrong season, yes,
but they couldn’t stop. They
looked like telephone poles and didn’t
care. And after the leaves came
blossoms. For some things
there are no wrong seasons.
Which is what I dream for me.”

There are also seasons for our own life decisions: the direction of our calling, the choice of a life partner, consideration of a new employment offer, thoughts about relocating, choices of a school for our child, deciphering medical possibilities so we can settle on a course of treatment. No decision, not even the smallest, is without consequence.

I often note that in these larger life discernments, there are three frequent experiences:
Discernment may be messy, with moments of consolation and desolation.
Discernment may be confusing, as we struggle to truly listen to God at work amid our own mental gymnastics.
Discernment will always involve the companionship of a loving God who will never abandon us, no matter what.

When we discern, we bring ourselves in prayer before the Holy One. We pray to be attentive to what will lead to peace and to fulfilling God’s designs for our life and the good of the world. We gather the necessary information to help us make a thoughtful choice. We seek counsel from a spiritual director, a wise expert, or a trusted friend. We notice what draws us, what we’re leaning towards, what attracts us about a possibility. We also notice what we resist, since both of these are pieces of information. We put everything in a pot on the back burner and let it simmer. Each time we receive new information, we add that to the pot and give it a good stir. As we move forward, we keep checking that pot simmering on the back burner and notice what’s coming together. As we draw near a decision, it’s helpful to try our leaning on, like a piece of clothing, and observe how it fits and how it feels if we proceed in the direction of our attraction. We trust in the Holy One’s presence and timing.

Vivian Amu notes that, “Results may take a long time to come to fruition when we embark on a discernment journey, but believe that God will never stir us the wrong way. That is God’s promise of assurance and hope.”

May it be so for all who at this moment are stirring the simmering pot and searching for a way to live in the place of love that the Holy One offers. We are with you!

Takeaway
Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
Open your hands, palms up.
Hold in your palms a choice, an issue, you may be considering.
Ask the Holy One to accompany you and enter into your reflection.
Stay with an open mind, an open heart, and notice what comes.

Featured Images: Jakob Owens, Unsplash; Nathan Dumlao, Unsplash

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

Go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org)* In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe” and follow any prompts. When you receive an email asking you to confirm subscribing, be sure to confirm. Otherwise, you won’t be subscribed to future new blog posts, and I don’t want you to miss even one!

*NOTE: If you are trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll be taken to what’s on the left hand column (on a laptop or PC). Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following!

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM    October 12, 2025

We’ve had something of a litany of saints this past week: Memorials of St. Therese, the Guardian Angels, St. Francis Borgia, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Bruno, and today we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. When we reflect on Mary’s life expressed in the mysteries of the Rosary, we see a woman who was fully available to God in her life of prayer and service. She models for us how to be attuned to the Holy in every aspect of our lives.

In both of our readings today, we also see an emphasis on listening, attunement, especially as it leads to fresh attitudes and a change of heart. First, the prophet Jonah (Jonah 3:1-10), who’s been pretty reluctant to go where God has been calling him. Yesterday we heard about his unfortunate encounter with a very large fish. This time, though, Jonah truly gets the message and goes to Nineveh to preach repentance. Amazingly, he had made it through only one third of the city when the people of Nineveh took his message to heart. And the king also, when he heard Jonah’s words, immediately proclaimed a communal fast and repentance. That’s a pretty rapid conversion, isn’t it?

What might this say to us? When we come for a retreat, we’re also being invited into deep listening and a profound change of heart. To live inside of a more tender energy. To see and to hear with the eyes and ears of Jesus. To stand in the place of love that Jesus offers.

Our Gospel is the familiar story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), having their friend, Jesus, over for dinner. I suspect this was never intended to pit contemplation against action, Mary listening and attentive at the feet of Jesus versus Martha cooking in the kitchen with her sleeves rolled up. I prefer to hear it as related ways of being fed: fed with deep listening to the word of God and fed by a meal and loving service. But not to compare ourselves, as Martha did, with what others are already engaged in. Instead, to be fully present and fully attuned to the Holy One in whatever we’re about.

So how might we live the message of this Gospel? When we are what Ignatian spirituality calls “contemplatives in action.” When we engage in inner soul work and are also deeply engaged in God’s work in the world. When we join God’s active labor to heal the world. To pray and to act in ways that move us closer to God’s dream for our world—abundant life for everyone, no exceptions. This spiritual practice invites us to seek and to find the Holy One everywhere in our workplaces, homes, families, and communities.

As we’re near the end of this directed retreat, we might be wondering: How will we integrate the graces from this retreat once we return home? The spiritual writer, Steve Garnaas-Holmes, was wondering about this very question as he ended his vacation. Listen to what he wrote:

“Back from a week in a cabin on the coast of Maine.  I’m all slowed down.  The thing now is not to jump back up into fifth gear and start hurrying and fretting and multitasking all night long.  Don’t come back from vacation or retreat and fill up with stuff.  Stay a little vacant.  Keep the empty place.  Stay slow.  Keep paying attention, keep being deeply present.

“The thing as I rise from prayer is to stay in prayer. The purpose of prayer, or vacation, or retreat is not just to come up for air so you can go back into the fray, but also to slow yourself down so that what you go back into isn’t a fray.” Could this be the one thing Jesus hinted to Martha? To stay rooted in prayer even when we’re not at our times of prayer?

During these days of retreat, we’ve been living as contemplatives in action. Listening to the cries of our beautiful yet wounded world and holding those needs in our prayer. Savoring silence and being nourished by the word of God—and also some fabulous meals. Gathering the rhythm of the waves, the cry of the gulls, the changing color of the leaves, and turning our awe into thanksgiving for these gifts. Wanting everyone to have what we have here. Setting our intention to return home renewed in compassion and justice and kinship with everyone we encounter.

So tomorrow, may re-entry be gentle with all of us. Whatever might await us on the other end, may we keep the empty place and stay slow. May we stay rooted in prayer even when we’re not at our times of prayer. May we remember the grace we’ve received from these days, the one thing needed. The one thing that is more than enough. Because the Holy One’s love at work in us knows no limits, has no end, and is infinitely more than we could ask or imagine. May it be so!

Takeaway
Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
Reflect on the tasks or events ahead of you this day.
How might you hope to be in prayer even when you’re not at your usual times of prayer?
Ask the Holy One to help you stay slow and attuned.

You might also use this Takeaway at the end of your day as a review of your deep listening.

Featured Images:  Isaac Owens, Unsplash; Sam Badmaeva, Unsplash

NOTE:
Welcome back to Mining the Now.
Thank you for remembering me during my September hiatus from writing and posting this blog. As you can see, today’s blog post is an adaptation of a reflection I offered during my time at Eastern Point Retreat House.

Thank you for your prayerful remembrance of all who were part of my retreat experiences during the month of September:

September 7 – 12:
A guided retreat for the Maryknoll Sisters in Ossining, NY.

Week of September 15:
My own retreat

September 30 – October 8:
Directed retreat at Eastern Point Retreat House in Gloucester, MA. I served as a guest director for this retreat.

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

Go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org)* In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe” and follow any prompts. When you receive a confirmation email, be sure to confirm. Otherwise, you won’t be subscribed. Once you confirm, you’ll then be subscribed to automatically receive any future blog posts from Mining the Now.

*NOTE: If you are trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll be taken to what’s on the left hand column (on a laptop or PC). Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following!

 

 

 

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   August 31, 2025

No wonder I yelped. The lifeforce in my tiny garden has burst out in a riot of fuchsia, bright orange, shades of yellow, deep pink, and green. In this densely packed space, even weeds are intimidated. You can imagine my surprise when I was maneuvering my watering can one humid morning and the large gray feral cat that roams the neighborhood jumped out from under a patch of Black-eyed Susans. I had unintentionally watered him, and we looked at each other, startled.

In hindsight, I should not have been so stunned. This summer I had been noticing Tom (a really original name, I know) had chosen as his preferred spot for lounging a space on the patio right next to pots of mint and basil and lavender. I wondered if he was drawn by their fresh scents or if the attraction was the direct line of sight this gave him for gazing at the flower bed bursting with color on the ground below.

Because Tom really was gazing in that inscrutable way of cats. Delighting in something akin to the way I bask and breathe in all that beauty and whisper, “Thank you!”

Which drew me into a wondering about soul, the souls of animals. I’ve read that Thomas Aquinas considered animals to have what he called sensitive souls, the animating principle of living organisms. I suspect, however, that Thomas might have been shocked to hear my third grade self insisting that I did not want to go to heaven if Corky, our beloved Cocker Spaniel mix and the sweetest being I had ever met, was ineligible for the afterlife. How could I be happy forever with God, I wondered, if a resurrected Corky could not be at my side in heaven? How, indeed.

I imagine that all of us who delight in, care for, and talk to any four legged companions sense that dogs and cats and other members of the animal world are more than pets. In New Tricks: How Pet Ministry Can Transform Faith Communities and Change Lives, the authors note that, just as the Holy One offers love without conditions or expectations and loves us simply as we are, so “our animal friends embody this kind of love” and offer a glimpse of unfailing faithfulness. What a sacred kinship we find ourselves enjoying when we enter into relationships with these sensitive souls created by the Holy One. Who lean in closer. Who nuzzle us. Who read our moods and emotions. Who scrutinize and scan our expressions. Who show us affection, no matter what.

What I propose is not so much a theology as a deep intuitive knowing. I’m quite certain that Mary Oliver and many of us are aligned in naming the company of animals as yet one more expression of the love the Holy One holds for us. With the poet, may we also prepare our hearts and be engaged in “Making the House Ready for the Lord”:

Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed
but still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an
uproar of mice—it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves
and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances—but it is the season
when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard
while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow;
what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling
in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path, to the door. And still I believe you will
come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox,
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know
that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.

Takeaway
Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
If you have furry companions nearby, invite them to sit with you for a bit.
Or set before you their photo or an image of an animal you’re drawn to love.
Reflect on the qualities of these animals that hint at the love of the Holy One for you.
Give thanks for the wonder of all creation.

Featured Images:  unscriptedMe, Unsplash; Nicholas Brownlow, Unsplash

NOTE:
During the nine years I’ve been writing for Mining the Now, it’s been my custom to take a break from writing for one month each year. For 2025, that pause will be in September. I’ll still be engaged in retreat ministry but will not be posting any new blogs until October.

Meantime, we continue to hold in our hearts the wounded in our world, especially the children of Gaza and Ukraine and Minneapolis and those who give their lives over to caring for and protecting them.

Please also hold in your prayer all who will be part of these retreat experiences during September:

September 7 – 12:
Guided retreat for the Maryknoll Sisters in Ossining, New York

September 15 – 20:
My own retreat

September 30 – October 8:
Directed retreat at Eastern Point Retreat House, Gloucester, MA
I will be one of the guest directors for this retreat.
Thank you!

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

On a laptop or PC, go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org) *In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe”. Be sure to CONFIRM your email address when prompted, so that you’ll now be subscribed to automatically receive any new blog posts from Mining the Now.

*NOTE: If you’re trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll now be able to see the full blog page on your phone.  Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following Mining the Now!

 

 

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   August 17, 2025

When I’m away for retreat ministry, I love to take in the neighborhood surrounding a retreat center. Fortunately for me, many of the places where I serve as a guest director during spring and summer months are near the ocean. As a “Jersey Girl,” this nearness to the sea always feels like a homecoming of sorts, and a revisiting of the many weeks my family spent soaking up sun and surf every summer. Once I cross a bridge, smell the sea air, and listen to the cry of the gulls, I’m home.

Being in the neighborhood of the Atlantic Ocean invites reflection on how the landscapes of our early lives, our formative years, shape us and create a sense of home and the familiar. For me, it’s the sound of the surf; for others, the majesty of a mountain range or the stillness and hidden life of a desert, or a campground surrounded by forest and lakes, or a lush tropical paradise. These sacred natural places offer us renewal and a chance to restore our souls.

While walking in the neighborhood that surrounds the retreat center here in Stone Harbor, I noticed a sign over the front door of a condo. I smiled as I read “The Seventh Day.” I’m wondering if the seventh day might be a reference to the Genesis story, where God enters into the divine labor of both imagining and then creating shapes and forms: flowing bodies of water and the creatures that spend their lives in them; birds who move effortlessly through the air; the brilliance of a night sky filled with stars; solid ground, flat or mountainous, sandy or clay or limestone; every finned and furry and feathered animal; and finally, the human family walking on two feet. Then I picture the Holy One doing what many an artist, poet, sculptor, composer does: resting a bit, savoring what has been created, entering into a very long gaze, and then saying, “Oh, wow! This is really good!”

Perhaps we’ve experienced the inevitable consequence of returning home after vacation or retreat. After being immersed in the Wow! of creation for a few days, a week, or even longer, the challenge, as we pack up to head home becomes this: how to hold the peace and the beauty and the slower pace that offered us time to tend to body and soul now that we’re heading back to “the rest of our lives.”

In “Don’t Come Back Soon,” one of his posts for Unfolding Light excerpted here, Steve Garnaas-Holmes wondered about exactly this as he prepared to head home from a break.

He writes, “Back from a week in a cabin on the coast of Maine.  I’m all slowed down.  The thing now is not to jump back up into fifth gear and start hurrying and fretting and multitasking and plowing all night long.  Don’t come back from vacation and fill up with stuff.  Stay a little vacant.  Keep the empty place.  Stay slow.  Keep paying attention, keep being deeply present.

The thing as I rise from prayer is to stay in prayer. The purpose of prayer, or vacation, or sabbath, or sleep, is not just to come up for air so you can go back into the fray but also to slow yourself down so what you go back into isn’t a fray….

Go on vacation, or into prayer, or on sabbath, early and often.  Go there now.  And don’t come back soon.”

Thank you, Steve, for your reminder to hold on to the peace we have taken in. May our re-entry after any time away be gentle. May we keep in our hearts glimpses of beauty and remembrances of the community we find in the natural world. May we discover and practice ways to abide there for a very long time.

Takeaway

Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
If you’ve returned from time away, pause and reflect on how your re-entry process has been going.
If you’re about to depart for retreat or vacation, pause and be aware of what you might be bringing home with you.
If you have no upcoming travel or trips on your calendar, pause and practice already now an awareness of the natural world around you.
Name for the Holy One what you most appreciate in the created world.
Give thanks for the loveliness of God’s creation.

Featured Images:  Jaime Dantas, Unsplash; Jon Tyson, Unsplash

NOTE:
Thank you for your prayer for all who are part of a directed retreat at Villa Maria by the Sea Retreat Center in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, still going on as I write. The retreat concludes on Monday and I’m continually grateful for the many ways you support me and my mobile spirituality ministry.

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

Go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org)* In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe” and follow any prompts: when you receive an email asking you to confirm that you wish to subscribe, be sure to confirm. Otherwise, you won’t be subscribed. After you confirm, you’ll automatically receive any future blog posts from Mining the Now.

NOTE: If you are trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll be taken to what’s on the left hand column (on a laptop or PC). Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following!

 

 

 

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   August 3, 2025

True confession: every so often something catches my eye on social media and I go down the rabbit hole in pursuit of it, losing track of time in the excitement and promise of the search. Judging by the number of pets and wild animals that appear in my Facebook feed, it would seem that Alice in Wonderland has nothing on me.

A recent rabbit hole experience led me to chase a singular trait of the Golden Retriever, beloved to me and so many. I’ve experienced Goldens up close thanks to my sister and brother-in-law’s family, beginning first with Bobbie, surely the most affectionate, gentle, and goofy creature ever to grace this world.

During my plunge down the rabbit hole, I discovered that Golden Retrievers were originally bred in Scotland as hunting dogs with the ability to retrieve game birds without harming them. Goldens are known for their “soft mouth,” a disposition towards gentle handling of objects, particularly when retrieving. Goldens can carry fragile things like raw eggs in their mouths without cracking or harming them. (Apparently, stuffed toys are the exception to this leaning). But it seems that this physical trait can also be a behavior, a way of life, a tendency to handle all objects gently.

This new learning offers spiritual parallels. My journey down the rabbit hole of Golden Retrievers has invited me to sit with the unusual trait common to this breed and to wonder how it might apply to our two-legged species. What might it look like if the human family deliberately cultivated a spiritual “soft mouth?”

In our world often marked by the marshaling of words weaponized to wound, demean, and separate, I often gaze at a piece of wall art hanging above my desk. It speaks to this question and my calling as a writer by reminding me, “Words are so powerful they should only be used to heal, to bless, to prosper.” Only that. Healing. Blessing. Doing whatever fosters the growth of the human spirit and of all creation. Promoting whatever ushers into all lives a worldview marked by welcome and tenderness.

We can cultivate a soft mouth even when protesting injustice, raising our voices loudly and with passion yet conscious of tone that respects the other. We can do this even when condemning social sin that oppresses those made vulnerable by poverty, hunger, or war, as we refuse to cut off the one sinning from the possibility of turnaround towards compassion. Is cultivating a nonviolent spirit possible, with God’s grace? Yes, absolutely. Is it difficult? Yes, beyond words. We know that making the Holy One’s stance of unconditional love our default setting is the work of a lifetime.

Recently I read a response from a woman who was asked why it was important to be kind, which I consider an essential quality of a soft mouth. She answered, “Because we walk past hundreds of people every day and none of them wear signs that say, ‘I’m grieving.’ ‘I’m exhausted’ or ‘I’m barely holding it together.’ But they’re everywhere. Kindness might be the only softness they receive today.”

As persons struggling to be the face of Love, the voice of Love, in a world both broken and beautiful, may the words springing from our hearts and flowing from our mouths foster healing, offer tenderness, and little by little transform every one of us.

Takeaway

Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
You may want to bring to your prayer a person or situation in your life that makes it difficult for you to practice a soft mouth.
Share this challenge with the Holy One.
Listen.
Ask for the grace of a deepening tenderness.

Featured Images: Faber Leonardo, Unsplash; Matt Collamer, Unsplash

NOTE:

August 11-18:

Please hold in your prayer all who will be part of a directed retreat at Villa Maria by the Sea Retreat Center in Stone Harbor, NJ. Villa Maria is staffed by the IHM Sisters (Immaculata) who have a special place in my heart. I’m delighted and honored to serve as the guest director for this retreat. Thank you for your prayer.

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

Go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org)* In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe” and follow any prompts: when you receive an email asking you to confirm that you wish to subscribe, be sure to confirm. Otherwise, you won’t be subscribed. After you confirm, you’ll automatically receive any future blog posts from Mining the Now.

NOTE: If you are trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll be taken to what’s on the left hand column (on a laptop or PC). Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following!

 

 

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   July 20, 2025

So here we are these days, engaged in this very countercultural thing called retreat. Why are we here? Ultimately, because we desire to tenderize our hearts and cultivate the mercy that the Holy One desires. Ah, but there’s a bit of a wrinkle, isn’t there? Because to tenderize our hearts, we have to change in some way. We have to move from where we were when we arrived to where the Holy One is calling us though deep listening.

And about this moving: Like the people of Israel hurrying into the wilderness (Exodus 11:10-12:14); like the disciples following Jesus who had no place to lay his head (Matthew 12:1-8), we can’t carry a lot of luggage with us. We carry in our hearts these days the weight of the lives lost to floods in the Texas Hill Country, the terror of our immigrant sisters and brothers on the move, and so much more. During this retreat, we  need to pare things down to an attitude of readiness. To enter into deep inner soul work.

What does it mean to eat and to live like people in flight? This question reminded me of  my first trip to Haiti in 1993. I was invited to be part of a human rights delegation when Haiti was under brutal rule by the oppressive Tonton Macoute. Our delegation was charged with gathering stories of human rights abuses and bringing them home to the US to raise awareness. We were told that we’d be traveling in a cramped van and could bring only one very tiny suitcase and one backpack. And since there were no stores anywhere in Haiti, we’d need to bring every supply we thought we might need. For 4 weeks!

Even though I always joke that I don’t go anywhere that I can’t use my hair dryer, my heart was moved to say yes. Every day, we had appointments with Haitian people who were risking their lives to come and share their stories of injustice with us. They were catechists and peasants and clerics and farmers and activists. So the first day, we Americans gathered at 10:00 AM to meet with one of them. Then it was 10:30. Then 11:00 and no one came. Sometimes we waited for hours until it was safe for the person to come out of hiding to meet with us.

I still carry their courage and their passion in my heart. I thank them for stretching my worldview and witnessing to me what it means to live like those in flight. To come out of the shadows and speak up for the common good. To entrust your life to the mercy of the Holy One. To hold your possessions, your time, your convenience very lightly. To take the long view of what is really essential.

We know that when people are on the move, like the Israelites or the disciples who followed Jesus, sometimes they’re uprooted in seconds. So when we see the disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath because they’re hungry, we get it. It’s like having a minivan full of hungry children and no McDonald’s in sight. And yet the Pharisees ignored the very critical human need for food and instead focused on the rules. They overlooked what was moral and pastoral: feeding bodies and showing mercy.

I like how the Message Bible translates the response Jesus gave to the Pharisees. We’ve heard it as “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” In the Message Bible, the Pharisees complain: “Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules.” And Jesus responds, “I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual.” A flexible heart!

As we listen to the directions for the Passover meal and how to eat it, those words remind us of the modern day thousands who are on the move, and not by choice: our neighbors at the border. The people of Gaza and South Sudan. All refugees holding their breath on an uncertain journey. All people living with the threat of bombing or famine. All those in flight.

So during this retreat, as we’re seeking our own healing and wholeness, may we not stand at a distance from our neighbors in need, from the woundedness of our world.

May we spend this time and the days that follow deeply contemplative, radically generous, and always attentive to the movement of the Holy One. May we cultivate and take home with us a heart that is both merciful and flexible. May it be so!

Takeaway

Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
You may want to place before you a small suitcase or traveling bag.
Spend some time reflecting on what you might want to pack in it: what will work for your well-being, or bring you comfort, or provide for your essential needs.
Invite into your prayer all those who at this moment are fleeing for their safety or for a place of peace and hope, and who have no time to pack.
Add comfort and compassion and spaciousness of heart to your bag. Offer a gesture of sharing it with your neighbors.

Featured Images:   Salah Darwish, Unsplash; Sisters of IHM, Border photo

NOTE:
This blog post was adapted from a reflection I offered on July 18 at the Sisters of St. Joseph Spirituality Center in Ocean Grove, NJ, where I served as a guest director for a directed retreat. Thank you for your prayerful support for all who are still part of that retreat.

July 25-27:
Please hold in your prayer my IHM Sisters and Associates as we gather for our annual Assembly and Jubilee weekend in Scranton and on Zoom. Thank you.

To automatically subscribe to receive new posts from Mining the Now:

Go to the Home Page of Mining the Now (chriskoellhofferihm.org)* In the left-hand column above the section marked “Archives,” you’ll see the words, “Subscribe to blog via email.”

Enter your email address in the space provided and then click on “Subscribe” and follow any prompts: when you receive an email asking you to confirm that you wish to subscribe, be sure to confirm. Otherwise, you won’t be subscribed. After you confirm, you’ll automatically receive any future blog posts from Mining the Now.

NOTE: If you are trying to subscribe while using a mobile phone, you may have to take another step. As you look at the blog post, there should be 3 horizontal lines at the top right of the page. Click on these lines and you’ll be taken to what’s on the left hand column (on a laptop or PC). Scroll down and follow the directions at * above.

Thank you for following!