Author: Kimberly Hope Belcher

  • A modern-day Litany of Martyrs

    Her imprint, Wondaland Records, released a song in 2015 that I can only call a “litany of martyrs.” Not so much a tribute to Black Lives Matter as a tributary of that movement, it turns the formula and slogan “Say his name! … Say her name!” into a litanic refrain…

  • Preparing for a reflection

    I was asked to preach at a Vespers service at the Institute for Church Life here at Notre Dame last week, and they very kindly hosted the reflection on the Church Life website. The topic is the Easter season for those of us in academic life, who are extremely rushed right now. “Easter in the…

  • Amoris Laetitia, paragraph 15

    “We know that the New Testament speaks of “churches that meet in homes” (cf. 1 Cor 16:19; Rom 16:5; Col 4:15; Philem 2). A family’s living space could turn into a domestic church, a setting for the Eucharist, the presence of Christ seated at its table. We can never forget the image found in the…

  • A meditation in inkpen and marker

    On Holy Saturday, Juliana got up and, overwhelmed by the immanence of Easter, began to draw. The result (perhaps a new set of Mysteries for the Rosary, since there are five) has been pretty inspiring on my walls during this Octave; perhaps others will enjoy them too.

  • Something serious on April Fool’s Day

    God was the only father Josh Bishop ever knew, and that knowledge came only after a childhood of violence and drug abuse led him to death row.

  • “Help!” – the ultimate Lenten discipline

    “I need help! No, I can do it MYSELF!” (struggles) “Help!” Toddlers and Lenten discipline, by Tim O’Malley.

  • Liturgical reading and the Rule of Benedict

    One of the most important patterns of liturgical prayer is the periodic return to certain texts and actions—for example, the slow turning of the three-year lectionary cycle, or the genuflections and signs of the cross that mark our crossing the threshold between sacred and ordinary space and time. At the heart of these patterns is…

  • Lenten ecumenism and the ecumenical Lent

    Our solidarity in wearing our cosmic ashes, whether we have gained them through today’s liturgy or through surviving terror and grief, is a reminder that humanity was created as one, we have sinned as one, we repent as one, and by God’s mercy we will be redeemed as one.

  • On liturgical failure

    Today, while the community was being asked to extend to one another its gesture of peace, two were instead being asked to leave. That is liturgical failure.