Inspired by Scholastica

  Disarm Me God, disarm me of negativity, of any despair or disbelief lurking in the corners of my spirit. Take away any resentment or revenge that prevents holding all your creatures in reverence. Unarm my weapons of coldness and silence, melt my steely stance that keeps me barricaded, locked in unforgiveness and fear. Tenderize my heart of stone Soften my gristle, teach me to walk gently upon this earth and spread your overflowing love.

I recently watched a PBS program on  Frontline  about the children of Syria. It focused on a family with four young children living in Aleppo where ISIS has a stronghold and constant shelling and bombing happens daily in the streets. Children cannot go to school and the father who fights in the resistance is eventually captured by ISIS. After a time, the mother decides her children deserve a better life and decides to use the money she has left to emigrate to Turkey and eventually to Germany. The mother and children miss their father very much and hope to return to Syria one day to find him if he is still alive. At first, the children are happy being able to go to school and have a nice home in a small German town, but soon the German sentiment toward Muslims changes from welcome to cautionary fear. Life becomes uncertain again. It was a heartrending story, and I wondered if the children would ever be able to live normal lives after experiencing such trauma. Would they ever feel

Christians are called to build  bridges  not walls. When we bridge the divisions between people, all are stronger and more human. Building walls to exclude others is not the way Jesus acted or taught. His was a religion of inclusion, of loving even our enemies. "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same?”(Mt 5:46) Walls are easier to build; bridges take a lot of planning and patience. We need to start with small gestures of acceptance, a smile, a gesture, a nod. Perhaps we can move on to an invitation or conversation. This could lead to a dialogue or mutual sharing of ideas. Hopefully, this might bring about  the beginnings of trust, but we have to be ready for rejection too. Jesus experienced a lot of rejection, but he did not give up. He kept reaching out and was willing to give his life to  show the depths of his love.   I’m reminded of a quote from Marianne Williamson in A Return to Love: Reflections on t

The day after Pentecost (May 15) begins Ordinary Time in the Catholic Church calendar. After a plethora of Alleluias during the Easter season, we pare down to one or two in our liturgies. Following on the big feasts of Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost, we hear simple stories of common people such as the Canaanite woman, the bent-over woman, the Samaritan woman, the widow and the unjust judge, (lots of women!), the prodigal son, and the laborers in the vineyard. Jesus told a lot of parables of ordinary people to teach a lesson. We live most of our lives in ordinary time, working, talking, eating, playing -- with a few celebrations thrown in. These times are meant to deepen our relationship with God and with each other. They give us opportunities to become more attentive to our neighbors, our families, our friends, and even our enemies. It is a time to reflect on our lives, to reap the fruit of our labors, to check up on how we are doing. Ordinary Time lasts until Advent, so it is a

  I  wondered what neighbors thought when my mother mopped our front porch every Saturday, rain or shine. We never sat there or used it for anything. The back porch was where we hung up               our dish towels to dry, shined our shoes, set out tomatoes to ripen, and where Mom darned socks in the warm sun. Back porch people wore aprons or overalls with their sleeves rolled up ready to do what needed to be done, or just rested after the day’s chores were finished. Front porch people were “uppity,” Mom said. She had no use for neighborhood show-offs.

Pope Francis In his homily on May 3, Pope Francis spoke about the different kinds of Christians who follow Jesus but in a "confused manner." He referred first to the "mummified Christians," who stand still and are like "spiritual mummies," not moving forward. Second, he mentioned the "hardheaded or stubborn Christians," who know they are going the wrong way, but refuse to change direction. Next he described the "vagabond Christians" who keep turning one way, then another, but don't know where they are going. Last he spoke of the "halfway Christians" who are caught up with some idea or worldly pleasure and stop half way. He asked his listeners to decide whether they are at a standstill or have lost their way and to seek the grace to "put into practice the beatitudes and works of mercy" each day. We can all identify with these kinds of Christians and realize we may have gotten waylaid along the journey. I