Inspired by Scholastica

I forgive you. I'm reading a book entitled The Four Things that Matter Most by Dr. Ira Byock. It contains wisdom that everyone needs to know to live a happy life. The four things that we need to say are: "Please forgive me. I forgive you. Thank you. I love you." Byock is a physician that has cared for seriously ill people for over 40 years He shares stories of patients near the end of their lives who are able to improve their relationships before they die. But he recommends that all of us can do this even if death is not imminent. These four statements embody what matters most in life. All parents and children have done things they regret and need to ask forgiveness and to forgive. Everyone has things to be thankful for, but sometimes we take them for granted and don't express it. And all of us need to tell family members we love them for their sake as well as ours. The stories emphasized how hard it is to forgive parents who have abandoned or mistreated t...

Last week in my religious community we chose a new leader after much prayer and deliberation. I was just thinking how much different it is in the political realm. We had no campaigning, no advertising, no cronyism, no vast expenditures of money to make sure a certain candidate won. If political campaigns could be conducted with the same transparency and care, we would more likely elect leaders we could trust and respect. What would it take to change our election system? Certainly getting rid of the electoral vote and letting the voters choose the candidate. Also putting limits on the amount one person could contribute to a candidate running for president. And a large dose of prayer could open our eyes to see more clearly to vote for one who would promote the common good. Of course, monastic leaders are not the same as political leaders. They are chosen from among their own community and are usually well known by the members. They share the common goals and values of their own s...

I have them under cover, hidden beneath facades so no one will notice, no one will be aware of my blunders. Yet upon closer inspection my failures become more evident unravelling the edges, sticking out for all to see, hard to ignore. Why do I think I have to hide, or exclude these scars of my humanity? Do I want to be like stone, stiff and stolid? Or malleable and stretching, ready for reshaping and repairing, each day starting over again more flexible, more permeable? Yes, Lord, remold my clay over and over.

This Sunday Christians around the world celebrate Pentecost, the day the early church received the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended into heaven he told his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit who would give them the power to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:3-8) This was the beginning of the Christian church. On this day, we commemorate the gift of the Holy Spirit which gives us “God’s very life, breath and energy.” Just as the disciples were fearful after Jesus’ death, we also often lack courage to proclaim the Good News. Jesus reminded them and he reminds us that we are co-heirs with him and that we are baptized by one Spirit into one body, and that the Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead lives inside us (Romans 8:9-11). At that first Pentecost St. Paul relates that there were people from many different countries speaking in their own language yet everybody understood one another. That was a shock to those present and they thought the disciples ...