Inspired by Scholastica

  Inspired by Scholastica Learning from Grief When I read the news headlines today (and most days), I felt overwhelmed with sadness. Most of the news was about shootings, injustices, tragedies, and murders. I wanted to ignore the grief, to put it out of my mind.   But Richard Rohr, a Catholic author, says we need to feel the grief because it has a lot to teach us. It seems the writers of the Psalms knew this. Of the 150 psalms, a third are about grief.   The psalmists grieved being overcome by enemies, losing loved ones, leaving their land, suffering illness, and more. The psalms of lament teach us that there is value in God-oriented exasperation. The psalmists always seemed to know God was with them and would help them survive. Our tears and sorrow are signs of our humanity. Lament is a very deeply spiritual practice. It is important to take time to grieve and to heal from our losses. One author called lament a ritual of cleansing and preparation for what is yet ...

What the World Needs In our success-oriented, social media-driven world, speed is everything. We have to get places fast and find answers immediately. We fill our days with what will benefit or entertain us. But there is an important thing missing and that is empathy. Empathy is the ability to feel with and care about other people. It goes against our tendency to ignore others in our desire to succeed and our preoccupation with the latest news or gossip item on our iPhone. It takes time to look into other people’s eyes and really see them. It takes time to listen to another’s agonizing stories and respond with loving concern. It may even inconvenience us to find something for them or run an errand. What kind of world do we want to pass on to our children? Do we want them to see us rush from one thing to another, unseeing and uncaring? Or do we want them to see us take time to listen to them and care about others’ needs? Empathy is especially important in the classroom, resta...

  Death Penalty Revisited      Our criminal justice system is broken. Too many innocent people have been imprisoned for years, some even executed, due to withholding evidence or inept lawyers. A disproportionate number of people of color are incarcerated, many because of their inability to afford competent lawyers or prejudice on the part of law officials. Just recently a man in Missouri, who claimed his innocence in a murder, was executed by lethal injection. He suffered trauma as a teen when his father was killed in the line of duty as a policeman. The United States is one of the few developed countries that still retains the death penalty. As of 2013, 33 states still use the death penalty: Of the 33 that still retain it, only 25 have executed anyone in the last 10 years. The death penalty is inhumane. It is a proven fact that capital punishment is not a deterrent to crime. Those who are truly guilty of heinous crimes should be sentenced to life in pri...

  Open My Eyes, Lord Walking down the hall, my eyes are open but I do not see the beautiful faces I pass each day, faces wrinkled with age, women who have borne 80 or 90 years of prayer and work, walking a little slower, but ready for whatever the day brings.   Open my eyes to behold each face filled with holiness, with untold stories of a childhood spent mostly on farms, with early risings to do the milking, or feed the pigs, or gather the eggs from the henhouse.   Before catching the 6 o’clock school bus.   Many of them taught in those rural schools, filled with sleepy children, more eager to play than to learn about numbers and words and dates and foreign places. They widened minds and encouraged dreams.   These women also mended many an apron and stocking, scrubbed myriads of bathrooms, mopped hundreds of floors. They exude goodness and wisdom with every step.   Open my eyes, Lord, to know I live wit...

        Slippery God   God cannot be regulated— he slithers into our thoughts whether we’re ready or not, appears when we least expect and pushes us into places we’d rather not go, cajoling us to run when we drag our feet, stretching us to be more than we ever thought possible.   God is there through all the ups and downs of our lives, carrying us when we get bogged down, hiding in the shadows at times, then stunning us with his translucent light.   We never know when or where he will push us in a new direction, save us from danger, encircle us with unbounded love.   We cannot run away from his abiding presence. He comes through shut doors and locked hearts. He never lets go.                                          ...

  Becoming Fire “I am come to cast fire on the earth.” (Luke 12:49) On that first Pentecost, Jesus appeared to his disciples and bestowed on them the Holy Spirit. And flames appeared on each of the disciple’s heads. The symbol of fire sent them forth to spread Christ’s love around the world. Jesus wanted them to become fire -- to ignite, to enflame the hearts of all people. Fire is a symbol of love, an all-embracing love. We have to have “fire in our bellies” to spread the Spirit’s love across the earth. Just as a small match can start a fire, so also our small efforts can spread our love to people everywhere. We are living in dark times. Wars and greed have made our world a dangerous place to live. Environmental abuse has caused our water and air to be polluted, our earth to be poisoned. Immigrants are being mistreated or barred at our borders. Guns are killing innocent people. We definitely need the fire of Christ’s Spirit to enflame our hearts and spread the Good News. ...

  Limping to God I come to you, God, weather-beaten and limping, asking for forgiveness for all the times I have failed to be faithful and attentive to all those around me, especially the elderly who have run the race, the poor, the lonely and abandoned, who need my care and concern.     Is there any hope for these old bones? What will it take to change my limp into a surge of energy and a ready step? Teach me to become more caring, more responsive, more aware. Give me eyes to see and the will to act on my good intentions.   Water my dried up spirit and shriveled body, expand my shrunken heart. Give me eyes to see what you are leading me to do even as my bones creak and my legs become unsteady. Make me remember that I am here to serve, to listen, to be ready to be your hands and feet today.   Barbara Mayer, OSB