Sisters Helping The Homeless Feel “Almost Home…” The “Almost Home…” program has been in place for the past five years in the Town of Islip and has collaborated with several local churches, community organizations and individuals. Every week during the winter months “Almost Home…” volunteers provide safe transportation, hot meals, a warm place to spend the night, and referrals to…
Reflection The first month of this year has passed. Have we been distracted from our desire for new beginnings? How have our lives unfolded? Where has this precious time gone? Have our days been caught in the turmoil around us? What happened to the hopes we had on New Years Day? How will we live out the days ahead? It…
Reflection “The sickness or, you can say the sin, that Jesus condemns most is hypocrisy…You cannot be a Christian without living like a Christian. You cannot be a Christian without practicing the Beatitudes. You cannot be a Christian without doing what Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25.* It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or…
Reflection The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Mark 1:21-28 Jesus spoke and acted with authority. He didn’t offer the same old thing, the empty works-religion of the scribes and of our culture, a “good-enough” religion. Jesus spoke straight to the heart. His words lifted…
Reflection “The United States was founded by people fleeing religious persecution and has been inhabited since then largely by immigrants. Yet today, the United States finds itself at a critical juncture regarding its openness to newcomers. In the midst of the national immigration debate, many have adopted a siege mentality. The undocumented immigrants who currently reside within the United States…
Reflection Life is precious. None of us can cause our lives to begin, nor can we choose that our lives be prolonged. We are awed by life’s beginning and tender with life’s ending. It is within our very nature to nurture life, to protect it and to respect it. Life is a gift we all receive and journey we travel…
Reflection Kindness enhances generosity and balances and counters selfishness. It applies not just to relationships with other people but extends to things, animals, plants, and Earth. This means being generous with one’s presence, time, and money. Kindness is not a quid pro quo endeavor. It gives freely without expecting anything in return. Few of us would describe ourselves as unkind,…
Reflection It is our responsibility to live in a way that makes a difference – a way that is not bland and unimaginative but one that sees the fullness of life’s meaning and colors the lives of others with new hope. It is about this world, and about our life and witness in this world. It is about politics, about…
Reflection Sometimes in our zeal and desire to do what is right we slip into an attitude of self-righteousness. Unfortunately, self-righteousness makes us confident of our own conduct, but moralistic and intolerant of the opinions and behavior of others. It makes us incapable of taking the time to consider the reasons for the actions of others before we condemn them unilaterally.…
Reflection If we take time to reflect on situations around us, the actions of our national leaders, the prejudices we take as norms, we may realize that we have been ignoring injustices that demand our attention. Justice is a central imperative in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It encompasses all human interactions, and is also a right of animals and of…