Month: June 2020
Reflection Freedom isn’t doing whatever you want. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just.* Justice is all about strong, positive relationships between individual people and communities. Choices that show love for others — especially those who are most vulnerable — are instances of real freedom. On the other hand, choices rooted in a desire to do what I want, when I want it, without…
Reflection We have become skilled at avoiding practically all interaction with those with whom we disagree…we have the ingredients for a culture polarized by the perception that we are good and virtuous, while they are inhuman and evil. The law professor John A. Powell…calls this “othering” and has shown that it leads to hatred and discrimination. But on the odd occasion that people are exposed to each other as people…othering…
Reflection Whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward. Matthew 10:37-42 The significant acts in life happen when we help where we can. They happen in the daily interactions with others where we show compassion. They are in the quiet acknowledgement of another’s humanity. They are in the simple…
Reflection Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed. Abraham Joshua Heschel Prayer The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of God’s hands. Psalm 19:1 Action These past months…
Reflection The prophet does more than denounce evil. Instead, prophetic spirituality envisions a world in which justice and equality, peace and community are the norm rather than the struggle. It is the prophet of our time who leads the way to the development of an alternative vision of life by imagining a new normal. Today’s prophets prepare for the reconstruction of society by imagining the achievable and drawing others to…
Reflection A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to…
Feast of John the Baptist Reflection John the Baptist opened the way to Jesus. He spoke to the desire for human transformation, to the idea that a relationship with God had to be based in more than membership in a specific tribe, race or nation. It had to be lived. His rite of baptism symbolized this rebirth. John stood between the old dispensation and the new reign of God and…
Sister Lucy Mary Blyskal, CSJ entered into eternal life while residing in St. Joseph Convent, Brentwood. Lucy entered the congregation in 1959 and her 61 years of religious life was grounded in God’s inclusive love. She was a seeker of knowledge, a woman of faith, trust, strong values, and hope. “Hope is to fall deeply in love with God, the God of promise who has taken us out of darkness into wonderful…
Sister Rosario Maria Morales Urrutia CSJ was a very talented and prayerful sister from Lajas, Puerto Rico, who graduated from Academia San Luis in 1952. She was the youngest of 14 children of Dona Isolina and Don Leonides. She is survived by her brother Virgilio and 10 nieces and nephews. After teaching in Maricao, a small town in the center of the island, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph…
Reflection Sometimes we hesitate to follow our instinct for truth. Fear of where it might lead raises walls of caution. It requires courage to be able question the known and comfortable. New questions can lead to new ways of thinking, and new perceptions can lead to new conclusions. This is a challenge to comfortable beliefs. It can shake our foundations and force us to move into new directions. Only an…