Month: May 2021

 UN International Day of Biologic Diversity Reflection A contemplative view of biologic diversity respects the presence of the Sacred in all life and in creation. It sees creation as integrated and reverences all its expressions. It is in awe at the variety of life’s expressions. One sees everything through the eyes of its Creator. A contemplative perspective realizes that each species of vegetation and each creature has a place on…

Reflection The metaphor “life’s journey” is based in reality. “Our gradual transformation is the result of choices influenced by grace and repeated over a lifetime.” Maturity and holiness come incrementally. We live, we experience, we choose, we fail, we succeed and gradually we become integrated. The Spirit within us urges us forward; we are always in the process of becoming. Prayer Fill me with your Spirit, O God. Action I…

Reflection We believe that the One we call God is the Origin of all that is. To love as God loves is to love freely and gratuitously. It is a love based in a realization that we are a part of the universe not the center of it, a true knowledge and confidence in ourselves and a genuine caring for all others. It holds all creation in reverence, all living…

Reflection As the gospels report them, Jesus’ words were not theoretical. They carried the conviction of one who had shared the life of ordinary people. The beatitudes were born of his convictions and his parables were based in his everyday experiences. Because of that, his words were not stale but alive.  He had an authority that was different from that of other religious leaders of his time. The hearts of…

Reflection Life has its rhythms and changes. Part of the ongoing life cycle is aging and connected to aging is maturation. Prior generations and other cultures have reverenced those who were recognized as “elders” in the community. They understood that although youth is energetic, strong, spontaneous and attractive, it takes time to develop experience, wisdom, and character.  One has to live through loss and gain, success and failure, love and…

Reflection Spring is a metaphor for change. Some changes we eagerly await, and some we abhor. Some changes we plan and others arrive uninvited. In all these changes we need perspective to bring us to expectation, hope, and rebirth. The sunlight and the rain are reminders that Earth is being renewed. The God of renewal is always present in our lives. Every new day is a symbol of hope. Every…

Reflection The disregard for facts today in the pursuit of secular and religious power, fame or wealth surrounds us and makes us skeptical and cynical. Different religious or political groups claim special insights, claims to the truth divide rather than to unite us. We need to reflect on how to be bearers of the truth that overcomes divisions and builds union. Jesus prayed that we be “consecrated in truth”,  that…

Reflection We are too comfortable with what we have to admit to what we are losing. We see the disruptions that are occurring within our own country: violent storms, droughts, wild fires, extinction of species, polluted waters and we still continue to abuse Earth.  Some of us deny that our lack of respect for the natural world is causing climate change. It is time to awaken; it is time for…

Reflection I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-21   I will not leave you orphaned.” At some point we all want or even need to hear these words. They speak directly to some of our greatest fears and challenges; abandonment and isolation, loneliness, vulnerability. They remind us that we are not destined to walk this earth without an identity or direction. We do not…