Retreat

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Today I will head north to the Adirondacks for a weekend retreat. There is no internet, so no comments will be moderated in. If you leave one before about noon I should be able to see it, so if you have a prayer intention, send it along. I will pray for you and yours Know I will be doing so at large anyway – plus God always knows.

A peaceful place of retreat in the Adirondack Mountains.

In any case, I am grateful to go to the mountains and be near a peaceful lake. There is almost no cell service and no internet, which truly means I will be on retreat. It is not an entirely silent retreat, but it will have plenty of silence.

I’ll be back next week and hope to be a more regular presence here.

Primacy of conscience

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It has been awhile, hasn’t it? No real reason, just time away! But I have returned, for today at least, so address an issue that is pressing heavily on many of us.

The election is about 54 days away at this point – it is close. Voting is important, it is an essential element of a democracy. I was raised in a household that held the right to vote high and it was impressed upon me at an early age that voting was a privilege – and not one to be squandered. Although a toddler at the time of his election, and one raised in a Republican family, I was often reminded that having a JFK as Catholic president was important. I’m pretty sure my parents voted for him because party politics were somewhat different at the time.

Anyway, here we are today during particularly fractious and divisive times. We are barraged with messages that tell us if we vote for this person, or do not vote for that person, terrible things will happen. Feelings and emotions run high, opinions are confused with facts, and we are faced with inordinate amounts of information.

As Catholics we may believe we must vote for one party over another, but that is simply not the case. We have a responsibility to vote for causes that support life, contribute to the common good, respect human dignity, and more. Beyond that we have a special call to not only help those less fortunate, but to be transformed by them. What one party can live up to that?

If you are struggling, I would simply like to share two links with you. One is to the USCCB website to help with voting called Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. The other is to a very well written article about conscience, originally published in America Magazine in 2015. Both links will offer you guidance and resources, but in the end, we have to pray, discern, choose wisely, and vote according to our understanding of our faith and the importance of our own conscience.

Fast forward to today’s fractious and combative environment, one in which we are regularly threatened

Trinity Sunday and Tolstoy

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three_hermitspatricia_gidneyI recently shared some thoughts about the Most Holy Trinity at my workplace, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glenville, NY.

May you be blessed on this Trinity Sunday.

Isolation – gift or burden?

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Solitude Quote St Therse Shrine Image

This is video from a reflection that I offered on Thursday. Thank you for watching.

Bidden or Not

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115_BZ-vocatusA video reflection about feeling joy and sorrow in this season of Easter, especially this year when sorrow may seem to take the lead. Here are links to the books and the quote I mention:
Carl Jung
The Prophet
Make Me An Instrument of Your Peace
The Closeness of God

Easter dawns

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Sunrise October 2016 leaving Villar de Mazerife

Dawn breaking over Villar de Mazerife, Spain, October 2016

How often do many of use the old adage “it is always darkest before the dawn” without thinking about it? Very often, that is the answer. When I was on Camino de Santiago in September and October 2016, I learned the truth of the saying. While walking on the portion of the Camino known as “the meseta,” the flat northern plains in Spain, we would leave our albergues in the dark. Walking in darkness, it would actually get a bit colder and a bit darker as sunrise approached. At that time the sun was not coming up until after 8am, so it was not even that early. But it was that cold and that dark.

Then each day would offer us a gift if we turned around, we would see the faintest hint of light on the horizon behind us. Dawn would soon break, dispelling the darkness and the cold. Soon, the sun would blaze overhead and the temperatures would rise. We would walk on, donning hats and sunglasses, adding sunscreen to arms newly bared as we peeled away layers of clothing.

Every day felt new when this moment happened, as if we had not witnessed it the day before. Every day was joy.

Today as I consider that it is Easter, but that it feels like anything but, I am reminded to focus on the cold and dark for a moment before I recognize what it happening… Each day we rise again and again and again.

This Easter may be the coldest and darkest pre-dawn moment that many of us will ever know, but hold this thought in your mind, grasp it as tightly as you do when you cling to Christ… Dawn will break, the darkness will be eradicated and flooded with light, the cold will turn to warmth.

Rejoice in the Alleluia that signifies the Risen Christ! No matter how cold and dark it feels, and often we must remain in that place for longer than we wish, may we all know the hope of belief in the Living God.

May your Easter be blessed in these unusual times. Darkness is dispelled, Jesus has destroyed death forever! New life springs forth! Easter dawns and Christ is risen! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

paschal-greeting-622x351-04-15-14-1

Good Friday

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On this Good Friday, I think that this expresses how I feel right now. I found it on my Facebook the other day, from years ago. I cannot recall the context of why I posted it, but I can clearly see its point right now.

At this moment in time we may feel imprisoned in our isolation, but may we always feel a sense of hope.

May you and yours be blessed as we move through this Triduum in ways we could not have imagined.

Holy Thursday 2020 – a video reflection

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Some thoughts from me as we enter this most unusual Triduum.

Lent in the time of COVID-19

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Last Thursday I offered a video reflection at the parish where I work; I will do the same on Holy Thursday. Here is last week’s video. Even if you are not on Facebook, you can watch the video by clicking the link. At the parish where I worship, I was asked to record a reflection, if they decide to use it, I will post when available.

May your Holy Week, be blessed in these unusual times. I am grateful for you all and please know I hold you in prayer.

Video link is here.

Put love

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tumblr_o8y3h820oa1qaowvro1_500In addition to remember that we are not to be afraid, right now might be a good time to remember to be kind. It does not take much… wait a minute, it does take a lot. Especially at times of stress and uncertainty, which is where we are right now.

Help one another, thank people who continue to do their jobs, such as first responders, doctors, nurses, all medical personnel, grocery store employees, garbage collectors, postal carriers, UPS and other delivery drivers, pharmacists and drug store employees, local and federal government workers, many behind the scenes, working to make sense of this new reality, restaurant workers and food delivery people. Remember ministers, priests, and others who are on the front lines physically or virtually, tending to the souls of those who are troubled or ill. Who are those souls? All of us.

Think of how everyone’s personal economy will be impacted in ways large and small. Share what you have. Donate to a food pantry, even if it is just one can of soup. If everyone did that, there would be a lot of food. Offer to pick things up for a more vulnerable neighbor and then leave it at the door. If you can, tell them not to worry about the money.

Share your friendship and love with others, especially those hardest to share it with. Remember to smile, something you can do online as well. Offer a greeting. Be patient. Try not to lose hope. Encourage others and allow yourself to be encouraged.

These are strange and trying days, let us be kind to one another. The words of St. John of the Cross remain in my heart in a special way right now. May we all follow this and remember that love is action, decision, commitment, not romance or just a feeling. Love is your life, be it always. It is hard. Will you help me? I will help you. May we all put love where there is little or none, each and every day.