“Merry-making can be a way for us to take the joy and excitement that is bursting from inside us and express it externally within these frameworks of tradition. It is like a sacrament with a small ‘s’ – an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace—joy that is a gift from God.”
Some—perhaps even most—baptized Christians might find the sacrament’s irreversibility reassuring, a source of hope during the darkest hours of the night. Nothing they do, nothing done to them, will ever separate them from Christ, into whose death and resurrection they were baptized. Nor will anything separate them from Christ’s body—the Church universal—of which the baptized are individual members.
Imagine surviving a shipwreck. Imagine yourself feeling the fear of seeing the waves break apart pieces of ship, along with the sensation of sinking, of panic, and of gasping for air. Imagine losing not only your belongings, but also watching other people fight for their lives. Imagine nearly drowning, being washed ashore, or being rescued with barely an ounce of strength left. You’re traumatized, weather-beaten, and exhausted to the point of semi-consciousness.
by Tom Sine An Unprecedented Housing Crisis President Biden extended housing eviction for more than 7 million households in the United States until the end
Few have had a closer view of the ministry’s evolution than Sister Pamela Clare Magers of the Community of St. Francis, who has worked at the School for Deacons in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1982 and started teaching a course on “contemporary social issues” in 1984. Prior to the introduction of that course, the curriculum for the school focused on the educational topics required of priests, and the liturgical role of deacons serving at the altar.
“I’m reading Howard Thurman this week, that blazingly brilliant preacher and purported to be guide to MLK, jr. (Supposedly Dr. King carried, “Jesus and the Disinherited” written by Dr. Howard in 1949) In it he talks about the religion of Jesus, a phrase I have come to love.”
I love these lines from a Prayer for Travel: “Lord, as I set off on my travels, I pray that You would be with me and remain close to me as my travel companion as I go on this journey, just as You walked with Your two disciples along the road after Your glorious resurrection. Fill my heart with Your peace and joy, and remove any anxious thoughts, I pray. Guide me Father, and keep me safe throughout my travels, even when I am passing through rough and difficult terrain.” When I was 15 and unpacking mementos from a souvenir shop, I never expected such resonant and recurring spiritual relationship. As it turns out, they were never alone, nor was I.
“The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it.”
But that is where the happiness over my homily came to an end, because I said that as Christians, perhaps we should add a ritual to Valentine’s Day. Perhaps we should celebrate Agape as much as Eros, and follow the words of Our Lord, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, to put aside anger and vengefulness in favor of the call Jesus made to us, who follow Him.
When disaster hits, how can one remain fearless? The Psalmist’s faith is focused solely on God’s near presence and support, not on something remarkable in himself, his nation’s rulers, or the superpowers of his time. The entire Psalm has the same theme of trusting in God’s presence, support, and security for God is their refuge. It also emphasizes God’s existence and friendship with His people, and the Psalmist reveals the secret of his unwavering certainty and faith in God’s presence. The Psalm’s second section (vv. 4-8) starts by proclaiming the blessings of being in God’s presence (v. 4). The river that runs through Jerusalem brings joy to the city of God. In its metaphorical sense, the river denotes blessing, regeneration, harmony, and prosperity, with the river serving as a source of life.