are you ready?

Woke up with the sun shining and my mind and body ready to take on this day! Decided to gather a little inspiration and prayer for the road, and this is what was placed in front of me:

 Everyone can contribute much that is good, and in that way trust is achieved. The common good will not be attained by excluding people. We can't enrich the common good of our country by driving out those we don't care for. We have to try to bring out all that is good in each person and try to develop an atmosphere of trust, not with physical force, but with a moral force that draws ot the good that is in everyone, especially in concerned young people.

Thus with all contributing all can build the beautiful structure of the common good, the good that we construct together, and that creates conditions of kindness, of trust, of freedom, of peace.      

- Oscar Romero, from The Violence of Love

you hear that? we all have a role in contributing to the "beautiful structure of the common good." Archbishop Oscar Romero spent his days working on behalf of the poor and speaking out against poverty and social injustices. He was assassinated while celebrating mass (coincidentally his death anniversary is coming up on March 24) at a small chapel in El Salvador.

Two weeks before his assassination, Archbishop Oscar Romero said the following, “I have often been threatened with death,”... “If they kill me, I shall arise in the Salvadoran people. If the threats come to be fulfilled, from this moment I offer my blood to God for the redemption and resurrection of El Salvador. Let my blood be a seed of freedom and the sign that hope will soon be reality.”

I truly believe there is all good, beautiful work that we can do with this life that we have been given - but it's up to each one of us to find out what that is, and how that looks like. How exciting! How can we ever be bored? There is so much work to be done!

Are you ready?

 

Living Martyrdom

Today in my "Give Us This Day"  book of daily readings and reflections, the following write-up on Maura Clarke and Companions was included for today, Dec. 4, 2012:

Christ of Maryknoll by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM

Check out the meaning of the "Christ of Maryknoll"

Blessed Among Us

Maura Clarke and Companions
Martyrs of El Salvador (d. 1980)

On a December morning in 1980 a small assembly gathered in a cow pasture in El Salvador to witness the exhumation of four North American women. One by one their broken and disheveled bodies were dragged from the shallow grave: Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, both Maryknoll Sisters; Dorothy Kazel, an Ursuline Sister; and Jean Donovan, a lay missioner. They had been killed on December 2 by Salvadoran soldiers, who had taken them to a secluded spot, raped two of them, and then shot them in the head.

Each woman had followed a different path: Maura and Ita, with many years in mission in Nicaragua and Chile; Dorothy, the longest in El Salvador; Jean Donovan, only twenty-seven, who had wrestled with the possibility of marriage and a lucrative career before choosing, instead, to remain in El Salvador. But for each one, called by Christ to live out her faith in solidarity with the poor, the path had led to the same cow pasture.

In these nightmare years in El Salvador, thousands of civilians were killed by security forces on suspicion of “subversion.” Representatives of the Church who embraced the “option for the poor,” including these women, shared the same fate. Witnesses to the cross, they joined a long line of witnesses to the resurrection.

“Several times I have decided to leave—I almost could except for the children. . . . Who would care for them? Whose heart would be so staunch as to favor the reasonable thing in a sea of their tears and loneliness? Not mine.” - Jean Donovan

 --

These four women were living mission, so much that they died on mission. Every time I read accounts on this tragedy in El Salvador among well-intentioned, commissioned and blessed women, I get the chills at the conditions of their martyrdom, and at the same time, I also feel boldly motivated to continue making steps in the area of my passions.

The martyrdom of these women is truly an inspiration in that they pursued their work, with their keystone being, they were called by Christ. The life of a missioner is not easy - no life is, but it is certainly a grace to experience and be given the strength and perseverance to keep going, one day at a time, especially when living and working with the "poorest of the poor." I have always believed that while God loves all His children, He especially is close to the poor. And for that, it is those who choose to join Him in his work by comforting the poor, serving them, being with them, and loving them, that they will experience Christ in a radical, life-changing, and very real way.

--

Lastly, two of my friends, Marc and Lexie Adams, will soon be embarking on their new adventure as Maryknoll Lay Missioners to Cochabamba, Bolivia. With hearts so full of love and service, they will be having their send-off ceremony next week, along with the other MLMs who will be serving all over the globe. Please keep them in your prayers, as well as the communities that will be receiving them, that the Holy Spirit may guide their mission, and that there may be comfort in knowing that Jesus will be walking always before them. Check out their blog to learn more and to be inspired. Gifted and talented as individuals, and when joined together, what a beautiful, blessed couple indeed! What grace!

Work on the missions demands that you undergo a martyrdom- if not a real one, at least a living one. - Maryknoll Pole at the Maryknoll Museum of Living Mission, Ossining NY (another Maryknoll-related blog post here)

kalayaan [freedom]

 

We Have To Choose

I think "freedom" -- at least the way we usually think of it -- is an illusion. As far as I can tell, absolute freedom doesn't exist. I think we all have some measure of freedom, but in the end we have to choose who or what will be our master. For some people it's their Lexus or their big house or their love of gourmet food or their music. For some people it's their career. For some people it's their family. It's a question of what you want to give your life to, or for.

 

- Michael P. Enright,, from Diary of a Barrio Priest (taken from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration by Michael Leach and Doris Goodnough)

Freedom From Fear

Complete freedom from fear is one of those things we owe wholly to Our Lord. To be afraid is to do him a double injury. First, it is to forget him, to forget that he is with us, that he loves us and is himself almighty, and second it is to fail to bend to his will. If we shape our will to his, as everything that happens is either willed or allowed by him, we shall find joy in whatever happens, and shall never be disturbed or afraid.

So then we should have the faith that banishes all fear. Beside us, face to face with us, within us, we have Our Lord Jesus, our God whose love for us is infinite, who is himself almighty, who has told us to seek for the kingdom of God and that everything else will be given us. In that blessed and omnipotent company, we just go straight along the path of the greatest perfection, certain that nothing will happen to us that we cannot use as a source of the greatest good for his glory and the sanctification of ourselves and others, and that everything that happens is either willed or permitted by him, and therefore, far from lying under the shadow of fear, we have only to say, "Whatever happens -- God be praised!" praying that he will arrange everything not in accordance with our ideas but for his greater glory.  We should never forget the two axioms: "Jesus is with me" and "Whatever happens, happens by the will of God."

- Charles de Foucauld, from Charles de Foucauld: Essential Writings, edited by Robert Ellsberg (taken from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration by Michael Leach and Doris Goodnough)

ahimsa

today, i went to one of my favorite spots in baguio city to take some time away and to dive more deeply into a book i am currently reading on poverty, celibacy, and obedience. coincidentally enough, i realized today that i was back to the place where i FIRST started reading this book, which was about a year and a half ago, as suggested by sr. cathy, a maryknoll sister, when i approached her upon arrival to the PI. of course, during one of my transition identity crises when i first got here. [ me: "ate cathy - i just, don't know...is there a book that you can recommend me to read?" ...and she hands me one ] clearly, in this past year and a half, this book somehow got put in the bunch of books that i desire to read. but now, i am steadfast in my attempt to finish it!

"O'Murchu claims that the vows are first and foremost about values and not about laws. And in this provocative work he suggests that the Eastern concept of non-violence is a core value of the vowed life in all the monastic traditions known to humankind."

in this book, i came across this passage from joan chittister, and i was moved:

To say that we can possibly minister to the poor and never read a single article on the natinoal debt; to think that we can be moral parts of a global community and never study a thing about the Third World debt; to imagine that we can save the planet and never learn a thing about ecology; to infer that we work to promote the women's issue but never go to a women's conference, read a feminist theologian or spend a minute tracing the history of ideas about women; to say we care about the homeless dying and never say a thing about the evil of homelessness or the lack of medical care for the indigent, smacks of pallid conviction at best. Simply to do things is not enough anymore. Professional education that fits us for particular skills but neglects to prepare a person for dealing with the great questions of human life is not enough anymore. The world needs thinkers who take thinking as a spiritual discipline. Anything else may well be denial practiced in the name of religion. ( Joan Chittister)

and with that, i do desire to learn more and to be effective in my journey as a leader and follower in the various communities i am placed in. in this world, there is so much to learn and i am blessed to have a heart that is ready to be stretched!

just another step

and still, a year and a half later on mission in the philippines, emotion continues to run high - most times, usually more than one, which makes it sometimes difficult for the libra in me who desires balance at all times

.it's been a stressful week with lots of activity going on in the ministry - lots of planning, lots of preparation, just lots of things to do, lots of running around, lots of follow-up with people who i'm pretty sure look at their received text messages and don't respond, and well, that only adds to the frustration when trying to get things done within a time crunch. but needless to say, i learn to deal with it. with more activity going on with the baguio festivities that completed this past week, i can honestly say i don't want anything to do with large crowds of people or chaotic noise around me for a LONG time. seriously! yesterday and today, i dragged myself out of bed at 11am. that NEVER happens. but, my body totally needed it, for sure. exhaustion - i think that's the word.

HALT - hungry? angry? lonely? tired? um, probably all of the above, except for the hungry part, because i am trying to be more healthy about my unhealthy eating habits that i have developed here on the MSG-induced island of the philippines. :) i've noticed i have been angry a lot - but not so much angry, more like frustrated with false hopes that i have come to realize. just when things SEEM to be getting better and we seem to be making some progress, perhaps it is NOT quite there yet. and i definitely got to the point where i started going off in verbal vomit to one of my close friends because of this frustration. then, after five minutes, i sat on the sidewalk and continued to eat my siomai that i had with me. in silence. i needed time. then of course, 2 minutes later, my two cousins walk by, and they just had good timing. thank you Jesus! :) haha, i definitely got the lungs of my Reyes family roots where i can do that, but after i say what i gotta say, then i'm good to go. pretty sure those around me have come to understand me in that sense. thank God for loving people surrounding me! :)

lonely. not so much lonely, but the reality that i am not going to be here forever in the philippines is starting to catch up to me and my reflection on missionary life and its transient nature continues (i think it will always serve me with contemplative thought). more times in the past two weeks have people been asking me when i am going to leave, because they say they need to emotionally prepare for this. which gets ME thinking, crap, ME TOO! i need to prepare myself...but until then, lots more to do, and before i know it, i'm going to have to leave the philippines. what? is this real life?

i am reminded: "a missioner goes where he/she is needed but not wanted, and stays until he/she is wanted, but not needed" - pretty much one of my favorite quotes from the maryknoll family...

and then, onto the next step in life. :)

tired. for sure. totally tired - i get up at 6am, try to wake up my body with some yoga in the am, get ready for work, out of the door at 7:30, work at 8 which usually involves doing some organizing and planning and corresponding, then usually running errands mid-day, then on my way home around 5ish, then mass sometimes, then dinner, then prayer and then crystal catch-up-with-my-life time around 8:30pmish. and then repeat. of course, everyday is different but it usually involves some sort of being tired. it's just always constantly having to be aware and alert of surroundings at all times too. that gets exhausting! and getting around! and dodging cars and making sure you don't get run over. yeah, gotta watch out for that one.

anyway, on my super frustrated day that i had, i received this quote in my inbox:

Today, notice if you have a "chip on your shoulder," confronting and intimidating others to get your way. Can you tone down the aggressiveness and still find a way to be effective?

clearly, the unhealthy "8" in me was winning. and i was thinking to myself, "Crystal. Stop being so combative." haha, that happens from time to time when i get really riled up. i had to change my mindset, immediately! the frustration with the situation around me was affecting me, and i had to stop myself immediately. can NOT let negative energy permeate within me. it's just not healthy, and it is not what i need, nor do i function well in those situations, clearly! i'm starting to think i am the epitome of an 8, but i LOVE when i healthily venture to the direction of the 2. :)

we had adoration that night, which is what i totally needed, and i was thankful for that. two things specifically stuck out to me:

one:  That body of goodness [life of Jesus] clashes with the evil and sin of the world. This causes pain, and suffering, scorn and injustice. All this Jesus accepted without trying to dodge it when he discovered it to be entailed in his mission.
WOW.

then, during prayer, we chose different scrolls that were in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and just picked one which contained "a message" for us. i chose the yellow (of course!) scroll, and in it, was this verse from Hebrews 10:23-24. It read, Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy. We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works.

As soon as I read this scripture, I thought to myself, Jesus knew that he would experience pain, and suffering, and scorn and injustice, but still, he persevered in his mission because he trusted God in it, and what was Jesus doing, as he continued on the road to Calvary? STILL, Jesus was comforting the women, STILL, he was loving others. This was a message for me to persevere, to continue, and while there would be these difficulties in mission, I am not to dodge it or act out in anger and frustration, but rather, to continue my mission to rouse one another to love and good works, while trying the best i can, to do so myself.

sure, emotion is sometimes difficult to work through, and there are sometimes five different things that are on my mind at one time, and yeah that is exhausting in itself too, but, the peace comes, and i know i can look forward to the moments when i realize it has been there all along.

this was especially a good reminder for me that i received two days ago:

Grief work is very helpful for Eights. You are not the kind of person to sit around feeling sorry for yourself for long, but if you are suffering, it is important to find meaningful ways of grieving your losses and hurts. 

i think i'm in the midst of finding those ways, and it is all part of a blessed process. 

and to close, i leave you with Hebrews 6:10, For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones. 

pardon all of the "8" and "2" references...all part of the enneagram :) learn more here - http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/ 

aspiration inspiration

I read this reflection tonight, and thought, to myself, YES! Now, imagining a world where we may all have a powerful encounter with the mystic inside of us, wow, amazing things would happen!! such beautiful things. and as St. Catherine of Siena has said...i'm thinking, just maybe, we may "set the world on fire!" :) 

---

The Mystic

A great development has taken place in the twentieth century as Christians everywhere become aware of the social dimensions of their religion. Christians see that to follow Christ they must resonate with the suffering of the world - with the poor and afflicted and distressed.

And if men and women are moving toward a sense of solidarity, those called to the mystical life cannot claim exemption. The authentic mystic can never flee from the world.

Active mystics who live in the hurly-burly enter into the same inner silence as those who live in the desert. They experience the inner fire and the inner love. Now the inner fire drives them - no longer to the wilderness but to the crowded marketplace and to the inner city. The living flame of love drives them to walk in peace marches, to denounce oppressive structures, to go to prison and to die. Like the mystics in the desert they pass through agonizing dark nights and come to profound enlightenment. The mystic in the silent desert and the mystic in the noisy city are alike in following one who emptied himself taking the form of a slave and was given a name that is above all names.

- William Johnston, from Mystical Theology (taken from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration by Michael Leach and Doris Goodnough)

listen and obey

 I read this and loved it! Thought I would share it with you. God does not ask us to love all in the same way. Phew! What a beautiful gift that is! I think that's also what makes the Body of Christ so dynamic and colorful, and we are then able to express ourselves in the most creative ways of loving. Confident that we have each been given our own path, our own road, we need not compare our journeys with others, but rather, I feel that we can walk alongside one another, supporting each other as we continue to discover Jesus, the One who holds our hands along the way.
---

The Calling

God calls all the souls he has created to love him with their whole being, here and thereafter, which means that he calls all of them to holiness, to perfection, to a close following of him and obedience to his will. But he does not ask all souls to show their love by the same works, to climb to heaven by the same ladder, to achieve goodness in the same way. What sort of work, then, must I do? Which is my road to heaven? In what kind of life am I to sanctify myself? Apart from the universal calling of all of us to perfect love, to holiness, to the following of Jesus, and obedience to his will in everything, however small, a calling at the last to heaven, what is the particular and social vocation that he puts before me and each one of us?


This question: "What kind of life am I going to undertake?" is the question of vocation. And it has got to be answered rightly. For if it is answered rightly and we take the way to which God calls us we shall be living obediently to him, we shall be strengthened by his help, and so we shall come to heaven...


There can never be any question of "choosing" a vocation: the word "choice" is excluded by the word "vocation," which means "calling," a call from God. Therefore we do not "choose a vocation" but seek to find our vocation, to do all we can to hear the divine Voice calling us, to make sure what he is saying - and then to obey him. Where vocation is concerned God speaks, calls, commands: we have not to choose but to listen and obey.


- Charles de Foucauld, from Charles de Foucauld: Essential Writings, edited by Robert Ellsberg (taken from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration by Michael Leach and Doris Goodnough)

all misfits

interesting use of the word, "misfit," but more importantly, this reflection stood out to me because lately, sr. terezinha and i have been reflecting on inculturation and our own personal experiences in learning the ways of the people here in the Cordilleras, but more specifically with the different members of different tribes that we work with, here in Baguio City. it has been SUCH a beautiful learning experience. everyday, sr. terezinha and i seem to be enlightened in new, radical ways.

the outcome of these experiences? we are writing a book on mission and inculturation. so excited!

enjoy! :) thanks for journeying with us, foreign missioners!

---

Foreign missioners are misfits regardless of the culture in which they live and work. Having lived, worked, and loved in both home and host cultures, they feel at home in neither. Missioners arriving in a host culture see that culture from an outsider's viewpoint. They also take into their lives values of the host culture that reveal less than satisfactory truths about their home culture.

Foreign missioners' lives are the locale where the winds meet: the winds of two cultures and the winds of two worlds. Because of this, foreign missioners are profoundly connected to the fundamental mystery of humanity. While serving as beacons for the misfits of this world, they in turn receive direction from the very same misfits.

Called to be beacons for the misfits whose lives carry the void that brings them to the gateway of eternity, foreign missioners need some magnifying of their call. Indeed, it is in the mirror of the misfits that foreign missioners are reminded that they have been called and sent by Jesus, a misfit who stretched toward rather than away from the waiting void of God's promise. Jesus' life, death, and resurrection offer not protection but the sustenance, the radical support of knowing that God's promise is best remembered in the void.

- Larry Lewis, MM from The Misfit (taken from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration by Michael Leach and Doris Goodnough)

open the doors

read this, and afterwards thought to myself, wow, i can connect with this. i have these daily experiences! what a blessing it is. i must be in the right place.

---

We Are All God's Children

Soon after moving into my two-room, mud-brick house in the village of Piela in Brukina Faso where I was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, I realized that I had moved into the section of town where many of the women who worked as prostitutes were also living. They were mostly foreigners like me. Despite this fact, a lot of neighborhood kids would often come and visit me.

One day I started to play Frisbee with a young boy who had stopped by for a visit. While we were playing, one of the young women who worked in a bar as a prostitute started watching us. After a little while, I threw the Frisbee to her, and she joined in with our fun. Then a little while later, an old man came walking by and started watching us play. Pretty soon the young woman threw the Frisbee to him. He dropped the Frisbee and his cane too, but then clumsily picked it back up and threw it to the young boy.

And there we were, the most unlikely mix of people in a little African village: an old man, a prostitute, a little boy, and a foreigner,, all standing together in a circle, throwing a Frisbee, and having fun together. When I reflected on this experience later, I realized that I had received a vision of what the reign of God is all about: love, equality,, beauty, and enjoyment with no one excluded or left out.

- Dennis Moorman, MM, from Why Not Be a Missioner? - edited by MIchael Leach and Susan Perry (taken from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration by Michael Leach and Doris Goodnough)

disguise in love

read this reflection below and was immediately inspired. how true this is, and how beautiful it is too! when i'm spending with the families here in baguio city, i don't necessarily think to myself, oh, i'm doing this because this is what Jesus would do....but i do it because we all just want to be loved and cared for, right? and i don't think identify with this word of "service." it always seems like an obligation, or like, a chore or something...i don't provide services. i kinda just live and it just so happens that i get to live in this beautiful way! :) learning and loving along the way with the people God sends my way! grateful for the life i live and the opportunities i have to grow deeper in love everyday with my brothers and sisters! blessings to you! :)

---

taken from Smokey Mountain, during Global Urban Trek-Manila in 2005

“We must therefore be proud of our vocation,” she says, “which gives us the opportunity to serve Christ in His poorest…in the slums, Jesus chooses as His disguise the miseries and poverty of our people in the slums.  You cannot have the vow of charity if you have not got the faith to see Jesus in the people we contact.  Otherwise our work is no more than social work…we do it for Somebody.” - Mother Teresa

--

Christ identifies himself with those in the most urgent conditions of need: the hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, sick, and imprisoned. The lesson is simple. In responding to the desperate needs of others, we respond to him: "As you did the last person, you did to me."

Dorothy Day often said, "Those who cannot see Christ in the poor are atheists indeed."

It is not only in words that Christ identified with those who have nothing and regarded with contempt. He was born in a stable because no better place was offered for his mother to give birth. As a child he was a refugee. He was imprisoned and died a criminal's death. Given all that, is it a surprise that God's hospitality to us is linked to our hospitality to those who have little or nothing. If we avoid Christ in the poor, we are avoiding the gate to heaven.

- Jim Forest, from Confession: Doorway to Forgiveness (taken from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration by Michael Leach and Doris Goodnough)

mission on paper

inside maryknoll's museum of living mission (ossining, NY)

as part of my preparation for my two-year mission in the philippines, i got to attend MISO (maryknoll international service orientation) held in ossining, NY (the headquarters of maryknoll). there, i got to join with other missioners/volunteers from other programs. during the program we got to have much reflection time, and much of my time i spent in the maryknoll museum of mission. i was able to capture some of the quotes on the awesome peace pole, but not all of em, and so for that, i was kinda disappointed!

BUT! about 2ish/3 months ago, one of my friends, anthony (maryknoll "explore my mission" video contest winner in 2009) was able to hang out with the two recent winners of the "explore my mission" contest up at the headquarters, and did me a huge favor and got me all the quotes.

and so, here they are (they are that good, that i never forgot about their existence! and made sure i got them sooner or later, somehow!):

"Change all your energies, all your potential, into selfless gifts for the other person. So be converted to love everyday."

"The matter of missions....lies at the very essence of catholicity"

"I choose to do God's work for the countless people overlooked, overworked and forgotten."

"A missioner goes to a place where he is needed but not wanted, and stays until he is wanted but not needed."

"Mission is the search and encounter for the meaning of life"

"Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. Mark 16:15"

"A life of service and uttermost simplicity is the best preaching"

"Mission is to go to a no-place, to serve God's no bodies and, in the eyes of the world, to accomplish no-thing. In this, may we realize we are at the center of what time, meaning and history are all about."

"Mission is like breathing-there are times when God draws us in and times when God sends us out."

"The missionary vocation is a grace from God empowering me to give witness to the divine compassion, which invites all to the abundance of life"

"The life and vocation of a missionary brother is not complicated. He is called to service, hospitality and prayer."

"Our vocation is to cooperate with the Holy spirit in renewing the face of the earth."

"As a missioner, I try to draw others close to god, but the truth is that they're the ones who evangelize me."

"We are all called to mission."

"As long as someone in the world lacks food, our daily eucharist is incomplete."

"If we really understand love-love taught to us by God in Jesus- will we not lay down our very lives for others?"

"Is not thus giving of self to others for gods sake the purpose of Christian living?"

"Work on the missions demands that you undergo a martyrdom- if not a real one, at least a living on."

"While my faith doesn't change, its cultural expression may. This is part of being a missioner."

...and we can also thank him for getting me the Maryknoll reflection books - daily inspiration, some daily prayers and anytime prayers, Maryknoll produces some really amazing mission material. :)

here's a video i also made from that experience (enjoy!) :

Me/You and God's Work

....thought i would share this reflection with you today, as it was the daily reading assigned for today. when i think about the life that i am living here in baguio city, i truly do see it as a gift - even amidst the challenges and difficulties. is it possible that all of this (my life, your life) really is one big blessing? absolutely. and so i invite you, to think of the ways that God has invited YOU to participate in the beautiful world He has created. YES, it IS possible that your life can be one magnificent, beautiful, free gift...and so, what do we do with it? ...i think that's for us to figure out - something good. :)

---

     Jesus challenges us to participate in God's Work - as he did. This is not how we commonly see things. What needs to be done has commonly been seen as our work. God enters into the picture as someone who can help us do our work. We must pray, it is said, for God's grace. In fact what needs to be done is God's Work, and it is we who can be said to help by participating in God's Great Work. God's grace or free gift is best seen as the privilege of participating.

     But first we need to become free and humble enough to do so. We need to recognize that we ourselves are products of God's Work. But we are also invited to participate in the process of becoming co-artists and co-creators of the future.

     We do this by allowing God to work in and through us. When we are radically free...divine energy can flow through us unhindered.

     God's Work, like God's Wisdom, is revolutionary. It turns the world upside down. We participate by adding our voice to the many prophetic voices that are speaking out boldly in our day and age.

     Jesus' Way is a path that will lead us to the radical freedom that enables us to participate in God's Great Work of Art.

     God's Work sometimes appear to be slow. Yet precisely because it is God's Work, the future is secure. There is hope for the universe and for each of us as individuals. When I die, my ego, my false self, will be destroyed once and for all, but my true self will continue forever in God, the Self of the Universe.

- Albert Nolan, from Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom (taken from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration by Michael Leach and Doris Goodnough)

respond and value

read this and was compelled to share. the body of Christ is vast and all created are important - let us pray for the poor and the marginalized and continue to do so, everyday, keeping all of our brothers and sisters close to our hearts. 

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Listen to the Poor

When we understand that we are one family, our concern for others becomes both intimate and urgent. Jesus responds in a particular way to the poor and the marginalized. Let us pray for the grace to hear the poor of our world, respond to their cry and value their wisdom and experience.

Oír a los Pobres

Entendemos como una sola familia nos lleva a una preocupación intima y urgente por los demás. Jesús responde de forma particular a los pobres y los marginados. Oramos por la gracia de escuchar a los pobres de nuestro mundo, responder a su clamor y valorar sabiduría y experiencia.

- Linda Unger and David Aquije, from Un sola mundo, una sola familia / One world, One Family (Taken from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration)

here and now by nouwen

read this reflection by Nouwen, and thought to myself,  YES! this is beautiful. "The Word of God is not a word to apply in our daily lives at some later date; it is a word to heal us through, and in, our listening here and now." i have found that the more i dive into scripture myself, the more i am able to learn more about Jesus, the way he works, and just his life in general. there's so much to learn! hardest part, is getting started, and not just reading the words, but feeling the moments that Jesus faced and experienced, and realizing, hey, just maybe my friend, Jesus knows exactly what i'm feeling - he certainly has been through a lot. and endured so much more.

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Discerning the Presence

The Gospels are filled with examples of God's presence in the word. Personally, I am always touched by the story of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth. There he read from Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

for he has anointed me

to bring good news to the afflicted.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives,

sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)

After having read these words, Jesus said, "This text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening." Suddenly, it becomes clear that the afflicted, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed are not people somewhere outside of the synagogue who, someday, will be liberated; they are the people who are listening. And it is in the listening that God becomes present and heals.

The Word of God is not a word to apply in our daily lives at some later date; it is a word to heal us through, and in, our listening here and now.

The questions therefore are: How does God come to me as I listen to the word? Where do I discern the healing hand of God touching me through the word? How are my sadness, my grief, and my mourning being transformed at this very moment? Do I sense the fire of God's love purifying my heart and giving me new life? These questions lead me to the sacrament of the word, the sacred place of God's real presence.

- Henri Nouwen, from With Burning Hearts (taken from  A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration)

the sun of god is love

thought i would throw this your way. it is a good reminder for your day, as you are basking in the sun, driving around under the sun, walking under the sunlight's rays...God's creative goodness is indeed everywhere! may God's love be with you today.

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Knowing God

Your missionary ancestors told Indian people that they were worshipping a false god when we pray to the sun. The sun is the most powerful physical presence in our lives. Without it, we could not live and our world would perish. Yet our reverence for it, our awes, was considered idolatry.

But your missionary ancestors misunderstood even that much, because we never worshipped the sun. We merely saw in it the reflection of the sacred, the Creator, and used its image to focus our prayers of thanksgiving for the Creator's life-giving power. It is, for us, a constant reminder of the creative power of God, as we greet the sun in the morning when we first arise and again in the evening. In between, as we go about our day, we constantly will see our shadow on the ground and will be reminded again of God's creative goodness. We can stop, look up, and say a short prayer whenever this happens.

 - Phillip Deere, from A Native American Theology by Clara Sue Kidwell, Homer Noley, and George "Tink" Tinker (from A Maryknoll Book of Inspiration)