+Remembering Terri Schiavo

December 3, 1963 - March 31, 2005

Prayer in Remembrance of Terri

Lord God,

I thank you today for the gift of my life,

And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.

I know that life is always a good,

and that it never loses its value

when it is beset by weakness or injury.

Lord, thank you

for the life of Terri Schindler-Schiavo.

Even in her suffering and death

She revealed Your glory

and truth that life is always sacred.

As I remember Terri,

I also commit myself

to be active in the pro-life movement,

And never to stop defending life

Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,

And our nation once again becomes

A nation with liberty and justice

Not just for some, but for all,

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen!

Prayer compliments of www.terrisfight.org.

Visit the website for more information and resources.

Second Sunday of Easter as the Solemnity of Divine Mercy

"I pour out a whole ocean of graces

upon those souls

who approach the fount of my mercy."

As www.catholic.org notes, "This day we are invited to approach the throne of Mercy and cry out with St. Thomas: 'My Lord and My God' (Jn 20:28)." While I have had a deep appreciation for the Divine Mercy of Jesus and the revelations of this Mercy to Saint Faustina, I, like many other "liturgists" have had a bit of difficulty resolving the Solemnity of Divine Mercy in place of the Second Sunday of Easter. However, over time and with the gift of some grace-filled insights I have come to realize that it consists within the fifty day celebration of Easter and does not interrupt the celebration as some assert. The image of Divine Mercy I share here draws my attention to the connection. So, as we continue to contemplate God's great love for us shown in the death and resurrection of Jesus, let us, too, recognize that Mercy is also God's love gift to us and that it was because of His love and His mercy that Jesus was sent to redeem and save us. As we are invited, let us with Thomas pray in grateful love,

"My Lord and my God!

Water of Life ...

What is the water that gives you life?

What is the water that quenches your thirst?

What is the water that satisfies you?

Easter Wednesday

Courtesy of www.sccgen.org

Jesus lives!

+Archbishop Oscar A. Romero

!Viva, Romero, en nuestros corazones!

No hay amor mas grande, que dar la vida por los amigos...

Live, Romero, in our hearts!

There is no greater love than to give one's life for one's friend.

"Cantico al Martir"/"Canticle for a Martyr" -- Lisa, 1985

Twenty-eight years ago earlier this evening, the Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, was martyred, shot in cold blood, while celebrating Holy Mass in the Chapel of the Hospital. The "voice for the voiceless," his life and death call us to continue to speak for those whose voices are silenced, those whose existences are marginalized, those whose lives are invisibilized for the benefit of the powerful.

In many ways, it's hard to believe that it happened over a quarter of a century ago. It seems like only yesterday, my memory of that year as clear as crystal. While reality is different for the Salvadoran people in a number of tangible ways, the world is not so different than it was in 1980 when Romero was murdered. An attempt to silence his speaking of the truth, murdering him only made his voice, the voice of truth, resonate louder and more widely. The truth of the Gospel cannot be silenced: it is God's truth; it is a truth that crosses over boundaries, a truth that cannot be contained by hatred.

Eternal rest grant to Archbishop Romero. May He rest in peace and may we be strengthened in our resolve to be faithful to the Gospel to the end of our days and for the sake of all God's children and creations.

Eternal rest grant unto all those who have given their lives or have had their lives taken because of their work for justice, their work for the Gospel.

Easter Among Us, Around Us, Within Us!

Mary recognized Jesus. Do I?

"Women, Faith, and Development" Project at The National Cathedral

As He Said...

Yes, Jesus is Risen!

Alleluia! Alleluia!! Alleluia!!!

Holy Saturday Mo[u]rning

Keeping watch.

Final moments.

Last breath.
Death.

Tears.

Beholding a loved one.

Preparing for burial.

Final goodbyes.

Loved one laid to rest.

Going home.

Crowds gone.

Alone and wondering.

"Where is God?"

"Where is the loved one?"

Remembering what was said.

"Will the Word be fulfilled?"

People gone.

All alone.

Burial past.

No repast.

Back at home.

The rest of life.

What's its meaning?

Saturday morning of mourning.

Dark and dreary.

Raindrops fall.

Snowflakes flurry.

My God, my all.

You are my hope.

Do not abandon me, I pray.

I trust in You.

Scare my fears away.

Keeping watch,

but the loved one's gone.

So it seems, but so unsure.

What shall I do?

Is God near? Am I sure?

Morning of mourning,

it is here.

What shall I do

but hope,

pray,

believe:

God is near!

Prayer of an Anonymous Sojourner

His Obituary

Click on the image or here to read Jesus' Obituary.

"Will you...?

"Stay here, and keep watch with me,

the hour has come.

Stay here,

and keep watch with me.

Watch,

and pray!"

Refrain from Taize's "Stay Here"

Jesus invites YOU...

to enter into the Sacred Triduum with Him.

No RSVP necessary,

only your presence,

your prayer,

your love.

Bearing Witness to the Peace of Christ

Bishop Gabino Zavala, the bishop-president of Pax Christi USA: National Catholic Peace Movement and an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, wrote a column being circulated by the Catholic News Service marking the fifth anniversary of the U.S. War on Iraq. He starts his column by noting:

The fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, March 19, falls in Holy Week this year—a poignant reminder of the human cost and prolonged suffering taking place in that country. Five years after the invasion, the spiral of violence unleashed by the war continues to cause tremendous suffering on all sides, including our own military and their families, with no end in sight.

To read the complete column, click here .

Hosanna!

Image borrowed from http://www.sermons4kids.com/

Palm Sunday is here, the day we commemorate liturgically the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The stark juxtaposition of Palm Sunday with Good Friday is clear: the glorious excitement and welcome expressed for Jesus as He arrived versus the dark bleak abandonment and distance of Good Friday. The traditions of today's liturgy are familiar: processions, blessings of palm branches, resonating "Hosannas," and the narrated Gospel reading of Jesus' Passion. Whether marked with traditional hymns accompanied by organ or contemporary songs accompanied by guitar (or any combination the two), the message of today's liturgy calls us to enter into the experience of Holy Week.

But what is really that we, today in the year 2008, that we are called to enter? Certainly we are called spiritually to re-enter the experiences of that first Holy Week and reflect on the enormous love God has for us, the love God has for each one of us, and to experience in a deeper way our personal intimate relationship with Jesus. But I think there's something else that we are called to in a special way this week: to consider, recognize, and embrace the modern day Holy Week that takes place in the world around us.

What are the modern day triumphal entries of Jesus in our lives?

Where is it that we join the crowds is welcoming Jesus in our midst?

Where is it that we sit down at table with Jesus, that we break bread with Him, that we allow Him to feed us, where we share a meal of God-life with others?

Where is it today that Jesus suffers agony in the garden?

Where is it that people/the authorities come to imprison Jesus?

Where is it that we see Jesus betrayed or we ourselves betray Jesus?

Where is it that Jesus is abandoned in his hour of need?

Where is it that Jesus is sentenced to death?

Where is it that Jesus is forced to carry a cross -- and carry it alone?

Where is it that the Veronicas of the world step forward to ease the pain of Jesus?

Where is it that the Simons of the world are obliged to help Jesus?

Where is it that Jesus dies on a cross?

Where is it that the faithful of the faithful -- the Marys, the Johns -- continue to stand with/for Jesus?

Where is it that there is no place for Jesus to be laid to rest after death?

Where is it that the Mother of God weeps for her son who has died, where the Mother of God holds her Son in her arms?

Where is it that the Josephs of Arimithea come forward to provide for Jesus and his Mother in need?

Where is it that Jesus rises among us?

Powerful, pausing, lifetime questions. Yet more remain:

In the story of Jesus' triumph, passion, death, and resurrection, who am I?

Where do I fit in the living gospel of Holy Week today?

**********

As you seek answers to the questions of your own Holy Week path,

may your journey be blessed and grace-filled!

Approaching the Holiest Week of the Year

Behold the face of Him Whom we follow,

Behold His face in those whom we serve,

Behold His heart within each and every one of us!

Behold Him, Behold Jesus!

International Women's Day

Photo courtesy of Assumption College for Sisters

Today is International Women's Day . There will be many different observances of this day throughout the world, some through celebrations, some just by living the day-to-day material realities of being women in today's world. Click here to hear this year's global message on International Women's Day.

Through my blog, I want to mark this international observance and draw attention to the women of the world in our rich diversity and extraordinary accomplishment and still-to-be fully realized possibility. As I plugged in my laptop, I thought about what would be the most meaningful way to achieve this connection through my blog. Then, the obvious became crystal clear to me: share the story of Assumption College for Sisters.

Assumption College for Sisters, or ACS, is a sponsored work of the Sisters of Christian Charity-Eastern U.S. Province, part of an international congregation founded in 1849 in Germany by Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt. Originally ACS was a junior college founded by the Sisters to provide education and training for young women in formation to be Sisters of Christian Charity. While originally affiliated as a satellite site for Seton Hall College (now Seton Hall University), the College became separately incorporated and accreditated by the State of New Jersey and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education over 50 years ago to award associate degrees and certificates in theology and philosophy.

As a Sister Formation College, ACS provided an opportunity for education and religious formation not only for the SCCs postulants, novices, and junior professed Sisters but also for postulants, novices, and junior professed Sisters from other women's religious communities in the local area. For many years, among the most frequent students of ACS were the Sisters of Christian Charity, the Filippini Sisters, the Vocationist Sisters, and the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Elizabeth.

While students who were born outside the U.S. have often been part of the ACS student body, during the course of the past almost ten years, ACS has expanded its reach through a special focus on providing educational opportunities to women religious from developing nations in Africa and Asia. Together with postulants and novices of the Sisters of Christian Charity, over two dozen women religious from various African countries and the Asian country of VietNam receive a top quality academic and religious education at ACS. These international students are the beneficiaries of full academic and room-and-board scholarships, most at this time provided by the Sisters of Christian Charity, in order that they can benefit fully from the opportunities available to them. While many of the ACS graduates go on to complete baccalaureate (and some, even Masters) degrees upon their graduation from ACS, the ultimate goal is that they will return to their home countries to put their education at the service of the people and their communities.

The work done at ACS is amazing. The more benefactors who help support this work, the more that can be accomplished for the betterment of the world. Whether you are a person in discernment, a professed religious or ordained priest, a faith-filled Catholic, a charitable donor, a dedicated volunteer, or just someone who'd like to know about the treasure that is Assumption College for Sisters , be sure to treat yourself to a cybervisit and feel free to contact ACS if you'd like more information. (And if you happen to be a woman in discernment or a lay person interested in studying philosophy or theology, be sure to check out the opportunities that ACS has for you, too.)

For a welcome from ACS President Sister of Christian Charity Mary Joseph Schultz, click here. To learn about the student body and the communities and countries from which the Sister students come, click here. For information on degree programs offered, click here and for information on opportunities for lay people, click here. There is a calendar of coming events and enrichment programs here and a glimpse at their electronic library here. And before you leave, make sure you check out the details on the upcoming "Caring Basket Gala".