Author: Don

I was reading the news tonight and it appears that President Bush will be laying a wreath at the Gandhi memorial in India. It’s ironic that the apostle of pre-emptive war is laying a wreath at the memorial to a man who symbolized non-violence. I was one of the many people who wrote tirelessly to our President in the days leading up to March 2003 and our invasion of Iraq. In many of those letters I appealed to our President’s love of Jesus and reminding him of the Sermon on the Mount and his command to “love one another as I have loved you.”

In April or May of 2003 I received a letter from the Whitehouse stating as I remember that the President appreciated hearing from me but that he knew best, Saddam had weapons of mass destruction etc. You’ve heard the litany ad nauseam by now. Mr. Bush said a pre-emptive war was justified. Those of us who counseled against such action were labeled by many of our country men as weak willed and un-patriotic. Now as Iraq spins closer and closer to civil war and over 2200 Americans are dead, 16,000 more grievously wounded, and probably 200,000 Iraqis dead, the wisdom of non-violent solutions is looking a little more realistic.

The opponents of non-violence always state that you can’t use non-violence against tyrants like Hitler and Saddam and therefore force is required. I guess these folks haven’t read about the spread of Christianity in the last 2000 years. There are regrettable cases of zealous missionaries who subjected native peoples to horrible crimes, but on balance the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been spread by people who were divinely inspired to turn the other cheek. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. both proved that Gospel non-violence can topple empires. Gandhi brought down the British control of India. King faced down terrorists in our country who were hell bent on his destruction and the subjugation of America’s black population.

Most of the opponents of non-violence have never really tried it. It doesn’t take much intellect to determine that if you throw a rock at someone there is a good chance that the rock will come back at you. There is also an excellent chance that if you return good for bad that your enemy will be converted and that the strife will end. I hope that when the President visits India and lays a wreath at the Gandhi memorial that his heart will be changed.

Peace.

Ash Wednesday will be upon us in just a few short days and the subject that many will ask is, “What are you giving up for Lent?”
In past years I’ve told people that I was giving up “giving up” things. Afterall what is purpose of all of this fasting. Is my fasting redemptive or helping me to grow spiritually or is another way to affirm the status quo. Last year I was in the middle of a “news fast” that eventually lasted for over a year. I actually abstained from watching or reading the news. Imagine going without CNN, Fox, MSNBC or even Google News for a year. It was quite rewarding actually and provided a lot of time for reflection. Lent was about a week old last year when I decided that I would say the Rosary each day for the duration.

I’m not a big Rosary prayer and so I thought that perhaps the discipline of doing something I really didn’t want to do would be good for me. I can’t tell if any souls were saved, but I can say that I did spend time each day walking near our home and praying the Rosary. I actually went out and purchased a couple of rosaries to accomplish this.

Some non-Catholics are put off by Mary. I’m troubled at times that some Catholics seem to put more emphasis on Mary and the Rosary than on some of the other aspects of Christian spirituality. One thing that has come to me in the six years since I came home is that Mary provides most Catholics with a way to express the feminine aspects of creation. I think that most of the other Christian churches tend to be exclusively male oriented with little or no real regard for women. Marian devotions give us an opportunity to embrace the feminine in our midst and come to terms with it in ourselves. Our western culture is obsessed with its male-ness.

Native Americans in our own hemisphere didn’t have all the hangups with femininity that our own culture does. I think that’s what has driven most of the fear of gay men.

Well, what am I going to do for Lent? Lent is really a call to conversion. It’s a time for awakening. What will be awakened this year. Spending time at Mt. Saviour Monastery awakened within me a desire to spend more time discovering who I really am.

I read “When the Heart Waits” by Sue Monk Kidd while I was at Mt. Saviour. I found it in their bookstore. I found it inspiring and thoughtful and just what I needed to read. The author got me to thinking about who I really am. There were lots of insights from the book but one of the most poignant for me was that time spent waiting is not a waist. “Be still and know..”–Psalm 46, continues to ruminate in me as it has for a number of years. Nearly everywhere in our culture and in my life I rebel from stillness and yet deep within me is a call to stillness. It’s that stillness that drove me to Mt. Saviour. It’s that stillness that drives me to Mt. Irenaeus. It’s that stillness that calls me to a Secular Franciscan life. Sue Monk Kidd spoke a lot about the Incarnation and how important that is to her spirituality. I needed to hear what she had to say. I needed to hear that deep within me is a divine spark. It’s always been there. Afterall, what caused my heart to begin beating in my mother’s womb. What has kept my heart beating all these years?

Luke 17:21 states very boldly, “The kingdom of God is within you.” I needed a book and some days in a monastery to be reminded of the truth and to absorb it into my soul. I don’t need anything else. The Kingdom of God is already within me.

Dona Nobis Pacem.

It’s been awhile since my last post. I’ve been away enjoying the peace and solitude of Mt. Saviour Monastery near Elmira, New York. There are no words to describe what I’ve experienced in these past few days except to say incredible peace and beauty. The daily routine which was hardly routine for me was very settling and therapeutic. I didn’t want to leave today, but I had to. I will return again. Mt. Saviour grew on me.

When I first arrived I wasn’t sure I had made the right choice of a place for my retreat. My reaction was somewhat like the action of similar poles of a magnet. At first something within me repelled but then as I sat reading in my cell I could hear the music within me from the chants of the psalms. “O God to my assistance..”, over and over from Vigils, Lauds, Mass, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline were like waves lapping on a sea shore. The rhythmic repetition of the psalms prayed together created a healing presence that really cannot be described. It can really only be experienced.

More to follow. Peace.

At Mass today Fr. Bob’s homily was in part about how we are unwilling to accept hardship in our life and how we rebel at what we think has been God’s judgement of us. Bad things do happen to good people. Six million righteous Jews were murdered by the Nazis. Millions of blacks were enslaved around the world. Millions more native peoples have been murdered and massacred. Native Americans on our own continent were driven from their ancestral homes and murdered simply because they stood in the way of conquest. Every day good people die from cancer, heart disease, AIDs. It seems as though the love of God is just a cruel joke.

Society would have us believe that winning is everything and that perfection is not only attainable but proof of God’s favor. In the Gospel today is the story of the crippled man who was lowered through the roof to be healed by Jesus. In those days many believed that physical infirmity was the result of sin of the victim or of the victims parents. There are still folks today who ascribe sinfulness to such conditions as AIDS.

Jesus, the Paschal lamb was slaughtered. He was wounded for our transgressions. In Isaiah 53, “He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, One of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, While we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted.But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.”

By his wounds we were healed. By our wounds we are healed. Unless we too are wounded like Christ we can’t be healed. If you’ve suffered child abuse, sexual abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse, cancer, or any of a myriad of conditions then you too are joined with Christ in his suffering and in His redemption. We can’t help others until and unless we’ve been wounded. That which appears to make us most vulnerable or despised is that which binds us most firmly to Christ. It is our infirmity that makes us most useful not our strength.

“‘ My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.”

Thanks be to God for my infirmities. May the Lord give you peace.

I couldn’t sleep in this morning. We’ve had a lot of emotional events in the past few days. Senior night at Fredonia State last night. A flood tide of memories, precious moments with friends we won’t see as much anymore, reunions with old friends. A beautiful cold morning here in Franklinville, New York. Ten degrees above zero. Brother Sun trying to bring some warmth through the clouds. I have a small book, “Work of God”, that I bought last year. It’s a book of morning and evening prayers. I read over today’s morning prayers. I felt the prayer in my head and heart and it brought me back to God. I’ve been amazed at the power of morning and evening prayers. The wisdom and rhythm of the Divine Office has been keeping monks centered for centuries. Beautiful prayer. Beautiful rhythm. It’s God’s rhythm.

Sitting here listening to the fire enjoying the silence and beauty of a Sunday morning. This is a day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. I’ll be going to Mt. Irenaeus in an hour or so. It’s been a couple of weeks since my last visit to “The Mountain”. Last Sunday I went to Mass at the convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Rochester. Going to the mountain after some time away always seems like going home. The thirty mile drive there down busy Route 16, then onto the lazy curves of Route 446 through the valleys of the foothills of the Allegany Mountains and into Cuba then Friendship. Down Route 1 and then Hydetown Road. I slowly wind my way up the hill. My car and I slow down and peace seeps into my bones. I am going to the hill where the Lord lives.

“On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples A feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, The web that is woven over all nations;he will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces; The reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.”

The Lord really lives everywhere and in the hearts of all men, but on this mountain and in the person of the Friars of Holy Peace Friary and the community of Mt. Irenaeus I sense that presence very deeply. It’ll be good to get home for a few hours.

May the Lord give you peace.

It’s been a couple of days and I haven’t had the urge to write. I’ve thought about it, but there haven’t been any words or thoughts that seemed worth noting. Today we travel to Nazareth College in Rochester, New York as guests of the college. Our daughter is a freshman there and she’s done well. She’s a great student. Third in her high school graduating class, but college is always an adjustment.

When Dara was looking at colleges a year and more ago we visited several nice places. She really had her heart set on another college. Following one of those visits we were at Abbey of the Genesee and I said a prayer near the statue of Our Lady that Dara would have a successful search and find a college that would be good for her.

Nazareth College was our last visit, they had offered her a scholarship package and on a very stormy day last spring we traveled there. The first thing I saw as we drove onto the campus, was a large statue of Our Lady. I knew then that this was the answer to our prayer. We both prayed that she’d be successful and she has been. She finished the first semester with a 3.89 gpa. She’s recently been asked to be a student ambassador for the college. Our prayers for her success have been more than answered.

Peace.

I’ve been reading Wayne Dyer’s, Ten Secrets for Success and Inner Peace. Dr. Dyer is a fan of St. Francis of Assisi. It’s been good to read this book for me. It’s just what I needed. A respite from all that I’ve experienced lately. It’s an affirmation that I am surrounded by the presence of God. In fact the author asks his reader to think of God as a presence rather than as a being. Lots of good quotes that have made me think and reflect. Reading this book has been like being on a retreat. I recommend it to anyone.

I’m actually going on a retreat next week. I’ve scheduled a couple of days at Mt. Saviour Monastery in Pine City, New York. I’ve visited Mt. Saviour a number of times. I really enjoy their bookstore. Next week I’ll get to spend a couple of days there. One of the secrets of success that Wayne Dyer speaks of in his book is “Embracing Silence”. I’ve found that to be increasingly true for me. Too much noise is debilitating.

Peace.