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May 19, 2020

A day of prayer for Covid-19

We adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, here, and in all your churches throughout the world, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
St. Francis of Assisi

Two years ago I was in Assisi with a group of United States Veterans as part of a Franciscan pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi. That morning the friar leading our pilgrimage celebrated Mass at the Portiuncola. It was a peak experience for me and other members of our group. Now, two years later as we are reeling from the effects of this global pandemic those days come into sharper focus. Pope Francis has designated the entire month of May as a time of prayer for relief from Covid-19. Fr. Kevin Mullen, OFM who is the provincial of Holy Name of Jesus Province of the Order of Friars Minor has designated today as a special day of prayer.

Therefore I’m joining Franciscans and others in a special day of prayer. The crucifix below is a San Damiano Cross I received on the pilgrimage.

May 15, 2020

Bernie Sanders is always thinking about people

This seems like a ‘no-brainer.’

Source: Sanders Bill Would Expand Medicare During Covid-19 Crisis Instead of Costlier Plan to Prop Up Private Insurers

May 13, 2020

Living in the present moment

I was listening to a Super Soul podcast with Oprah Winfrey interviewing Eckhert Tolle and as they were talking about the present moment I had a helpful insight. In the midst of all this stress and daily projection and worry I haven’t been living in the present moment. Sometimes words are just words until they come to have meaning in my life. Today was one of those days when the present moment became more than two words. A chap once said to me, “if you were to ask God what time it is what do you think he would say.” I said, “I don’t know.” My friend said, “he’d say it was now.” Many years later the thought of the conversation returned and I came to appreciate the power of now.

The past and future are imaginary. The only thing that matters is now. All we have is now. Right now I’m okay. Earlier today I had a chance to visit one of my favorite quiet spots in nearby Ellicottville. I visited Nannen Arboretum. It’s a very contemplative setting. It was a beautiful day.

May 11, 2020

St. Jude

I have a statue of St. Jude that’s been mine since I was a young boy. I had lost track of it for years until five years ago when we were moving my Mom to assisted living. Since then the statue has returned to my life and and currently lives most of the time next to my laser printer.

I was drawn to the statue as a young boy because I mistook St. Jude for St. Patrick. You notice that Jude is wearing green and so naturally as an Irish-American I assumed that if you wore green you were usually Irish. My Mom and Dad purchased the statue while we were visiting the Catholic Union Store in Buffalo. It was after I got the statue home that I learned it’s true identity. Then I began to learn that Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. From that time until now I’ve given thoughts and prayers to St. Jude when there was an impossible cause in my path. The Coronavirus, Covid-19 and our federal government’s inept response to it are all impossible causes that I’ve given to St. Jude. The statue has survived about sixty years and that’s remarkable because it’s made of plaster. You’ll notice that the flame that once adorned Jude’s head has not survived the test of time. I continue to hope and pray that St. Jude, the Holy Spirit and other positive forces can change the course of the pandemic or at least our response to it.

May 10, 2020

Expressing doubt is normal and healthy

Today I posted a picture of my rosary on Instagram and posed a rhetorical question about the effectiveness of that ancient prayer. The only way I learn is by experience and asking questions. That led one of my followers to respond that my family was healthy which indeed they are. I’m grateful for that. This month Pope Francis has asked us to pray the rosary everyday and pray that Mary intercede for us with the pandemic. I’m inclined to be a skeptic of rote prayers and particularly the rosary but I’ve been praying the rosary everyday since early March. It’s been part of a larger effort to seek and do God’s will. I usually recite the rosary when I’m walking. It’s a walking meditation for me but being a curious guy I wonder does it really accomplish anything. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Mary. After all I was born on a Marian feast and blue is my favorite color. I believe that doubt is integral to faith. They’re two sides of the same coin.

As Jesus was dying on the cross he is supposed to have said, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me.” If the son of God can express doubt then isn’t that a sign of spiritual health. I hope so. Is everything so certain in your walk of faith that you don’t question the effectiveness of your prayer life? My life has been a series of conversion experiences. Dark nights and soul searching followed by metanoia.

April 30, 2020

Walking meditation

I walk whenever I can. My daily goal is ten thousand steps. That usually amounts to close to five miles. Yesterday I decided to take a slightly different route that led me across Gates Creek and up an abandoned roadway leading to what used to be called Hogue’s Hill. I remember riding up this hill with my father in an automobile in the 1950’s. Mr. Hogue had a tree farm up on this hill and we purchased blue spruce trees from him to plant around the perimeter of our yard.

The road reminds me of Robert Frost’s poem about “The Road Not Taken.”

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

April 27, 2020

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Stupidity

I came across this insightful blog this morning and wanted to reshare it.

April 20, 2020

Under His Wings

I found myself walking near my favorite pond again tonight. I’m fortunate to live nearby and it’s very calm and peaceful here. There are nearby woods and trails and generally an area that invites solitude and reflection. Tonight while approaching the pond I spotted a bald eagle sitting atop one of the many tall trees that surround the pond. It’s the first bald eagle I’ve seen in the wild. I didn’t get very close before he took off and flew north to a more secluded area. I wish I would have been quicker and gotten a picture of him. Seeing the eagle reminded me of Michael Joncas’ hymn, “On Eagles Wings,” which is one of my favorites. Michael’s hymn is beautiful and is based on Psalm 91. I’ve thought of the song often in this pandemic. I hope you enjoy it.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ^[I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
Psalm 91:1-6