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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.

We’ve been on the road with the Fredonia State Blue Devils and though they’ve played hard the young men have come up empty. It’s easy to be proud of a winning team. It’s harder to find the positives in a team that has trouble winning. The State University of New York Athletic Conference is very competitive. Today’s opponent, the Potsdam Bears, were definitely the better team. Fredonia rallied from thirteen down to take a two point lead only to see it disappear and finally lose the game. Our son Devin has only two games left in his senior season and it was tough to console a boy who loves basketball and hates losing. As we watched him board the bus home I said, “All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” I don’t know if that brought any comfort to Devin. I don’t think it did much to assuage my own feelings about the game and the waning season.

Who do I trust? Do I really trust God to bring something postitive out what looks like a big negative? I can’t say that I always find the positive in what looks like big negatives, but I know there is a bigger picture. St. James also counsels that we should welcome the bad things that happen to us along with the good. When I fail to look deeply and contemplatively at what happens to me on a daily basis I miss the opporunity to see God’s hand in it all. I pray for the wisdom to wait on the Lord. Psalm 46:11 admonishes me to “be still and know that I am God.” Help me to be still. Peace.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.” A friend sent me that quote in an email yesterday and it’s truth just jumped out at me. The source of the quote was Mahatma Gandhi, who was no stranger to forgiveness. Gandhi is said to have forgiven the man who shot him before he died. That’s powerful. While dying on the cross, Jesus said, “Forgive them father for they know not what they do.” That’s radical forgiveness. I think that’s what we’re called to.

May the Lord give you peace.

A few days ago I came across a picture of a little boy with his arm up on a snow bank. The little boy appeared to be half asleep or perhaps catching a nap on this snow bank. Maybe he had been shoveling, I don’t really know. I do know that the little boy was about five at the time of the photo. It was a picture of me that my father probably took. As I looked at the picture I began to look deeply at the boy and I wanted to talk with him. I really longed to talk again with that little boy who had grown into a man. I wanted to tell him that he was a good little boy. I wanted to tell him that the cares and concerns he had were real but that the passage would be okay.

On the wall in my sacred space is a picture of that boy taken some years later when he was 13. When I look at that young man I want to speak with him too and tell him that I love him. That young man wanted to be a Catholic priest. He wanted to dedicate his life to helping others. That young man attended Mass everyday and was devout about his faith. He was also torn by an emerging sexual and social identity which caused him to question the beliefs and at one point would drive him down the road of the prodigal son. Life wasn’t simple for that young man. He was full of conflict and question.

Looking deeply at myself today I can see the little boy and the adolescent and I can embrace both of them and love them deeply because they are part of who I am today. The more I am able look deeply and to see not only those two boys, but my mother, father, brother, sister, and everyone else the more contented I am.

Everything belongs. Peace.

Today I had to drive 80 miles to attend a technology integrator forum of which I am a member. During my drive east this morning I deliberately didn’t have any radio or noise on. I wanted to hear whatever it is I was supposed to hear from the Creator. Several years ago I began to “fast” from the news. Although I continue to read news sites on the web, I’ve renewed my news fast again. I fasted for a year last time. From October 2004-November 2005 I didn’t watch or listen to any newscasts. I received whatever local/national news from our local Olean Times Herald. If you’ve ever read a small city newspaper you soon realize how little national and international news they contain.

I’m convinced that not listening to the packaged news has allowed me to think freely about a range of topics and to have my ear honed to hear differently. The daily bombardment from Fox, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR etc. can be deafening and can enforce a reality which really only exists for their listeners. If that has become your reality I challenge you to tune out, turn off and listen instead to the silence that surrounds you. Before I left the house this morning it was my intent to take along my Franciscan Crown Rosary and to recite it on my ride to Bath, New York. I forgot to bring the Rosary but instead used my fingers and memory to recite a few decades and to remember some of the people who have reacted to my posts in this blog.

I’ve discovered that it is possible to live a life punctuated by solitude without being a solitary monk in a cloister. Like St. Francis, the world is my cloister. It is possible to live a life where silence is indeed golden. I love people and I love life, but I also love silence and solitude. If you are looking for peace, you can find it in your own kitchen or in your own living room. Peace.

I regret that I didn’t spend much time listening to Coretta Scott King as I did listening to and reading her husband’s work. Nonetheless, as I watch the tribute to her life that is being broadcast on C-Span this evening I am reminded that the Gospel is about non-violence and redemptive suffering that transforms the victim and the perpetrator. I know from my own personal experience that fighting, hitting back, retribution and yes, war of any stripe is doomed to utter failure. There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.

This week President Bush has proposed to Congress a budget that includes approximately $437 billion dollars devoted to making war, to killing our brothers and sisters worldwide in an effort to bring peace. We might as well take all that money and burn it in the fire because it will not produce the results intended for it.

I believe that the president, a self described Christian, firmly believes that he is doing good. I pray that President has a spiritual awakening and trims the money wasted on war and instead spend it on projects and causes that will truly bring peace. Bono in a recent speech at the National Prayer Breakfast asked that we spend 1% of our federal budget on ending poverty and AIDS. Spending $437 million dollars radically reducing poverty would do more to bring an end to war and terror on this planet than any of the proposed weapons systems in this year’s federal budget. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Poverty is the worst form of violence.” As a true disciple of non-violence and a real witness for peace, the Mahatma knew that ending poverty is paramount to ending violence.

Pope Paul VI said, “If you want peace work for justice.” The biblical understanding of the word justice is fidelity to the demands of a relationship. We have a relationship to our brothers and sisters on this planet and unless and until we begin to address the needs of that relationship we will have war and strife and no amount of bombs, planes and guns will fulfill the demands of our relationship to our brothers and sisters.

I pray for an awakening for our leaders. I hope you will pray also. We must stop feeding our fears and start feeding our brothers. Only when our brothers and sisters are no longer hungry will we have peace.
In Jesus’ only description of the Last Judgement to be found in the Gospel, we have the standard by which we will be judged. “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. ‘Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”

I just wrote to my members of Congress asking them to reject the
president’s budget and craft a federal government spending plan that
recognizes that more military spending will not bring the U.S. more security at
home or abroad. I hope you’ll join me.

Click on this URL to take action now
http://capwiz.com/fconl/utr/2/?a=8461016&i=1234

Peace.

“Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds,”– James 1:2-4. In a culture where losing is considered unacceptable this missive from the Book of St. James is very unsettling. We’ve been attending a lot of basketball games lately and more often than not our son’s team has been on the losing end. Over the four seasons that Devin has been a member of the Fredonia State Varsity his team has faced trial after trial. Eighteen months ago one of their key players dropped dead while getting ready for school one day. Last year the rest of the team dedicated their season and their spare time to collecting for a memorial to “Buck” as he was affectionately called. Mark Buckenmeyer came into our lives about two years ago. He was an easy going young man who was very soft spoken. He transferred to Fredonia following a successful career at Genesee Community College. He was a young man who wanted to be a math teacher.

At last night’s game a member of the home crowd at Thiel College pulled me aside and asked why the young men wore number “44” on their warmups in addition to their own number. I told him about Mark’s tragic death and how this was one of the ways his teammates had elected to honor his memory. Frequently I forget that these games aren’t about me or even about Devin. They’re a celebration of basketball and life. I’m sure the Buckenmeyers would love to have Mark back for one more game win or lose.

This weekend the young men will travel to Plattsburgh State and Potsdam State. They will be difficult opponents. The young men will face trials of many kinds on the hardwood. We’ll be there to enjoy their play and their lives and to remember Buck.

Peace.