The New Reality of Justice and Peace

Dear Friend,

On Wednesday I was preparing to meet online with the parish staff when one of my friar brothers – clearly agitated – alerted me to the goings-on in Washington DC.  Watching those events triggered all kinds of emotions - fear, dismay, violation, anger. We went ahead with the staff meeting and by the end of it we had a plan in place for a livestream parish vigil for peace that night. 

We received many kind expressions of thanks from parishioners, and for those I am very grateful. For myself, the experience of the prayer vigil was a reminder that at any given moment – facing any kind of circumstance, be it simple or wildly, emotionally complex - as vivid as my emotions can make it, the picture of reality I hold in my mind is very small; the whole is beyond my grasp. I think of baptism.  Whether we were infants or adults at the time, when we came away from those waters we had no idea what was ahead of us. 

We do not know what’s ahead and, what’s more, even our interpretation of what’s actually in front of us is partial. From our baptism, however, there are two things we do know for sure: whatever’s happening, we are bonded to God’s love in a bond that can never be broken. Secondly, we are bonded – each one of us - to a community in order to carry out the task of expressing that love, each in our own unique way.

Our circumstances right now are challenging. The Holy Spirit thrusts us into them with a vocation: to orient our lives wholly and publicly toward the new reality of justice and peace that God is bringing into being (Ellen F. Davis). There, in Father Larry’s words, is an adventure!

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan ofm, Pastor