On a retreat this past weekend, there were a lot of hugs (and tears). I loved to watch this one particular girl give hugs. She had this way about her that made it seem like she and the other person were the only two people in the whole universe. It was as if she was not only embracing the person, but embracing Christ within that person too. In just watching her, the heaviness was lifted from my heart, and I was happy.
Thanks Boston 🙂
Just back from leading an intensive, four-day retreat with high school junior and senior girls. (This was my third such retreat this school year. One was with boys, and the other two with girls.) It was an awesome experience for everyone involved.
Today’s first reading from Isaiah 55:10-11 feels apropos:
Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
It is a miracle to see the Holy Spirit work. Look for these miracles. They are all around us, everyday, every hour, every minute. It is easy to spot them on a retreat, but they can be just as easy to spot in and around our everyday, busy lives. You just have to open your heart…
I am their father, says God.
Our Father who art in heaven.
My Son told them often enough
that I was their father.
I am their judge.
But I am especially their father.
He who is a father is above all a father.
Our Father who art in heaven.
He who has once been a father
can be nothing else but a father.
They are my Son’s brothers.
They are my children.
I am their father.
Our Father who art in heaven.
My Son taught them that prayer.
“Pray like this,” he said,
“Our Father…”
He knew very well what he was doing that day,
my Son who loved them so.
Who lived among them,
who was like one of them.
Who went as they did,
who spoke as they did,
who lived as they did.
Who suffered.
Who suffered as they did,
who died as they did.
Who loved them so,
having known them.
Who brought back to heaven,
back home,
a certain taste for man,
a certain taste for the earth.
He knew well what he was doing that day,
my Son who loved them so.
Our Father…Those few words.
That barrier of words which my anger,
and perhaps even my justice,
will never pass.
Those few words that conquer me,
the unconquerable.
That actually is the way I see them, says God.
During my eternity, eternally, says God.
Because of my Son,
thus must I eternally see them.
And judge them, now? After that.
Now I must judge them like a “father.”
As if a father were any good as a judge.
There is a famous example of that.
A story of my Son told them.
A certain man had two sons, he told them.
We know well enough how the father “judged”
the son who went away and came back.
The father wept even more than the son.
And that story is the story
my Son has been telling them.
A certain man had two sons.
We know well enough how the “judgments”
end up in that story.
A certain man had two sons.
It always ends with embraces.
And with the father crying
even more than anyone else.
— Charles Péguy, from “A Vision of Prayer” in God Speaks
Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?
— seen on a bumper sticker
Have you ever spanked your kid for hitting a sibling?
Please pray for a stay of execution for Hung Thanh Le. He is scheduled for execution on Thursday in Oklahoma.
Regardless of your position on capital punishment, there seems to be some issues within this case. To quote Amnesty International:
The trial was riddled with prosecutorial misconduct. The prosecution made inflammatory remarks, mis-stated the law as it related to mitigating evidence, referred to facts that were not in evidence and repeatedly dehumanized the defendant in arguing for execution. Oklahoma County prosecutors have repeatedly been criticized by the appeal courts. In Hung Thanh Le’s case, a federal judge wrote in 2002 that “at some point the repeated violation of ethical responsibility threatens the violation of our justice system”. Despite finding that the prosecution’s arguments were “improper” and “irrelevant”, the appeal courts have allowed Hung Thanh Le’s death sentence to stand. It is left to the clemency authorities to provide a remedy.
In fact, the clemency board voted for the first time in Oklahoma history to unanimously commute a death sentence, but Gov. Brad Henry has set aside the recommendation and denied clemency.
You can read more about this case at Amnesty International or at a local news channel.
Update: The execution has been delayed until March 23. The Vietnamese government requested more time to review the case file.