Thanksgiving to God

In 1621 the Pilgrims decided to celebrate a day of gratitude to God. Why? Because they believed that they had survived their first hard winter and reaped their first harvest in their new home thanks to the grace of God. The 56 survivors gave God the glory for their surviving the dangerous journey, the rough winter, the goodness of the indigenous people and the food they had been able to grow and harvest for the winter ahead. They considered themselves blessed by their creator God.
Today most of us in the U.S. don't have to worry about survival the way the Pilgrims did. I for one take for granted the food, shelter, clothing and good health I have. Perhaps my blessings are not so concrete as the Pilgrims were, but they are there just the same. My list of blessings looks like this: faith in the Triune God, people; the ones I live with now, my family living and dead, my friends, my community, the capacity to enjoy other people, nature, colors, music, books, computers, etc. sleep!, energy, health, humor and laughter and I could go on.
One more big gift is a good attitude, maybe I'm an optimist but from what I see of pessimists being an optimist is more fun.
A good sight for focus on blessings: www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Nov2006/Family.asp#F1
Thanks be to our good and loving God!

Franz Jaegerstaetter

"I can say from my own experience how painful life often is when one lives as a halfway Christian; it is more like vegetating than living." Franz Jaegerstaetter


Almost 100 years ago a humble and just man was born.
He is on the road to being declared a saint because he resisted being a Nazi soldier because of his faith.
A devout and defiant Austrian farmer he was beheaded by the Nazis in 1943 for his resistance.

He was charged with treason after his request to be excused from regular army service for religious reasons was denied. The married father of four was posthumously exonerated in 1997 by a Berlin court.

"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
Matthew 5: 8 -12

S-Chip

There's 9 Million children is the U.S.A. without health insurance and I will bet that not one of them is a child of a senator or congress person. It seems that the reasons legislators voted against it had to do with it being an imperfect bill. They quibble over a 35 million dollar bill for health care for children cause it's not perfect but vote billions for a war based on lies which we're now stuck in due to the incompetent management of the the same folks who oppose increased health care for kids. I am angry about this. Some times its embarrassing to be an American!
Catholic Charities has a good page on the policies to reduce poverty. Their take on S-Chip is at
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=617&srcid=329

Humility and Charity

"It is not enough to give soup and bread; this the rich can do. It is only for your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread that you give them."
—St. Vincent De Paul

I have too much. Too much access to info, too much to do, too much choice about the course of my days and too much stuff.
I have to wonder why I have so much while so many people lack what they need to survive?

Vincent De Paul was big on charity and humility, which makes sense because without humility, without really accepting oneself as a creation of God, dependent on God for all, its just too easy to get caught in the trap of thinking I am the center of the universe and I am responsible for all the good things I have and all the good gifts with which I've been blessed.
It's too easy to have an attitude of - I am better than the next one because I have ... fill in the blank ______ health, friends, brains, virtue, energy, education, money, good looks, access to power and choice and so on... With such an attitude it's impossible to act with charity.

Of course all these things could be taken away in an instant! When that happens and I believe it does happen in some way to each person, I hope to have the grace of forgiveness for those who will give to me.

In thinking about Vincent De Paul and these two favorite virtues of his. Three people in my life came to mind, Fr. Vincent Fitzpatrick, Dona Juana Rivera and Sr. Cass Kohler. These three people are, I'm sure, in heaven. They vary greatly in their talents, backgrounds and gifts but are alike in possessing great charity and humility.
Dona (the n ought to have a squiggling line above it) had little education, was very poor and had nine children and many grandchildren. She gave away freely what she had, shared her project apartment with strangers in need and was friends with an amazing variety of people.
Sr. Cass Kohler was a down to earth person. She admitted she wasn't the brightest person as she struggled to get through nursing school, but her sense of humor and her awareness of others needs should have been noted summa cum laude. It was a joy to live with her. Her death at 41 due to breast cancer was a great loss to many.

Fr. Vincent was 90 when he died in 2006. Revered by many, well educated in the classics, he taught Greek and Latin to seminarians, was Novice Director for many years and held high positions in his community, yet he seemed equally at doing home repair projects at our camp like retreat center in CT. Fr. Vincent had many gifts but he had a special gift for relationships. He was warm and accepting of people, yet you always wanted to be and do your best around Fr. Vincent.
Three people of humility and charity! May their example and their prayers help us to be like them in the practice of these virtues.

The Pool

It's been a while since I wrote anything between a week with my family in MA. and a week at our Family Life Program. It was not on my agenda to go online very much. Now I'm back and I'm reflecting on my recent experiences.

I have spent from a week to seven weeks each summer at the Trinita Family Life Program for the past 18 years. The Trinita Retreat Center is in New Hartford, CT. (45 minutes NW of Hartford) in the summer the Trinita Family Life Development Program, which is primarily for families from inner-city neighborhoods happens. The summer program is a combination of camp fun, communication-building activities and a chance to deepen spiritually. "Blanket time" is a daily hour of family sharing, and in peer group discussions mothers & fathers are able to support one another in their struggles to raise a family in the inner city. There's lots of opportunities for fun, for doing silly things you wouldn't do at home in the neighborhood and for enjoying the open space of gentle green hills. Plus there's a pool!

The pool is open two hours a day and everyone seems to enjoy it.
A fond memory I have is of one day at the pool when it started to lightly rain. The parents and kids asked me in my capacity as MSBT at the pool (there's always one of us present) if the pool was to be close. It was quite warm and this rain was the kind of light shower not accompanied by thunder and lightning. I said no, the pool's not closing, no lightning no closing. Everyone cheered and jumped in the pool. Spontaneously every child adult and volunteer present starting bobbing up and down in the pool, shouting Trinita rules, Trinita rules! It was pure joy!
City pools tend to be crowded and at times dangerous. At Trinita it's clean, roomy enough and safe, so everyone can enjoy. Thanks be to God for the pool!

Be good do good be a power for good!

The Design Team

Today one of the Sisters came up to me and thanked me for the mural that we did during the Summer Mission Institute. She really liked the idea of illustrating a favorite motto, a quote from our founder Fr. Thomas Judge, CM,

Be good, do good, be a power for good!

I've been involved in more mundane matters this past week, mainly paperwork, so that doing the banner with the young adults of the Summer Mission Institute seems more than a week ago. I think it turned out well. The best part was the doing; everyone, no matter their talent or perceived lack of talent, felt able to pitch in and paint. It's amazing how enjoyable it is to work in an atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement.
Not to be corny but the atmosphere was an illustration of the motto as much as the mural. The group of people were from different places and backgrounds yet worked together like they'd done it for years.
I've been blessed in the people with whom I've worked. Sometimes you hear horror tales of bosses and coworkers who are complainers, critics, screamers or just plain mean.
The other day our Sisters were describing some of the experiences they've had with Pastors some excellent, some awful. I guess it seems so much worse when a person is supposedly a man (or woman) of Good, yet their behavior is far from what you would expect.

Thanks be to God for the folks who are good, who do good and are a power for good. The sister who thanked me for the mural is a perfect example of that kind of person. Sr. Paul Miriam tries in everyday ways to be that good person who does good and is a power for good. She would be amazed and perhaps embarrassed that I was testifying to her goodness in a blog, but there is good reason to brag about her. I think people who are good and kind ought to get more recognition. So here's to the folks who are good may they multiply!

Never boring!

I can't ever remember being bored. I've always had the ability to find life in all its variety interesting if not always pleasant. I can enjoy being alone doing nothing or being alone with God or with my own thoughts. In my years as a sister, there seems to have been no lack of something to do, something to pray about , some one to attend to, something, somebody to think about or be present to. I of ten find myself surprised when I hear a person say "I'm bored" or "that's boring." It like they're speaking a language with concepts beyond my comprehension.

This week too is full of variety and interesting people and events.
My Community is part of a Religious Family. We grew out of a Lay Group called the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate. A group of brothers and priests called the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity or Trinity Missions also came out of that group as did a small group of women in private vows, the Blessed Trinity Missionary Institute.

Anyhow, the four groups sponsor a program for Young Adults called the Trinity Mission Center. They do education and and discernemnt programs. This week is the annual Summer Mission Institute. The theme is Baptism and we are doing a mural using a saying from our founder Thomas Judge, " Be good, Do good, Be a power for good." There's about 15 young adults participating plus five more on the Team. There's lots of paint, brushes and wall space so we'll see where we go with our mural. Another opportunity for not being bored!