Faith, Grace, and Hope

Holy Mary of Magdala, Apostle to the Apostles, Friend of Jesus, Soul Freed from Seven Demons, pray for us. Brown-skinned prophetic sister, comfort those who are grieving and exhausted. Bring the consolation of company, rest, and return for their labor. Watcher at the foot of the cross, give us the strength to bear witness to those falsely imprisoned in jails or by systems. Grant us the willingness to speak against a culture of fear-mongering and death. Weeper at the tomb, strengthen us by your example and knowledge to keep walking, keeping speaking, keep singing, and to demand, still, that we want to see Jesus. And help us to radiate joy when he speaks our name. Holy Mary of Magdala, Apostle to the Apostles, Friend of Jesus, Soul Freed from Seven Demons, pray for us. This prayer was originally written for and posted at RevGalBlogPals .

The body count rises. Arms raised, voices sobbing, blood pours. Is there no balm in Gilead? The wailing magnifies. There are not enough garments to rend. The ditches are full, but there are not enough Samaritans. Grief is a monsoon, a typhoon, a deluge. There is no memory of an antediluvian time. The praying tongues are parched; sighs stopped in dried throats. Hands flop helplessly. The willfully ignorant caw and cackle, their hearts hardening within them. How long, O Lord, how long, how long howlong howlong howlonghowlonghowlong? How can we sing the Lord’s song in a land that refuses to see Christ In Brown faces, in dark spaces, at 10 paces, in uniformed cases? Jesus! Jesus. Swing low, sweet chariot… come and carry us home. I don’t think that’s a band of angels I see And there are too many brothers and sisters who just can’t even anymore. deep exhale Originally written for and posted at RevGalBlogPals.org

Luke 10:25-37 25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”  27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”  28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”    29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near h...

Thirty-five days ago, I left Poland. It has not yet left me and I don't really expect that it will. I am still sorting through what I saw, felt, heard, and experienced. Some of these things may take years to put together and some I may have already forgotten. Only God knows how these things will finally take shape or root within me. There is one experience that I actually continue to think about almost daily. Going in, I thought about this with almost anthropological interest, but very little emotional attachment. Yet, now, I think of it constantly. When I think of this situation, I feel grief and frustration, sadness and hurt, impassioned and, yet, paralyzed. By Manederequesens (Own work) [ CC BY-SA 4.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons On Thursday, May 26th, Roman Catholic Poles, along with Roman Catholics around the world, celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi.  In Krakow, the Friend of Calvin who came to visit me and I were interested to see the observance of this feast. It is...