We have all been so overwhelmed by the last two weeks of Supreme Court decisions and January 6 testimony that we’ve hardly had enough time to realize there’s much more in our Nation, in the world. The war in Ukraine has been relegated to the inside pages, even in The New York Times. Stories about heat in places like Portland and Seattle don’t catch our attention. Above all, most of us are looking for a summer again, one that does not require masking and six fee distancing.
But in the midst of it all, we need not to forget continued warnings from the CDC. I know this sounds like a downer on a holiday weekend, when we want to throw caution to the wind. But we cannot.
We must continue our care for each other. And that care requires more than just wearing a mask indoors. It requires looking at how we as Christians we can truly expand the circle of care to include many not included before: the poor in goods but also in spirit; the marginalized who stand at the gates of our consciousness, and the many others outside of our circle of vision.
Prayer for the Day
You call us, O God, to be instruments of your peace,
But we often look to rules instead of love;
Open us to your spirit of reconciling love,
And wash away from us anger, envy, and jealousy,
So we are healed by your grace in our lives
And knit together in community.
In the name of the One who teaches us to live with grace,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord
Thoughts for the Day
The measure of a country’s greatness is its ability to retain compassion in times of crisis.
- Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1908-1993)
Compassion for the other comes out of our ability to accept ourselves. Until we realize both our own weaknesses and our own privileges, we can never tolerate lack of status and depth of weakness in the other.
- Joan Chittister, OSB, writer
The Lord wait to be gracious to you; therefore God will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for the Lord.
Isaiah 30: 18