Much has happened in the week since we celebrated the promise of new life at Easter. Putin ordered strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv. Dozens have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank. Pope Francis died. And the government that is supposed to protect you and me from tainted food and arsenic in our water is falling apart.
We can’t forget the tariffs imposed by the new regime which will cost us. The claim is that they will “only” increase our cost of living by $1200-$2,000, bur for us peons, that’s a lot. Fossil fuel companies have been excepted, of course, since their well-heeled executives contributed a great deal to make sure they can continue destroying the environment.
In an essay Bishop Evelio Menjivar, who entered this country as a teenager fleeing the war in El Salvador our tax dollars paid for, compared the suffering of immigrants to the Passion Christ suffered. Our faith states that after the Passion there is Easter, but in today’s America, it seems a long time coming.
Prayer for the Day
Holy One, teach us to extend to others
What we ask for ourselves: your forgiving mercy.
We do not think of ourselves as guilty of great sin,
But we do not see the ways our demons enter our souls
Forgive us, O God, and help us to see the world
Through the eyes of others around us.
In the name of the One who forgives,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
More than a few natural-born Americans are saying they do not recognize their country anymore, but many of us from other lands recognize all too well the terror of people being snatched by secret police and disappeared. We left our former countries precisely to get away from it. Yet, too many people are still remaining silent, perhaps out of fear, forgetting that the Holy Spirit gives us the grace of fortitude to boldly speak out for good.
Bishop Evelio Menjiar, writing in The Catholic Standard (April 11, 2025)
How much contempt is stirred up at times toward the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants. On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!
Pope Francis, Easter message on the day he died.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice: let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them, so those who love your name may exult in you,
For you bless the righteous, O Lord, you cover them with favor as with a shield.
Psalm 5: 11-12