Peace-bearers

There is always a danger that in our passion to promote peace we could resort to means that are contrary to what we are workingfor. Of course we want to see results, nay, we are impatient to see results, and in our haste to see them we, sort of, force the issue, we use shortcuits. But shortcuts often boomerang on us.
In today's Gospel Jesus sends out his disciples. Among his recommendations, Jesus tells them to bring peace wherever they go. Should the place where they go choose not to accept that peace, it doesn't mean that the disciples have failed. The peace that they have offered to others will always come back to them.
We will never have peace by forcing the issue. To give to others the gift of peace is to allow them to accept it or to refuse it. But whatever their response is, it will never take away the peace in our heart. In doing this we may not see the end to global issues of peace, but we will be planting seeds of peace in the heart. In the long run, and maybe we won't see this in our lifetime, this is the only way to peace in the world.

He loved me first

I am a nun, and have been one for 23 years now. If you add the four years of preparation before the official start of my being a "nun", then it is like a lifetime.
It is a choice that I have never regretted,
After the sixth year, the year when I made my perpetual profession, I just stopped counting.
At this juncture, I feel like I am caught up in the vicious cycle of routine and of settling down, which happens in most relationships. After all, being a nun is more than a profession. It is a relationship: with God, with my fellow nuns, with the people I deal with daily, etc.
I feel like I am in a limbo. Days pass by without any feeling that I have done something special or that I have made a difference. What is sad is, a lot of times, I don't even care. I feel as if life is just passing me by, that I am just moving on pushed by the crowd.
I feel a certain repulsion over the state of my life, but I feel powerless to do anything.
The Gospel of today helped me to remember that time, so very long ago, when I gave up everything, my present and my future, in order to follow Jesus. But I also remembered that before it was my turn, it was first Jesus who loved me and captured my heart. It was he, it is always Jesus, who loves us first.

Weeping

May I not get used to the news about refugees, bombings, wars, sufferings of every kind, the dilly-dallying of politicians and other leaders. May I really weep and not just whine. May God grant me a heart in solidarity with all.
What is tragedy for a person is a tragedy for all humankind.
As I weep for them, I also weep for us. We are losing what is most basic for human beings - that is, seeing in the other person a partner, a friend, a brother or sister,
We are fighting about so-called convictions, when they are just our personal securities that we want to protect.
People are not problems to solve. People are the most wonderful and creative of God's creatures, and you, I, they, we are all one of them.

A haunting image

May we really learn to weep in the face of others' suffering.
When we weep on behalf of people we don't even know, it is a sign that we have finally understood that we are all brothers and sisters, we are all one family.
We should be ashamed to flaunt our riches and so-called progress when we allow our brothers and sisters, especially the most helpless ones, to struggle to defend the most basic right that we have, the right to life.

Hope

Hope makes us move forward, perhaps not always with sprint and enthusiasm, or perhaps we are just dragging ourselves one painful step at a time, but we don't give up, knowing that no matter how slow the pace is, we are on a journey and one day we will get "there".

Crossover

We are constantly called to crossover. When God beckons, we must take the  risk of leaving the safety of the shore in order to discover new lands.

Faith

To take God in his own terms, that is faith.