Inside Out

See if you can follow my drift.
       Inmates in prison refer to me as an outsider.  They are insiders.

We were discussing the Samaritan Woman at the well in John 4. The woman was drawing water from the well at the hottest time of the day.  She was the only one there because no one would go to get water at that particular time, unless they really had to.  So why did she?  We learn that she is not the average wife, at all.  In fact, she has flaunted the social sensibilities because she is living with a man and they were not married. She also was married five times before!  So she was ostracized.

I asked these inmates if they ever felt ostracized, left out, or an outsider.  As soon as I said it, I realized that they literally were ostracized, left out, and outsiders.  But they thought the opposite, because they are on the inside and people like me are the outsiders.

Do you see what I'm saying?

There's a lesson in this exchange.

Re-examen

The other day, I was talking to a friend about another friend, who is a Wiccan.  My friend is into yoga and meditation and she said she was surprised that wiccans meditate, just like Christians do.  We kind of ended our conversation with the realization that all religions have a lot in common.

Later on, I came across this examination of conscience on the Defend the Catholic Faith website.  It's quite comprehensive.  I  glanced at the list of sins that broke the first commandment.  I immediately recalled my conversation with my friend where we concluded that wicca is on par with Christianity.  Yikes!  What an idiot I am!  I knew it's not; what was I thinking?

And scandal!  Scandal is an attitude or behavior that leads one to evil. Hence!  That's a sin against the fifth commandment.  Who knew?

And "adulation!"  I didn't even know what that was.  That's being an accomplice in another's vices or grave sins.  Ah.....

I'm going to Confession at my first opportunity.

A Covenant of Trust

Lectio:

Genesis12: 1-4a

The Lord said to Abram:
"Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you.
          I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you;
          I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
          I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.
          All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you."
Abram went as the Lord directed him.

Studium:

Abram is considered the father of God's people.  Genesis contains Abram's stories which show him as a model of faith.  In Genesis 17:15, God changes Abram's name to Abraham.  They mean the same but a name change is important.  Think of when a woman marries.  Her new name connects her to her husband and his family.  Name changes change identity.  However in Gen. 12: 1-4a, God is giving directions and promises.  A covenant is formed.  Honor Me and I will honor you.

Meditatio:

God is giving much to Abram and his people.  The passage conveys God giving strength to His people.  Obviously, these blessings come from God, not Abram or anyone else's efforts.  We should take note that we can do all things, but God can.

Oratio:

Lord, may I always love and trust you.  I pray to recognize my blessings and not ever think that my personal behavior is the cause of my good things.  A situation can change in a second.  But You, O Lord are always there.

Contemplatio:

Lord, Jesus Christ, I trust in You.

Look Beyond

Flying from Boston to Orange County, I read The Rent Collector by Camron Wright.  Good story!  It is fiction but based on a real place, Stung Meanchey.  Stung Meanchey is a dump in Cambodia.  People live in the dump.  They make a living there.  In fact, the main character is a young mother, Sang Ly, who with her husband and baby, move from her family village for a better life, scavaging in the dump.

  They have a regular routine.  Sang Ly takes care of her son and hubby scavages.  He picks metals and such and sells it.  He gets money to pay the rent on their cardboard hovel plus some for food.  Once in a while, they have a little to save.  Their savings are eaten up by medical bills because the baby has chronic diarrhea. The diarrhea goes away when he's on medicine but it always comes back when the medicine runs out.  It's a constant worry.  Also, overshadowing the little family is the rent collector.

The rent collector is a bitch on wheels.  Her demeanor is terrorizing bullying.  But one day an incident happens that alters Sang Ly and the rent collector's lives. While scavaging, the father finds a child's book and brings it home to his son.  No one can read, but he's only a baby, anyway.  They all enjoy the pictures.

The rent collector happened to see the book while collecting the rent.  What happened when she spied the book was earth shattering.  The rent collector pounced on the book like a cat on a mouse.  She snatched it up and almost kissed and hugged it.  She cried.  She wailed.  And she collapsed on the ground and read the book, hiccupping tears of joy.  She ended up taking the book, in lieu of rent.

Sang Ly had always wanted to read but never went to school.  She sweet talked and strong-armed the rent collector into teaching her to read.  In the process, Sang Ly and the rent collector developed a relationship which was based on admiration and respect, if not friendship.

Another strange thing happened.  Sang Ly (out of the blue) had a dream.  She dreamt she was in her village and the witch doctor or shaman (you know what I mean--one of those guys) was telling her to come see him to cure her son's diarrhea. Sang Ly had to act on this vision.

The family travels back to their village.  They meet the witch doctor and the baby is cured.  Meanwhile, back at the dump, the rent collector has moved.  I don't want to spoil the ending for you, except to tell you that you'll like it.

I couldn't put the story down.  It made the flight fly by.  I cried, laughed, and bit my nails.  The characterization is well drawn.  The fact that I would have never picked up a book about dump pickers were it not assigned by book club, and I literally devoured it with my eyes, tells you how good the book is.  It should be an award winner.

Fools

The Fool of New York City is Michael D. O'Brien's latest novel.  I didn't like it as well as his others.  The first few pages were difficult to get into.  I remember thinking to myself that I could recommend this book to friends--they wouldn't get past the first few pages.
But then the story hooked me.  A giant (man almost seven feet tall) rescues a man with amnesia.  How they trace back the amnesiac's life, is the plot.  O'Brien has a knack for character depiction.  Although I enjoyed the book, I thought the ending rushed.  

Home

Home Sweet Home!  I'm glad to be back.  Unfortunately, I came home with a UTI and a frozen iPhone.  My broken cell phone caused me much anxiety.  I couldn't tell my family I was leaving; I had arrived; when are you coming; help!
I spent all yesterday morning trying to fix my phone.  It was dead.  I had to buy a new one.

My doctor's appointment is this afternoon.

But the trip to the RE Congress and my visit with my relatives: nephew Fred and his wife, Monika was great.  Fred always takes us to fantastic places.  He drives me crazy because he offers too many options, but it's always fun.  The Congress was my best.  I chose good speakers this year.  Every single one of them was interesting.  I'm sure I'll be posting thoughts I've gleaned from them, later on.

Since I was traveling on Ash Wednesday, and would not have been able to get ashes, we made up a ceremony.  Fred burned last year's palms, Tuesday night.  Wednesday morning, we set up a little holy space: candle, holy water, and ashes.  We blessed ourselves with holy water as we lit the candle.  We said a little prayer.  It was extemporaneous so I don't remember it.  Then we smeared ashes on each other's foreheads.  Fred got his revenge on me by smacking me with a humongous cross.  SoI went all day feeling kind of embarrassed but sacrificial.

The sad part is that during our flying home, across the country, I only saw two people with ashes.  No one in Orange County airport.  One person in Chicago.  And one person in Boston.  Two.

Lord have mercy on us.

Faith can't grow without temptation, pope tells Rome priests

Faith can't grow without temptation, pope tells Rome priests: ROME (CNS) -- Faith is a continuing path of growth and maturity that cannot progress without the presence of temptations, Pope Francis told priests of the Diocese of Rome.



Doesn't this remind you of Dostoevsky's faith?                  

It is not as a child that I believe and confess Jesus Christ. My hosanna is born of a furnace of doubt.

Fyodor Dostoevsky