21 January 2012

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20 January 2012

A boy chained his bike to a tree and went off to war...




AA


Priest’s legacy of tolerance is all-embracing

The Buffalo News: Donn Esmonde

They put Father Bill in the ground Wednesday. It was cold January earth. But I would like to think — no, I know — that easing his way down was the warmth and the gratitude of the countless “invisible” people to whom he opened the church doors. Many were God-loving Catholics who were not sure that God loved them back. Father Bill, by word and deed, let them know that He did.

Prostitutes, the homeless, the poor, immigrants, homosexuals — Monsignor William Schwinger welcomed all of them to St. Louis Church. From 1979 to 1995, he presided over a mixed flock on the edge of Allentown.

It was, especially, not an easy time to be homosexual. The epidemic of AIDS cut down friends and lovers, even as society’s cold eye prompted many gays to live a closeted lie. No matter. Everyone was wrapped in his spiritual embrace...


more:
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/columns/donn-esmonde/article714554.ece

16 January 2012

Stand Tall

 
"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent."   -Martin Luther King, Jr.

27 December 2011

The Work of Christmas


When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
 
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner
To teach the nations
To bring Christ to all
To make music in the heart.
 
Howard Thurman

19 December 2011

17 December 2011

Our Lady of Advent


Our Lady of Advent is without any doubt a unique model of how to embrace and love the true Advent spirit as we continue on our road to Christmas. She lived her own Advent for nine months, a longer peirod than our short four to eight weeks. She also lived it in greater intimacy, for he whom we expect to come dwelled within her, and she nourished and cared for him with unsurpassed love.

The lowly, prayerful, humble, quiet waiting attitude exercised by our Lady during her own Advent exemplifies what all our Advent days should be like. In the midst of the noisy and often chatoic Christmas preparations we encounter in today's world, the example of the Mother of God stands apart from all that is false, haughty, glittering, selfish, or superficial. Mary's presence in our midst, radiating a serene beauty through her silence, her acceptance, and total submission to God's plan, speaks volumes to each and every one of us.

Like our Lady, we must live our own submissions to the Lord with complete simplicity, humility, and trust in his plan for each of us.

A Monastery Journey to Christmas
Br. Victor-Antione D'Avila-Latourrette