The past few nights I have been reading the concluding chapters of Roger Lipsey’s biography of Dag Hammarskjold. These chapters deal with the very complicated role of the United Nations, and so of Hammarskjold himself, in the struggle for independence of the Congo. In the course of that most difficult time in Hammarskjold’s life and work, a work that would ultimately cost him his life, he gave a brief statement on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights.…[read more]
Yesterday the White House asked the Congress to appropriate 4.5 billion dollars for the “crisis” at the southern border of the United States. Admittedly there is a developing humanitarian crisis there. Yet, the crisis is the result of a politically driven administration policy, the goal of which was exactly to precipitate a crisis. So, the powerful created a reality that now becomes the “work” of the rest of us.…[read more]
Unless one lives in total illusion, it will cross one’s mind and heart more often than seldom that life is difficult. Of course, it is also blessed and joyful, but in the course of life each of us will find ourselves confronting the painful reality that human life is fragile and, in some foundational way, broken. We experience this in sickness, in natural and human made disasters, and especially in the way we live out our relationships and commitments to each other. In today’s gospel, then, the disciples hear from Jesus a very painful, although truthful, teaching. “It is necessary…[read more]
And now, bless the God of all, who has done wondrous things on earth. Who fosters people’s growth from their mother’s womb, and fashions them according to his will! May he grant you joy of heart and may peace abide among you; may his goodness toward us endure in Israel to deliver us in our…[read more]
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3: 2-3 Often on the Feast of All Saints we take time to think of the saints…[read more]
Jesus answered: “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But…[read more]
Instead there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people. No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there, or the sound of crying. Isaiah 65:18-19 Often…[read more]
“Come closer to me,” Joseph told his brothers. When they had done so, he said: “I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt. But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me…[read more]
The past few nights I have been reading the concluding chapters of Roger Lipsey’s biography of Dag Hammarskjold. These chapters deal with the very complicated role of the United Nations, and so of Hammarskjold himself, in the struggle for independence of the Congo. In the course of that most difficult time in Hammarskjold’s life and work, a work that would ultimately cost him his life, he gave a brief statement on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights.…[read more]
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