Communication with Visitors Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us! January 3 (P.S. Jan. 26) Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, Here is a late reflection on Christmas. During the Christmas season we have been meditating upon the author of life and his entrance into our world as one of ourselves to lead us and guide us to our heavenly home by his teaching and by his example. It has been a happy and a joyous time filled with light heartedness and cheer and we are grateful for it. And today buoyed up by the gifts of this season we turn our mind and hearts to carrying out in our daily living, in the midst of our daily joys and sorrows, our happiness and our discomforts, our pleasures and our pains, the lessons contained in those glad tidings delivered to us in the person and the message of the Word made flesh, Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Augustine has said that a Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot. By this he means of course that a Christian enlivened by the message of love, joy and hope brought to us by our Savior moves through the daily chores and tasks at hand with the vigor and expression of one undaunted by discouragement and exuberant with unrestrained enthusiasm. So let it be with us as we enter upon the more prosaic duties of ordinary time. Have a happy and blessed New Year! Yours sincerely in Christ, Michael Lapierre, S.J. P.S. (Jan. 26) Some time ago I received a book entitled, Reader's Digest Crime Casebook. It contains the history of thirty four criminal cases of various types and from different countries, each of them carefully researched and succinctly written. What it reveals is the depths of evil to which men and women will go, the brutality to which they will succumb, the coldness and inhumaneness of their crimes. And on the other side the care, the devotedness, the perseverance with which the police, the detectives, the investigators and other officers of the law strive to discover the perpetrators and accomplices of these horrifying actions and to see that justice is brought to bear upon them and that the rules of law in human society are properly observed and applied. It is the old struggle of good versus evil. And while we know that the good will ultimately prevail we begin to realize that it will do so at the cost of much suffering, many hardships and great trials on the part of those who struggle to be honest, fair, just and virtuous in daily lives. How grateful we should be at the end of each day that we have come through its hours safe and secure, unharmed and unscathed. And further let us pray for the victims of these horrendous acts that they may have it in their hearts to forgive those wayward and vicious criminals who descend to such depths of degradation and inhumanity towards their neighbor. For you perusal, Michael Lapierre, S.J.
January 3 (P.S. Jan. 26)
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Here is a late reflection on Christmas. During the Christmas season we have been meditating upon the author of life and his entrance into our world as one of ourselves to lead us and guide us to our heavenly home by his teaching and by his example. It has been a happy and a joyous time filled with light heartedness and cheer and we are grateful for it. And today buoyed up by the gifts of this season we turn our mind and hearts to carrying out in our daily living, in the midst of our daily joys and sorrows, our happiness and our discomforts, our pleasures and our pains, the lessons contained in those glad tidings delivered to us in the person and the message of the Word made flesh, Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Augustine has said that a Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot. By this he means of course that a Christian enlivened by the message of love, joy and hope brought to us by our Savior moves through the daily chores and tasks at hand with the vigor and expression of one undaunted by discouragement and exuberant with unrestrained enthusiasm. So let it be with us as we enter upon the more prosaic duties of ordinary time.
Have a happy and blessed New Year!
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Michael Lapierre, S.J.
P.S. (Jan. 26)
Some time ago I received a book entitled, Reader's Digest Crime Casebook. It contains the history of thirty four criminal cases of various types and from different countries, each of them carefully researched and succinctly written. What it reveals is the depths of evil to which men and women will go, the brutality to which they will succumb, the coldness and inhumaneness of their crimes. And on the other side the care, the devotedness, the perseverance with which the police, the detectives, the investigators and other officers of the law strive to discover the perpetrators and accomplices of these horrifying actions and to see that justice is brought to bear upon them and that the rules of law in human society are properly observed and applied. It is the old struggle of good versus evil. And while we know that the good will ultimately prevail we begin to realize that it will do so at the cost of much suffering, many hardships and great trials on the part of those who struggle to be honest, fair, just and virtuous in daily lives. How grateful we should be at the end of each day that we have come through its hours safe and secure, unharmed and unscathed. And further let us pray for the victims of these horrendous acts that they may have it in their hearts to forgive those wayward and vicious criminals who descend to such depths of degradation and inhumanity towards their neighbor.
For you perusal,