Sister Renee Yann, RSM, D.Min, is a writer and speaker on topics of spirituality, mission, and ethical business practice. After twenty years in teaching and social justice ministry, she served for over thirty years in various mission-related roles in Mercy Health System of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our first reading shows Paul shepherding in the very early days of Christianity. His ministry throughout the Mediterranean basin guided early Christians as the Church planted its first harvest.
Paul lets us know that this ministry of leadership is not easy – that he relies on the good will of the communities he serves:
You were, of course, concerned about me but lacked an opportunity. Not that I say this because of need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient.
Paul seems to refer specifically to material help, but certainly he values even more the spiritual and moral loyalty of his followers.
In our Gospel, Jesus offers us a sermonette that can, at first, seem a little confusing. His tone, as he speaks to a group of Pharisees, is somewhat ironic. But his bottomline message is this: loyalty to God, not to material things.
The thread running through all these passages? The work of the Church needs both our spiritual and material loyalty to thrive – whether in Paul’s time, or Christ’s, or our own.
The Pharisees pretended such loyalty, but Jesus challenged them:
You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts …
A sobering challenge against which to measure ourselves!
Poetry: All Your Secrets – Omar Khayyam
All thy secrets are known to the wisdom of Heaven
God knows them hair by hair and vein by vein.
I admit that by power of hypocrisy you may be able
to deceive men, but what will you do before Him who
knows your misdeeds one by one in every detail?
Music: Thank You for Giving to the Lord – Ray Boltz
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 122, one of the Psalms of Ascent prayed as the community of Israel prepared to worship.
Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
The community was happy to be able to gather at the Temple/Jerusalem which was more than a physical place of worship. The Temple/Jerusalem was a stable symbol of God’s power and faithful presence to Israel. It was so significant a symbol that, even when destroyed, its power sustained the community of believers.
The “Temple” became much more than a building; Jerusalem much more than a city. The very concepts grew into living realities with which the believer formed a dynamic relationship. Within that relationship, the believer could meet and explore the mystery of God.
“Temple/Jerusalem” became an icon of one’s faith relationship with God.
As the psalm indicates, the believer must go out of oneself to dwell within this icon, to grow in this relationship. It is a place of full spiritual integration achieved through a lifting of the spirit into the joyful discipline of grace.
Jerusalem, built as a city with compact unity. To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD.Psalm 22:3-4
The essence of this graceful transformation is to respond with profound gratitude to God’s invitation to love and mercy. Such a response raises our hearts to a new understanding of God’s Presence in every aspect of our lives.
According to the decree for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. In it are set up judgment seats, seats for the house of David.Psalm 22:4-5
The psalm verses not included in today’s reading tell us that once we begin to live this sacred relationship, we become a force for peace and justice among our sisters and brothers.
For the peace of Jerusalem pray: “May those who love you prosper! May peace be within your ramparts, prosperity within your towers.” For the sake of my brothers and friends I say, “Peace be with you.” For the sake of the house of the LORD, our God, I pray for your good.Psalm 22: 6-9
These verses seem like such a good prayer today.
Poem: from Rumi
Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.
Music: Fill This Temple Once Again – Don Moen and Benny Hinn
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we meet the Shepherd bringing the lost lamb home. Haven’t we all, at sometime in our lives, been carried on those sacred shoulders?
Whether by our own prayers, or the prayers of those who love us, have we not been rescued from sorrow, foolishness, isolation or fear?
This beautiful Gospel assures us of the one thing we most deeply need – we are cherished, irrevocably, by God.
Today, if we need to ride those shoulders, let us trust ourselves to them in prayer.
If, by grace, we are already home, let us pray for those feeling most lost or abandoned – those most beset by a hostile world. May our merciful action help lift them to peace and the sweet scent of God so close beside them.
Poetry: The Good Shepherd – Brian Yapko
I enjoyed this poem which imagines Jesus still as a youngster experiencing a night as a shepherd. Mary and Joseph think it might not be the right vocation for him after his traumatic overnight!
My count of sheep was off as twilight fell And father’s friend, Ben Ezra’s lamb was gone! I had to find her! Searching past the well I climbed the rocks exhausted but pressed on. Delay could mean her life! She’d failed to heed My shepherd’s call and so risked being killed! Some wild beast might capture her and feed. I could not let her unstained blood be spilled!
Great danger filled that dark and craggy hill. My fear was deep! And then my torch went dim! Oh, why did I avoid my father’s will To one day be a carpenter like him? Because my father’s friend was gravely ill. I loved his sheep, so father made a plan For me to herd them just one year until I’m old enough to be declared a man.
I found the frightened lamb inside a cave Cornered by a wolf of knife-sharp claw. The fiercest wolf I’ve seen! How could I save This little sheep? I thrust my staff to draw Away the beast. He snarled, bit my wrist And mauled my side. In agony, I heard The wolf’s attack, too wounded to resist. But then, thank God, a miracle occurred!
I closed my eyes and with a trembling voice Said “Help me, father!” And the fierce wolf froze! He yelped, then fled as if he had no choice! I clutched the lamb and wept till the sun rose. Still shaking I then rose up on my feet. I kissed the lamb and said don’t be afraid For now you’re safe. She cried a grateful bleat. She knew I’d saved her and the price I paid.
My parents say I may no longer herd And must devote my life to nails and wood; But angels fill my dreams and leave me stirred To try to be a shepherd—one who’s good— Who shields his sheep from wickedness and strife. I love them all, the good ones and the lost; I’ll fear no evil that might take my life, For I think their salvation’s worth the cost.
Music: I Will Carry You – Sean Clive
I will carry you when you are weak. I will carry you when you can’t speak. I will carry you when you can’t pray. I will carry you each night and day.
I will carry you when times are hard. I will carry you both near & far. I’ll be there with you whenever you fall. I will carry you through it all.
My arms are wider than the sky, softer than a little child, stronger than the raging, calming like a gentle breeze. Trust in me to hold on tight because
I will carry you when you can’t stand. I’ll be there for you to hold your hand. And I will show you that you’re never alone. I will carry you and bring you back home.
Not pain, not fear, not death, no nothing at all can separate you from my love. My arms and hands will hold you close. Just reach out and take them in your own. Trust in me to hold on tight. I will carry you.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we remember the beloved Holy Souls who have gone before us. They are never far from us. Some of us may visit cemeteries today. Some will place a list of names upon the altar. But all of us will whisper their names: grandparents, parents, spouses, children, brothers, sisters and beloved friends — meeting each name in a sacred memory.
May those memories, whatever they contain, be transformed by our loving prayers. May whatever grief remains in us be blessed by the grace of faith and thanksgiving. And may the Holy Ones we honor today brighten us with some of their overwhelming Eternal Light in God.
Poetry: All Souls Day – Frances Bellerby, (1899–1975) was an English poet, novelist and short story writer. “Her poetry is imbued with a spiritual awareness encoded through the natural environment while her political socialism is more evident in her prose”. (from The Encyclopedia of British Women’s Writing – Jane Dowson)
Let’s go our old way by the stream, and kick the leaves as we always did, to make the rhythm of breaking waves.
This day draws no breath – shows no colour anywhere except for the leaves – in their death brilliant as never before.
Yellow of Brimstone Butterfly, brown of Oak Eggar Moth – you’d say. And I’d be wondering why a summer never seems lost
if two have been together witnessing the variousness of light, and the same two in lustreless November enter the year’s night…
The slow-worm stream – how still! Above that spider’s unguarded door, look – dull pearls…Time’s full, brimming, can hold no more.
Next moment (we well know, my darling, you and I) what the small day cannot hold must spill into eternity.
So perhaps we should move cat-soft meanwhile, and leave everything unsaid, until no shadow of risk can be left of disturbing the scatheless dead.
Ah, but you were always leaf-light. And you so seldom talk as we go. But there at my side through the bright leaves you walk.
And yet – touch my hand that I may be quite without fear, for it seems as if a mist descends, and the leaves where you walk do not stir.
Music: Lux Aeterna- Eternal Light – Michael Hoppé
Lux aeterna Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord, with Your saints forever, for You are Mercy.
Eternal rest give to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we celebrate all those canonized and uncanonized sisters and brothers who lived their lives in Christ with gusto and fidelity.
The feast of All Saints, on its current date, is traced to the foundation by Pope Gregory III by (731–741) of an oratory in St. Peter’s for the relics “of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors, of all the just made perfect who are at rest throughout the world”. (Wikipedia)
I’ve personally known many of these saints, whether I fully recognized their sanctity or not. They have lived in my family, school, neighborhood, parish, ministries, and workplaces. Some were clothed as nuns and some as beggars. Some taught me by words and some by silence. I knew some by name, others by grace. Now they have all joined the eternal family watching over us and cheering for us.
There they have formed communion with my more recognized and favorite holy friends like Mary, Joseph, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Kateri Tekawitha, Anna the Prophet, John XXIII, and of course Catherine McAuley.
What a wonderful day to know that these beloveds of God are our sisters and brothers, who pray with and for us that we may one day rejoice with them in eternal light.
Who are the saints that speak especially to your heart? Take time to have a nice conversation with them on this glorious feastday!
If you are interested in learning more about the saints, this is a wonderful book by Father James Martin, SJ.
Poetry: All Saints Day – Ada Cambridge, (1844 – 1926), later known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian writer. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works. Many of her novels were serialized in Australian newspapers but never published in book form.
“But they are at peace.”
Never to weary more, nor suffer sorrow,— Their strife all over, and their work all done: At peace—and only waiting for the morrow; Heaven’s rest and rapture even now begun.
So tired once! long fetter’d, sorely burden’d, Ye struggled hard and well for your release; Ye fought in faith and love—and ye are guerdon’d, O happy souls! for now ye are at peace.
No more of pain, no more of bitter weeping! For us a darkness and an empty place, Somewhere a little dust—in angels’ keeping— A blessèd memory of a vanish’d face.
For us the lonely path, the daily toiling, The din and strife of battle, never still’d; For us the wounds, the hunger, and the soiling,— The utter, speechless longing, unfulfill’d.
For us the army camp’d upon the mountains, Unseen, yet fighting with our Syrian foes,— The heaven-sent manna and the wayside fountains, The hope and promise, sweetening our woes.
For them the joyous spirit, freely ranging Green hills and fields where never mortal trod; For them the light unfading and unchanging, The perfect quietness—the peace of God.
For both, a dim, mysterious, distant greeting; For both, at Jesus’ cross, a drawing near; At Eucharistic gate a blessed meeting, When angels and archangels worship here.
For both, God grant, an everlasting union, When sin shall pass away and tears shall cease; For both the deep and full and true communion, For both the happy life that is “at peace.”
Music: All Saints Day – featuring “Lifesong” by Casting Crowns (lyrics below)
Empty hands held high Such small sacrifice Now joined with my life I sing in vain tonight
May the words I say And the things I do Make my lifesong sing Bring a smile to you
Let my lifesong sing to you Let my lifesong sing to you I want to sign your name To the end of this day
Lord led my heart was true Let my lifesong sing to you Lord I give my life A living sacrifice To reach a world in need To be your hands and feet
So may the words I say And the things I do Make my lifesong sing Bring a smile to you
Let my lifesong sing to you Let my lifesong sing to you I want to sign your name To the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true Let my lifesong sing to you Hallelujah, Hallelujah let my lifesong sing to you Hallelujah, Hallelujah let my lifesong sing to you
Hallelujah,… Let my lifesong sing to you Let my lifesong sing to you I want to sign your name To the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true Let my lifesong sing to you Let my lifesong sing to you Let my lifesong sing to you I want to sign your name To the end of this day Lord led my heart was true Let my lifesong sing to you
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, what a beautiful prayer Paul spreads over his listeners. It is a prayer that calls all believers to live in love, peace, and reverence for one another:
Brothers and sisters: If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing.
Philippians 2:1-2
Reading this passage, I was immediately struck by the awareness of how much opposite messaging we receive in today’s world.
In the arenas of entertainment, politics, civic life, and – sad to say – even religion, we often hear a message contradictory to Paul’s. We hear civic and supposedly “religious” leaders tell their followers to attack, shun, fight, and even “hang” the other. Night after night on our TVs, we watch fictional characters act out the hate and crime that has become normalized in our culture. Our video games, music and movies are drowning in blood, hate and anger.
Sometimes, I am just astounded that we entertain ourselves with murder, war, rape and other outrages against human beings!
With the vicious attack on Paul Pelosi this week, as in so many other horrendous incidents of unbridled hate, we see a perpetrator sickened and abetted by the violent rhetoric our society has allowed. And perhaps even worse than the crime itself, we see political leaders not only minimizing the atrocity, but mocking the victim!
If St. Paul were here, what would he say?
where is the encouragement in Christ?
where is the solace in love?
where is the participation in the Spirit?
where is the compassion and mercy?
As a matter of fact, if St. Paul were here, I think he would wail in sadness!
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tells us what a society should look like when it respects God and God’s Creation. It should be impelled by the deepest respect and tenderness toward the self and the other:
When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
Luke 14:12-14
Bottom line is this: a lot of people just don’t buy Paul’s or Jesus’s message. A lot of people would rather live for themselves to the expense of others.
But we’re not just “a lot of people”. We are Christ’s, and we must examine our speech, attitudes, choices and behaviors for anything that contradicts his message of love, mercy, inclusion, and mutual reverence.
The contradictions are subtle. Discovering and uprooting them takes honest and humble prayer. It requires a good look at how we entertain ourselves, how we confront those we disagree with, who we criticize and how we do it.
Several years ago, I was shocked when someone close to me announced, “I hate Obama!” I asked her why and she said, “I just do. I don’t need a reason!”
Where does all the hate in our culture come from? And, oh, how much more does it tell us about the haters than the ones hated! And of course, the essential question, “What can we do about it?”
Jesus made it simple. He told us to look around the “table” of our attitudes, behaviors and choices.
Who is welcome? Who is shunned? Who is embraced as a human being? Who is objectified and dispensed with as unimportant.
As in all solutions, we can begin with ourselves. Ridding ourselves of these contradictions requires that we listen to ourselves to see if, how, and why we ever use the word “hate”. Only then might we cleanse our hearts of its subtle poisons.
Prose: Two thoughts today
The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but it is really fear.
Mahatma Gandhi
Who would I be, and what power would be expressed in my life, if I were not dominated by fear?
Paula D’Arcy
Music: At My Table – JJ Heller – a kinda fun video to watch!
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we have three wonderful readings to enrich our prayer.
In our passage from Wisdom, we can picture the pray-er sitting down with God to express admiration, thanks and love.
Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul prays a beautiful blessing over the community – a blessing which, by grace, transcends through time to us:
We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus meets a height-challenged scribe who is intensely interested in seeing the rumored Messiah:
Zaccheus ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”
Notice that Jesus doesn’t just wave or look at Zacchaeus with a wry smile at his perch. Jesus incorporates Zacchaeus into the embrace of salvation.As Wisdom says, Jesus “loves all things that are..” And as Paul says, “powerfully brings to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith…”
I think there are times in every life when we need to stretch to find God. We may need to climb faith’s tree and dangle over the confusions of life in the hope of grasping grace. Friends, all of us, no matter how tall we might be, have been Zaccheaus! Am I right? When we are, let”s listen for the One Who calls our name!
Poetry: Zacchaeus – George Macdonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll.
To whom the heavy burden clings, It yet may serve him like a staff; One day the cross will break in wings, The sinner laugh a holy laugh.
The dwarfed Zacchaeus climbed a tree, His humble stature set him high; The Lord the little man did see Who sought the great man passing by.
Up to the tree he came, and stopped: “To-day,” he said, “with thee I bide.” A spirit-shaken fruit he dropped, Ripe for the Master, at his side.
Sure never host with gladder look A welcome guest home with him bore! Then rose the Satan of rebuke And loudly spake beside the door:
“This is no place for holy feet; Sinners should house and eat alone! This man sits in the stranger‘s seat And grinds the faces of his own!”
Outspoke the man, in Truth‘s own might: “Lord, half my goods I give the poor; If one I’ve taken more than right With four I make atonement sure!”
“Salvation here is entered in; This man indeed is Abraham’s son!” Said he who came the lost to win- And saved the lost whom he had won.
Music: He Called Me by My Name – Fr. Christopher Cuelho, OFM
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 42, oh and what a lovely gift it is!
As the deer longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God.Psalm 42:2
Dear friends, hasn’t every one of us known this longing – just to understand, to see, to be at one with the ways of God in our lives, our world….
Paul, in today’s passage to the Philippians, is feeling tremendous pressures of persecution and fatigue. He seems to share that deep longing for certainty and peace:
I long to depart this life and be with Christ, …. Yet this I know with confidence, that I shall remain and continue in the service of all of you for your progress and joy in the faith…Philippians 3:23-24
As we pray with Psalm 42 today, we might ask God to come into our deepest longing, to open our hearts to the Divine Presence in those desires, to help us to find the Face of God in our daily experience, to love that Face, and to rest in the peace in its Presence:
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Poems: Poems I wrote on two past retreats:
Location
This wood on this morning;
these birds singing;
these plaintive calls
from boats along the Mississippi,
through this crystal Sunday air;
This moment among all others,
which You have known eternally,
when I would pause,
and You,
like a deer in stillness,
shedding camouflage,
would step out
to gaze at me.
Love Gaze
Caught in the ferocious wind
of my own inadequacies,
I cling by finest web
to the energy You are,
fixing my soul on yours
in that precarious holding.
You are the magnet, gathering
all my emptiness beyond itself.
As if my fears were only stones
to tread upon, You come into the marshes
of my life as stillness, paused
and vibrating like a deer
among the reeds in half-light.
I cannot word what it is
to swim in the deep pool of your Eyes.
All the universe, and all my understanding
turn aside in reverent silence.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we celebrate the feast of the Apostles Simon and Jude.
Not much is really known about either of these men. One tradition suggests that after the Ascension, they went together to carry the Gospel to Persia where they were eventually martyred.
Since we have so few facts, many legends and interpretations have grown up around these two men. Probably the strongest and most familiar of these is of St. Jude as the patron of hopeless cases.
There are probably very few of us who haven’t asked at least one favor from St. Jude in our lifetimes. This probability begs the question of why and how do we pray with the saints.
Our tradition holds that we exist in the Communion of Saints with all of God’s creatures, and that we inspire and support one another by the sharing of our lives. This sharing is not limited by time, nor is it constricted by death.
When we pray with the saints, we draw on their faithful witness to inspire, motivate and sustain us in our lives.
Today, we might pray within the spirit of these two great Christians whose witness, though historically muted, transcends time. May they inspire in us the passion and joy to speak Christ in our lives.
Poetry: All Saints – Malcolm Guite
Though Satan breaks our dark glass into shards Each shard still shines with Christ’s reflected light, It glances from the eyes, kindles the words Of all his unknown saints. The dark is bright With quiet lives and steady lights undimmed, The witness of the ones we shunned and shamed. Plain in our sight and far beyond our seeing He weaves them with us in the web of being They stand beside us even as we grieve, The lone and left behind whom no one claimed, Unnumbered multitudes, he lifts above The shadow of the gibbet and the grave, To triumph where all saints are known and named; The gathered glories of His wounded love.
Music: Apostles’ Creed – sung here by Rebecca Gorzynska, a beautiful and talented artist (Latin and English text below.)
Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae,et in Iesum Christum, Filium Eius unicum, Dominum nostrum,qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine,passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus,descendit ad ínferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Patris omnipotentis,inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos.Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem,remissionem peccatorum,carnis resurrectionem,vitam aeternam.Amen
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven; sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. (Apostles’ Creed – Roman Ritual)
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 144, a royal psalm of David in which he celebrates victory and its ensuing peace.
Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.Psalm 144:1
While, at first blush, the psalm seems to extol war as a means to achieve power, its message is really quite the opposite.
It is only through reliance on God and faithfulness to God’s law that we find right-balance and peace – in our world, our community, and ourselves
My mercy and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I trust …Psalm 144:2
Historically, our world religions have had a vexing relationship with war, often espousing it to advance questionable agendas. Only in recent years has the Catholic Church re-evaluated what is referred to as the “Just War Theory”.
For a good explanation of this theory, click on the link below
However, in Fratelli Titti, Pope Francis declares:
War can easily be chosen by invoking all sorts of allegedly humanitarian, defensive or precautionary excuses, and even resorting to the manipulation of information. In recent decades, every single war has been ostensibly “justified”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of the possibility of legitimate defence by means of military force, which involves demonstrating that certain “rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy” have been met. Yet it is easy to fall into an overly broad interpretation of this potential right. In this way, some would also wrongly justify even “preventive” attacks or acts of war that can hardly avoid entailing “evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated”. At issue is whether the development of nuclear, chemical and have granted war an uncontrollable destructive power over great numbers of innocent civilians. The truth is that “never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely”. We can no longer think of war as a solution, because its risks will probably always be greater than its supposed benefits. In view of this, it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a “just war”. Never again war!
As we pray with this psalm today, we might echo its last verse and pray a prayer like this for all people, for our fratelli tutti…:
May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, no outcry in our streets. Blessed the people so fortunate; blessed the people whose God is the LORD.
Psalm 144:14-15
Poem: Misnomer by Denise Levertov
They speak of the art of war, but the arts draw their light from the soul’s well, and warfare dries up the soul and draws its power from a dark and burning wasteland. When Leonardo set his genius to devising machines of destruction he was not acting in the service of art, he was suspending the life of art over an abyss, as if one were to hold a living child out of an airplane window at thirty thousand feet.
Lavish Mercy 