Carla Mae's Blog

 Yes, you guessed right. This next section of Pope Francis’ Fratelli tutti, “Paths of Renewed Encounter,” (#225-270) is all about peace. But it’s not about peace up in the sky. It’s about peace that hits the ground running. It’s about peace that’s about real encounter.  Francis begins his reflections by saying what should warm the heart of any Dominican. He says the starting place is recovering truth as central. (#226-7) He says that truth is an inseparable companion of justice and mercy. All three must form a team for peace to be real. This means that any act of violence is a wound to humanity. The cycle of violence/hatred/violence must be broken.  Francis says that there is an art and architecture of Peace. It involves every one of us (#231) and must include from the start, those who are the most vulnerable, the ‘least.’ (#233-5) He then turns to a discussion of forgiveness (#236). Admitting that conflict is inevitable, Francis then advises forgiving but not forget...

  Not just Me but “We”   We’re nearing the end…of the Church Year, of 2021, of Ordinary Time, and during this month we especially think of the End Time and of all those who have gone on ahead of us into eternity. And above all, we as a people of the United States will celebrate how thankful we are.   Self-concerned as we are, this time of the year calls us to think beyond ourselves. We are called to think of the precious communities that hold our precious lives…we are grateful for the community that is our family, the strugglers and those who have entered eternal life. We give thanks for the wider communities of our cities, our nation, our parish and our other spiritual and religious communities. As our sister, Margaret Mayce , OP recently reflected, when we think of ourselves we can feel heavy, but when we think of those who hold us up we can feel hopeful. So it is the time to think ‘we.”   As we sit down to our Thanksgiving meal, we think of those at o...