[caption id="attachment_3695" align="alignright" width="194"] Blog by Sr. Pat Thomas, OP[/caption]
According to the liturgical calendar, this is the second week in ordinary time. As I read more news items and watch more TV news or listen to the radio news, I do not believe these are ordinary times at all. But many things in our country, if not the world, have gone from OMG moments to it-happened-once-again moments.
It has become normal to wake up and see that there has been some kind of random shooting in a public place. It has become normal to hear about homeless veterans dying without anyone to provide funeral or burial services. It has become normal that politicians do not do the work we elected them to do, and that means it is normal that only a few people are being served by these elected officials. And now it is becoming normal that government workers are not working, not getting paid and not being allowed to work anywhere else by virtue of the current jobs they can’t do. That all seems pretty extraordinary to me, somehow, and those are just examples in the USA.
So, where does that leave us? Some folks shrug and say “it is what it is”, or “whatever”. We have called, emailed, snail mailed, tweeted , instagrammed, done it all to our congress people, governors, mayors and we see little change.
Don’t stop. The Gospels compel us to show folks there is a better way no matter how hard. Be a pebble in some leader’s shoe or a splinter in someone’s finger; make them groan when they see your return address or your name on a message; be like a dog with a bone, be determined to change these norms ‘cause they are really not normal at all. Be Peace. Preach Peace. Build Peace.
Blog by Sr. Pat Thomas, OP[/caption]
According to the liturgical calendar, this is the second week in ordinary time. As I read more news items and watch more TV news or listen to the radio news, I do not believe these are ordinary times at all. But many things in our country, if not the world, have gone from OMG moments to it-happened-once-again moments.
It has become normal to wake up and see that there has been some kind of random shooting in a public place. It has become normal to hear about homeless veterans dying without anyone to provide funeral or burial services. It has become normal that politicians do not do the work we elected them to do, and that means it is normal that only a few people are being served by these elected officials. And now it is becoming normal that government workers are not working, not getting paid and not being allowed to work anywhere else by virtue of the current jobs they can’t do. That all seems pretty extraordinary to me, somehow, and those are just examples in the USA.
So, where does that leave us? Some folks shrug and say “it is what it is”, or “whatever”. We have called, emailed, snail mailed, tweeted , instagrammed, done it all to our congress people, governors, mayors and we see little change.
Don’t stop. The Gospels compel us to show folks there is a better way no matter how hard. Be a pebble in some leader’s shoe or a splinter in someone’s finger; make them groan when they see your return address or your name on a message; be like a dog with a bone, be determined to change these norms ‘cause they are really not normal at all. Be Peace. Preach Peace. Build Peace.
