Several weeks after the 9/11 attack, my brother John took me down to the family viewing area at Ground Zero. John works with the Local Union and had been searching for our younger brother James nonstop. As we worked our way deeper into the site, I was completely gripped by the incredible mass of destruction all around me. Dust covered recovery workers were fiercely digging and searching for loved ones. We moved slowly and very carefully. Upon entering the safe viewing area built for family members, the ash covered eyes of a recovery worker looked up momentarily and met mine. Not a word was uttered. We spoke through our tears and brokenness. Standing in rows, workers moved whatever debris they could, hoping to find people alive. Among the thousands missing was our own brother James. He was 26 years old and had just started working for the Local Union…
As we live through all the uncertainty in our world, we can be strengthened by our Lord’s prayers. In John 17:9 Christ prayed to his Father saying “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 The Lord prayed for those whom God gave him. His lambs. Those who hear…
How do you define leadership? The answer changes depending on who you ask. Some define leadership as influence. Possessing the ability to positively influence others through trust earned over time. Others see the mark of a leader in the ability to inspire a team to work together, acknowledging and leveraging the unique strengths of each member. Leadership is not position according to Maxwell. History lifts up those who demonstrated real courage to stay true to his or her beliefs in the face of darkness. George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King are all examples of great leaders who lived and died for what they believed. And what about you and me? The Gospel brims with every day people who answered God’s call to lead others through great tribulation. Each was tasked with carrying out the seemingly impossible assignment. Alone and afraid, they carried out what…
This is the time of year when paying attention becomes especially important. Everything around us is transforming in some way. With so many things competing for our time, it is hard to find moments of pause to think about how today is different from yesterday. How today may be different than tomorrow. It is hard to reflect on only what is here and now. The grace given to us by God right where we are. How we strive to remember and do as the Lord said, to let the day’s trouble be enough for the day. Sharing a prayer to ask for God’s blessings on the day at hand. Just for Today Oh, God, give me grace for this day Not for a lifetime, nor for next week, nor for tomorrow, just for this day. Direct my thoughts and bless them, Direct my work and bless…
My Life is but an instant, a mere passing hour, My Life escapes and flies away, this single day, no other You know O Lord: a future bleak? Beg you for tomorrow, I shall not, cannot!… But keep my heart pure, put me in your shade Just for this day, no other Soon I shall fly to sing your praise, And I leave this day, no other. Then I shall play the angels lyre And no longer say that on my soul it sets, This day no other, But on my soul it shines: Your everlasting day, all other! This beautiful poem was written by St. Therese of Lisieux. Her life and writings greatly inspire me. Even as a small child, St. Therese demonstrated her love for God through simple every day gestures. In many of her writings, she tells us not to focus so much on our weaknesses…
