june 28th, 2010

It is a chilly day today and one of our future seminarians will be leaving us today. Glen Dangelo for the united States. He wants to be home for the birthday of his Father which is july 4th.
Thinking of July 4th, we don't know if we will have a cookout here next Sunday because we have a collaboration gathering on Tuesday July 6th.

sunset over the pacific

The Path to Life
Barbara E. Reid JUNE 21, 2010

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C), June 27, 2010“I will follow you wherever you go” (Lk 9:57)

T he threats from the loggers and ranchers and their hired gunmen were coming more frequently. Some urged her to leave or to desist her relentless outcry against the devastation of the Brazilian rainforest. But Dorothy Stang, S.N.D., would not leave the poor farmers whose homes and livelihood were in peril. She forged on through almost impassable muddy roads to reach them, to read the Scriptures and pray together, to bolster their courage to stand up against injustice and to urge them to live in harmony with the rainforest, with God and with one another. Her resolute journey ended when she was gunned down on February 12, 2005.
In today’s Gospel we see the same resolute determination on the part of Jesus not to deviate from the path on which he has set out, to advocate for life for the most vulnerable. The opposition against him is mounting, and he knows it. He chooses not to turn back. There were still many ancient hatreds that needed healing, one of which was the enmity between his people and Samaritans. He tries to meet them in their own territory, but they will not receive him. The infuriated disciples want to do as Elijah did (2 Kgs 1:10) and call down on them fire from heaven. Jesus instead urges them to peaceably journey on to another village with him.
En route Jesus encounters three potential followers. Many commentators understand these as people who are initially enthusiastic but are not able to embrace the serious demands of discipleship once Jesus articulates these. But each encounter is left open-ended, and we are not told whether or not the person does ultimately follow Jesus. They all pose questions to us about our own commitment to follow Jesus all the way to Jerusalem.
The first person approaches Jesus, expressing a desire to follow him. With words akin to Ruth’s profession of loyalty to Naomi (Ru 1:16), the first says, “I will follow you wherever you go.” This potential disciple rightly voices that following Jesus requires whole-hearted dedication to him. In reply Jesus warns that his is an itinerant mission that demands mobility to go where the needs are and a letting go of any possessiveness, even of a bed of one’s own.
In the second encounter, Jesus initiates the call to follow. This person wants to take care first of filial obligations to his parents. Jesus invites him to embrace a larger family obligation: to extend his concern for life to all God’s family as his kin and to proclaim well-being for all in God’s realm.
The third person, like the first, initiates the encounter and expresses a desire to follow Jesus, asking to bid farewell first to his family, as did Elisha when called by Elijah. Jesus warns that any who come with him will not be able to return to what was before. They are forever changed and must proclaim the reign of God. Just as Dorothy Stang could not leave the people she had come to love in her 40 years of ministry in the Amazon rainforest, so disciples must follow the path of Jesus until their own moment of being “taken up” in death and resurrection.
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We do not know whether the three would-be disciples accepted these sobering challenges and continued on the way with Jesus. If the conditions Jesus sets forth seem daunting, Paul reminds us that this is not a yoke of slavery we take up, but a freeing power to live by the Spirit. Just as Elijah clothed Elisha with the mantle of his prophetic power, so Jesus’ disciples are wrapped in the protective cloak of his loving spirit.
Praying with Scripture
• How have you experienced the freedom of life in the Spirit?
• In what ways have you not been able to “go back home” once you chose to follow Jesus?
• How do you resist “calling down fire from heaven” on those who oppose God’s reign?
Read "The Word" column on the same readings from three years earlier.
Barbara E. Reid, O.P., a member of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, Mich., is a professor of New Testament studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Ill., where she is vice president and academic dean.

Tur Bus in Talcahuano, Chile

The bus that I took to travel North to see John Nitsch in Curico. A very comfortable ride and good roads in chile last January.

a window in the cloister

Escaping Unfreedom
by Joyce Rupp on Jun. 25, 2010
Spiritual Reflections
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As I was leaving for work one morning, I opened the door to the apartment and found a frightened, disoriented blackbird flying in the stairwell between the second and third floors. As it flew about in search of its freedom, the small bird kept hitting itself on the walls and ceiling. I opened the hallway door to the next floor where there was an open window for the scared creature to fly out.
I tried to shoo the bird toward the window, but it kept going back to the small stairwell space. As I hurried down the steps, I hoped that the panicky bird would find its way out. But that evening when I returned home, I sadly found an exhausted bird lying there, dead.
Later as I reflected on my day, I thought about that dead bird. It was such a vivid picture of disorientation and unfreedom. The bird had no sense of a larger world. It had fixed its sights on that small space, seeing it as the only reality, and had missed the freedom of the open window. It was too caught up in its own fear and confusion to see a way out.
The blackbird reminded me of a scripture story with which I have often felt strangely connected: the man who was out of his mind and roamed among the tombs, gashing and hurting himself with stones. The story tells us that Jesus came and restored the man “to his senses” (Mark 5:1-20).
I am not exactly sure why that story resonates so much with me. I think, perhaps, it is the part of me that yearns for inner freedom yet hides from it at the same time, the place in me that resists coming home to my truest self. It is in this unfree place that I hide from what will bring me to greater wholeness.
How can I resist the invitation to personal wholeness, to be my truest self, when I am always yearning for this in my life? Yet, I do resist it. There are times when I allow my fears, my anxieties, or confusions to keep me from making a change in my life that would be for my growth.
Sometimes it has been something rather simple, like trying on a new style of behavior. For example, I recognize this happening in me when my life and work call me to be in a “high extrovert” situation, meeting and greeting new people, entering into long hours of socializing and relating to strangers. The part of me that knows how delicious it feels to be an introvert wants to run and hide, to not reach out, to close my inner door and go home to solitude and quiet. But each time I fight my resistance to stay with my old introverted behavior, I have been greatly enriched by the people whom I have met. They help me to discover the larger truths of my life. They give a balance to my introversion; thus, I am made more whole.
From The Star in My Heart: Discovering Inner Wisdom by Joyce Rupp
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leaving the home of the Gonzalez faimily

Here I am with Carmen and Tito as I get ready to leave their home for Curico, Chile by Bus.

Patty Gonzalez

Here is a photo of Patty, the daughter of Carman and Tto Gonzalez with her daughter and husband. She and her husband are employed at the University of Concepcion.

Tito Jr

Here is Tito Jr with his daughter and grandson working on the computer in the house of his parents in Talcahuano..

My family in Chile

Mrs. Carmen Sanchez Gonzalez and her husband Tito waiting to eat one of her deligious meals at her home in the Las Higueras area of Talcahuano. I am taking the picture and they were excellent hosts as always. Mom and Dad enjoyed being with them many years ago .

Juan Carlos Gonzalez

Juan Carlos is toasting me with a glass of Chilean wine at his home in Puerto Montt, Chile. He was a good host and a renewal of friendship going back to my time in Talcahuno, Chile from 1973 to1986.

SunRise on New Year's Day June 21, 2010

Today is the New year 5518 for the Aymara culture here in Bolivia. Today being June 21st.
I took this picure this morning at exactly 7:45 a.m. The sunrise over the nearby Andean Mountains which are closeby.
Today is a holiday here in Bolivia which is called a multinational country. Due to the number of races of native peoples in this country.
This holiday was decreed last year by the President of this country Evo Morales.
But reading the newspapers here this morning, The people are not in agreement with this .
The native Aymara peoples are located in La Paz or in the altiplano or high plains of this country around the Lake Titikaka.
It is the beginning of Winter here although the season is only a few weeks and it is Summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
The photo of the sunrise was taken from my bedroom window.

June 20th, 2010

Today is the day of the Father in the United States. A day to honor my own Father who has given so much to me.
This picture of me was taken in Chile last January 2010 in Puerto Varas in Southern Chile near Puerto Montt.

Hospicio Church

The Land of Simple Contemplation
Created Jun 17, 2010
Companion of my Solitude,sometimes I think that half of meis well-lodged in another world.On rainy days, in times of solitude,my spirit pulls and tugs,crying for home in that other space.All the things herethat give my life rhyme and reasonfade from view.I am left with the longingto put down my swordof busynessand dwell in the landof simple contemplation.
Raindrops on the cottage roof,bird songs in the woods,the taste of morning air,the stillness of the forest,all these draw me beyondto where the other half dwells.
Companion of my Solitude,keep encouraging me to take timefor my inward journey.Help me to be faithfulto this essential element of my life.
“Come to me, you who desire me …-- Ecclesiasticus 10:19
Journaling:
What do you appreciate most about solitude?What do you appreciate least about it?What is your life like when you do not have any solitude in it?

The compassionate One

Making myself aware of God's mercy

The above refrain is proclaimed twenty-six times in Psalm 136 in honor of God's mercy.
I used to wonder why one phrase was continually repeated until I realized that the psalmist was emphasing the endlessness of God's mercy by the constant repetition.
The recurring praise of God's mercy is a valuable reminder of the countless times the Holy One has welcomed us back after we have wandered and fallen from the path of goodness.
The repeating also serves to convince us that God's mercy will continually be available to us whenever we turn toward the Enduring Love and ask forgiveness for our failings.

I suggest that each of us reflect back on the mistakes, deliberate wrongdoings, poor judgments and decisions we have made that have hurt ourselves and others. Especially our addictions to sex and selfish desires alone or with others.
After each item that we recall,we can then say "For your mercy endures forever."
By doing so, we will see that our whole life consists of a psalm praising the mercy and kindness of God, extended to us at every moment.
The litany of mercy can be a powerful experience for anyone who doubts that they are eternally embraced in the Divine Forgiver's arms.

Compassionate One, may the mercy you daily offer me be an incentive to also extend kindness and forgiveness to those who have wronged or failed me.

Last Sunday's gospel by Luke tells us about the sinful woman in the city who brought a alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind Jesus at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them with the ointment.

Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Your faith has served you; go in peace."

The Pharisee was scandilized thinking that Jesus did not know who this woman was.

Jesus told Simon about the two people who were in debt.

One owed owed 500 days wages and the other owed 50. They were not able to pay their debt. They were both forgiven.

Jesus asked which one will love him more. And Simon said the one who owes the most.

Jesus told Simon that he was correct. How fortnnate that we have a Compassionate Jesus who has forgiven us so many times in our daily lives. He knows our failings and also our good intentions. But also knows our human failures.

We are so fortunate to have the sacrament of confession and to receive the graces that we need to continue our journey in our lives.

Let us be aware of this in our own personal lives and not to use people for selfish reasons but to have respect and compassion on each one that we meet today in our lives.

Frank

for his mercy endures forever

A prayer of Thomas Merton

My Lord God
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following
your will does not mean
that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that my desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
for you are ever with me,

Sunday Morning Sunrise June 13, 2010

I took this photo of the sunrise on Saturday morning at around 7:35 a.m. and it meant standing by the window and waiting. I was concern that I would not be able to take the photo because the battery of my camera was dying. But you can see that I did as the sun came over the mountains from the East which would be from the Atlantic Ocean which would be Argentina since Bolivia does not have a coast line. Then the sun would go over Santa Cruz which is at sea level and then slowly come up around the mountains which surrounds this city of Cochabamba.
The weather is on the chilly side and I have had cold for the past few days and a sore throat.
But at Mass this morning in the Franciscan Church of Hospicio at 7:30 a.m. I could hear a lot of people were coughing and blowing their noses, which meant that a lot of people were in ill health with colds and coughs as well.
It is due to climate change here, cold morning and very warm afternoons and then cold again in the evening.
This is a personal diary where I will be sharing the life that goes on here from day to day.
Frank