Friday, September 30, 2011

Tending to the Poor in the U.S.


I sure wish this was being said at the pulpit and not from a pundit.

Monday, September 26, 2011

New Life, Hope, and My Pal Jesus (Originally posted 04/11/2004)


SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2004




The last time I received Holy Communion was 10 years ago on Easter Sunday.


That morning was daylight savings time; the clocks were springing ahead.


I had failed to change the time and arrived one hour late to that special Easter morning Mass.


I ran up to our pastor and cried as I asked him to please let me receive Communion. I knew it would be the last time for a long time to come.


Why?


Because I am a disenfranchised Catholic.


Because of very conscious choices I made directly after that day I am now excommunicated.


I was divorced from a first marriage, was living with my (now) husband and we married in a Methodist Church.


That is called not playing by the rules.


The reasons for doing such are many and private.


Every Easter is a reminder of that painful dismissal that I received from my Church family. And every Easter hope springs anew for healing within the Catholic Church.


So, Easter this morning was a quiet service in our home, just the three of us.


My son has been tending to some potted bulbs that I am hoping will grow. I talked with him about how the bulbs are hidden right now, but that life is growing under that soil and will spring forth new and beautiful.


We read the Easter story from his children's Bible and said some special prayers. I explained to my son how Jesus was able to open the gates of Heaven so that all of us could spend eternity with God.


Today I remember those who have passed on before me, who are enjoying paradise, who will be there to greet me when I come home.


Grandma M., Monsignor R., Father H., My Dad, Tom, Chris, Steve, Walter, Bob, Johnny, Albert, Gene, Peter, and so many more.


And, of course, my pal Jesus.


I was excommunicated by a religious institution, but Jesus still walks with me.


When I lost my respect for so many clergy, Jesus walked with me.


When I cried because people judged me harshly, Jesus walked with me.


When I had to sit on the periphery of the Feast only an observer to the Holy Communion but not welcome to come to the altar, Jesus sat there with me.


Jesus had no patience with the leaders of His Church bogged down by rules and devoid of Spirit.


I am the woman at the well.


I am the woman who the stones were meant to be cast upon…


and Jesus never abandoned me.


Thank you, God, for Jesus.


Thank you for the love.


Thank you for the Holy Spirit.


Thank you for the courage to live a life that simply wants to walk alongside Jesus.


AMEN, ALLELUIA.