Reflection for Oct 2nd

  The events of the day have me troubled to no end. Following the social feeds on both facebook and twitter is a lesson in frustration. Everyone seems to have a radical opinion of what needs to be done to stop the violence in our society. We know something has to be done. But we are divided as to what path we should take. The answers are not as simple as some would have you believe. Such things never are. History has taught us much but in the end we sometimes tend to glaze over it to suite our own personal agendas. We should as a nation be shocked and outraged at the violence we have seen unfold. But we should also be reminded that this is a constant cycle where lives are taken every day due to gun violence. Every major city has some kind of issue going on. It is so common place that the only times it gets our attention is when a large number of lives are lost at once. Such as the events in Las Vegas. We have become desensitized to the issues at hand and refuse to hold leadership accountable for the failings that allow the daily violence to continue.  Still it is hard to make sense of the senseless nature of this recent attack. One that shakes me to my core. We have had many chances to look into the issues at play and yet nothing gets done. Until we take a hard look at the issues at hand nothing will.

  Lately, more so given these troubling times, I have felt this deep welling inside my own soul to recite the Rosary every day. More so than  have at any time in my life. A gentle tug in my heart that this is something that I should be doing. But it is also a feeling that has gotten stronger inside me. It is more than a request from Our Most Holy Mother. It is a plea to all who call themselves Catholic. It is our Mother's cry to bring peace in our hearts. A cry to her faithful to honor the faith as we should. A reminder that While Christ is the light of the world. Mary, Our most Blessed Mother, is the Lantern. It is a request from Her that we can no longer ignore and should encourage to all who call themselves Catholic. 

I'm sure at some point I will write more on this. But my heart is too troubled right now. So I close out this reflection with the Prayer of St. Francis:

Make me a channel of your peace. 

Where there is hatred let me bring your love. 

Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord 

And where there's doubt, true faith in you.

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek

So much to be consoled as to console 

To be understood as to understand 

To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace

Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope 

Where there is darkness, only light 

And where there's sadness, ever joy.

Make me a channel of your peace

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned 

In giving to all men that we receive 

And in dying that we're born to eternal life.

 

Till Next Time

-JM