Reflections on Gethsemane

One of the most poignant and heart rending scenes in the Bible is that of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. I believe this is where we see the Humanity of Jesus so clearly and distinctly. Where He takes on our frail human nature with all its vulnerability.

We see Him go to the Garden of Gethsemane with Peter, James and John in tow. His closest apostles. Those who saw His glory when He was transfigured at Mount Tabor. They will now see His frailty at the Mount of Olives.

Jesus wanted His apostles to share not just His glorious moments, but also His moments of deepest anguish.

I think how that contrasts with me happily sharing about my successes, good things that come my way, but being quiet about the unpleasant stuff; going into a shell when times are bad and not wanting people to know what I’m going through…

He tells them His soul is sorrowful unto death. Deep distress has engulfed Him. He desires the company of His Friends. So human.

He feels disappointed when instead He sees them fast asleep. Not once or twice, but all three times.
He can identify with our hurt and disappointment when we go through hard times and our friends do not stand by us. When our friends cannot grasp the depth of our pain; cannot fathom the anguish deep within.

We see Him pleading with His Father to take away the cup of suffering, to let the hour pass Him by. I think of how we too recoil from suffering. Our flesh revolts, tries to avoid suffering. And Jesus understands this, because He has been there too.

He knows the horrors that await Him, but I think what really gets to Him is that He knows He will feel abandoned and forsaken by His Father Whom He was so closely and intimately united with. As He is taking on Himself the sins of all of us, He will also feel the sense of alienation and desolation that one who has wandered from the loving arms of God feels.

But what strikes me are His words- Not My Will, but Yours. Total submission to The Father’s Will. He chose to be obedient to His Father, to accept and drink the cup of suffering to its dregs. He did not tell The Father, He would accept the scourging but not the crucifixion. That He didn’t mind being crowned with thorns, but did not want to be stripped. And thus, He is an example to all of us of implicit obedience to The Father’s Will. Of saying yes even when the cost is too great, the price is high.

When it means giving up things that will take us away from fulfilling God’s mandate for our lives. When it means taking the road that is rough and hard and obstacle ridden, instead of the easy, smooth road. When it means letting go of our ideas, dreams, wishes, plans and ambitions which may be good but not HIS will for us and letting His desires become our desires.

When it means dying to ourselves, so that the glory of God is reflected more clearly and brightly through us.

Glorify God.. in our Movie choices?

The foundational verse this online magazine Glorify God, was built on is 1 Cor 10:31 which states:

“whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”

Even for those of us who theoretically agree that we should follow the Bible to a T - how many of us go the extra mile to do this practically in our everyday life?

Today a few friends and I got watching a rented dvd of the movie ‘Zohan‘. The movie hardly started and I was put off by the crude and vulgar “humor”. My friends chose to continue watching despite my cringing. About twenty minutes into the movie, I had a choice to make - either I was going to continue watching this horrifically immoral & perverse movie (I don’t even want to mention the obscenities, worse than ‘The Hangover’ too, which I also hated) or I was to leave alone.

It was not even a few seconds after I left that I knew I had made the right choice.

Glorify God in our choice of movies?

Yes, absolutely.

Back home, the Lord led me to read Hebrews 11:16:

^“See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son”

And I felt the Lord explaining to me - by the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus, we are made children of God and hence and heirs to the Kingdom of God. That means we have “inheritance rights”.

Yet, we are warned - not to be “godless” like Esau.

For those of you who may not remember the story of Esau & Jacob, we see it in Genesis 25:

One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red soup!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”) “All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.” “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”

It is easy to have sympathy for Esau. After all he was hungry and tired after all & he was tempted with the soup and he made a wrong decision, which ultimately cost him his inheritance.

It initially seemed to me, rather harsh of Paul to call him godless!

But then I realised that this was a warning to us - it is so easy to sometimes choose instant gratification. It is so easy sometimes for us to make wrong choices, for various reasons.

Esau was only concerned with temporal (not eternal, fleeting) things. Jacob on the other hand was driven by the eternal, he wanted the long term privileged the birthright would give him. Even though he got it by underhand means, the desire of his heart (for the eternal) was what God saw & rewarded him for.

We today gain our eternal inheritance rights simply by accepting Jesus as our Lord & Saviour. Unlike Jacob, we don’t have to scheme to get anything. However, let’s not take our inheritance for granted or so lightly because of that!

Let’s not, Esau, be driven by the temporal aspects of life. Let’s not lose our anointing, that Jesus suffered so much for us to have.

It’s so easy to forget about God completely in everyday choices - be they the movies we choose to watch or the language we choose to speak or food we choose to eat.

Remember, it may be instantly gratifying - or the easier choice to make - but let’s not forget God over a bowl of soup.

The next time you’re faced with a tough choice, say to yourself, “this soup’s not worth it”.

Lenten Grace!

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” (1 Thes 5:28)

Grace? What is this grace?

We are in the season of Lent, and we call Lent a time of Grace. Let us use this month as a time to meditate on ‘grace’; reflect on how awesome and truly amazing grace is.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that ‘Grace is favour, the free and undeserved help that God gives us (#1996).’ All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself (2 Cor 5:19), by the ‘saving’ cross of Jesus; saving us from the powerful grip of sin and, more importantly, from the dire consequence of sin, i.e. death (Rom 6 : 23).

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.

Unfortunately the world today continues to be increasingly blind to sin. As Pope Pius XII said, “The sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin”. For too long, we have allowed evil to subtly dim our vision and blunt our consciences. But thanks be to God for His sanctifying grace. All we need is to hold on to Him; cling to His Word and the sacramental graces He gives us through the Church.

Through many dangers, toils and snares; I have already come;
‘Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far; and Grace will lead me home.

Home to the Father. To Abba, who waits for us with arms as outstretched as those of His Only Begotten Son on the Cross. O Holy exchange on the cross – my death in exchange for His life, my sin for His salvation, my shame for His glory. Epitomised in the exchange of Jesus for Barabbas. We (Barabbas stands for each one of us) who were guilty, were set free and He took our place (scapegoat – Leviticus Chapter 16). He took our punishment so we could become Bar-Abba (Son of the Father).

May we never trivialise the price paid for our salvation. The suffering and death of the Son of God. As sufferings came into human life through sin, it was the Father’s plan that humanity be saved from sin through suffering. May we detest sin therefore and desire a renewed and ever deepening relationship with the Father, Son and Spirit.

Jesus, Lord, I ask for mercy; Let me not implore in vain;
All my sins, I now detest them, Never will I sin again.

May Mary, our mother, the one “full of grace” (Lk 1:28), who stood at cross, stand by us as we venerate the Saving Cross, and accompany us as we come boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:6)

Did the concept of “Social Media” originate in the Catholic Church?

For the past two years I have found myself drawn to the Holy Father’s annual messages for World Communications Day.  This is the first of a series of articles called, Letters from Papa, where I will attempt to unpack some of the Catholic Church’s teachings around Social Communications, and how this affects those of us who use new media to spread the good news.

Did the concept of “Social Media” originate in the Catholic Church?

On January 24, the Vatican released Pope Benedict’s message for the 44th World Communications Day, 2010, The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word.  In his letter, the Holy Father encouraged priests to “…  proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.”

The reaction of some of the mainstream media seemed to be surprise and incredulity that the Catholic church would be keeping up with the times and using modern tools of communication and interaction.   I noticed the same kind of reaction by mainstream media to last year’s World Communications Day message directed toward the laity, New Technologies, New Relationships. Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship.  In fact, throughout history the church has always employed the cutting edge communications tools of the age to spread the Good News, whether it was letters, the printing press, radio, or television.

One of my favorite quotes from The Simpsons is when Homer declared, “Oh, they have the Internet on Computers now!”  This quote seems to be very similar to the misplaced surprise that people have that the Church would be using new media.  Our current communications revolution using the Internet, blogs, and social communities such as Facebook and Twitter is commonly referred to as Social Media.   A search on wordspy.com indicates that the earliest known citation for the term “social media” appeared in 1994.

“What attracted librarians to the Internet? For some cybernauts, USENET, IRC, and the other social media of the net are the hooks. —Greg R. Notess, “Telnet explored,” Online, January 1, 1994 “

I think I may have found an earlier use of the concept, if not the exact term.

In 1963, the Vatican II document “Inter Mirifica” - on the Means of Social Communications begins,

Man’s genius has, with God’s help, produced marvellous technical inventions from creation, especially in our times. The Church, our mother, is particularly interested in those which directly touch man’s spirit and which have opened up new avenues of easy communication of all kinds of news, of ideas and orientations. Chief among them are those means of communication which of their nature can reach and influence not merely single individuals but the very masses and even the whole of human society. These are the press, the cinema, radio, television and others of a like nature. These can rightly be called “the means of social communication”.

Inter Mirifica outlines the role of media in the world, and how the church should engage and participate in all forms of Media.   As a result of Inter Mirifica, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications was established and since 1967, each year the Sunday before Pentecost has been designated as World Communications Day.  For the past 43 years, the Holy Father has released an annual message in preparation for World Communications Day on January24, the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron of writers and journalists.  Past themes for World Communications Day have included such topics as Social Communications And The Family(1969 and 1980), Social Communications And The Promotion Of Solidarity And Fraternity Between Peoples And Nations (1988), Religion In The Mass Media. 1989, and Videocassettes And Audiocassettes In The Formation Of Culture And Of Conscience
(1993).

It seems to me that not only has the Church been active in using and exploring modern communications technologies for some time, the concept of “social communications”, outlined in Inter Mirifica in 1963 seem to predict or at least encompass the current usage of the term ’social media’.

Walking The Line

At my son’s high school, the main student parking lot is across the street from the school. Students must cross the street to get to the school. Unfortunately, to drop our son off, we must turn right at the same corner the students cross.

This is where I go crazy.

Most of the students do not cross the street in a straight line. Instead, they come about two thirds of the way across the street, then angle to the left, toward the gate they must enter. Because they take the angle, they remain in the street longer. This, of course, forces us to wait longer before we make our turn. Which tends to frustrate me in the hustle and bustle of getting everyone to school and work.

I’ve spoken with some of these students and they all believe one thing: Crossing at the angle gets them to the curb and the gate faster.

From the student’s viewpoint, their reasoning seems logical. That is, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Since they want to get to the gate, turning toward it while crossing the street saves them some steps. However, as they do so, they miss the consequences of their actions. They miss the frustration and delay they cause the drivers trying to turn right at the corner. And they expose themselves to danger.

All this got me to thinking about my walk with God.

You see, walking with God is like crossing the street. If you stay within the crosswalk and cross with the light, you get across safely and quickly. But if you wander off at an angle outside the crosswalk, thinking you’re taking a shortcut, you walk out of your protection. Which means you can get hurt more easily.

Too often, I have fallen into the temptation of taking the shortcut, thinking it would be OK.

Skipping morning prayers.
Watching that questionable programming.
Visiting websites best left alone.

More often than not, when I tried walking outside of God’s purpose for my life, I got into trouble. That’s the thing. I can choose to walk in the crosswalk of God’s merciful plan for my life, or I can meander outside the protection of His grace.

Staying in the crosswalk gets me to where I’m going, quickly, within His protection. Angling outside of his path exposes me to danger, potholes, obstacles and oncoming traffic.

I know, this seems so fundamental, even juvenile. But how often do we go our own way, thinking that we’ll get there faster or easier, only to find ourselves in trouble, or worse, in dangerous circumstances? The crosswalk is there for a reason; to protect us as we cross a dangerous place.

I recently faced a severe time crunch on a looming project deadline. I had three hours to complete a video for a trade show. However, my client wanted me to make changes to an animation within the video. To do this, I would have to recreate the animation elements, then re-edit the special effects for the animation. These changes would require two hours of work.

I was tempted to try and cut some corners in order to make things move more quickly. However, when I thought about it, I figured out my shortcut would actually take longer than the expected two hours. I took a few moments to pray, asking God for a solution.

He delivered.

In the pressure of the moment, I had overlooked a simple solution. Since the only thing changing were some colors in the elements, I could replace the elements without having to redo the effects. What I had figured would take me two hours only took me twenty minutes. All because I took a moment to ask God to show me the way.

God’s plan and purpose for our life is there for a reason; to protect us as we move through this life. So stay the course; walk the walk; follow where He leads.

It really is that simple.

Rejoice in The Lord.. Always?

There are times and situations in life when the words “Rejoice in the Lord always” seem so out of place.

How can one rejoice when one is going through a difficult time- a death in the family, a terminal illness, betrayal by a loved one, getting laid off from a job, being the victim of malicious gossip..? How can one find “joy in the journey” when the journey is long and tiring, the skies are dark, the path is strewn with stones and pebbles, when one feels friendless and alone?

Recently, I went through some tough times. And it was amazing because just after having a difficult conversation which left me rather weepy, I heard an amazing talk on “Joy in unlikely places.” Every word spoke to my situation. And I remember thinking; the Israelite had to wait for 700 years for the prophecy of the Messiah to be fulfilled but thankfully, we don’t have to wait that long to know the comfort of The God Who loves us so much.

I also remember what I heard in that sharing was so timely, so providential - The Lord God knew I would go through a time of pain that morning and so, also comforted me with those words, truly, He binds up the brokenhearted, He bandages their wounds, He strikes us but He will also heal us.

I also understood that morning that joy comes from knowing the unchanging, unconditional love of a faithful God. Thus, even in the midst of disaster, I can be truly joyful because I know I am loved by a God Who is in control even when all else seems chaotic and out of control. I will still grieve, I will still shed tears, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel, hope springs eternal, His love will take me through the worst storm, His grace will sustain me.

I made a decision to be deliberate about choosing joy. Now, this does not mean that I go about with a plastic smile on my face declaring ‘ALL EEJ WELL”. No, that would be fake. It does not mean that I deny the reality of my circumstances and pretend I have no pain.

To me, choosing joy means acknowledging what is happening around me, accepting that this is a difficult time, even mourning and grieving; but simultaneously looking to God, proclaiming He is sovereign, He is in control and He knows what He is doing, even when I don’t really understand. And, that He will hold me together when everything seems to be falling apart; nothing can separate me from His love, nothing will ever diminish His love for me and there is NOTHING that He cannot handle.

With this frame of mind, yes, it is possible to Rejoice in the Lord always!

podCatholic.com is now online!

Good news people!

After a seeming eternity of a wait, podCatholic.com has finally got it’s first podcast live!

It will feature stories that will (hopefully we pray) impact your lives. It will also touch upon the general state of Catholics & Catholicism in India.

We welcome your suggestions on improving the podcasts - and we appreciate your prayers for this our new branch of online ministry.

The Living Dead

Even while they are alive some are dead in God’s eyes. The one who rejects one’s loving Father and His home and uses his wealth for his selfish purposes finally reaches the pig’s sty. The wish for worldly comforts and pleasures lead us to lose our lives.

A pig restricts its life’s wish only to gluttony and worldly pleasures. But God raises the hand of the man towards the eternal pleasures of heaven. The ancient serpent cursed to crawl on dust or sand hails man to be an animal showing him all comforts and worldly pleasures. Looking at the man who has lost his way the Lord said “ he is the dead one” He who went in search of worldly pleasures is an unlucky one who was dead before he died. This is what God has to say to all those who search the meaning of man’s existence - “The Son of Man has come not seeking pleasures but to suffer greatly”. He has been resurrected from the furnace of suffering.

From time immemorial, the tempter of pleasures has taken root in our heart. When we restrain from turning to godly life we end up in disgrace and suicide. However, God has made liberation from this and eternal life available to us.
“One who gives himself to pleasure has already died, even though he lives”
(1 Tim. 5:6)

One can evaluate one’s life and failure with Jesus. Those who listen and believe in the words of Jesus have eternal life. The living and dead will hear God’s voice. The voice that has existed from the beginning will obtain for us eternal life. You might be prevented from hearing Jesus’ words and thus believe the tempter; and try to gain comfort or solace in worldly pleasures and evil forces. Jesus came to give life and give it abundantly (John 10:10). When we reject Jesus we choose death. The sons of death, while they are alive, reject Jesus who is life.

The sin of the first man gifted us with death. The earth was spread with death along with the sin. The death of the sinless Jesus provided us with eternal life. St. Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). St. John tells us “Sin is not believing in Jesus” (John 16:9). Belief in Jesus leads us from life to eternal life and disbelief in Jesus leads us from death to eternal hell. “But now that you have been free from sin and enslaved to God the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life.

“For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:22-23). The word of Satan gives man death and Jesus’ word gives man victory over death (John 8:51, Gen 3:4). The choice between life and death is always before man. Jesus tells everyone on the face of the earth - “I am the life and the resurrection” (John 11: 25). It is in accordance with that link with Jesus that one lives or fails.

Let us pray calling upon Jesus: -
Jesus son of the living God, come to save us who are dead in sin. Send upon us your Holy Spirit. Blow into our nostrils your life giving breath.

Let’s believe it: “Mumbai; light to the nations”

Wow! Halleluiah!

That is all I can say as I look (with disbelief at times, so forgive me Lord) and marvel (Ps 118:23) at what God is doing in our midst.

Watching barely half a month of the very first month of this year itself, I am hugely excited at what the Lord has in store for 2010. In my spirit I can see the wonderful way the Lord is putting piece after piece in place as His vast tapestry emerges for this beautiful city of Mumbai.

Truly, with our eyes of faith (2 Cor 5:7), we should see, and rejoice over, the fact that Mumbai is the Lord’s. And this is precisely, and prophetically, what the Archdiocesan Synod had as its Vision “The Church in Mumbai, light to the nations and the glory of God’s Holy People” – Vision Statement, Archdiocese of Bombay, Synod 2000.

In the past few days itself we have seen so many marvellous things taking place. The first-ever Catholic Apologetics Convention, the various ecumenical initiatives across the city during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Silver Jubilee of the SCCs, the inter-faith initiatives, all signs that the Kingdom of God is at hand, in Mumbai. So, let us catch this vision and press on (Phil.3:14) in faith, and in prayer.

Thus, this month we focus our prayer for the Church in the city – we pray fervently for the Archdiocese of Bombay, our shepherds, our priests, our families, our youth, the various programs, movements and associations through which the Spirit is at work in the Church.

We pray especially for our sisters and brothers in Bandra who are preparing for the 75th Anniversary of the Consecration of Bandra to Christ the King.

And as we await, with prayer and hope, the reign of Christ the King not only in Bandra but all over Mumbai; we bring to mind the call to “sanctify ourselves, for tomorrow the Lord WILL do wonders among us.” (Joshua 3:5; emphasis added).

May we thus, sharpen our focus on sanctifying ourselves - as individuals and as a body. We are privileged that we are blessed with the grace-filled season of Lent; let us not lose this time lent to us, but let us treat this time like a ta-lent. For which the Master, who we know is a demanding person (Mt 25:24), will demand of us an account. Let us focus on the Cross, so that from Him will flow our prayers, fasting and almsgiving as a loving response to God’s mercy and saving plan, rather than a selfish way of trying to ‘earn’ our salvation.

May we too take our place at the foot of the Cross – the only place where surrender is turned into victory; where death is turned into life. May Mumbai experience victory and life in Christ, because you and me have died to self and surrendered to His will. May Mary, our Beloved Mother, who journeyed with and stood by Jesus (Jn 19:25) during His way of the Cross, accompany us.

Haiti: Where is God?

Haiti.

“Why did God do this?”

“Where was God when this happened?”

Besides the physical crosses that the residents of Haiti are now burdened with carrying, I can’t begin to imagine what the survivors of this disaster are suffering in their hearts. What are their priests giving to them in response to these demanding questions? I can only pray that they can find the right words but I’m certain that their answers are spoken through shared tears and hugs rather than in homilies.

It’s a delicate thing, attempting to answer these questions so close to the fact. You can’t tell the Haitian mother holding the cold body of her child in her arms that she’s wrong for asking such questions or even that she’s asking the wrong questions. They’re exactly the right questions. And they don’t signify a crisis of faith but rather a crisis of understanding. The answers given in response though, aren’t often always the right answers. Our first parents knew the right answers, if only because of experience. Eve knew where God was even as she cried over the lifeless body of Abel in her arms. And Mary, the new Eve, knew exactly where God was as she pressed her cheek against the Sacred but silent Heart of her only Son. Yet it didn’t make it any easier to bear.

When men destroy, be it lives or property, it is possible, naively maybe, to place blame upon them that they do so because they are evil. But when it is not men but “nature” that destroys, who is to blame? Not nature; it is certainly not evil. If not nature, then who?

We live in a fallen world. Pain is not new. Suffering is not new. But each time a tragedy befalls us, it is new to us individually and we have to make sense of it once again.

Father Walter Ciszek was an American Jesuit who spent twenty-three years trapped in the prisons and gulags of the Soviet Union, enduring unspeakable torments and experiencing first-hand the brutal depravities of our world. During his long trial, he began to gain an understanding of how God relates to us in times of upheaval – that He alone must be our ultimate hope and sole source of support:

“We go along, taking for granted that tomorrow will be very much like today, comfortable in the world we have created for ourselves, secure in the established order we have learned to live with, however imperfect it may be, and give little thought to God at all.

“Somehow, then, God must contrive to break through those routines of ours and remind us once again, like Israel, that we are ultimately dependant only upon Him, that He has made us and destined us for life with Him through all eternity, that the things of this world and this world itself are not our lasting city, that His we are and that we must look to Him and turn to Him in everything. Then it is, perhaps, that He must allow our whole world to be turned upside down in order to remind us it is not our permanent abode or final destiny, to bring us to our senses and restore our sense of values, to turn our thoughts once more to Him – even if at first our thoughts are questioning and full of reproaches. Then it is that He must remind us again, with terrible clarity, that He meant exactly what He said in those seemingly simple words of the Sermon on the Mount: Do not be anxious about what you shall eat, or what you shall wear, or where you shall sleep, but seek first the kingdom of God and His justice…

“Mysteriously, God in His providence must make use of our tragedies to remind our fallen human nature of His presence and His love, of the constancy of His concern and care for us. It is not vindictiveness on His part; He does not send us tragedies to punish us for having so long forgotten Him. The failing is on our part. He is always present and ever faithful; it is we who fail to see Him or to look for Him in times of ease and comfort, to remember He is there, shepherding and guarding and providing us the very things we come to count on and expect to sustain us every day…”

So, where then is God in this?

Praying before a statue of the Pieta right after news of the earthquake, the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, answered half of this question in the most profound theological terms: “Haiti is the broken, bloodied body of Christ.” In other words, God is right there. We are witnessing Him, right before us. In every person still holding on to life beneath the bricks of a fallen building, He is there. In every one of the one million children now left orphaned, He is there. In every one of the countless homeless wandering through the incomprehensible piles of corpses, He is there. In every husband, desperately trying to find a cup of water for his parched wife, He is there. Yes, we all have a share in the Resurrection, but as a race redeemed, we also all sometimes take part in His Passion. Christ scourged. Christ crucified.

The other half of the answer to the question should now be obvious. He is in every soul who stoops to give succor to that “broken, bloodied body” that is Haiti. He is in the volunteers that are feeding the hungry and burying the dead. He is in the priests delivering the Sacraments to the sick and dying. He is in the nuns stroking the cheeks of the broken-spirited. He is in the policemen and paramedics that tirelessly sift through the rubble, listening intently for sounds of life. He is in the doctors that have dropped their practice to fly off to stitch wounds and set broken bones. He is in the pilots and captains and truckers who have donated their services to deliver food and medicine. He is in the factory worker who has taken his vacation savings and given it to the special collection at his church. He is in the college student who has taken up a collection of shoes to be donated. He is in the prayer-warriors around the world that haven’t ceased reciting rosaries and chaplets of Divine Mercy for mitigation of the agony of that land.

Where is God?

He is in us, in the hearts of us all, and He’s urging us to act.

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