The Assumption - The radical generosity of God at work in the radical yes of Mary.

 

The feast of the Assumption was constituted in 1950 by Pope Pius 12 but had been celebrated as a feast in the Orthodox church for well over 1500 years. On the 1^st of November 1950, Pope Pius 12^th declared that ‘that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. In 1950, Europe was slowly trying to recover from the ravages of World War 2 the took the lives of over 60 million people. It’s hard to let the enormity of that figure really sink in. Into the aftermath of such destruction came this confirmation of this solemnity. A solemnity of Mary – the Mother of the Prince of Peace. 

 

This feast is more than a celebration of the reward Mary received from God for her faithfulness. It is that but it is also a feast wherein we celebrate the radical generosity of God at work in the radical yes of Mary. At the annunciation, Mary spoke a radical yes to God and at the Assumption, God spoke a radical yes to Mary. Mary spoke a yes to a life that sought peace and non-violence at all costs, even in the face of the violence she witness her son endure. 

 

Mary’s yes as we know was not a once off, never-to-be-repeated statement but rather a continual and unfolding yes that allowed Mary move into deeper relationship with God. Mary is often, and quite mistakenly, divinised (made as if she was a God). She wasn’t. If she was the hope for us would be remote. We would not have the connection with her to the extent that we do. 

 

Mary was human just like you and me. She was also very special in that God asked of her probably the most important question every asked and she gave the most important answer ever given. Mary was an intelligent, articulate and radical young woman prepared to follow the path of God regardless of what it meant for her. She was a hero in many ways. Her Magnificat that we hear in today’s gospel is not the song of a weak and timid child but rather of a woman inflamed by the Holy Spirit wherein she recognises and praises the goodness of God. However, as well as praising God’s goodness she also utters a warning for those who oppress, divide and seek to take advantage of others. Mary announces the cry of the poor just as the OT prophets did before her. Her radically proclamation is both challenging and refreshing. 

 

In today’s Gospel we hear Mary’s song of praise to God who has chosen her – the Magnificat. Mary rejoices as she comes to realise what God has asked of her. She is filled with the Holy Spirit and shares this great joy with her cousin Elizabeth. Mary is a radical woman who hungers for a new justice on Earth, one that reflects well the justice of God. Her Magnificat is counter-cultural and inverts the social norms – overthrowing the mighty and raising the lowly. The one she carries within her will be the one who sets captives free, brings the good news to the poor and welcomes the outcast and stranger. Mary as St Francis of Assisi puts it is “His robe, His tabernacle, His dwelling place’. 

 

Today as we celebrate this great feast we are called once more to examine how we say yes to God in our daily lives. It invites us to become mindful of what type of yes we say to God; is it a wholehearted Yes that has the power to change us or a lukewarm ‘Yes but’. Let us thank Mary for her radical example and ask her for her support as we say: 

 

Hail Mary… 

 

17 Sunday OT, Year B – World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly - (John 6: 1 -15)

 

The theme that Pope Francis chose for this inaugural World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly is ‘I am with you always’ (Matthew 28:20) – the tender and compassionate words Jesus spoke to the confused and bewildered Apostles before he ascended into Heaven – I am with you always. This is the same promise he makes to us every day. 

In 2019, Pope Francis published the most extraordinary document called Christus Vivit – Christ is Alive. This is a Papal Exhortation of Faith, Youth and Vocational Discernment addressed to young people and the entire people of God (Full text available here: "Christus vivit": Post-Synodal Exhortation to Young People and to the entire People of God (25 March 2019) | Francis (vatican.va))

In this extraordinary document, the Pope speaks to young people and to the challenges they face in today’s modern world. In doing so he calls on them to put down the deep roots of faith that will allow them to grow and bloom like a strong tree. Where does he tell them to direct those roots? Well, towards their grandparents and the elders of their communities. He writes: 

 ‘all of us, even before our birth, received, as a blessing from our grandparents, a dream filled with love and hope, the dream of a better life…  our great-grandparents had that happy dream as they contemplated their children and then their grandchildren in the cradle’ (CV 94) 

It is to this dream that Pope Francis encourages the young people to go for inspiration and direction. 

The Pope asks some important and challenging questions : 

‘What can we elderly persons give to the young? “We can remind today’s young people, who have their own blend of heroic ambitions and insecurities, that a life without love is an arid life”. What can we tell them? “We can tell fearful young people that anxiety about the future can be overcome”. What can we teach them? “We can teach those young people, sometimes so focused on themselves, that there is more joy in giving than in receiving, and that love is not only shown in words, but also in actions”. (CV, 197).  

I’m glad that we have the gospel reading do this weekend as we celebrate this Day of Prayer (John 6: 1 -15). This gospel reading demonstrates very clearly the compassion God has for those in need – God not alone gives us what we need but gives it in such abundance that we have more than enough left over. The multiplication of the loaves and fishes is a clear expression of God’s desire to care for us no matter who we are, where we are from, what we look like or what age we are. It shows that we are not forgotten and that God is with us always, just as He said he would be. 

It is a gospel of Christian Community Action in practice - the model of how we all should be in our communities, workplaces, parishes and homes. People are hungry for God - how can we help them find the nourishment they're searching for? Our elders of our community have carried the torch for faith throughout their lives - without them none of us would be able to here today. How can we pass on what they passed on to us? In doing this, we will persevere, honour and value their lives  and their faith.  
The Pope values the elders of our community and God values the elders of our community because they are valuable. The Pope reminds us that ‘the word of God encourages to remain close to our elders so that we can benefit from their experience – the long years that they have lived and all that they have experienced in life should make us look at them with respect’ (CV188). He quotes the Book of Proverbs – 'The glory of the young might be their strength, but the beauty of the elder is their grey hair!’ (Prov 20:29). 
This World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elders of our Community is an opportunity for us to say thank you to our grandparents, great-grandparents and elders – to say that you are valued – to say that you are important and that you are not forgotten. 
We are going to finish now with a prayer of blessing and healing for all of us here and especially for Grandparents, great-grandparents, the sick, elderly here and at home. This is a beautiful prayer of healing through the intercession of Padre Pio: 

Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me. 
I thank you for sending your Son, 
Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the world to save and to set me free. 
I trust in your power and grace that sustain and restore me. 
  
Loving Father, 
touch me now with your healing hands, 
for I believe that your will is for me to be well in mind, body, soul and spirit. 
Cover me with the most precious blood of your Son, 
our Lord, Jesus Christ from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. 
Cast anything that should not be in me. 
Root out any unhealthy and abnormal cells. 
Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild and replenish any damaged areas. 
I thank you for sending your Son, 
Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the world to save and to set me free. 
I trust in your power and grace that sustain and restore me. 
  
Loving Father, 

touch me now with your healing hands, 
for I believe that your will is for me to be well in mind, body, soul and spirit. 
Cover me with the most precious blood of your Son, 
our Lord, Jesus Christ from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. 
Cast anything that should not be in me. 
Root out any unhealthy and abnormal cells. 
Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild and replenish any damaged areas. 
Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection 
by the power of Jesus’ precious blood. 
Let the fire of your healing love pass through my entire body 
to heal and make new any diseased areas 
so that my body will function the way you created it to function. 
Touch also my mind and my emotion, 
even the deepest recesses of my heart. 
  
Saturate my entire being with your presence, 
love, joy and peace and draw me ever closer to you every moment of my life. 
And Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit 
and empower me to do your works 
so that my life will bring glory and honour to your holy name. 
I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
  
Amen. 

Loneliness and Solitude (16 Sunday, Year B - Mark 6: 28 - 30)

 16 Sunday, Year B 2021 – Loneliness and Solitude

 

At a time where we are supposed to be more connected than ever, why is it that some of us actually feel more lonely than ever before? 

(https://wearesololiving.com/difference-between-living-alone-being-alone-solitude-loneliness/).  This is the opening line of an online article on the difference between ‘solitude’ and ‘loneliness’. This sense of disconnection is a real problem. It seems that the more we connect through social media and online platforms the more separated we can feel from real connections with real people. Social media can often create the illusion of connection.  We begin to call people who we have never met ‘friends’ and operate in a virtual world of ‘likes’, ‘sharing’ and ‘groups’. The language is a language of connection – but that’s really all. 

 

The last year and a half of lockdowns have plunged many into a world of loneliness. Mother Teresa famously said back in the 1970’s that loneliness is the leprosy of the Western world.  She is also often quoted as saying that ‘loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty’. This is a daily reality for so many. It is real and it’s painful. 

 

Loneliness and Solitude

There is a marked difference between the experience of loneliness  and an experience of solitude. Loneliness can be seen in terms of an emotional response we have to our feelings of isolation or being left behind or left out of things.  We can feel loneliness is a physical way – it can and does really hurt, and it can and does make us sick. The remedy for feelings of loneliness is often not to so much surround ourselves with more people - we can feel just as lonely surrounded by people as we do on our own - but rather to immerse ourselves in experiences that allow us to cultivate a sense of connection and togetherness; experiences that allow us to feel wanted, valued and needed. 

 

Loneliness can overtake us at any time, and we will all experience it in our lives. Maybe we are experiencing it right now. An experience of loneliness can drive us in on ourselves – we can lose energy, motivation and enthusiasm; we can feel depressed, isolated and alone. Looked at in another way, loneliness can also be an opportunity for us to begin to listen to what is going on inside of us and to ask ourselves – what connections am I missing from my life? – nature, art, music, dance, reading, waking, swimming, cooking, creating or even prayer and faith… We can, and do, experience loneliness because we have lost connection with the people, places and projects that nourish us. Are my feelings of loneliness and opportunity to reconnect with these?  

 

Solitude is something quite different to loneliness. Whereas loneliness overtakes us, solitude is a choice. Solitude is also a spiritual endeavour – all the great saints, mystics and even Jesus practiced solitude. They withdrew to remote and quiet places to be alone with themselves and with God. Solitude was a vital practice for St Francis of Assisi who took himself away to forests and caves to spend days and even weeks in solitude. Through these experiences Francis was inspired, energised and renewed. He returned to the world ready for mission. An experience of solitude is not a luxury but a necessity if we are to follow the path of Jesus – we all need time to rest, renew and rekindle the flame within us. We all need time to be alone with ourselves and with God. I mean, how else will we be able to cope with life in the modern world? 

 

In today’s Gospel (Mark 6: 30 -34), the Apostles return from their missionary experience. Jesus had sent them into places where the people didn’t want them and to preach a message that people didn’t really want to hear. This must have been exhausting and isolating. If we listen deeply, we can hear how skilfully Jesus ministers to them – he tells them ‘you need to go now and rest’. This rest Jesus speaks of is the rest of solitude. It’s more than just a good sleep or a nice meal; it’s the rest that comes from creating the time and space necessary for them to reflect on their experiences and to renew themselves for their next mission. As they were on their way to a remote place with Jesus, we see Jesus suddenly change his plans – he steps off the boat – leaving behind the Apostles – so that He could continue to minister those in need while the Apostles go to experience the refreshment of solitude. Jesus had more energy left to give especially to those who seemed lost and alone. Jesus ‘heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds’ as the Pslam 147 tells us.  

 

We might well ask ‘How can we too live this experience of solitude in our own lives?’. The simple answer is that we have to make a choice to do it. We have to carve a little time out of our day to allow ourselves to practice solitude – to rest deeply; to be creative; to reflect on our day or some experience we’ve had or to contemplate how we are and who we are. I always find Jesus’ words helpful here (Matthew 11: 28 -30) – ‘Come to me all you who feel burdened and overwhelmed and, we can add, lonely or forgotten or undervalued – and I will give you rest. The rest that Jesus offers is the rest that renews and reenergises and brings with it the hope necessary to go on. 

 

If, and when, we feel lonely, we are presented with an opportunity to consciously turn our focus away from ourselves and what we feel we lack and towards the presence of God in our lives. We have the opportunity to allow ourselves to get lost in some words of scripture such as – I have known you before you were born, you are precious to me, I have carved you in the palm of my hands (Isaiah 49: 16) or be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10), or ‘I am with you always’ (Matthew 28:20). You can of course choose a phrase or prayer that speaks to your experience and allow these prayerful phrases change our place of loneliness into a place of solitude. The quiet place where we go to meet the Lord. 

Vine Dresser - 5 Sunday, Year B - John 15: 1- 8

 Homily

The image in last week’s Gospel of The Good Shepherd and this week’s Gospel of the vine and the vine dressers try to tell us how close God is to us and how important we are to God. 

 

We hear today of the vine and the branches and when you look at this closely we can see it’s impossible to tell where ends and the branches begin – they are so closely connected, they become united. This is the closeness that Jesus desires to have with each and every one of us. 

 

This is a radical message. Our world in many ways pushes for division – they are different to us, this is better than that. This approach to life – that can be seen and heard through all of our media and advertising leaves us feeling empty. We try to fill this emptiness as best we can – we buy more stuff, we watch more programmes, we eat more, drink more we live our lives chasing after dreams. Ultimately, this doesn’t fill the emptiness. It just leaves us feeling unsettled and anxious. 

 

The radical message of the Gospel is one of communion – communion with God, others, the world around us and with ourselves. Holiness means to be whole – it means to work towards being a complete person – this completeness comes from a close relationship with God, through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what the Gospel means by ‘remain in my love’ – to stay, to rest, to be satisfied, to be fulfilled, to operate from a way of life filled with the knowledge that we are loved by God. From this place, we bear fruit – we do good in the world, we feel satisfied, complete – holy. 

 

How do we do this in the world with so many distractions? Well, we have to make a choice to do it – it has to be our decision – we have to want to do it. We come close to Jesus through prayer – through the Sacraments – through turning to him when we are in need and when we are grateful. We remain in Jesus when we allow Jesus be the centre of our lives. This doesn’t in anyway take away from our lives – it enhances them, making us feel complete. Our souls will be restless until they rest in God. 

 

Today’s Gospel is a challenging and inspiring one. It challenges us to take a look at our closeness to God – to so that we can criticise ourselves or others, but so we can honestly see how connected we are and see how we can connect a little more. Taking time in our day to stop for a moment – drip our finger in Holy water and slowly bless ourselves is a profound way to connect with the power of the Trinity with us and around us – When we do this – it means we do all things in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – it reminds us that we are not alone. 

 

It’s also a very inspiring Gospel because it tells us that when we connect with God – when we become as close as the vine and the branches – we will bear fruit – Bearing fruit means that we will live authentic and meaningful lives.  It means we will flourish, and this will flow out into all aspects of our lives and the lives of those around us. To remain in Christ – to remain in God’s love means to live a life that is blessed. I think that’s something we all would want and want for our family and friends. 

 

This week let us carry the meaning and message of the Gospel with us. Let us make a little extra space in our day to connect with the power and presence of God in and around us so that we do all things in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen. 

Ascension Sunday - Year B - 2021

 Ascension Sunday 2021 – 16 March, Halston Street

 

Before every Olympic games, the Olympic flame is lit in Athens and a torch lit from that fire at the place of the first Olympic games. This torch is then carried around the world from Athens to the host country and city. At the opening of the Games the same flame from Greece lights the Olympic flame in the stadium. This is a very powerful ritual. The tradition, history, emotion, pride and anticipation is handed on from one person to the next – through village, town and city until it reaches it’s destination. The powerful symbol of the Olympics travels from person to person – one person handing it on to the next. 

 

Today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. This event can been seen in two ways: firstly, it could be seen as the end of the story – the conclusion of Jesus ministry on earth – the last stop on the journey. It could also be seen as just the beginning of the journey as the torch is passed on to the Apostles who in turn passed it on and it was passed on and on and on until it reaches us here in Halston Street today. The same flame of faith passed from person to person, never going out. 

 

I’m inclined to relate more to option two – that the Ascension is a beginning. You see, Jesus is into new beginnings – I came so that you may have life and have it to the full. Today’s Gospel from Mark begins with a command – ‘Go into the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature’. The Good News is the flame of faith we carry inside – the flame that was ignited at our Baptism – the flame that is fanned into life by our prayer, the sacraments and our relationship with Jesus. We are the torches that carry the flame of faith and the Holy Spirit is the one that passes the flame from person to person.  When we begin to think in terms, we find ourselves losing the desire to judge others and ourselves – we begin to feel connected to something greater than we are – part of something greater than we are. We become community. 

 

If we turn on the news or open a paper these days, we can’t escape the images from the Holy Land. The images of rockets flying through the air – the devastation this causes – the bodies of children caught in the rubble. You might ask what has this to do with Ascension Sunday or what has this to do with us? The answer is simply that it has everything to do with the Ascension and even more to do with us. Palestine is the land that Jesus walked – when we hear today’s Gospel it is a story of that land, and that people. The flame of faith has come to us from there and because of that, we care connected, as humanity to the suffering of others. The message of today’s Gospel is not alone a global one – it’s a Universal message – that’s what Catholic means, Universal. If the message is Universal, then it means that nothing is separate from it. Whenever there is violence it comes from a mindset that believes it has all the right answers and that their message is the end of the story. The message of Christ, the message of Gospel, the message of peace – is always the beginning of the story. Let us pray hard for peace in the Holy Land, the land of Jesus, of our ancestors in faith.

 

Let’s go back to that image of the Olympic torch for a moment. The goal of the Olympic Movement – if you look at their website – is to contribute to building a more peaceful and better world through sport practised without discrimination and in a spirit, which requires mutual understanding and a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. In the Christian context this is very similar to what is called the Good News – summed up by Jesus in one command – Love one another. The flame of faith that we carry is the flame of love, peace, friendship, compassion and solidarity in and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us do all we can to keep this flame alive in our hearts and in our world. 

 

Storms - 12 Sunday, Year B (Mark 4: 35 - 41)

 12 Sunday, Year B

 

We all know well that life has it fair share of storminess and that the storms of life come in all forms. Sometimes we can see them way off on the horizon as they slowly approach us, at other times, like in today’s Gospel, the storm appears out of nowhere and we find ourselves lost in the midst of it. What today’s Gospel reminds us is that when these storms inevitably land – we won’t find Christ sleeping. We won’t be abandoned by God; He will be there – awake – watching and guiding us through it. 

 

I was watching a TV drama the other evening and there was a very interesting dynamic between a father and his ten-year-old daughter. The father doesn’t believe in God – he says he did once, but he doesn’t now – he finds his daughter praying and this troubles him. He says, ‘she’s an intelligent girl – why would she do something like that’ He wants her to be just like him – a non-believer. He eventually asks her about it ‘Do you believe in all that God stuff?’ She goes quiet and looks away ‘Yes, I think so’ ‘Why?’ he asked her. ‘When Luke was sick she said – Luke is her brother who was very ill in hospital – I remember seeing Grandad praying so hard at the kitchen table – he was pleading with God to help Luke get better – and he did get better’. He Dad says ‘but Luke got the best medical treatment – that’s why he got better – not because God was there’. Then she said – and this is the key – but what if by Grandad praying he felt able to talk to you about Luke’s treatment and then you felt confident in asking for the treatment from the doctors and the doctors were able to pick the right treatment – what if that’s where God was’. When we are trapped within one of life’s storms we can feel disorientated and lose sight of what is happening – that’s natural and inevitable. Faith is our compass in these times. Faith calls on us to remember that in the storms of life – in our storms – God is there – present and participating in ways we will never know. Oftentimes, God is in the space between things – the space between the storm and us, that’s where we can find him. 

 

We need faith and courage. Fear can, and often does, take hold - ‘Why are you terrified? Do you not have faith?’ Jesus asks the disciples. These questions to the poor terrified disciples might seem a bit harsh – they are frightened for their lives – they think their boat will sink. And yet, it is at these times – the times when we feel that all is lost – that Jesus asks us to have faith – to believe – to trust in Him. Because only He can say the word to calm the storm. 

 

I find that one of the great prayers to say when we feel pushed around by the storms of life is the Memorare – This ancient and powerful prayer invites us to put our trust in God through the intercession of Mary our Mother. Maybe we can finish by praying it together: 

 

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known 
that anyone who fled to thy protection, 
implored thy help, 
or sought thy intercession, 
was left unaided. 
Inspired by this confidence 
I fly unto thee, 
O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. 
To thee do I come, 
before thee I stand, 
sinful and sorrowful. 
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions, 
but in thy mercy hear and answer me. 
Amen.

Hospitality - 14 Sunday, Year B ( Mark 6: 1 -6)

14 Sunday, Year B 

 

Hospitality is a key virtue of the Christian life. As followers, disciples, of Jesus Christ we are called to be a welcoming people; people who reach out to others, who provide them with a place to rest, refresh and renew. In the gospels we can see many examples of Jesus both giving and receiving hospitality such as: 

 

·     Sharing a cup of water with the woman at the well (John 4: 1 -42).

·     The hospitality he received at the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus in Bethany (Luke 10: 38 – 42).

·     Turning the water into wine (John 2: 1 – 11).

·     Eating with the tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 9:19 -17; Mark 2: 15 -22; Luke 5: 29-39).

·     The last supper (Matthew 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–38; and I Corinthians 11:23–25)

·     And most movingly the washing of the disciple’s feet (John 13: 1 -17). There are of course plenty more examples of hospitality in action not alone in the New Testament but throughout the bible. 

 

In today’s gospel reading from Mark (6: 1-6), we hear of one of the times when welcome and hospitality was decidedly absent. Jesus returns to his hometown to preach on the Sabbath and this seems to take the local people by surprise. They are at first astonished and then offended. The Greek gives us a deeper insight into how they really felt – What we translate as ‘they took offence’ can also be translated as they found ‘a snare (trap) in their path or they found ‘a stumbling block’. Either way it was something dangerous for them that they couldn’t easily get past.  The stumbling block was this – these hometown people couldn’t quite get their heads around the fact that this man – this preacher who seemed to be very wise and making a lot of sense – was the also the local lad they had known growing up. The key issue for them is that they thought they knew who Jesus was. They had it all decided and they wouldn’t accept any other version of reality. They had seen him grow up; they know his family. They saw Jesus through the lens of their own limitations and fears. He was one of them – or so they thought.

 

We don’t know what Jesus preached that day however whatever the message was that Jesus brought to that town, it seemed to hit a nerve. If we look at some of the sermons and parables in which we hear Jesus preach to groups of people, we can see the kind of things he tended to said: 

 

1.  He always spoke to the people about their own context – if he was in a fishing community, he spoke to them using fishing terminology and examples of empty nets or full nets.  

2.  He always challenged the status quo – just think of the example of the sermon on the mount when he turns the entire social order on its head and calls the meek, poor, widowed, oppressed – blessed. 

3.  Finally, Jesus cut to the heart of the issue and challenged whatever group he was speaking to, to wise up, wake up and stand up for what it right. We just have to recall the turning over of the tables in the temple to see this. 

 

When Jesus had one to one contact with a person it always about healing – the woman at the well, the woman with the haemorrhage, the sick girl, the blind man… the list goes on.

 

When Jesus was in contact with an assembled group of people, he still tried to heal them, however the healing wasn’t always so apparent. It was there but this kind of healing only could only come about if the group let go of the things that were holding them back. This kind of healing required the group to first change something about themselves. Oftentimes when they heard such a message preached to them, they were like the group in today’s gospel – astonished and offended, especially, like today, when this message came from this man that they knew so well. As far as they were concerned, he had to go and take with him is poisonous message. They wanted to be left as they were. They didn’t need this man telling them otherwise. 

 

As today’s gospel ends, we hear that although Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith he met in the group, he continued to reach out and heal the individuals who came to him. Jesus didn’t blame or hold against the faithful the sins and the blindness of that group of closed hearted and narrow-minded people. No, he allowed the Spirit to flow freely towards those who wanted their lives touched by the healing Presence of Jesus. 

 

Let us pray for each other this week that we will have the faith to reach out to the Lord and not be put off by what others might say or do. Let us trust that the Lord reaches his hand towards us first offering a welcome filled with healing and peace. Amen.