Seven Years of Civil War in Syria

Yesterday was the seventh anniversary of the beginning of the catastrophic civil war in Syria.  It began with the Assad regime violently repressing demonstrations calling for the resignation of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad and a democratic government, which quickly escalated into a brutal civil war.  First, between Syrian factions and then became a proxy war between neighboring countries that either backed the government or the various rebel factions.

The big losers have been the people of Syria, whose homes and towns and cities have been destroyed, who've been imprisoned and "disappeared" by the thousands and who have been forced to flee the relentless violence in their millions, seeking refuge either within the country, in neighboring countries or in Europe. 

As ourHoly Father has asked us to do, let us continue to pray for peace and an end to the violence in this unfortunate country.

Prayer for Peace in Syria

God of Compassion, 

hear the cries of the people of Syria. 

Bring healing to those suffering from the violence.

Bring comfort to those mourning the dead.
Strengthen Syria's neighbors in their care and welcome for refugees.
Convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms.
And protect those committed to peace.

God of Hope,
inspire leader to chose peace over violence
and to seek reconciliation with enemies.
Inspire the Church around the world
with compassion for the people of Syria.
And give us hope for a future of peace
built on justice for all.

We ask this through Jesus Christ,
Prince of Peace and Light of the World.
Amen.

In the End, It's All About Joy

 Wood Engraving by Ade Bethune

Today is the thirty-sixth anniversary of the death of Servant of God, Dorothy Day.  In pondering with gratitude her life and witness, it is easy to forget that for her, following Jesus, and a lifetime of doing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy were, in the end, not a penance or a burden but all about joy. 

She wrote:"You will know your vocation by the joy that it brings you.  You will know.  You will know when it's right."  

Of course, the hardships she endured were real and painful enough.  She lived with loneliness, disappointment, doubt and criticism, with the daily struggle to face her own faults and failings and sins.  She was misunderstood by many, including some of those who admired her the most.

But it was the friendship of men and women on the edges of society, the poor and forgetten, the ones who are of no account in this world, but who are closest to Jesus, who brought her close to Him.  It was with them that she found joy, for it was with them that she found Christ, our joy, our hope and our peace. 

Dorothy Day, Servant of God, pray for us.

Living in Time and Rememberance

As the year begins to draw down, I'm reminded that there are so many calendars in our lives and that it is these calendars that tell us who we are, as peoples, as communities of faith, as families and as individuals.  Remembered in every calendar are those moments over time, in the words of Gaudium et Spes of "joy and hope, grief and anguish" in the life of a people, or a faith community, or a family or an individual.

On my own personal calendar for October was my sister Nancy's birthday, who would have been 60 years old on the 29th.  (She was a year younger than me and died when she was 11.)  As with everyone, I have a personal calendar of joys and griefs, hope and anguish that I chose to observe each year, ranging from the delightful and lifechanging such as meeting my wife Paula for the first time (December 18th) and our first kiss (January 2nd).  Other dates in my calendar were filled with such hope and promise: our wedding anniversary (October 23rd), the births of our daughter and son (July 19th and April 12th, respectively) and my ordination as a deacon (August 10th).

And the inevitable events of grief and anguish, which are both universal and deeply personal: my sister's death (January 14th) and the deaths of my teacher and mentor Pere Igor (March 17th); of my friends Helena, Raul, Buddy and Richard (June 28th, November 13, February 5th and August 6th).

But of course, we live, not only observing the feasts and memorials of our own personal and private calendar, but within larger calendars that include others: the yearly observences of nations and peoples, the monthly calendar of the tides and annual cycle of the seasons, which is the earth's calendar and the cosmic calendar of the moon, the sun and the stars.   And for believers, the religious or liturgical calendar.

What we remember and what we anticipate are bound up in all of these calendars, which in their various cyclic observances overlap with the arc of our lives from birth to death to eternal life.   I'm thankful for the ways in these cycles allow me, allow us, to live in time and in rememberance
and in anticipation of the world to come, which is beyond time and somehow brings together past, present and future.

I am grateful that all of these various cycles of time afford me the opportunity to set aside the time to remember all of the beloved persons and events of my life.  As each year of my life has unfolded, this is such a joy and a consolation.