Casseroles and Community

Read this really excellent blog post written over on Luce's corner.  It's about a good, old-fashioned way to cooperate with grace.

The beatitudes and the works of mercy spelled out by our Lord in Mt 25, as well as those detailed in the subsequent tradition of the Church, are very much personal responsibilities... every bit as much as the Ten Commandments are.  The Law is not superseded by the Beatitudes, but transcended by them.  The Law provides a foundation, a bare minimum for civility and peace, within which the Beatitudes and the works of mercy can operate and transform hearts to resemble more closely the Sacred Heart that wrought them.

Keep Your Eyes Open

You may not have heard, but Haiti was struck today by an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale.  That's the same as the earthquake that beat San Francisco down in 1986.  Only Haiti is poor, very poor, and hasn't got a very stable government, and hasn't got a broad tax base.  The quake hit very close to the capital, Port-Au-Prince, so many houses and hospitals designed to withstand storms, but not shaking, have collapsed into piles of rubble.  Catholic Relief Services is estimating that thousands will be found only after they are dead.

The people there are going to need some help getting themselves back up on their feet again. Keep a look out for ways to help. I recommend Catholic Relief Services (which has, as far as I know, had nothing like the scandals attached to the CCHD lately) or Food for the Poor.  Don't forget to pray for the Haitians, while you are at it.

Raining in Baltimore

That's a great song, melancholy without being depressing. That's kinda how I feel today: not depressed, but just a bit melancholy. That's OK, ya know. It's raining out, and grey, and we're allowed to just feel a bit sad sometimes. Our Lord thought so, anyway, "Blessed are you who mourn, for you shall be consoled," (Mt 5:4). The world's kindova sad place, lots of violence and all that. If we're a little sad, it means we're in touch with reality. I don't think the starving children in Africa are the reason that I'm sad right now. Maybe there isn't even a clearly articulable reason. Maybe it's a "just cuz" kinda thing. That's OK, too.