no longer at ease in the old dispensation

     ...were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

    (Eliot, Journey of the Magi)

Don't Hesitate

 If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,

don't hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty

of lives and whole towns destroyed or about

to be. We are not wise, and not very often

kind. And much can never be redeemed.

Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this

is its way of fighting back, that sometimes

something happens better than all the riches

or power in the world. It could be anything,

but very likely you notice it in the instant

when love begins. Anyway, that's often the

case. Anyway, whatever it is, don't be afraid

of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.

{Mary Oliver}

feeding the poor

Conservative politics: Either the government feeds the poor, or the poor feed themselves.

Liberal politics: Either the government feeds the poor, or the poor starve.

Catholic Social teaching: The poor could starve. The government could feed them. Or, you could feed the poor.

Peter Maurin, "At a Sacrifice," from Easy Essays

In the first centuries
In our own day
of Christianity
the hungry were fed
at a personal sacrifice,
the naked were clothed
at a personal sacrifice,
the homeless were sheltered
at personal sacrifice.
And because the poor
were fed, clothed and sheltered
at a personal sacrifice,
the pagans used to say
about the Christians
“See how they love each other.”

the poor are no longer
fed, clothed and sheltered
at a personal sacrifice,
but at the expense
of the taxpayers.
And because the poor
are no longer
fed, clothed and sheltered
the pagans say about the Christians
“See how they pass the buck.”

Education of the Heart: 35 Children's Books Featuring POC

All of these books are books I personally read and enjoyed as a child, with the exception of the two marked by asterisks. The first of those is a recently-published book by a favorite children's author of mine, and the second comes recommended by several friends.

Obviously there are many people of color who are not African-Americans--I'd love to put together another list of those books if there is interest. In light of the current heightened awareness of racial division in our country following the death of George Floyd (requiescat in pace), I want to bring especial attention to these books at this time.

There are no books listed for high school students, not because they do not exist, but because many high-schoolers can read adult books, and lists of adult books on this topic can more easily be found.

Picture Books
Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats
Whistle for Willie, Ezra Jack Keats
The Drinking Gourd, Jeanette Winter
Color Dance, Anne Jonas
A Fist for Joe Louis and Me, Trinka Hikes Noble*
Ragtime Tumpie, Alan Schroeder
Henry's Freedom Box, Ellen Levine
Wilma Unlimited, Kathleen Krull
Ellen's Broom, Kelly Starling Lyons
Freedom Summer, Deborah Wiles
Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys, Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard
A Picture Book of George Washington Carver, David A. Adler (illustrations: Dan Brown)
Everybody Cooks Rice, Norah Dooley
The Land is Your Land, by Woodie Guthrie (illustrations: Kathy Jakobsen)

Elementary-Level Chapter Books
Freedom's Wings, Flying Free, Message in the Sky (Corey's Underground Railroad Diaries), Sharon Dennis Wyeth
Meet Addy, Addy Learns a Lesson, Addy's Surprise, Happy Birthday, Addy!, Addy Saves the Day, Changes for Addy, Connie Porter
The Jacket, Andrew Clements
Rosa Parks, Kathleen Kudlinksi

Junior High
Yankee Girl, Mary Anne Rodman
The Journal of Biddy Owens, Walter Dean Myers
The Journal of Joshua Loper, Walter Dean Myers
Circle of Fire, Evelyn Coleman
The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963, Christopher Paul Curtis
Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis
Sounder, William H. Armstrong
Lilies of the Field, William Edmund Barrett*
Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, Langston Hughes
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, Gary Schmidt

welcoming the Word

A talk I gave recently for the women of Hillsdale College's Catholic Society on hospitality, households, communion, incarnation, and Scripture:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11-UTVNjl4zlPf9NafOC3TRvozt6ZZAV-/view?usp=sharing

The sources we looked at:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fVPDA7BnfjKURDAMv37WWcBnPPcMVHXK4CzJcvU9EHg/edit?usp=sharing 

don't curse the darkness, light a candle

I've seen great sadness and dismay over the cancellation of religious services (especially Catholic Masses) due to Coronavirus. I think this sadness rightly arises from a desire to let Christ govern our lives, and an awareness that one ordinary means we honor His kingship is through worshipping with other believers. The last few days, I've been thinking about what it means to continue to allow Christ to govern our lives when we're deprived of this ordinary means.

If your bishop, priest, or pastor has cancelled services or if you have decided it is imprudent to attend services, it’s ok to be upset and to acknowledge this as a source of suffering. God made us communal beings and called us to worship together. God made us incarnational beings and called us to receive His grace through the sacraments. Communal worship and sacraments are good, and so temporarily losing access to them is rightfully a cause of sorrow.

You may think this decision is the product of collusion between diabolically-influenced clerics and the Illuminati. You may think this decision is an unnecessary measure taken by authorities who generally have folks' best interests at heart and sometimes slip up through fear or misinformation.You may think this is a wise decision made by a legitimate authority.

Regardless, coronavirus does not void that which is our privilege and duty: to consecrate the Lord’s day. If we become so upset over the situation that we forget that the hour or two we would have spent at church still belongs to God, Satan is pleased. Not the goal, I'm pretty sure, regardless of which of the three above categories you fall into. If (like me), you're not accustomed to sitting down to an hour+ of private prayer in a single go, a few ideas (not to be limited to Sunday, either!):

-Pray for a grace-filled outcome to this situation. Pray especially for those who are critically ill, doctors lacking needed rest or in positions to make difficult ethical decisions, and those who will be financially and materially hurt by the lock down. Pray for the wisdom to know your responsibility in helping provide for your community.

-Spend time reading and meditating on Scripture.

-If your church uses a cycle of readings, read those Scriptures alongside your fellow believers, in spirit if not in body. (Catholics, Magnificat, which has the Mass readings and reflections on them, has been made available online for free: https://us.magnificat.net/free!!)

-Spend time in listening silence away from technology

-Do some non-Scriptural spiritual reading

-Listen to or sing hymns and praise music

-Watch or listen to a Mass (if you’re Catholic) or another service (if you’re not) online, on TV, or on the radio

-Check your church website to see if your pastor has posted (or ask if he would be willing to post) a reflection or sermon on the Sunday Scriptures

-Pray with your family. "Where two or three are gathered" doesn't only apply to non-blood-relations.

Beautifully, too, because this is a cause of suffering, we can particularly heed the command of Paul to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.” There are many who experience a desert of communal worship and sacrament on a far more regular basis who can use our prayers and sacrifices at this time:

-those who are currently struggling (spiritually, physically, or materially) who have not had the church reach out to offer them support

-those who do not attend religious services at all because they have never heard the Gospel, or have never heard of God's love from people whose witness is convicting

-those who love God, but who do not live in an area where they have weekly (or even monthly, or yearly) access to the sacraments

-those who desire to receive the Eucharist but currently do not because of irregular marital circumstances

-those who have left the church because of abuse (or any lesser failure on the part of members of the church to live out Christ's self-sacrificial love)

-those who have sought and been unable to find a robust church community that is both welcoming and challenging

Also, I'm personally thankful at this time that at least I don't live in the Middle Ages, when interdicts were imposed on cities and entire regions for political squabbles that usually had little to do with the conduct or interests of those who ended up deprived of the sacraments. Nothing like a little history to keep things in perspective.