Dear Friends,

This week's readings show God meeting people right in the middle of their lives! Isaiah is a priest in the temple and encounters God there. Peter is a fisherman and God comes and sits in his boat. God calls us to holiness right in the middle of our lives. How can each of us be the best person we can be, right in our corner of the world: how am I being called to be more patient or forgiving right with the people I live with? How am I called to reach out in service right to the people around me? How am I called to stand up and speak out for what I believe in right where I live and work?

I was reading an article by Thich Nhat Hahn about mindfulness leading to happiness. He contends that when we are worried about the past or the future, it detracts from being right in the present, concentrating on living the life right in front of us. It reminded me of a scripture scholar commenting on Jesus' central theme of the kin-dom of heaven. He says that Jesus was not talking about something after death, he was talking about living right here and now, bringing heaven to earth, just as Jesus himself had done in his own life. That reminded me of Catherine of Siena' saying: "All the way to heaven is Heaven!" All of these sources of wisdom seem to be coinciding: how can we be so wedded to God's Spirit that we hear God calling us to love, forgive, speak out today, to this specific person, for this specific incident or cause?

This poem by John O'Donohue invites us to come home to ourselves, to our God and then to go out to others as our best self:


As always, The Spirit of Life Community invites you to come and share in the experience of an inclusive Catholic community where every voice is heard, and women and men are unafraid to acknowledge the equality of women and men; and to embrace feminine as well as masculine... and beyond... images of God. As a community, we try wholeheartedly to "be Christ" to one another, to tend to the needs of one another, and to those in need in our world. Together, we celebrate our belief that we are being transformed by God's grace as we gather together in prayer. We warmly invite you to come and gather with us at our Table, and join in our experience of the "kin-dom" of God. We are an inclusive, open, affirming and interactive community, deeply committed to being a people of "justice and joy."

With prayers for your present experience of heaven...

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