Dear Friends,

 We pray you are safe and well.

 In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that in God’s economy of abundance, when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.

Today's Meditation is a reflection on today's Gospel reading, the story of the bent over woman. Do you ever feel bent over? What do you see? Mud or Stars? Trappistine Sister Miriam Pollard OCSO helps us reflect on being bent-over.

We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in healthcare, in the workplace, in the Church--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.

We hope and pray that you and your loved ones experience genuine peace of mind and heart, and remain in good health during this challenging time.

In this "Season of Ordinary Time" in the Church Year, may this be a time of peace, of healing and hope, of the infusion of joy in your life!

With our love and care,

Ron & Jean

MEDITATION 184: Are you bent over? Mud or Stars--what do you see? A Reflection on Today's Gospel Reading about The Bent-Over Woman

Today's reflection is inspired by The Story of the Bent Over Woman which is the Gospel Reading for today and the reflection on it by Sr. Miriam Pollard OCSO, a Trappistine Sister of St. Rita Abbey in Sonoita, Arizona.

You may remember the woman: "for eighteen years she was crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect." Jesus heals her: "Woman, you are set free of your infirmity!"

Do you ever feel bent over by all that is going on: the pandemic, the political scene, you name it.

Sr. Miriam reflects:

"Stretch Into It"

"The woman was completely bent.

Completely.

Not just a little bit,

but totally unable to stand up straight.

Each of us is to some extent that bent woman.

Each of us can spend our lives looking at mud puddles,

mourning the tragedies and sins of human life,

wanting what we have not been given,

afraid of what we will be given.

Creating a whole world of negativity.

God knows there is enough to be negative about,

but faith means that we can see through the darkness

into the core of light within.

And faith says,

"Believe in it.

See it.

Bathe in it.

Spend prayer time knowing it is there.

Find it.

Stretch yourself into it."

these things:

these transient, small and insignificant things.

Compared to the weight of glory

they are several doors.

Doors to the joys, the serene and heart-stopping happiness

that will steal in and saturate body and soul and spirit,

world without end..

Amen."

This prayer comes to us from Fr. Bryan Massingale's group: Honing a Black Catholic Voice.