From Season to Season

Thus says the Lord G od : Lo, I am sending my messenger To prepare the way before me… Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, Before the day of the L ord comes, The great and terrible day. - Malachi 3:23-24   The words of the Prophet Malachi come at the very end of the Old Testament and, as Richard Rohr, O.F.M., observes, they form a perfect segue to the New Testament: They describe the one who will be the fitting precursor for any coming Messiah. Christians have, of course, usually applied this passage to John the Baptist, as Jesus himself and the Gospel writers already had done... [Malachi] describes  the work of the God Messenger as both 'great and terrible,' both wonderful and threatening at the same time. It is not that the Word of God is threatening us with fire and brimstone, but rather it is saying that goodness is its own reward and evil is its own punishment . (From Preparing for Christmas ). However much we might we might want it to be otherw...

At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them Because they were troubled and abandoned… Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; So ask the master of the harvest To send out laborers for the harvest.” - Matthew 9:36-38   Compassion is not a uniquely Christian virtue, but it is a spirit of empathy for the suffering of others that is a fundamental part of how we Christians are to love. Ultimately, to have compassion isn’t just about being kind; rather, it means to share in the sufferings of another person. Pope Benedict XVI reflected that the mandate to love one another demands that we “acknowledge our responsibility towards those who, like ourselves, are creatures and children of God…If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters, solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts" ( Message for Lent , 2011) Women religious have always stood with th...