April Article for The RI Catholic
“April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.”
T.S.Eliot, the author of these first seven lines of his famous poem, “The Waste Land,” could well be a contemporary columnist for any paper in the world today. For New Englanders, April is always a tease for spring. The days can flip from sunny warm weather where coats are shed and windows opened to a late wintry blizzard which forces us to shovel, plow and keeps us inside by a fire.
Easter Reflection
For our last refection for Lent 2016, Sr. Réjeanne Bourque, CND invites us to Easter excitement and the wonder of the Resurrection. Sr. Réjeanne is a CND Sister in Visitation Province and lives in Prince Edward Island, Canada. I am grateful that Anna Rowley, an Associate Co-Coordinator for Eastern Canada, sent me this reflection to share with all of you. And I am grateful to all who have contributed to our Lenten reflections, Sharon Norton, Kathy Chadwick, Barbara Houlihan Hecht, Dolores Libby and Christine Mc Michael. Thank you, too, to all of you who have prayerfully participated in our Lenten community by reading and reflecting each week and to those who shared their responses. May the beautiful season of Easter gladden each of us with the joy, peace and hope of the Risen Christ among us! Sr. Joan Mahoney, CND
Palm Sunday,2016
The center of this Sunday’s readings is: The Passion of the Lord. At the risk of stating the obvious; the readings on Palm Sunday are long!
My thoughts about The Passion vary considerably based on the role I am fulfilling at the moment.
Back in the day, as a young, idealistic, single woman, I loved going to Mass on Palm Sunday by myself. Sure it was a long Mass, that was a given, but it was beautiful and peaceful, too. During those times, I would ponder so many complexities of the plot and the Passion narrative. In those times, I would be thinking like someone from the 21st century wanting to right the ills 21 centuries prior. I would get to Mass early and prayer fully ponder the 'what ifs?'. What if Pilate had been more resolute in his assertion of Jesus' innocence? What if Jesus behaved…differently? What if justice and love prevailed? What if? What if?
