Category: praying for peace

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Real life, real faith

On By dpavinatoIn a school of God's service, An example of faith and hope, Benedictine Oblate, Catholic faith, Daily Prayer, discernment, Every day Catholic, growing in faith, hope and healing, Jubilee Year of Hope, Life in the Spirit, Personal call and vocation, praying for peace, sacred listening, sacred seeing, sacred waiting, Seeing things in a new way, spiritual freedom, spiritual healing, Spiritual Journey, spirituality, surrender, Trust the journey, visionary faithLeave a comment

Some days faith is hard. Life challenges us with the state of the world or the events of our own lives and families. We have constant updates from so many sources, so our minds are infiltrated with the news, close to home and beyond. The apostles following Jesus didn’t have iPhones or social media updates and still they said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” (Luke 17: 5-10, Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time). I pray the same request on many days!

Earlier this week we celebrated the Memorial of our Guardian Angels. I recalled a night, many years ago, walking the dog late in the evening. It was very late, no one out and about, so I chose to walk him in the middle of the street so he would have plenty of room and could survey the neighborhood. We were halfway down the block, but in the still of the night I heard a car turning the corner, speeding with screeching tires, on the street perpendicular to the one I was walking on. My heart raced as I had a feeling the car would turn onto the street I was walking. But I was frozen. In a split second the car did turn and we faced it head on. Suddenly I felt a push on my left side and looking ahead at the dog saw him move in the same way, looking straight ahead but his body being pushed entirely to the right in the same way that I was being moved. The car sped by. I knew in an instant that I didn’t move us and that we had been spared from being hit. I can’t say I thought of my guardian angel much before that night, after giving up the youthful evening prayer of “Angel of God, my guardian dear…” My faith in the presence of my guardian angel grew on that evening and in the many instances I have been protected since.

I read a reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB, of Conception Abbey on the Gospel for today. He pondered how we continue to find, and grow in, faith when we can’t see the Lord as the apostles did. He quoted Fr. Jacque Philippe and St. Augustine with thoughts to help us grow in faith. He wrote: “Fr. Jacques Philippe maintains that it is through prayer—especially praying with the scriptures—that our faith increases. He wrote “Faith is the capacity of believers to act not according to impressions, preconceived ideas, or notions borrowed from other people, but according to what they are told by the Word of God, who cannot lie.” (Time for God, p. 9). As St. Augustine put it, “Believe in order to understand.” Faith is not a matter of acquiring the right kind of knowledge. It is about entering into a relationship of trust and love.”

Scripture shows us that God is faithful. If we look at our lives over a broader spectrum of time, I believe that we can see that as well. It can be challenging in the moment so I think that Br. Marcotte’s suggestion offers us a roadmap for the journey. He asked, at the end of his article, that we consider how we can deepen our relationship with Jesus and grow in faith.

I need to spend time on that question this week. Maybe you do too? Then perhaps it will begin with the faith of the mustard seed, and over time, grow into a strong and sturdy conviction and confidence.

Wishing you abundant peace and hope this week, Deena

Image: One of the memorials in Portugal where the Angel of Fatima, or the Angel of Peace, visited the shepherd children preparing them for their spiritual mission and teaching them prayers.

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A stronghold

On By dpavinatoIn A life worth living, a school of God's service, anxiety & depression, Benedictine Oblate, Catholic faith, Daily Prayer, discernment, Every day Catholic, hope and healing, mental wellbeing, mindfulness, praying for peace, Rest for the weary, sacred listening, sacred seeing, sacred waiting, spiritual desolation, spiritual healing, Spiritual Journey, spirituality, toolkit for the spiritLeave a comment

This weekend our local area Oblate group met and began our 2025-2026 reading and discussion of Sr. Joan Chittister’s The Rule of St. Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century. Many of us have studied it in our Oblate groups before but it’s a wonderful commentary of The Rule to revisit for anyone desiring to follow this spiritual guidance in our secular world. As we began our study for this month, we read the chapters of The Rule on guidelines and order of praying the psalms in the monastery. Each monastery creates a breviary, or guidebook, for the praying of the 150 psalms. It is similar to the order of praying the psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours, or Divine Office, prayed by clergy and lay people each day in a sequence of four “weeks”. St. Benedict in his Rule said that how and when the psalms are prayed could vary but it was required that monastics pray all 150 psalms. I don’t have a copy of the breviary used by the Monastery that I am an Oblate, so I pray the traditional “Office”. Over the course of 30 years since it was recommended, and that I have tried (my discipline and commitment have varied over the years, so don’t be too impressed!), to pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day, for Morning and Evening Prayer, certain psalms have become favorites. They become like a healing balm or a familiar friend on days that it feels difficult to pray or that nothing I pray or read seems to help.

There have been plenty of those days in recent weeks. The violence seen in our national news and the continued atrocities of war in other countries are hard to ignore, even if we don’t watch the news. I shared with my chiropractor this week that I am worried for the emotional well-being of young people who are bombarded on social media with these images and opinions. We pondered the impact these stories are having or wondered if they are becoming desensitized to it all. As a child of the 60’s I recall the impact of watching the violence of the Vietnam War on evening news, but it was only on the nightly news or in newspapers, we didn’t have constant images thrust upon us on cell phones and computers.

In this week’s blog I would like to continue the discussion about depression and anxiety and ways to deal with it. I am grateful for the abundance of information on social media in September for Suicide Prevention Month. These sites or pages are dedicated to raising awareness and breaking the stigma around mental health issues. It has not only raised my awareness of statistics regarding suicide and depression but helped me feel understood. Symptoms of depression are varied and we may not even associate them with our depression. It’s easy to try to convince ourselves to ‘just snap out of it’ or “get over it”, whatever the “it” is that perhaps we haven’t really identified anyway!

What can compound the stress is adding the belief that, as a Catholic Christian or person of faith, we should be able to pray our way out of it. The internal dialogue of “if I was holy enough,” “if I was faithful enough,” or “if God really loves me” suggest that if I was any of those things, then all of the anxious feelings would magically disappear. But that isn’t the way that it works! I am not saying that prayer isn’t helpful or that even if we don’t feel like it is working that we should give up on it. We have a wonderful model in St Teresa of Calcutta whose writing revealed 40 years of spiritual dryness, desolation and feeling abandoned. But in all of that, she remained faithful to prayer, to service of the poor and to leading her community.

This week I received and began reading a wonderful 30-day guidebook, Anchored in Peace, by the founders of the social media page, Mindful Christianity. The father and son writing duo begin the book by reminding us that our fear and anxiety do not disqualify our faith. The book is a combination of scripture passages, reflection questions, mindful Christian practices and prayers to help us navigate the difficult times we are experiencing. They suggest that we don’t want to hide the anxiety and pretend it doesn’t exist but bring it into the light and presence of God to be there with us. The authors counsel that we can let our guard down, present the honest feelings we are having, and let God be our refuge, anchor and peace, a day at a time.

After our Oblate discussion this weekend, I reflected that there are many psalms that can be prayed during times of anxiety and depression, psalms that can bring comfort and reassurance. I recalled one of those healing psalms for me. Psalm 144 is prayed on Tuesday of Week II, it is a prayer for victory and for peace. In the psalm King David is praying to God as a fellow warrior, defender and protector. As I pray that psalm I pray for the help of a God who can strengthen me in the daily battles I face, whether emotional or spiritual. I offer a few lines as comfort in the battles you may face in life.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock,

who trains my arms for battle,

who prepares my hands for war.

He is my love, my fortress;

he is my stronghold, my savior,

my shield, my place of refuge.

Wishing you abundant peace this week. Deena

Image: the medieval castle walls in the city of Avila, Spain

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Behold a great light

On By dpavinatoIn a life of joy, A life worth living, a season of hope, An example of faith and hope, Benedictine Oblate, Catholic faith, Coming home to myself, contemplation, Daily Prayer, discernment, Every day Catholic, hope and healing, Jubilee Year of Hope, Life in the Spirit, Life of purpose, Pope Leo XIV, praying for peace, Rest for the weary, sacred listening, sacred seeing, sacred waiting, spiritual freedom, spiritual healing, Spiritual Journey, spirituality, Teachers and Guides on the journeyLeave a comment

Earlier this week our skies were filled with haze from the Canadian wildfires. On Thursday the air quality index in Chicago (an hour and a half from my home) was 174, the worst of any major city in the world. Even in our area, Alexa reminded me of the poor air quality, and at times, I could smell the smoke. As I was driving later that afternoon I captured the image for today’s blog (I parked of course!). It reminded me of a time, living in Royal Oak Michigan, that I was contemplating the light within each of us, an ever-present flame that burns and is alive, no matter what is going on in life. I will never forget it, one of those special epiphany moments walking, seeing the clouds part within, and sensing a presence of light and joy.

It’s hard, at times, to see that light if one is even a little aware of the news and the great tragedies in the world of war, hunger and suffering, greed and a focus on power above justice and truth. But I have been uplifted by the scenes from Rome and the Jubilee of Youth. An estimated million youth have been attending the Jubilee at Tor Vergata. Even Pope Leo XIV seems invigorated by the crowds of young people. Circus Maximus, an ancient Roman arena was transformed for the youth to make their confessions at 200 confession stations with priests speaking English, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Polish, German, Hungarian, Slovak, Korean, and Chinese. Thousands of pilgrims were able to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation in this place known for chariot races, gladiator fights and wild animal cruelty.

Pope Leo XIV reminded the youth of a truth we all seek, a burning question in each of our hearts, for truth and justice. He asked the pilgrims, and each of us, to reflect on our way of living in order to build a more humane world. In today’s homily, reflecting on the scriptures from Ecclesiastes and Luke’s Gospel, Pope Leo encouraged the youth to listen to Jesus knocking at the window of our souls and look beyond the world and nature that is fleeting and passes away. “‘This is why,” he said, “we continually aspire to something ‘more’ that no created reality can give us; we feel a deep and burning thirst that no drink in this world can satisfy.'” He challenged us to not let our hearts be deceived by the things of this world but rather “fullness has to do with what we joyfully welcome and share.  “Buying, hoarding and consuming are not enough.  We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards, to the ‘things that are above…'”

I remain hopeful, even this week with disappointing encounters or heavy news to try to grapple with. I begin a new week with a desire to focus on the things that really matter and things that I can control. Just this Sunday morning, artist Kreg Yingst of PsalmPrayers (his amazing work in on Facebook, Instagram and Etsy) responded to a comment I made on a new series he will be sharing with us by saying “it’s a drop in the ocean, but it’s my drop. I come to Christ in ‘my anger and powerlessness.'” Each of our individual drops make a difference, we each have the ability to have a positive impact and cast a ripple that might spread love and hope to those around us. Let that be our goal this week!

Isaiah 9: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone.

Wishing you abundant peace and hope, Deena

Image: my photo of the hazy skies this week in Illinois.

Advent 2nd Sunday – From darkness to light

On By dpavinatoIn advent, Catholic faith, Every day Catholic, Life in the Spirit, praying for peace, sacred listening, sacred waiting, Spiritual Journey, spirituality, waiting and reflecting1 Comment

Last week our Advent Gospel readings advised us to be attentive, to watch for the signs in nature and to be aware as the world around us changes but not get anxious. I know that in darkness my senses are more attuned to what is going on, I am more sensitive to sounds around me. This week, for the Second Sunday of Advent, we light our second candle and the Christmas narrative begins to unfold for us with the story of John the Baptist as he begins to preach to the people of Israel about the coming Messiah, crying out “prepare the way”. So now we open our ears along with our eyes to reflect on the presence of the Christ in our lives.

One of the most helpful ways for me to pray with Scripture is to use the prayer method of Lectio Divina, or sacred reading. As a Benedictine Oblate we commit to making this a part of our daily prayer. Some days my Lectio is brief and lackluster. Other days the daily readings for morning prayer or daily Mass come alive and speak to me as if it was intended for me personally, an invitation to enter into a conversation with the Divine. This past Wednesday was one of those days and has filled me with hope and peace as I prayed the remainder of this week.

Isaiah 25 says “On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, The web that is woven over all nations…This is the Lord for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!” Isaiah was speaking of the time that the veil will be lifted once and for all and we will see and experience God in fullness.

As I prayed with those verses I reflected that is this is how we encounter the Christ each day, our experience of heaven on earth. Our meditations and our insights, as we read scripture, become our encounter with the Christ and in that the Lord briefly removes the veil for us, we see clearly. Our relationship with the Christ is unburdened and without barriers or restrictions. But we have to open our eyes, ears and hearts to the encounter. Times like this remind me that we don’t need miraculous visions or visits from angels. We just need to create the space, sit in silence and be open to the encounter. I know when I create the time and space for the possibility of encounter like that, I desire it even more.

As we begin the Second Week of Advent, still early in our journey, consider where you might create a space each day to sit and listen to what God might have to say to you. Simply open the daily Mass readings, or a scripture in a daily reflection guide, read the words slowly and listen for the word or phrase that speaks to you. Read it again and let it sink deep into your spirit. Is there a message or insight for you? Does reading it pull at your heart and invite you to simply sit in stillness with God, just resting in God’s presence? Daily encounters with the Divine are not reserved for the Saints or for the mystics and authors that inspire us. They happen in our lives too. I encourage you to use this time of prayer during Advent to open your eyes and ears to the words of Scripture, which are so rich and beautiful during Advent.

Allow this sacred time of encounter to bring Light to the darkness of this world. I am convinced it will not only change your experience of, and relationship with, God but it will change how you relate to the world around you. There are so many things that we cannot change in life and dwelling on that can bring darkness and despair. But we can change how we navigate through them. We can first experience the hope, peace, joy and love of Advent and the Christmas season and then bring these things to those we encounter.

Wishing you abundant peace, Deena

Photo: The Second Week of Advent candle lit on an Advent wreath from a previous year at our parish.

Listening with the heart

On By dpavinatoIn Benedictine Oblate, Catholic faith, Every day Catholic, Life in the Spirit, praying for peace, sacred listening, Spiritual JourneyLeave a comment

This week Benedictine communities, and Oblates like me, celebrated the Feast of St. Benedict, Father of Western Monasticism. Probably one of the most famous quotes, from the Prologue of The Rule of St. Benedict, is “Listen carefully, to my instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.” The Rule, written in 530, is a small guide for monastic living. It not only provided guidelines and instructions for the early monks following St. Benedict but continues to be read daily in monasteries and by those choosing to follow a monastic way of living. It is a guide to life as much as it is a guide of the daily activities of monastic communities. In his instruction to “listen with the ear of the heart”, Benedict wisely instructs us to pray and to listen to the Holy Word in daily Lectio Divina. It’s an inward listening as much as it is listening to words said aloud to one another.

In a reflection for this week’s Sunday Gospel in Give Us This Day, an excerpt from E. Jane Rutter’ Seasons of the Spirit: Reflections on Finding God in Daily Life, reminds us that the message of Christianity is to ‘Love others and pass along the message of joy’. She states that we “teach the message in many ways, not all of us through words.” As we listened to Mark’s Gospel as Jesus sends out the twelve apostles (Mark 6: 7-13) it’s clear that Jesus is sending them on the first evangelization mission of healing and sharing the Good News they have been learning. It’s also clear that Jesus knows they won’t be accepted every place they go. If they aren’t, he advised them to “leave” and “shake the dust off your feet”.

I am not going to say a lot about yesterday’s tragic events in Pennsylvania, there are plenty of excellent commentaries about the need for peace at this volatile time in our country and world. Surely there is plenty on the news but I find I need check in for updates and then walk away. It doesn’t serve me to listen to the endless negativity and blame that didn’t take long to surface. One of the best articles that I have read so far is Maria Shriver’s The Sunday Paper. Maria speaks from a voice of experience of violence against political leaders, witnessing the assassination of two uncles, but also from a voice of reason and wisdom. There are so many attempts to create chaos and division. We need to pause, we need to calm down, we need to listen.

I do not care what your political views are, you are entitled to them, as I am to mine. Frankly neither political party is serving our country at the moment. There is too much anger and divisive language. I am grateful he is safe and am praying for Former President Trump and his family but even more so for the innocent people who were exercising their right to attend a rally. No one, I don’t care how much we agree or disagree with a person, should be shot for their beliefs. However, raising a fist and yelling “fight” isn’t going to help the situation.

This week I listened to a webinar by Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP on The Spirituality of Listening. His latest book, Listening Together: Meditations on Synodality, was released this Spring. Fr. Radcliffe has messages that ring true in life, as well as the Church. One statement that he made has been on my mind all week, and certainly today. He said “We’re not very good at disagreeing but the flourishing of society depends on it.” He talked about the pleasure of disagreement and the opportunity to see things in new ways. He suggested that our first response should be, “I wonder if you’re right or how you might be right?” As we ask questions of the other we are dialoguing with, we seek different answers, we learn and go deeper. Wouldn’t that be an excellent model for discussion and decision making in our country?

My favorite section of The Rule, mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, is Chapter 4, The Tools for Good Works. There is sound guidance on the way we treat each other, to monitor foolish chatter or ill speech toward another, for holy listening and reading, and for temperance in responding to the urges of self-will. In a few short paragraphs I have a summary for living that is probably very much like the message the apostles heard as Jesus sent them forth, simple but profound, neither of which speak of anger or violence towards another. Let that be our model.

Praying for peace, Deena

Image from a side chapel at St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island IL.

Advent & Christmas 2023 – O night divine

On By dpavinatoIn Catholic faith, Every day Catholic, praying for peace, sacred seeing, sacred waiting, Spiritual JourneyLeave a comment

It’s a dreary Christmas Eve morning, cloudy but the fog of yesterday and last evening has lifted. I have my Advent candles lit for the last time, all the Christmas trees and other decorations lit. The lights bring a welcome and comforting light to the drab day.

We began Advent with one candle and now the four brightly glowing candles remind us of the Light that has come into our world. We can rejoice that on this evening, over 2000 years ago, a Savior was born. The fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises, a promise of hope, came into the world and we too can live in hope. It seems quite poignant to me this year that the Holy Land is not able to celebrate Christmas and cities are filled with refugees seeking a promise of a better life. It accentuates our need for hope and peace. Let the final Advent candle, and the white Christ candle, remind us that there is a promise of Peace that we can cling to.

As we move from Advent later today, considering my time of prayer and reflection, I am always relieved that Christmas is an Octave, an eight day celebration of the birth of Jesus. If the last couple of days leading up to Christmas have been hectic and not enough quiet reflection time, you still have time after tomorrow. Spend time considering whether Advent and Christmas were all that you hoped for. If not, what can you do to change that? What grace can you pray for during the Octave of Christmas?

This year I wrote the Christmas letter for our Ignatian Ministries blog, Into The Deep. I scheduled it to post late this evening and our subscribers will receive the email and link to the blog tomorrow morning. If you have time late this evening (after 10 p.m.) or tomorrow after all the activities with family or friends settles down, I invite you to read it. We are so grateful for all that was birthed with Ignatian Ministries this year, it had lots of unexpected surprises but oh so many graces! Just like Advent is for each of us, we started with our prayers and desires, listened and discerned along the way, and said “yes” to those moments that felt like invitations from God. As in our individual lives, those “yeses” bring us to celebrate Jesus, and our relationship with him, each and every day.

I pray that the Light of the Christ Child illumines and fills your heart and home as we celebrate Christmas.

Peace, Deena

Photo: My Advent candles

Finding light in the darkness

On By dpavinatoIn Catholic faith, Every day Catholic, praying for peace, sacred seeing, Spiritual JourneyLeave a comment

Sunny days like yesterday and today give me hope. I know it will stay light a little longer, perhaps until 5 or so, instead of 4:30 on dark and cloudy days. I treasure whatever moments of daylight we can get before the evening settles in.

I canceled my cable subscription a couple of months ago. I don’t miss the mindless TV and have other opportunities to catch up on news each day. I have a streaming app for $6/mo and can watch local Chicago news if I am free or something is happening that I want a quick update on. With YouTube and phone news apps, as well as ability to search for anything online, there are ways to stay informed. It is important to stay informed, but not let the news of the world consume or overwhelm us.

After reading a link to The Washington Post from Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper, I was left confused reading the disagreements between United States, the United Nations, Israel and Hamas over the differences between a humanitarian pause and temporary cease-fire regarding the war in the Middle East. Neither side can agree or is willing to budge for the sake of the lives of innocent civilians. Both were viewed as “tactical pauses” that would result in the continuation of the war and continue to delay the work of those trying to get aid to those impacted by the war as well as continue to negotiate the release of hostages. It can be overwhelming to think about the pain and suffering of all the lives being ravaged by this war.

In a world that feels more and more divisive, with the wars in our world, as well as political and religious dissension looming large in the news, I found comfort in the words I saw in a post yesterday of the first African-American Nobel prize winning author Toni Morrison (1931-2019), written in 2015:

“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.

I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge – even wisdom.

Like art.”

In his Angelus message today from Rome, Pope Francis also offers us words to reflect on, looking to the Gospel for today, from St. Matthew, and the parable of the 10 virgins, 5 prepared and 5 unprepared with their lantern oil, for the arrival of the bridegroom and the wedding feast. The Pope asks us to consider the many ways we are more concerned with the things of the world, our appearance and our image to others, instead of “taking care of the things that cannot be seen…caring for the heart.” He suggests we should not ignore the “oil of inner life” and take time to look at our inner lives, of God’s gaze upon us.

Let us let the chaos in our world, lead us to that time of inner reflection, listening deeply to how God might be calling us to reach out to others in our broken world.

Like Bela in my photo today, look for the light wherever you can find it. Find stories of hope and inspiration. Stay informed but pray for peace and watch for the uplifting stories of those helping others, whether in war ravaged parts of our world, like the Middle East and Ukraine, aid being given to refuges being bused to cities with no homes or job, or those seeking to help those less fortunate in our country – veterans, mentally unstable and the homeless. Keep our inner lanterns replenished with nourishing oil by dedicating time to the matters of the heart and soul, being service to others as much as we are able, and to the things that matter to our spiritual lives.

Abundant blessings, Deena

Guide our feet into the way of peace

On By dpavinatoIn Catholic faith, praying for peace, sacred waiting, Saints as Models & Guides, Spiritual Journey2 Comments

In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Benedictus, Canticle of Zechariah – Morning Prayer)

As I continue to recover after my trip, today is shaping up as another day to stay in and rest. I guess if the results were different I might be tempted to get ambitious and do more than my body is ready for. As my friend, and healing arts practitioner, Kate Brown cautioned me yesterday “You need rest. Active rest. Sleep… be patient and allow yourself to heal.” Patience…I am not very good at it!

This time of waiting, and resting, has allowed me the opportunity to tune in to the services and bulletins from the Vatican by Pope Francis praying for a ceasefire and an end to the violence in the Holy Land, especially in Gaza. At Ignatian Ministries, we joined the world in prayer, on October 27, with a rosary at 11. LaSalle Catholic Parishes held a beautiful rosary, in English and Spanish, for peace on Friday evening (you can still find it on their Facebook page. I think our need for prayer continues so you might enjoy praying with it.). Then Friday night, I watched the Rosary and Prayer Service, with Adoration and Benediction, held earlier in the day in St. Peter’s Basilica on Vatican News. Fr. Carlson coached us, during our pilgrimage, to learn the Hail Mary in Italian, so I tried my best to pray in Italian but soon found responding in English easier. Again, patience….

Having just been to the Basilica the previous week, I felt I was attending along with the other clergy and pilgrims who were participating on Friday. I looked at the sanctuary and the statues that I gazed upon not so long ago. I looked at the marble floor that demarkates the size of other Basilicas in the world and where they would fit inside St. Peter’s. St. Peter’s is the largest Catholic Church in the world. In the floor of the central nave, as you move forward toward the sculpted bronze pillars and canopy that cover the baldachin, or high altar, there are circular markings and the names of the basilicas. I have attached a picture at the bottom of this post of the marking for our National Basilica of Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. I recall thinking that we have our individual buildings and structures, the circles were symbolic for me, we are one holy and apostolic church.

I also pondered the weight of the concerns that Pope Francis must carry; prayers for peace in the world, prayers for those impacted by the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, prayers for all those impacted by the hurricane in Acapulco, Mexico, prayers for answers for climate change and prayers for the Church and the closing of the Synod. Yet, despite all the worries and criticisms he faces, when we saw him in the Papal Audience, you feel the joy in his spirit, the love of God being shared with each of us.

Is it prayer and faith that brings that level of peace and patience? This feels like something for me to reflect on in my life. I reflect on St. Catherine of Siena’s devotion to the Eucharist and think more time in prayer and adoration might be a worthy goal for more peace and faith in my life.

While not related, I can’t close this blog this week without talking about three very special days this week. As we bring October come to a close, I have to mention three of my favorite days; Halloween (All Hallow’s Eve), All Saints and All Souls Days. It’s true I love to share all the pumpkins, black cats and spooky images of Halloween but really for me it is a threshold space, a holy time to think about and ask for the help and guidance of the Saints and the ancestors as we prepare to bring the year to an end (liturgically and then soon after the calendar year). In past years I have participated in retreats or days of reflection, calling upon the wisdom of those gone before. This year I plan on time alone, quiet reflection with a candle and sacred images, reading and prayer. Another Old Country tradition is to place a candle on the tombstone of loved ones on the evening of All Saints Day. I have found myself using electronic candles so the flames don’t go out but my intention is there. The light helps wandering souls or is viewed as an offering to help guide a soul on its way to Heaven. The Day of the Dead, Dia De Los Muertos, celebrated on November 1 and 2, is another beautiful tradition of visiting gravestones with candles, flowers and celebration to honor those who have passed on.

Perhaps you might create a ritual for yourself as we cross from October to November. What saints (big or small S) do you turn to for guidance? Who might have a message that you need right now?

All you holy men and women of God, pray for us!

Deena

The post image is from Assisi with the word Pax (peace) sculpted in shrubs.