Monthly Archives: October 2024

Reflecting on Jeremiah 31: 7-9

A few years ago, I had the life-changing experience of taking a Justice Matters class on Migration. The worst part was that, unlike my nightly discipline of shielding my eyes and ears when footage of the migrant boats came on the news, we actually had to watch the videos. If I think about it, I’ll cry, and my tears will just add to the rivers of tears shed for the millions of migrants who suffer every day in order to escape the terrors of home.

Imagine, then, the image that Jeremiah offers today. God will gather ALL who migrated out of their homelands, either in the chains of victorious armies, or from the chains of drought and famine.

God will gather them from the ends of the earth. They departed in tears—terrible, throat-choking tears—but they will return wrapped in the comfort and mercy of God.

Those who prayed for water as they left their homes will find streams and streams of it, and on level roads, not on top of treacherous hills and mountains. Jeremiah had clearly traveled with those who migrated out of Jerusalem under the sword of Nebuchadnezzar. He knew about the terrors of traveling outside the safety of home.

But here’s the best part: the pace of the travel was measured by the pace of the blind, the elderly, and the disabled. However slowly they needed to move, that would be how the entire caravan moved, companioning them. Think of the grace of everyone moving to the pace of mercy. Think of yourself, today, moving to the pace of mercy. How does that change your schedule?

Pray for the peace of all the troubled homelands.

How are you following Catholic Social Teaching regarding migration?

Kathy McGovern ©2024

Reflecting on Mark 10: 35-45

Imagine this: it’s Thanksgiving dinner, and, at the table, you pour the wine for the toast. Each guest receives a portion commensurate with their age and status.

Uncle Jack brought his own alcohol to the party and is already on his fourth glass of wine. You pour him a small glass, knowing that he’ll come back, again and again.

On the other side of the table is your thirty-year-old son, recently out of rehab for his own alcohol problems. He’s been sober for four months. Weak with gratitude, he turns his glass over, indicating he will be declining alcohol. You smile and move on.

The kids, naturally, might get just a sip or two in their cups. It’s a delight for them to raise their cups with the grown-ups and offer a toast of thanks. The rest of the wine flows freely, filling the glasses of the adults, with, perhaps, the most generous serving going to the hosts who have provided the feast.

Jesus references this cultural situation when he asks the two brothers, James and John, if they can drink the cup that he will drink. Now this is a great honor, to drink from the largest portion, the cup of the Rabbi! Not only is it delicious, but it honors them above the others. Of course they can drink it!

And so it was. James was the first apostle to be martyred, in 44 AD.  John, after surviving several tortures, died of extreme old age in Ephesus. Their misunderstanding of what the “cup” meant was, after the resurrection, transformed into a radiant desire to share in Christ’s passion, so as to live with him in glory.

In what ways have you grown to desire to be “the least” in your life?

Kathy McGovern ©2024

Reflecting on Wisdom 7: 7-11

My husband Ben has been out in his Man Cave a lot lately, measuring, sawing, nailing, and sanding. He seems quite content. I’ve even caught him humming when he comes in the door. I’m trying not to take it too personally. He’s building my coffin.

Mm-hmm. Ten months ago, we resolved to buy our funeral plots, plan our funerals, and build our coffins. I’m not sure why Ben started on MY coffin first, but as my funny father-in-law asked, “This isn’t a rush job, is it?” I’m overjoyed that it isn’t.

At this moment, life seems long. It’s about as happy a life as can be experienced on this side of heaven. But we’re trying to have Wisdom. We’re trying to take the ancient writer’s words to heart, whose “splendor never yields to sleep.”  We’ve both lived long enough to know that “all good things together” come to us when we pray for Wisdom, and “countless riches are at her hands.”

And so we are consciously and, I hope, prayerfully preparing for that day when nothing matters but the riches we have acquired in heaven. And then we will fall on the mercy of God, for we have come up so short of the gospel command to sell all and give to the poor, and of the Wisdom advice to love God more than “health or comeliness.”

We prayed for Wisdom, and then began to plan our funerals. We have lots of beloved family, and endlessly kind and loving friends. But we’re planning our funerals anyway, because, as Jimmy Stewart reminds us, the only thing we take to heaven is all the love we gave to others in this Wonderful Life.

How are you using Wisdom to live your life?

Kathy McGovern ©2024

Reflecting on Gen. 2: 18-24

We get to talk about LOVE this week, my favorite topic. Genesis says that God even created woman from the rib of man so that the two might become one flesh. What a painful image! But we get the point.

Jesus stands by the Genesis account. When confronted with the issue of divorce, he reminds the Pharisees that God intends that women and men enjoy happy and fruitful lives together. Yes, today, divorce is everywhere, and no, I’ve never met a single person who had to endure a divorce who wasn’t ripped to shreds by it.

Of course, marriage in Jesus’ day bore little resemblance to our own. It was an economic arrangement, usually between members of the same clan, to provide progeny and, depending on the wealth of the bride’s father, financial profit for the groom, his father, and his brothers.

But St. Paul says an extraordinary thing in Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives. What? Was there love involved in the contract? There has to have been. Yes, the marriages were arranged, but even today, the arranged marriages that still take place around the world yield not only children but, often, enduring love. St. Paul understood that for the social contract to be successful, the two people had to look beyond the aggravations of day-to-day life and see the Divine in their union.

Speaking of the Divine, my favorite activity is watching parents with their kids. Is there any love like that? It perfectly images God’s love for us—unconditional and wildly out of proportion to what we can ever deserve. But this outrageous love keeps going on in every age. Such is the fruit of the Trinity becoming ONE FLESH with us.

Name some different things you’ve learned about love from the different relationships in your life.

Kathy McGovern ©2024