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“Remember
the long way that the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the
wilderness …” These words from today’s reading from Deuteronomy struck me in a
particular way this week.  I have driven
across the Sinai Peninsula; even walking in family groups, you would need to go
“the long way” in order to take 40 years to make the trip!  We are told that God chose this long way in
order to humble the people …

I
have listened to the story of Mary Magdalene’s arrival at the empty tomb every
Easter Sunday for my entire life. But this year two aspects of the story are
resonating in a new way.  The first is
the image of Mary weeping as she looks into the tomb and sees two angels in
white.  She does not pause to marvel at
the angels or wonder why they are there. 
Her grief and sense of powerlessness are all consuming:  …

He was lying in a hospital bed on the palliative care
unit.  His family was worried about his
discomfort, his weakness and his approaching death.  His only concern was that everyone else would
understand that there was nothing to fear. Where others were seeing the shadow
of death, he was seeing the light of God’s promise; and he wanted to share that
light. He asked if he could tell me a story that I could then tell to other

“He shall not judge by what his
eyes see or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness, he shall
judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.”

There is an internet video clip
that shows a large group of young adults lined up on a field to begin a running
race. The winner of the race will be given one hundred dollars. The person who
is organizing the race …

“Oh Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? … Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.” Whether it is news about environmental degradation, or about the undermining of the democratic process, news about migrants dying as they try to reach a place of safety or news about the violence in Yemen or Syria or Hong Kong, news about increases in gun violence in Toronto or about the recent spate of suicides …

In today’s second reading Paul appears to
celebrate suffering: “we boast in our
sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces
character …” Working in the hospital, I come face to face with suffering on
a daily basis; but I cannot recall ever meeting someone who was glad for the
suffering. Occasionally, people talk about offering up the suffering; and
sometimes I hear people quote today’s scripture passage and comment on the fact
that they already have more …

Monday Paris, accompanied by the world,
watched as the Cathedral of Notre Dame burned. In those hours so much seemed to
be swallowed by flames, not just a phenomenal piece of gothic architecture, but
also a tangible promise of hope, continuity and resilience. News image after
news image showed the faces of people looking lost, bewildered and devastated …
and it struck me that once again the Cathedral was serving the purpose for
which it was built. It was …

Over and over again I meet people in the hospital
whose pain cannot be alleviated by medications, because even though they feel
it in their body, it is soul pain. It is the pain of being out of synch with
the world in which they live, the pain that grips when an important
relationship (with self, with others, with nature or with God) has been
severely damaged and a person can see no way past the brokenness.