Update - By K. Brewster Hastings

Dear Friend,

People I have interacted with so far this week seem sad.

Maybe it's because I presided at the Requiem Eucharist and burial for Janet Weckerly (dear soul, may she rest in peace); maybe it's because my mother-in-law's funeral was two years ago Monday (dear soul, Janice, rest in peace); maybe it's because several of the pastoral conversations I had this week dealt with some real-life struggles; maybe it's the weather. Or, likely it is a combination thereof.

Whatever the case, people seem sad this week. It is normal to have down times. This is part of the ebb and flow of the Christian life, periods of consolation and desolation like the weather. They remind us we live by hope, which is to say the future is in God's hands.

It also reminds us living "the holiness of daily obligation" bears much fruit. This includes daily prayer, Bible reading, keeping our frustration on a leash, not letting the sun set on our anger, getting daily exercise, being kind to family, friend and stranger alike. Note that many of us love to see movies or read books about great heroes who do unrivaled feats (Joan of Arc, George Washington, Martin Luther King). This is good. Yet, do not forget the unnoticed, nearly invisible acts of kindness and holiness that ordinary people do each day. This accrues a great amount of goodness that keeps our world sane and prepares us for the coming of the Kingdom.

So, good day or bad day, stick to the holiness of daily obligation. Appreciate how it pleases God in an irrefutable way. Do not let the media pollute your peace. Ignore people who gossip. Spend more time listening for God in silence or in his Word than in the babbling media of the TV. You are a son or daughter of God. Live this identity with joy and power and hope.

See you in Church!

Faithfully,

Fr. Hastings