Seeking Authentic Voice

A reflection on the readings for Christ the King, Last Pentecost The other day I was doing some work around the church building. It was quiet and I was all alone. Suddenly I heard a scrambling sound and went to investigate. Down the hall from my office, I came upon a squirrel. The squirrel froze in place and looked me in the eye. Without comment the squirrel turned and bounded down the hall, tail switching. He took a left toward the entrance to the parking lot, and then because the doors were closed, circled through Bobs office and then back down the hall the other way toward the church. Following it I closed interior doors along the way, minimizing its options.   I opened the exterior doors hoping the fresh air would guide it outside. I finally arrived in the church where I found the squirrel hiding under a pew in the choir loft. It scampered past me down the stairs and into the church hiding under pews in the front couple of ro...

A reflection on Matthew 25:31-46 Many years ago, on the exit ramp of I-90/94 in Chicago, I encountered a woman with a sign saying something like, “Unemployed homeless mother with three kids. Need food and money.” A car or two stopped and offered money, but many cars drove by without stopping. With my two young children in the car I felt compelled to give her all the cash I had on me, it wasn’t much. I don’t know why I was so moved by this woman, maybe it was the first time I had seen a young mother asking for a handout? I thought of her many times over the years, and wondered how she was, although I didn't see her again for a very long time. Some ten years after I first saw that woman on the exit ramp of the highway, I saw her again, with the same sign, asking for money. Ten years later and her life remained unchanged. Or so it seemed. I was startled and a bit dismayed. A few years later a wild woman appeared at the church I was serving. It was during some event and the pla...