Good morning, digital neighbors! Well, Friday is here—congratulations on making it through another work week! For most people that marks the end of the work week, but Fridays are still great for me. They’ve lost some of their magic compared to the days before ordination, though. I still enjoy them, but they feel more like any other day of the week.
Pets are great; losing them and having to say goodbye is not. Few things are harder than letting go of a beloved animal at the time of their death. I have buried hundreds of people—some of them dear friends—in the parishes where I’ve served. I pray for many of them every day at Mass. Losing Jackson, however, was among the hardest of all the friends I’ve lost. He was my dog and was there every single day. I still miss him. Rylee is great, so much joy and energy, and I love the cats Holly and Ivy, but I miss my boy. I suspect I always will. A few photos of Jackson to follow. The final one was of his last day among us, he had such a difficult time being in my recliner. He loved that chair. He was such a good boy.
I don’t live in that sorrow, and it doesn’t affect me much day-to-day, but from time to time powerful memories stir and it becomes fresh again. I’m okay with that. Those little visits from the past are a blessing to me—they keep me from forgetting. I remember how blessed I was to share time with him. Prayers for all of you who have loved your pets and have had to say goodbye.
THE LOVE THEY GIVE US
Not only is there always another good animal in need of a good home, but we must remember to be thankful for the time and love our animals give us while they are here. Take time to enjoy them and learn from them. As painful as it is to lose them, they teach us to love unselfishly, to live each day to the fullest, to grow old gracefully, and to die with dignity. We do them a disservice if we focus only on the sorrow of their death when they have given us so much joy through their lives. If we truly wish to honor them, let’s take all the love they gave us and give it back to another animal in need. – Kent C. Greenough
TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
As we lay our hands upon you
Before your final rest,
Our hearts surround to love you,
And thank you for your best.
Our home you watched and treasured,
Our lives you truly blessed.
Lessening now your burdens,
We tend your tired bones.
Let us be your pillow,
Then wings to take you home.
Listen for God’s calling,
Sweet promises of peace.
Old friend, leap to Heaven—
Suffering released!
– Annie Dougherty
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman François-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King” (r. 1643-1715), Voltaire suffered tragedy at a young age when his mother died. Never close with his father or brother, Voltaire exhibited a rebellious attitude toward authority from his youth. His brilliant mind was fostered in the care of the Society of Jesus, who introduced him to the joys of literature and theater. Despite his later criticisms against the Church, Voltaire, throughout his life, fondly recalled his dedicated Jesuit teachers.
Although he spent time as a civil servant in the French embassy to the Hague, Voltaire’s main love was writing—an endeavor where he excelled in various genres, including poetry, which led to his appointment as the royal court poet for King Louis XV. Widely recognized as one of the greatest French writers, and even hyperbolically referred to by ...
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XIII
The Proud Minister
One day there came into the Garden a man in torn clothes badly bruised and cut, who said to the Lover, “In the name of the Beloved I demand your help.”
So the Lover and the Disciple let him in and dressed his wounds and prepared the best of the vegetables from the Garden for him to eat. When his wounds had been dressed and he had eaten and rested the Lover asked him how he had fallen into this plight, to which the man replied, “I was Minister of the Beloved in a city near this place, where I preached His gospel and expounded His doctrine to the people. I pointed out to them how their sins had made them wholly hateful to the Beloved and how therefore they were utterly beyond the range of His love and He would condemn them to eternal torments, whereon some fell into despair and wept bitterly but many were angry. One day the magistrates called me before them and begged me to leave the city and preach elsewhere for they said I had made many people so angry and desperate that they feared there might be a riot and they might not be able to protect me but that I might suffer some injury. I, however, very zealous for the Beloved and believing that the magistrates only feared that their own sins might be proclaimed, preached the more vehemently, denounced the magistrates and made it abundantly clear that the whole wicked city was foredoomed to eternal punishment by the just provision of the Beloved. Whereon a mob, stirred up no doubt by the corrupt and venal magistrates, fell upon me with sticks and stones, nearly killing me and driving me out of the city in the state in which I came to you.”
“My friend,” said the Lover, “this was not a good deed of yours, for besides denying the unfathomable compassion of the Beloved, you have by your obstinacy caused these people to commit a grievous sin, and this cannot be pleasing to the Beloved, that through you who profess to be His minister the people should become worse. Surely you remember that He Himself said, ‘If they persecute you in one city flee to another.’”
Therefore the man was very angry, and cursing the Lover, said, “I see that I have had a very false report of you and I do not believe that you are a servant of the Beloved at all. When I came to you so injured for the Beloved’s sake you set before me only herbs and fruits although the garden is full of birds which you could have killed to make me a worthy meal. I shall proclaim everywhere that you are no true servant of the Beloved but a mere falterer who dares not suffer in the cause of the Beloved. Be sure that you are foreordained to eternal torments who suffer nothing here.”
For the man was so blinded by his own pride that he could not perceive the scars on the hands and feet and the brows of the Lover nor how the cloth beneath the armpits of his tunic was dyed with a red dye. So he went out of the Garden cursing and shouting.
But the Lover looked sad and said, “A man like this does much harm to the cause of the Beloved, for by thus speaking falsely about the Beloved he may bring men to fear Him but none to love Him, and by love alone can any man approach the Beloved.”
