Dear Neighbor,
I am not a Catholic, and I do not have a specific church or denomination, but this I know: The world will be a darker place without this wonderful man in our lives. I believe the words he leaves behind will speak for many of us for a long, long time—words to meditate on:
“Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world! But to be ‘protectors’. We also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!”
Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!
Those words were spoken by Pope Francis at the MASS, IMPOSITION OF THE PALLIUM AND BESTOWAL OF THE FISHERMAN’S RING FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE PETRINE MINISTRY OF THE BISHOP OF ROME, HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS, March 19, 2013
For many Americans, these times are beginning to feel like dark times, with no firm direction on where we go from here. Staying with the theme, I may as well quote a Bible verse that has sustained me through tough times over many years, found in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This is one of those times when it is difficult to see evidence of exactly what is going to happen to give us that assurance that good lies ahead, but it is as good a time as any to “hang on to hope.” I have another wise saying of Napoleon Hill, author of the first book I read when I was learning how to be a businessperson, a reminder that’s helped me in business and difficult personal times too. The book is called Think and Grow Rich. I’ve kept this saying as my main mantra: “In every adversity is the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
I hope the words of St. Francis, the unknown author in Hebrews, and Napoleon Hill can lift you up and help you keep hope alive in challenging times.
I am not a Catholic, and I do not have a specific church or denomination, but this I know: The world will be a darker place without this wonderful man in our lives. I believe the words he leaves behind will speak for many of us for a long, long time—words to meditate on:
“Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world! But to be ‘protectors’. We also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!”
Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!
Those words were spoken by Pope Francis at the MASS, IMPOSITION OF THE PALLIUM AND BESTOWAL OF THE FISHERMAN’S RING FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE PETRINE MINISTRY OF THE BISHOP OF ROME, HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS, March 19, 2013
For many Americans, these times are beginning to feel like dark times, with no firm direction on where we go from here. Staying with the theme, I may as well quote a Bible verse that has sustained me through tough times over many years, found in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This is one of those times when it is difficult to see evidence of exactly what is going to happen to give us that assurance that good lies ahead, but it is as good a time as any to “hang on to hope.” I have another wise saying of Napoleon Hill, author of the first book I read when I was learning how to be a businessperson, a reminder that’s helped me in business and difficult personal times too. The book is called Think and Grow Rich. I’ve kept this saying as my main mantra: “In every adversity is the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
I hope the words of St. Francis, the unknown author in Hebrews, and Napoleon Hill can lift you up and help you keep hope alive in challenging times.
