At the midpoint of Lent, let’s start with Isaiah,   “No longer will the sun give you daylight, nor moonlight shine on you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light.  Your God will be your splendor.  Your sun will set no more, nor will your moon wane, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light and your days of mourning will be ended”.  60:19 + 20.   God shares light and splendor with the just and righteous.  A favorite quote of Dorothy Day came from Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot,  “ the world will be saved by beauty.”  

Not the kind of glamour nor pomp that is painted on or rehearsed, but the genuine joy of the human soul fulfilled in the service of the other.  Lent exists to give a vision of beauty and glory to withstand the pain of suffering and death.  Anyone captivated by a vision of glory overcomes the obstacles of pain, deception, violence to overcome and reach a goal.  During these weeks, I have tried to find symbols of glory and hope that open us up to the beauty of the cross.  The catechism kids draw them on Saturday and display them at Mass on Sunday, e.g.  The sunrise:  every time we see and feel the sunrise we are reminded of new life and beginnings.  A group of young people gently kidding with one another as one girl says to her boyfriend, “ you more ugly than a dead cat smelling to the high heavens.+”  “No way.  I am beauty in motion more glorious that the sunrise!”  The tree of life:  all trees show off the wonder of creation giving it both breath and sustenance.  The butterfly:  The state of Michoacán hosts the national park of the Monarch butterfly whose gorgeous wings reflect all majesty and brilliance whose colors the soccer team of Morelia have adopted – football, baseball, sports, exercise also enhance the soul.  What does a bee do in a gym?   Zuuuumba!  Asked to give a sign of hope, Pope Francisco answered: “two, a smile and a sense of humor are the flowers of the heart that refresh us all.”  What a shame that these symbols are all declining and the Monarchs of Morelia have dropped to the second division. 

     After finishing the three houses with the help of the kids of the school of carpentry, we built a room addition for a family whose teenagers were sleeping in the kitchen.  The beneficent group Esperanza that promotes self construction homes gave me some old doors that we converted into a bunk bed- no more breakfast in bed. 

     The Campesino Urbano project limps along ever so slowly.  The first section of the perimeter wall runs more than 200 feet, two thirds of the hundred yard dash which now challenges some of us to complete in sub two hour marathon time.  Poco a poco. 

     The migrant camp now has plans and partial clean up.  International Relief teams has promised to send volunteers.  We also have a scholarship program for university students in combination with Techmaster, a local business.  The practical experience has benefited the young people and us.  Once we get started, we hope to finish in a couple of months.  But all human endeavor is beset with calamity and misfortune.  

       Speaking of which, the Giants are mired in spring training. If all goes well, they will not finish in last place in their division.  My sister took a couple of weeks to watch them in Arizona.  Left handed, she could probably pitch better than most on the current roster.  I plan to go to SF this year in October.  Take no worry of a visit interrupting a playoff or world series game. 

     My long time friend and activist Mary Bernier rightly campaigns for a just solution to the war in Gaza which will lead to a two state solution proposed decades ago by the Bush administration.  Biden sends aide by airlift which has already killed five people and supplies bombs to Israel to kill many more. What duplicity.  Cut off aide until they stop the slaughter. Likewise Pope Francis proposes a truce in Ukraine.  Zelinsky opposes bitterly.  But Ukraine’s wheat fields which supply grain for many countries are being destroyed as well as whole cities devastated.  Western support is dwindling. Easter beloved by the Orthodox Churches elicits peace and new beginnings. Declare victory.  End the fighting before Russian nukes destroy everything.  “Discretion is the better part of valor.” Make peace while you still can. “Break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke, to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, to clothe the naked and not turn from your own kin. Then your light will shine like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over.” Is 58:6-8