if you have fish that live too long or flowers that refuse to die, then just give them to me (please don't - I don't have room). I truly do not have a green thumb, so flowers do not do well as my companions. The same is true of fish that I have tried to raise properly. They just decide that I am an unsuitable companion for them - and they end up, on their own, ending their time on this earth.
We are in the Easter season. Yet, this does not seem like a life-enhancing approaching for my little blog. Perhaps true - or maybe just reveals my inner spirit. I did have to make a special effort during the Holy Week/Easter not to appear sad or down. But that was my inner feeling most certainly.
Why? Quite simply, the constant drumbeat of photos, videos, and reporting from Mariupol formed a memory and image that I could not shake. These images involved real people. These tragedies were happening in real time, our time. The images were bad enough. What got to me intensely was the fact that this was a situation that truly seemed hopeless. I'm well aware of the theological truth that God will watch over us and bring us safely home- not necessarily in the short run, in the middle run, but most definitely the ultimate run. This is bedrock theology that, let's face it, makes it difficult to use for comfort in the short run or middle run.
What is happening to those poor people in the Ukraine is a monstrous evil. The people who have ordered these things are guilty of monstrous evil. Those who supported them are monsters - not a difficult conclusion to make. It becomes easy to stand on a soap-box and pontificate about Putin. That is easy. What is much more difficult is to keep in focus the suffering of all these people. To pray to Jesus on the Cross and ask him and his mother to intercede now, not tomorrow. With some unconscious or necessary interruptions, this is what I have been constantly thinking about and praying for - during the last several weeks.
To Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who unties knots, this is a really big one. Help Ukraine. Now. Please.
Something practical to do:
There are many prayers to Mary who undoes knots. They express many different kinds of spirituality. Many are good. Some, I wince a little at the wording. So I'm making this free offer to those who read my blog:
(Exclusive offer to those who read my blog) If you would like a prayer card to Our Lady who Unties Knots, simply send me a stamped self-addressed envelope : Msgr. James Mahoney, Corpus Christi Church, 234 Southern Blvd., Chatham, NJ 07928. No Charge? You buy the stamp! We'll keep this offer going through the end of May.)