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| Susan, Judy and Fr. John Garry |
Greetings to all on this the last day of 2013.
I was very fortunate to spend two days with two very good friends at the Sunbird lodge. For those who know me, you know I love birds and a fire in the fireplace when it is cold. This year I am missing the cold of Illinois where I was with my birth family last year. But this year I am still with family in front of a fire place because Naivasha is much colder than Mombasa!
As I spend these last few moments of 2013 in reflection I am thinking of family. I know how blessed I am to have you as part of my extended and world wide family. I have all my basic needs met and far more than I need. My calender from the Sisters of St. Joseph of LaGrange has a quote for today, "I am restored in beauty", from a Navaho prayer. Our sharing of a meal around a table in front of a fire place was full of beauty, laughter, good food and we restored one another for another day on the journey. I hope that each of you can be restored by beauty as we move into a new year.
But our world is often full of pain, suffering and the farthest thing from beauty. Such is the case with S Sudan, the newest nation on our planet, born on 9th July 2011. On 15th December fighting began and continues until now. It looks to me like civil war and genocide but I don't hear others using those words. Maybe I am wrong. I hope so. I worked in the Catholic Diocese of Torit, in what is now S Sudan, from 1991 to 2003. I still have many friends there and we all had such hope for the future...until two weeks ago. So, if it is possible, I ask that you help to show solidarity with our family in this new nation by signing on to the petition below:
I clicked on the link and was the 308th person to sign up. It was easy even for me who finds these things challenging. Tomorrow is the International World Day for Peace and it would be a small thing each of us could do to work for peace. It is also the feast of Mary, Queen of Peace. Let's join our prayer with her, and all mothers everywhere, who know that when we forget that we belong to one another... that we are part of one family...it is very hard to find peace.
Peace of the glow and beauty of the flickering flames to you!
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