From February 17, 2019
A good friend of my sent me a personal e-mail yesterday morning after reading the Journal. The e-mail had only two lines. As former Jesuit seminarian, in the first line he tossed my way a quotation from St. Ignatius of Loyola. The second line was: “Your eucharist is all around you. Do not travel to the sisters until it’s much safer.”
From February 21, 2019
We left Santa Chiara at 6:05 yesterday morning. Daybreak has barely broken. Billy drove us to the airport in the Honda. I felt that was going to be the worst part of the trip. We had to drive through the slum below us. Around 5:30am, I heard gunfire from the slum.
From February 11, 2019
On the day John Dear returned to California after his visit with us, I asked him if he would pen a few words about his experience at Santa Chiara . . .
Just back from an intense week in Haiti, helping out the Santa Chiara Children’s Center, an orphanage for 68 children run by my friend Gerry Straub. In the midst of Haiti’s suffering, there I saw unconditional love and joy. What a blessing.
From January 31, 2019
For the past few days, I only got about an hour out of the apartment for the express purpose of relaxing. All I did in that hour was walk along the jetty trying capture images of the various birds. In an hour I can take over 200 photos…and by the time I leave, my arm is tired from holding my big, heavy 300mm lens. But I love that hour…an hour without thinking about Santa Chiara, raising funds, answering correspondence, preparing my own personal income tax return, and picking up the mail.
From January 26, 2019
Yesterday was so busy, filled to the brim with banking matters and applying for a grant and correspondence, which stretched well into the evening. I was so busy I had not given any thought to the Journal. I was too tired to think of anything original, and there was, thank God, no distressing news from Haiti to report, I decided to simply share a reflection from a new book I’m struggling to write titled Sunrise of the Soul.
From January 30, 2019
Beauty is everywhere.
Every landscape we love
is
the landscape of our soul.
Pay attention to the lilies,
watch the birds.
Celebrate life…instead of trying
to control it.
From January 29, 2019
It has been raining for days. Torrential downpour on Sunday during the day and all night resulted in a flooded road I used to leave Ocean Village.
From January 28, 2019
Following Jesus requires a lot more than learning abstract ethical and moral principles; it requires a change in heart, a change in the way we look at life. A heart transformed by the love of Christ is a patient heart, a heart that takes the time to be still and to listen.
From January 27, 2019
Peter Francis’ first birthday was the day after I returned to Florida. Santa Chiara celebrated the miracle boy’s milestone with a big party. For the sake of the new Journal readers, Peter Francis was left on a garbage dump by his distraught mother when he was just one day old. A staff member of ours found him and brought him to Santa Chiara.
From January 24, 2019
The first question I asked the group from Texas as I drove them to Santa Chiara on Tuesday was, “Where in Texas are you from?” When they said Fort Worth, Texas, I said, “If it wasn’t for some very wonderful people in Ft. Worth, I might not have survived 2018.” I then told them how I was invited to give my “poverty and prayer” presentation at the First Presbyterian Church in Ft. Worth back in early November 2017.
