Dianne Bergant

Nobody wants to suffer Every living being cringes from pain It is almost as if we have within us a driving force to run away from it And then we come across readings like today rsquo s that admonish us ldquo to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice rdquo They seem to call us to act against

Is it true that life has gotten harder over the years Or might it be that we have simply grown up and now realize that it has always been a challenge we were simply shielded from its hardships We were taught to live good lives to be kind to others and to follow the rules Why is it then that t

Today we celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary as we proclaim that she was taken body and soul into heaven Unlike the Ascension of Jesus there are no biblical traditions associated with this teaching of the church The earliest references to Mary rsquo s assumption appear as early as the

If you were approached by God as was Solomon and told ldquo Ask something of me and I will give it to you rdquo how would you respond Would you ask for money A happy family Good health World peace Solomon asked for ldquo an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish righ

It is very convenient to drive up to a metal box place an order turn the corner of the building and pick up a meal in a colorfully decorated bag But indulging our penchant for speed and convenience is often paid for by the loss of human sharing There is something very intimate about eating with

One of the great disappointments of my life was the painful realization that every religious group to which I belong is imperfect This should not have surprised me Religious or not each group is made up of limited human beings Still idealistic as I was I expected more of religious people But

I see trees of green red roses too I see them bloom for me and you I see skies of blue and clouds of white the bright blessed day the dark sacred night And I think to myself what a wonderful world Several decades ago the jazz musician Louis Armstrong was inspired by the magnificence of the n