Curses or Blessings for Creation?

Posted on May 14, 2021 by the Bouchers

Five years ago, Pope Francis repeated these words of his namesake from Assisi, “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs”.

Then he continues, “This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor… We have forgotten that… our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.” [LAUDATO SI’—ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME]

Perhaps this last year has given us a small taste of how very wrong things can go for all of humanity when one tiny element, like a virus, brings ruin across the globe. Perhaps we have been jolted by how dependent we are on every physical reality on earth, like oxygen and vaccines discovered by scientists.  Maybe this crash course in our global poverty has given us time to stop and think, time to realize that all of humanity is needy and powerless. All of us, and the earth itself, are much poorer that we have ever imagined.

We believe that now is the time to humbly embrace this reality and incorporate newer and deeper kindnesses towards one another and towards all living beings. Now is the time to let go of our dependence on instant gratification through material objects and turn towards nature as a source of delight. It is time to examine the cost of plundering, instead of blessing, our environment and limited resources.

There are signs of hope that our Creator is giving us the inner strength to do so. Activities like cooking and baking have flourished in kitchens across our country. Demand for bicycles has climbed while mileage on cars decreased. Exploring parks has reemerged as a pastime. Beautifying our yards, decks and windowsills has become important. So, think about what earth-friendly activities you have adopted during this past year that might lead you to say, “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our sister, Mother Earth. In this way, we can truly become a tiny, but important, instrument of healing for “soil, water, air and all forms of life.”

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Beyond Aggravation: Onto the Threshold of Evangelizing

Posted on April 13, 2021 by the Bouchers

Do you find yourself being hostile or “putting up” with someone? Do you sometimes avoid people rather than relate to them? Claire was inspired to surrender her aggravations with a co-worker and move beyond merely tolerating her. She wanted to “bear another’s burdens and in this way fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). You too can choose to be a clear and effective witness to God’s unconditional love.

It began when Claire heard the Good Samaritan story during Morning Mass. As she walked down the church stairs to the bus stop, she was very uneasy. “What is it, Mom?” Therese asked. “Oh, I asked God to help me put up with my co-worker, Penny. She’s got a nervous cough and an uncanny knack for chatting when I’m behind in my work. Then to make matters worse, the only answer I get from God is to make her my best friend.”

We can only assume that Claire took God’s word to heart and found ways to befriend Penny. Maybe she turned and listened more often or started eating lunch with Penny. We don’t know, but when Claire died, Penny was heartbroken. “Claire was my best friend,” she told us. Penny was so grateful for their relationship that after Claire’s untimely death, she began visiting Claire’s mom, Jenny, once a month with a bag of goodies. Month after month and year after year, Penny drove to Jenny’s nursing home until Jenny died twelve years later.

We know that Claire took her cue from Jesus, who had an immense capacity to “bear with” groups of physically and emotionally needy people who sought him out. He took the time to embrace and bless a group of infants being thrust at him by their clamoring mothers (Luke 18:15-17). At another time, after a weary Jesus and his disciples had crossed the water to be alone, a sizable crowd followed on foot. Instead of being annoyed, “he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34).

Yet again, when a blind beggar shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” after onlookers tried to silence him (Luke 18:39), Jesus stopped, asked the man what he wanted, and healed him. (This makes sense, because David was the king who knew God’s patient forgiveness, after he stole the wife of Uriah!)

Further back, it is easy to imagine St. Joseph teaching Jesus about bearing with others, in light of Matthew’s story about the birth of Jesus (1:18-24). We are told that Joseph was a righteous person who struggled with the news of Mary’s pregnancy. Since they were already betrothed and had made a formal agreement to marry, Joseph had the right to demand a severe punishment. But the Gospel tells us that he was “unwilling to expose her to public disgrace” (verse 19).

How merciful Joseph was! Instead of choosing punishment for Mary, Joseph decided on a quiet divorce. But even then, as he surrenders Mary’s situation to God, an angel appears in a dream: “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife” (verse 20). And so “when Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded” (verse 24). Joseph accepted Jesus and Mary with unconditional love.

We too can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to move beyond ‘putting up’ with someone. We too can let go of harboring potentially damaging reactions to others. Then we will be on firm ground for sharing our verbal witness without being a contradictory messenger of the Gospel.

***Excerpted from Mending Broken Relationships by John and Therese Boucher available on Amazon.

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Reclaim the Ministry of an Abiding Presence

Posted on March 12, 2021 by the Bouchers

How many of us have suffered the deprivation of being without loved ones? How many of us feel crippled because we can’t see each other face-to-face, instead of mask-to-mask? How many of us yearn for the simple joy of a hug, a handshake, or sitting side by side? We do! We long to meet our newest grandson, George, who was born last July in Quebec. As all of us slowly let go of all these pandemic-induced agonies, let’s look at what we might embrace as goals, based in the Good News of Jesus, our Savior and our Emmanuel.

  1. Jesus has promised his abiding presence until the end of time. Choose an ongoing and deepening relationship, an intimate friendship, with Jesus and his Body, the Church. The dictionary definition of “abide” gives us hints about such a relationship. To abide means “to wait for, to accept, to endure with, to trust, and to remain with.”
  2. Choose Jesus as your source of strength for loving others. “Abide in Me, as I abide in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4. Loving God and neighbor are two sides of the same coin. And our new freedom to be together is meant to reflect the compassionate depth of God’s loving presence.
  3. Choose to be fully present to others in the most personal and fulfilling ways possible. Move toward letters and greeting cards over virtual messages, so that a significant person has something that reminds them of you.  As restrictions on gatherings are lifted, use virtual encounters as mere placeholders in between visits. Offering an abiding presence also means choosing to visit in a regular, predictable way, if only every month or half year.
  4. When meeting face-to-face, put a priority on listening over speaking, like Jesus did during many conversations – with the rich young man, with Nicodemus, with his disciples on the way to Emmaus. Ephesians 3:17-19 encourages us to dwell in Christ, and to be rooted in love, rather than anxious about our own needs and any personal agendas during a conversation or visit.
  5. Imitate the beatitudes, especially visiting the sick and those in every kind of prison. This includes the heart-sick, the emotionally damaged, the lonely and those newly afflicted with PTSD and depression. Consider visits to elderly friends and extended family members, as well. Reach out to ‘sickened’ couples, families and households, not just individuals. All of these are important acts of mercy.

If we have learned nothing else during this pandemic, it is that humans are communal beings who thrive on mutual support and meaningful social gatherings. None of us exists in a vacuum. All of us are called to rebuild our families, faith communities and caring neighborhoods in the name of Jesus.

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