We gather

We gather
to give thanks for my 25 years.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Spring does not just belong to the Arab World

It has been a diverse week. 

We see the retirement of the Pope, the first in 600 years, and I read an article by Hans Kung asking if this was the occasion for a Vatican Spring.  This was the positive question amidst all the gossip and the stories that are presented to speak of the opposite. 

The Order is approaching General Chapter in September and I receive a reflection as part of a preparation tool that finishes with the great question - Are Augustinians on fire or is there even ignition? 

I have a good friend from Europe get in touch to share how a very strenuous divorce is taking its toll on her.  I cannot take away her pain and she is not asking that either.  Rather I share in return my honest belief that it is our chaos and messiness that take us to great heights and to the place where we deserve to be as decent human beings. 

My last week ended with the 25 Years celebration of NCCM (National Catholic Commission on Migration) for which I hold a role and responsibility.  We reach out to the migrants in Thailand and their families.  They are mainly Burmese.  The picture shows some of our charges who attend a school run by the Church for migrant children.  They're young and they're cute and they're full of life.  They're just children.  Yet their lot is tough as part of the local migrant population. 

This was a good introduction to the major part of my week which featured a Symposium on Migration in Greater Mekong Subregion.  It stressed that we all have rights and deserve our dignity no matter how harsh our lot may be and the lot of migrants in this part of the world can be harsh.  We heard from a migrant worker and despite all his suffering he spoke with hope and vision, asking for change to occur so that this population can enjoy the life that is theirs and not taken away just because they have to do the dirty work in a foreign land.  . 

Each part of my week presents its questions and challenges.  It is not depressing by any means.  I find it all life-giving as it all adds to the mix of life within which we can experience our own spring, a spring that is there for all to seize. 

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