A Ministry for the Future
by Elise Garcia, OP -- LCWR Past President
As we make our Advent journey, Earth continues to turn inexorably on its axis. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are being drawn nearer to the day when the bend in the arc stops its progression and, after the longest night, begins a great turning back toward the light. A turning back that brings us into sweet remembrance of the transformative Christ-light that entered our world more than 2000 years ago.
It is a time of waiting in hopeful expectation – even as so much anguish fills our hearts: Harrowing images of shattered communities ravaged by deadly tornadoes. Alarming signs of climate chaos. The persistent cruelty and injustice of racism. Threatening assaults on our democracy and civil discourse. Daily horrors of gun violence. Inhumane treatment of migrants. A global pandemic that is now entering its third year, with 800,000 deaths in our country alone.
We are indeed living in unprecedented times. Times that are challenging us, as spiritual leaders, to live out of our deepest selves. To live out of what we have committed ourselves to as followers of the Way, transforming the way we are in the world in relation to one another and to the whole Earth community – grounded in the present with an eye toward the future. (to continue reading go to the PDF below)