Catholic in the City: A Woman's Journey to Living Out Her Faith

“In a situation where habits, established institutions, social and economic structures are leading us to destruction, Christ is our one hope. In quietness and in unexpected places Christ is bringing something new to birth, something we cannot foresee and build our plans upon” (Christian Existence in a World of Limits, John B. Cobb, Jr). In Kenya, the bodies of children are being piled up in a Nairobi morgue, Churches are being burned, and people are running around with machetes. It is a country in the midst of a huge political crisis. In Pakistan, a few weeks ago, the former prime minister, Harvard and Oxford educated, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. Voting in Pakistan’s democratic government has been put on hold. In the Middle East, regardless of your opinion on the war, civil unrest and consistent violence are realities no one can escape. Yet both the Gospel of Matthew and Isaiah today tell us “the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light.” What is “the darkness”?

Weddings! What is it about these life changing events that affect everyone who attends them in either a positive or negative way? We all know that whatever you bring to a situation affects how you will react. Baggage is a good term for this. People who are married may not understand this next statement - being a single women, just leaving a relationship, and being in a wedding is the pits. Watching a couple commit vows of eternal love to one another and to God when one does not even see the potential for romantic love at the present is a difficult conundrum. This analogy will drive this point home. Imagine standing behind the bride during the bouquet toss, no one is in front of you...then in slow motion you see the bouquet falling right into your hands, you feel the roses touch your finger tips...then out of no where someone - a woman desperate to get married - snatches the bouquet out of your hands. Well I don't have to imagine this...it happened tonight. It's almos