Peace

As a pastor, I try to keep my ear open to what the concerns are of my congregation.  For example, when the Supreme Court made on marriage, I went in the sacristy before mass started that next Sunday, and that was the theme of the conversation going on in there.  A pastor would be remiss if he did not address things like this. And that is the comment I hear from some in the community, that there churches do not address the real issues that are going on in the world.  We can talk about salvation and the eternal life that is to come, but what about the issues that impact our daily lives here on earth?  These past few weeks, with the bombings in Paris fresh in our minds and with a foreign travel advisory warning being issued by the US State Dept, ISIS and terrorism and religious persecutions seems to be the topic of the day.  I saw this quote on the American pilgrims website this morning from Ghandi - "There is no path to peace. Peace is the path."  Amen I say to that.  We cannot be complacent and we cannot remain inactive, but we cannot give up our values and we cannot give up working for peace and solidarity, even with those who try to do us harm.  Jesus calls us to live out the Gospel in our lives.  It that just a lofty ideal, or is that something we struggle with in our daily lives?  We are all in this together.  I made my reservations to go to Spain last night.  I leave on my pilgrimage on January 17 after my three Sunday masses. I will be gone of three week.  This is my fourth time going to the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela.  As I anticipate my departure in less than two months, I so look forward to spending time with God and the goodness of his creation on this ancient pilgrimage route.   I will fly from Memphis to Dallas to London to Madrid, and then will start the morning of January 19th on the pilgrimage route in the Basque country in Spain after a train ride there.  I will pray every step of the way.  I will pray for a renewal of my own soul, something I desperately need after the long days of work I have as a priest.  (We priests are required to go on an annual retreat as written in the Church's canon law, and there is a real reason for that requirement.)  Let us pray for peace and a conversion of the souls who wish to do harm and violence in the world.  Let us pray for peace.