July 1, Bl. Juni0pero Serra Gen. 21:5, 8-20; Mt. 8:28-34

Todays Genesis story describes a lonely wilderness place, where Hagar and her sonwere in the wilderness, one experiences both the presence and absence of God. When we find ourselves in the wilderness, we quickly learn that we are not alone.  No matter what makes our live a wilderness, it can be lonely.  But in the wilderness , God does hear.  When everything about us looked like wilderness and thrat of death God opens our eyes and we see new life. In my own life in the times of abs0lute alienation God is present. There is an elderly woman who has turned on me because I am not Roman, she frankly was very abusive with me.   I feel lousy, but I can not change her, and I can not change who I am. To me what she believes does not determine my feelings--it is about mutal respect.  But for her it is the black and white.  All of our stories do not have happy endings. Some end in deathly wilderness, without a sign of life-gving water of new life.  We can recognize also recognize all the ways we alienate ourselves and retreat into places of isolation.  But in our despair we must not shut God out of our lives or close our hearts to love. And so I move on, even in the pain of feeling failure and isolation. For me the following quote sums up what I believe--my faith is not black and white but:

"The Word did not become a philosophy, a theory, or a concept to be
discussed, debated, or pondered. But the Word became a person to be
followed, enjoyed, and loved!"
- Anonymous

I had lunch with Jeff, went to food bank and got food for a young man, it felt great providing him and his girlfriend with enough food to last for a month and get him through his period here; went to Pacifica and saw Brandon and Dustin; dinner with friends, and outreach and bed. Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!