Greetings!

June 14th, 2025....a day in Ordinary Time, a day of paradoxes, a day of infamy...

In terms of global news, what is most significant is Israel's attack on Iran and the escalating violence between the two nations. As bombs rain down on innocent civilians, one has to wonder at the madness that initiated these attacks and at the lack of foresight regarding potential outcomes. As Macbeth laments after seeing Banquo's ghost, "Blood will have blood!" (Act 3 sc.iv). Or, as Jesus put it, "Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword" (Mt 26:52). Sadly, the sword has a wide reach and doesn't discriminate between the violent and the innocent, a fact we see in all the world's conflict zones; nor does it discriminate between national boundaries.

Nationally, the assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, as well as the wounding of Senator John Hoffman and his wife, have been called "acts of targeted political violence." Violent words beget violent actions, but we are living in an era when some of those mandated to serve and protect are instead resorting to intimidation and public bullying. Threatening to kill protestors "graveyard dead" can only inflame rising tensions and cause deeper divisions.

Here in Chicago, downtown at the Daley Plaza, tens of thousands gathered to raise their voices on "No Kings Day," joining 2,000 nationwide protests against a celebration that, far from promoting peace, flaunted military might. With a price tag that conservative estimates place at $45 million, the military parade in Washington purportedly celebrated the U.S. Army's 250th birthday, but the sight of tanks rumbling down Constitution Avenue hardly allays fears about where and how these weapons of mass destruction will be used.

Meanwhile, on a happier note, Chicago celebrated the election of Pope Leo XIV at a mass in Guaranteed Rate Field led by Cardinal Blase Cupich. Entitled "Chicago Celebrates Pope Leo XIV," the event featured a video message from the Pope to the world's youth. Thousands gathered to pray, to invoke the Holy Spirit, to express gratitude for our new pontiff, and to come together in unity. Given everything that is happening in the world, prayer seems like the best antidote to chaos -- perhaps the only antidote!

Blessings for Ordinary Time!

Elizabeth

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SCRIPTURE READINGS

Jesus said to his disciples:

"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it

now. But when the Spirit of Truth comes,

he will guide you to all Truth. He will not speak on his own,

but will speak what he hears, and will make known the things that are to come.

He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine;

for this reason, I told you that he will take from what is mine

and make it known to you."

John 16:12-15

For many of us, learning to sign ourselves with the Sign of the Cross marked our first formal ritual and our first prayer; In his article, "Sign of the Cross: How is it Made by Different Denominations?" John Nichiporuk points out that various denominations have their own ways of signing and their own traditions regarding when this should be done. For those of us who identify as "cradle Catholics," the Sign of the Cross was something we learned before we were even verbal. The first signing, of course, may have been a ritual gesture that welcomed us into this world as family members traced the Cross our foreheads in blessing. Then, at our baptism, there was the sacramental signing that marked us as disciples who belonged to Christ because by entering the Baptismal waters, we had died with him and risen with him. Clumsily at first, as we grew older, we learned the sequence of actions and accompanying words until we gained proficiency. We also learned to cross ourselves during private and public prayer, before meals, and, of course, during liturgical celebrations. There are also those who cross themselves as a form of protection, or to gain a winning edge before some game or challenge. In this way, the Sign of the Cross can be reduced to a magical rite akin to wearing a good luck charm of some kind.

But while crossing ourselves may now be "second nature," some of us may have forgotten that the Sign of the Cross is a Trinitarian prayer, not only made in the Name of Jesus, but also in the Name of God the Father, and of the Holy Spirit. It is also possible that we never learned that Baptism not only represents immersion into Paschal Mystery but also immersion into the life of the Trinity. Either way, by "forgetting" or "not knowing," we limit our understanding of what it means to be a Christian. At the heart of the Trinity is Love; we cross ourselves not just to remember Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection, but to enter the Mystery of Divine Unity. Just as Jesus and the Father are One, so we, too, can participate in that relationship, filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, we make the Sign of the Cross to open our hearts to that indwelling God who desires nothing more than our love.

May the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all...

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