What Comes Next?

Dear Friends,

Last weekend Catholics celebrated All Saints Day and All Souls Day, special remembrances of the dead who have gone before us. I found myself rereading The Passion of Perpetua, an early third century document built around Saint Perpetua’s prison diary. 

This North African noblewoman had just given birth when arrested and imprisoned with the new baby and Felicity, her pregnant servant and friend. Before their executions, both women endured the pleas of loved ones to renounce Christianity and return home. Both entrusted their children to family members. 

Perpetua writes that during prayer she remembered her young brother who had died at age seven. His cancer had distorted one side of his face and mouth. She wept, remembering well his suffering and their family’s loss. That night she dreamed that he came to her and asked if his face could be healed. She awoke weeping to see him still suffering and alone. 

Some nights later Perpetua again dreamed of her little brother. He was in a beautiful garden, his face healed and bright with joy. He greeted her and then turned to join other children in their playing and laughing. This apparition consoled Perpetua and her companions. It strengthened their faith that they and the ones they loved would know healing and new life. Death would not be the end. All life’s wounds would be healed.

With hope,
Susan Schantz SSJ

Celebrating All Saints Day

Dear Friends, 

On this first Sunday of November, the Saints of God capture our liturgical minds and hearts. We celebrate them all. But who are they, these holy ones of God? Matthew Robb Brown, American essayist, and poet, is also a deacon in the Eastern Orthodox Church and a convert from the Baptist Church. He has studied and learned much about the saints in his faith journey. Here is a piece he wrote. I offer it to help us celebrate All Saints Day in an expansive way. 

It is the glory Saints hide in
of the Church         blossoms,
that it cannot ride birds, top clouds;
name follow passages
all the saints. under the 
                                                        earth. 

It is the glory
of the Church         They sweep the floors
that it cannot of the universe.
remember                                       They take out the garbage 
all the saints.                         of the cosmos.  

It is the glory
of Christ The seeds they scatter
that we cannot soften and green the
count hillsides.
all the saints. 

Saints are found                            The faithful  
behind all the rocks                 cling to the roots  
of the                                         of the saints,  
mountain.                                 growing up  
                                                        from the ground. 

When the darkening world threatens to overwhelm us and we find ourselves without joy, let’s look to the saints, who in their ordinariness became extraordinary messengers of God’s presence and love. 

Happy feast!

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Autumn Change and Growth

Dear Friends,

A recent trip to Saratoga Springs was a dive into bright foliage, all orange and gold and red. The falling leaves and bare branches provoked reflection. What lasts? What fades and dies? Where do we humans fit in the cycles of creation? What can I learn from a tree?

As a young Language Arts teacher, I assigned students to choose a tree to observe for the school year. I told them to watch closely. Each week they and I then wrote a few words about what we saw. Some weeks we wrote about the tree. Any changes? Any growth? Some weeks we wrote about ourselves. Any changes? Any growth?

Autumn 2026 invites me to attend to the growing, changing world around me. Nature is a dear companion as we humans grow and change. I love to read this 1928 Robert Frost poem that may speak to you, too, about change and growth.

Tree at My Window

Tree at my window, window tree,
My sash is lowered when night comes on;
But let there never be curtain drawn
Between you and me.

Vague dream head lifted out of the ground,
And thing next most diffuse to cloud,
Not all your light tongues talking aloud
Could be profound.

But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,
And if you have seen me when I slept,
You have seen me when I was taken and swept
And all but lost.

That day she put our heads together,
Fate had her imagination about her,
Your head so much concerned with outer,
Mine with inner, weather.

Appreciating autumn leaves,

 
Susan Schantz SSJ

A Fall Bouquet for the Soul

Dear Friends,

The fall season is deepening in our northern part of the world. The oak leaves, beech tree leaves, the many kinds of foliage are changing, drying up, falling off to expose the surprisingly beautiful skeletal structure of the trees and bushes that have been hidden all summer. The leaves themselves offer a meditation on change.

In this season of new things coming into sight, we might find new ideas or new renditions of old ideas seeking entrance into our minds and hearts. What follows here is a set of eight unconnected thoughts that have brought me up short this summer – ideas about God, faith, our own potential, to mull over, relish and maybe make my own. I offer them to you as a fall bouquet to use in your inner room where you go to be with God and to grow. You may not find all of them helpful. Choose one or two to concentrate on. Have a conversation with others about the meaning of a thought that eludes you.

The banquet table of the Lord is open to you if it is open to everyone. (John Shea)

Grace is when God gives us something we do not deserve. Mercy is when God does not give us what we deserve.

Paradise is surrounded by a wall, guarded by reason. Until you overcome reason, you cannot enter paradise.

Celebrate what’s right with the world, when faced with life and death. Be ready. Surprise awaits you.

The best and most wonderful thing that can happen to you in this life is that you should be silent and let God work and speak. (Dag Hammarskjold)

Never go anywhere without the angels

Who watch God’s face and listen to be sought.

Greater than you, yet they have joy to serve you.

Never go blundering through the jungle,

Without a clear-eyed one to part the branches,

shout snake or swamp hole, cry a rock beware.

The angels of the Lord encamp around you

In any place you pitch your tents for prayer. (Jessica Powers)

We can’t desire something unless we have tasted it. (Father James Martin)

Develop an emotional resilience to live with hanging issues. (Sister Jean Bellini, SSJ)

Blessings for October!

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Catholic and catholic

Dear Friends,

References to Catholicism have made their way into 2026 social media, print journalism, and conversations. Political advertising and speeches often note the ethics and religious beliefs of candidates. Some US citizens are analyzing whether there is or should be a clear Catholic voting bloc. The immigration crisis sparks discussion of morality and responsibility of citizens and their leaders. Some Catholic bishops initiate conversations about Catholic social teaching. And, oh yes, a former Rochester bishop is named a Catholic Blessed and the ceremony and veneration of relics prompt reminiscence and questions and reflection.

What does the word catholic mean? Its Greek roots point to a concern for the whole, a universal perspective. When second century bishop Ignatius of Antioch used the adjective catholic to describe the early church, he was celebrating its missionary communities of many locations, languages, and traditions. 

During the years of the protestant reformation, catholic began to denote the Christian churches loyal to Rome. The word’s use to refer to one Christian denomination weakened its rich message of mission and universality. 

This fall I am preoccupied with being Catholic and with the meaning of this affiliation. Returning to the earliest meaning of the word catholic helps me gain some perspective on the many issues and events I mention above. I attempt to think and pray as a member of a church that encompasses many eras and many cultures. I want to vote and behave as a citizen with a global and inclusive perspective. 

Catholic and catholic, 

Susan Schantz SSJ

Following St. Francis' Enduring Call to Love Creation

Dear Friends,

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis resembled Jesus as completely as any person could. Francis, in an age that did not think in these terms, gave us a totally new way of looking at and loving creation. In this love of his, Francis showed us that we are kin to all creation and creation to us. We are not simply to use creation, or master it or dominate it. Instead, we are to look upon all creation as our beloved friends, family and neighbors.

In his “Canticle of the Creatures,” Francis taught us to embrace in our prayer brother sun, wind, air and fire. He honors moon, water, earth, and the stars as our sisters.

Swimming out into Canandaigua Lake a few weeks ago, sister water snake crossed my path, her head held high. A few moments later, baby water snake hurried along to catch up. We shared the lake. Sisters all.

In this month leading up to Francis’ feast, let’s read scripture in a new way. In answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” let us turn to all creation, which today, seems to be suffering all over the world from floods, famine, drought, and frequent storms of great magnitude. Let us honor creation with our careful use of its gifts and let it blossom in whatever way it can.

Theologian Elizabeth Johnson, in her book “Come, Have Breakfast,” encourages us to develop this way of thinking and living. “Give God credit for loving the earth. Loving God with all your heart and soul, mind and strength, be converted to your own self as part of creation. Love your neighbor as yourself. Ponder how you can make the world a more compassionate place for all living beings." (P.158)

The American author, poet, activist and farmer, Wendell Berry had a love affair with nature, much as Francis of Assisi did, though from a more humanist perspective. In his poem, “The Peace of Wild Things,” Berry, who died in August of this year at the age of 92, offers us a soothing place to grow stronger in our sense of oneness with creation. He says:

            When despair for the world grows in me
            and I wake in the night at the least sound
            in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
            I go and lie down where the wood drake
            rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
            I come into the peace of wild things
            who do not tax their lives with forethought
            of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
            And I feel above me the day-blind stars
            waiting with their light. For a time
            I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Samaritan Voting

Dear Friends,

Do you need inspiration for participation in this year’s midterm elections? Here’s an approach I read about last week: Vote like a Samaritan!

Julia Maskivker is a professor at Rollins College who writes on the ethics of citizenship. She argues that voting is a citizen’s ethical obligation. She works in philosophical, not religious ethics, but finds a model in the bible story of the Good Samaritan. The traveling Samaritan sees the injured man at the side of the road. Acting on behalf of this stranger, he finances lodging and care. He does what is in his power to do. Maskivker posits that the Samaritan’s choice to help the neighbor is a model for the citizen voter.

Whether one believes voting to be a right, a responsibility, a privilege or a burden, the Good Samaritan model is a useful way to approach this year’s elections. Voters will select leaders for various levels of local, state, and federal government. A given candidate may not appear to affect an individual voter’s welfare, but a Good Samaritan voter would consider the good of the neighbor. The Good Samaritan voter looks at the neighbor’s need as well as her own when casting a ballot.

A Good Samaritan voter will cast a ballot in every election. If more voters are Good Samaritans, turnout will increase. Leaders might more thoroughly understand their constituents’ values and priorities. Leaders might more effectively develop pathways to a peaceful nation and world.

Susan Schantz SSJ

New York State Voter Registration Deadline October 24
https://elections.ny.gov/register-vote

The Duty to Vote. Julia Maskivker, Oxford University Press (2019).

A Heart Full of Names

Dear Friends,

This September, print, broadcast and social media have featured stories about September 11 attacks. Twenty-five years later, we still share the names and stories of the lost. We hear the words of the bereaved and accompany them in this anniversary commemoration. Names of the dead are engraved in memorials, hearts, memory, and United States history.

A Brazilian bishop, Dom Pedro Casaldáliga, spoke powerfully about this obligation to hold dear the names and stories of others. Before his death in 2020, he wrote a poem that includes these lines:

        At the end of the road
        They will ask me
        Have you lived?
        Have you loved?
        And I, without saying anything,
        Will open my heart full of names.

Reflecting on those lines, I imagine the names of those who died on September 11. And as I pray, I realize my heart must welcome the names of all who are dying in military conflict. International disputes and violent actions offer to our attention names from battles in Ukraine and Russia, Gaza and Israel, Iran and Sudan. The dead are civilians, journalists, soldiers, travelers, relief workers, and children. Here are just a few of the first names published since 2021.

Swarna
Kevin Patrick
Vladimir
Joshua Ruben
Sadie
Cortez
Shoshana
Yugi
Jimmie
Melanie Lamar
Ghaidaa
Siraj
Cory
Suhelah
Kateryna
Eliyahu
Shiri
Carmel
Sonthaya
Tyler
Ashley
Ali
Lyuba
Aziz
Natasha
Oleg
Miriam
Leonid
Mykola
Amal
Fatima
Ivan
Roxana

Remembering these and all the war dead,

Susan Schantz SSJ

Remembering 9/11, Twenty-Five Years Later

Dear Friends,

Friday will be the 25th anniversary of the infamous 9/11. Every year since then, this horrific event is commemorated. Twenty-five years of the bells ringing at the memorial sites in New York, Shanksville, PA and at the Pentagon. Stories of heroism and loss are intertwined in the telling of the events of that day. Children of the fallen have grown up, experienced positive peak moments in their lives, but without that special someone by their side. Churches were full immediately after 9/11, at least for a while.

The media will be full of memories and reflections as we approach the 25th.

Americans are very different today than we were in 2001. Cell phones are our constant companions. AI sneaks in to shape our thinking. We have moved on.

Today I turn to silence and the poetry of David Whyte to give us space to encounter the depth of what happened on September 11, 2001:

LOAVES AND FISHES

This is not
the age of information.

This is not
the age of information.

Forget the news,
and the radio,
and the blurred screen.

This is the time
of loaves
and fishes.

People are hungry,
and one good word is bread
for a thousand.

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Words About Work

Dear Friends,

What work did you do? A new neighbor asked me this question some weeks ago. Like any octogenarian Catholic Sister, I drew my response from quite a long list.

Since that conversation, I have been continuing to reflect on work and what it all means. I still work every day. For any person of any age, each day is a workday since we are made in the image of a creator God. As Labor Day 2026 approaches, I offer these random insights gleaned in the past weeks.

Work connects us with each other. Consider the work of a grocery cashier or a farmer, a maintenance tech or a teacher, a fast-food worker or bus driver.

When we work, we are part of imperfect systems, and we experience personal and societal struggle. Consider the work of a police officer or a social worker, a pastor or a union organizer, a nursing assistant or a stockbroker. 

Work is our response to the dear neighbor. Consider the work of parents and Little League coaches, hospital volunteers and bake sale donors, ambulance volunteers and grandparents who care for their children’s children.

Creative work is restorative and healing. Consider the work of the home cook who brings color and flavor to the table, the songwriter who gives words to joy and pain, the muralist who transforms a building’s gray wall. 

On September 6, the United States celebration of Labor Day will call us to reflect on human labor and the rights and responsibilities of workers. During these days leading up to the holiday, join me in reflecting on our lives’ ongoing and meaningful work. 

~ Susan Schantz SSJ

Who Do You Say I Am?

Dear Friends, 

In Psalm 62, the Israelites sing to God as their rock, their salvation, their fortress and their refuge. Even in the worst of their times, the Israelites were confident that God was all these things for them. 

Centuries later, Jesus appeared among the Israelites, humbly born, obscure for so many years of his life. Did Jesus really know what people thought of him? Was he their fortress, their rock, their salvation and their deliverer? Did he want them to see and name the depth in him? Did he want to know if they found him loveable and loving? Did they know how far he was willing to go to save them from eternal death? “Who do you say I am?” Jesus asked Peter. 

We seldom, if ever, ask people that question about ourselves: “Who do you say I am?” 

For one thing, we don’t want to give people the power of characterizing us.  

But if we are honest, we really do want to know what people think about us. 

Am I among those who tenderize life? 

Do I stand ready to turn the world upside down with a smile, a pause that refreshes? 

Do I welcome budding life and never crush the smoldering wick? 

Do I have confidence that the Father will use me to help others through to life everlasting, and am I willing? 

Jesus is ours for the asking, ours to recognize for who he is. Jesus is an endless loaf of bread and a cup brimming over with delicious wine that hints of honey and the promise of sweetness to come. 

Who do we say Jesus is? Will we learn from him? 

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Summer Stories

Dear Friends,

Today’s blog post is a look back to a letter from the late Pope Francis about enriching reading. Summer reading lists are not just for students! In mid-August many of us enjoy some leisure reading. We rely on friends’ recommendations or choose a book reviewed by Instagram or tv hosts. We select a cozy mystery or a thriller or a controversial dystopian novel. 

In July 2024, the Vatican published a papal letter about reading as part of seminarians’ formation for ministry. In his opening paragraph, Pope Francis writes that his reading recommendation is really for all believers. All the baptized are in formation as disciples called to mission.

What does the Pope ask us to read? The Catholic Catechism? A Synod document? One of the four gospels? No. The Pope wants us to read novels, short stories, and poems. Why? Francis explains why in his letter. Here are some quotations from Francis, the book loving shepherd.

This is a definition of literature that I like very much: listening to another person’s voice.

… in moments of weariness, anger, disappointment or failure, when prayer itself does not help us find inner serenity, a good book can help us weather the storm until we find peace of mind.

… we should select our reading with an open mind, a willingness to be surprised, a certain flexibility and readiness to learn, trying to discover what we need at every point of our lives.

… Each new work we read will renew and expand our worldview.

… access which literature grants to the very heart of human culture and, more specifically, to the heart of every individual.

By opening up to the reader a broader view of the grandeur and misery of human experience, literature teaches us patience in trying to understand others, humility in approaching complex situations, meekness in our judgement of individuals and sensitivity to our human condition.

We develop an imaginative empathy that enables us to identify with how others see, experience, and respond to reality. Without such empathy, there can be no solidarity, sharing, compassion, mercy. In reading we discover that our feelings are not simply our own, they are universal, and so even the most destitute person does not feel alone.

And so, dear friends, whatever your current read, dive back in. Pick up a novel. Enjoy some poetry. Grab a half hour for that short story. Know that any reading touches the spirit, and that fiction has a special way of opening our hearts and minds to God and God’s creation.

~ Susan Schantz, SSJ

PS: If you feel attracted to reading the Pope’s whole letter, you can find it on the Vatican website.

Growth in Faith and the Challenge of AI

Dear Friends,  

What, if anything, do these words mean to you? 

                        Form         Deform         Reform         Transform 

Give up? They are stages/periods/phases each of us goes through over our lifetime. 

"From my mother’s womb you knit me together." (Psalm 139.13) My parents, too, formed me, as did my siblings, my neighborhood, my church. I became someone. But along the way, I encountered deforming moments – people who violated me in some way, situations that stole my dignity, my sense of wellbeing. But then, inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit, I became re-formed. Maybe closer to my original pattern, maybe quite different. But I came to recognize myself again. The deformations faded into perspective, and I valued who I am and who I was becoming. Along the way, I became conscious of something at work in me that was beyond me, what the spiritual writer Jan Richardson calls “unaccountable grace that enter in unseen …” Divine grace transforms us into the likeness of God in ways beyond what we could imagine.  

There it is. The work of a lifetime. Welcoming formation, guarding against deformation, honoring re-formation and allowing ourselves to become transformed. 

Not once and for all, but over and over again. 

If that were all we had to deal with, it would be more than enough. But in every age and every time, including ours, unexpected challenges arise. Challenges which are initially seen as benign. In our time and in our world, a clear challenge is Artificial Intelligence. Yes. AI. Certainly a tool for enhancing life but a dangerous one.  

AI lives in our smart phones. It offers us immense control over how we spend our time. With the single-minded control it offers, the theologian Ilia Delio reminds us that AI weans out of us generous thoughts of others, and compassion for them. As AI encroaches on our lives, Ilia Delio says we have no room for the grace of conversion, no room for the many transformations in God that lead us to a deeper humanity. Religion may make us promises of eternal life, but technology claims to fulfill that promise. The love of another is endangered. 

Isn’t this overreaction? Joan, aren’t you anti-progress? No and no. One day, in the not too-distant future, AI will not need humans to advance its course. It will do it itself. Humans will be left behind. Instinctively, we don’t want that, but we have work to do to guard the human heart and spirit to continue being engaged in divine transformation. 

As we live and grow, we are called to put technology into perspective and to continue to hold God consciously close, our first love.

“Who are you God and who am I?” St Francis cried out over and over again. Words worth imprinting on our hearts and repeating over and over again.  

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Miracle of the Bread

Dear Friends, 

When we read the four Gospels’ stories about Jesus feeding the crowd, we usually focus on the numbers. Such a large crowd! How much bread would that be? And there were leftovers! Artists picture overflowing baskets of bread and hillsides crowded with people. 

Sunday’s reading from Matthew 14 has more than numbers to share. Matthew tells us that Jesus has just heard about the execution of his cousin John the Baptist. Imagine the effect this has on Jesus. Elizabeth and Zachary’s son grew up with Jesus. John was a preacher before Jesus, announcing God’s plan for Israel and dramatically pointing to the coming of the Messiah. Herod’s execution of John serves as a harsh reminder of the violent resistance Jesus can expect. So, Jesus withdraws to a quiet place, separating himself even from the disciples. He makes space for grief and fear and prayer. 

The disciples interrupt this solitude. Crowds have followed the preacher and his companions. They beg for healing for their sick. The grieving, brokenhearted Jesus responds. Hours pass. The crowds are hungry. And Jesus forcefully reminds his disciples that they, too, must lovingly serve the crowd. Jesus is the preacher of God’s great love. His followers are called to embody that overflowing compassion.

We, too, gaze on crowds in need. We see them in Congo and Chicago, Iran and Ukraine, Gaza and Texas. Our anxiety about their needs resembles that of the disciples in Jesus’ story. God, help them, we pray! The miracle we need is in human hands. May we, supporting each other, take even one step into the crowd. 

In hope,
Susan Schantz SSJ

Here is one way to help:

World Central Kitchen
Donor Services Team
PO Box 96538
Washington, DC, 20090-6538

Our Love-Name for God

Dear Friends, 

“What’s in a name?” Juliet wondered in Shakespeare’s play.

But in life, we know that names are important. They signify belonging, dignity, greatness, love and devotion. Names are most often given by someone else, although sometimes we name ourselves or change our name. Talking with a man whose baby was about to be born, I asked if a name had been chosen. “We have several,” the man said, “but we have to see her first." Almost instinctively, we name people for what we recognize as true about them  – who they are or will be for us. 

We sometimes call some people by love-names, names which resonate between us and have nothing to do with people’s formal, official names. 

When we pray as we do in Psalm 88, “I will praise your name, bless your name forever,” what is the name of God that comes to our lips?

In all of our Christian rituals and prayers, we name God "Father,” because that is what Scripture says Jesus wants us to do: “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him.” (Matthew 11.27)

But Jesus never liked to be pinned down. Certainly, Jesus gave his disciples his own name for God: “Abba. Daddy.” But throughout his public life, Jesus showed them how he came to that name, which expressed his relationship with God.

We can certainly call God Father. We do.

But we can also imitate the process Jesus followed and probe our own relationship with God to arrive at our own love-name for God – a name to call God when we are talking with God in our most intimate and profound moments.

One woman wondered at this suggestion of finding our own love-name for God. Didn’t our theology require that we only call God Father, as Jesus did?

It’s not really an either-or, but rather a both-and. There are many appropriate responses to God’s astonishing presence in our life and world. We have only to trust the spontaneous praise that rises to our lips. God is the companion of our delight, our anger and frustration. God is the wind in our sails, our dream, our home. Let there be fresh confidence in the way we recognize God that arises in us. And as often as we can, let us dare to call God by His own Love-Name we carry in our heart.

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Looking for Words

Dear Friends,

The second lectionary reading for this Sunday drew me to reflection, especially on these words from Paul:

The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit … intercedes with inexpressible groanings.

Romans 8:26

There is a time in my daily prayer circle when the day’s leader invites us to share intercessions for prayer. Some days I am ready with the name of a sick friend or a job seeking relative. Many days, though, I can’t immediately put into words what personal, Church, or world concerns I am carrying.  

This experience reminds me of my days teaching religion to middle schoolers. Each forty-five-minute class included time to pray. We teachers coached the students to state their concerns and worries at prayer. We challenged them to hear and respect others’ spoken prayer. We taught them the discipline of reaching outside the classroom to pray for our families, the school community, our neighborhoods, and wider church and civic community. We prayed for pets and sports teams. We named areas of war or famine. We reminded them that God was present, all days and all ways.

I need to do some self-coaching in intercessory prayer. Instead of searching for my own words, I can listen to my friends’ intercessions at daily prayer. When I pray alone, I can simply speak aloud the names of family members and dear friends. When I read world and local news, I can offer my attention as a prayer for peace and healing. When I feel pain, I can pray for those who share that experience.

Paul speaks of our not knowing how to pray and urges us to join the Spirit’s inexpressible groanings. I imagine Jesus praying in the desert or Gethsemane. I see Kiev soldiers searching for bodies. I watch mourners at a Congolese funeral. I see an online friend ring the bell after completing cancer treatment. Our prayer circles do not always have the words. Some days, with the spirit, we intercede with inexpressible groanings. 

In hope,
Susan Schantz SSJ

The Gift of Childlike Wonder

Dear Friends,

Children across the USA are well into their two-month summer vacation. Some are enrolled in camps of all kinds; others will be in sports programs. Still, others will spend time on neighborhood playgrounds or play in the streets. There will be some who have no one with whom to play.

This summer, befriend a child or group of children. Talk with them – or better still listen to their views about life and their questions. Get down on the grass with them (if you can) and peer into the eyes of a ladybug. You’ll never experience a ladybug again in such an intimate way.

Too often, we organize children’s lives to an adult degree: sports uniforms, rules of play, and a dressing down when a child has let down a success-driven parent. Too much too soon.

Instead, play with children.

Sing with them.

Be silly together.

Learn to be a child all over again. Don’t forget how much Jesus loved children who were the disregarded, the throwaways in the society of Jesus’ time. Don’t keep them away, Jesus cautioned his disciples, for too such as these belongs the kingdom of God.

Maybe if we recaptured our child-like qualities we might find God and life so much more appealing.

In fact, we are encouraged by the world around us to subdue or abdicate our childlike qualities in favor of adult characteristics. Adult characteristics are not bad, but when mixed with child-like qualities, we enlarge the scope and delight of our lives. Like what?

Among these child-like characteristics are wonder, awe, fantasy, secret places and secret friends, curiosity, candor, silliness, mischief, being impulsive, risk-taking and playfulness. These are only some of a sparkling array of children’s ways of approaching life.

I remember visiting a kibbutz in the occupied West Bank many years ago. Among the families who lived there were Ethiopian Jews. They were Black and experienced racial discrimination. A couple of the Ethiopian children stood quietly looking at us. Would we ignore them too? Without thinking, I stepped forward, extended my hands to them, motioning them to come and dance with me. They did and others joined them. For a few moments, we were like Lady Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs 8.27-31.

Playing on the surface of the earth.
Playing before the Creator,
all the while finding delight in the children of earth.

We won’t start engaging children any younger. So, this summer, let’s go for it.

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Citizenship

Dear Friends, 

As Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, I have been reflecting on the ways my understanding of citizenship has deepened in the past year. Local, national, and international events call for US citizens to consider what it means to be a United States citizen. Here are some questions for reflection during this anniversary season:

• In what ways do I act with respect for the liberty of others?
• How do I exercise freedom of speech? What are the ways I support others’ freedom of speech? 
• How do I work with other citizens to demonstrate respect for the lives of others? 
• Do I prepare carefully for voting in both local and national elections?
• What people, groups, or activities nourish my energy to work for justice?

I have rights and responsibilities as a citizen of a nation, a citizen of the world community, and a member of a worldwide faith community. Do these rights and responsibilities influence each other? Do conflicts arise? 

In hope for our world and nation,
Susan Schantz SSJ

From America's Founding to Our Shared Future

Dear Friends, 

At the end of the week, our nation celebrates 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. Two-hundred-and-fifty years of striving, growing, taking chances, making mistakes, being heroic, believing in God’s guiding Presence, questioning faith:  

America! America! 
God mend thine every flaw…
May God thy gold refine 
Till all success be nobleness and every gain divine. 

Not all of us have worked to gain freedom for everyone or welcome for all who came to settle in our land. The mean-spirited among us ripped security and hope from Native Americans, immigrants and former slaves. But the mean-spirited did not gain the day or the future. Among us have been and are the clear-headed and the warm-hearted, the compassionate and those who share the bounty of life – these are Americans  

who more than self their country loved
and mercy more than life. 

Take time this week, and even next weekend, to pray for our homeland, that we honor and use for good the talents, dreams and aspirations of all Americans. Talk with others about the nobleness of this venture. 

From the inspired words of Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote “America the Beautiful" in 1895, to Amanda Gorman, who read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, Americans have been inspired to become the best we can be. “Our nation isn’t broken,” Amanda Gorman tells us. “It is only unfinished.” 

Let’s continue the work of finishing it together. Happy 250th 4th.  

~ Sister Joan Sobala

Read: Katherine Lee Bates' lyrics and original poem of "America the Beautiful"

Watch: Amanda Gorman reads inauguration poem "The Hill We Climb" on January 20, 2021

Cardinal John Fisher: Patron Saint for Church of Rochester

sketch by Hans Holbein, c. 1532-34 

Dear Friends, 

In 1935, a young Salt Lake City bishop, James E. Kearney, attended the canonization of Cardinal John Fisher, bishop of Rochester, England. Two years later Kearney was appointed Bishop of Rochester, New York. Soon after his arrival he named Fisher the diocesan patron saint. Kearney then recruited the Basilian Fathers to lead a diocesan men’s college, now known as St. John Fisher University.

Beyond these Rochester connections, some facets of Fisher’s life and ministry speak to me as we celebrate his June 22 feast day. Fisher was an extraordinary leader in the English Reformation period.  He had a lifelong affiliation with Cambridge University, as student, lecturer, and chancellor. He wrote and published responses to European theologians of the Protestant Reformation. He publicly engaged with contemporary writers and political leaders. Theologians and bishops who write and speak on today’s issues can look to him as a role model of respectful and rigorous conversation.

Fisher was a brilliant attorney and theologian and was not afraid to respond to royal requests for approval. Henry VIII announced his intended divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Citing law and theology, Fisher argued for the validity of their marriage. When Henry later declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England, Fisher disapproved. Fisher was executed for his criticism of the king. 

What impresses me is Fisher’s understanding of a bishop’s responsibility to engage with contemporary issues, leading believers in discerning just action. Today questions are raised about religious believers’ and leaders’ engagement in dialogue on social issues. Pope Leo XIV spoke on the Church’s mission during a recent trip to Spain (posted below). I believe he and John Fisher would agree.

In hope,
Susan Schantz SSJ

Pope Leo XIV's address to members of Spanish Parliament June 8, 2026:
…when the Church addresses anything concerning public life, she does so while respecting the proper mission of institutions and the legitimate responsibility of those who have received the mandate to legislate. She recognizes “the autonomy of earthly realities” and “the distinction between the ecclesial community and the political community”; and, precisely from this awareness, the Church offers a reflection born of the desire to serve the common good and to recall what makes human coexistence truly human (cf. Magnifica Humanitas, 18, 19, 22).