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  Monday– Feast of All Souls Gospel – John 6:37-40 The Other Side Inside The Tomb, Church of Holy Sepulchre   In Ireland, when you talk about emotion, you don’t say “I am sad”.   You say “sadness is on me”.     I love that because there is an implication of not identifying yourself fully with the emotion.   I am NOT sad!   It’s just that sadness is ON ME for a while.   Something else will be on me another time and that’s a good thing to recognize! We have all had ‘sadness upon us’ particularly when we experience the passing on of a family member or friend.   In just the past week, we lost a dear friend, spiritual director and teacher for many diaconal candidates in Chicago, Father Bernard Kennedy OFM.   And it was only early in the month that my family bid a sad farewell to my (uncle) Barry!   As we observe the Solemnity of All Souls today, we can all add names to the list – dear friends, family, cherished uncles and pa...
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Sunday – Solemnity of All Saints     Gospel – Matthew 5: 1-12A De-clutter! Chicago De-Clutter Back in mid-October when we spent 2 weeks at the family home in Southern Maryland, Ginger, my 2 sisters and I didn’t just deal with a mountain of Medicaid paperwork, legal and financial meetings, and managing my 101-year-old mom’s move to her new living arrangements in the nursing home.   We also began the process of downsizing the family home.   You would think I would be used to this.   It was only 2 years ago that it fell to me to sort through all our possessions, making choices of keep, trash or donate for our Chicago home.   But that was ‘only’ 40 years’ worth of stuff and memories.   For our family home, it is so much more complicated.   My dad built that house when he and Mom got married; so it’s been Mom’s home for over 79 years!   You can imagine how long this process is going to take! And as we began sorting through clothing, k...
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  Saturday – 30 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Luke 14:1, 7-11 Humble Pie Apple Pie Leftovers (from Heidi’s Bakery – YUM!!) We live in a very narcissistic, selfish “ME” society these days!   We see it on the news, in ads, in movies and in so many random interactions at the store or in line for food.   There is this singular drive to be #1 – to be the best teacher, athlete, politician, to have the most power or possessions, the biggest house and the most adulation, to have less wrinkles and more money!   And apparently, it is all at the expense of others; it doesn’t matter who I have to step on or use in order to get there.   It’s all about ME!  We all want a piece of the pie! We see it in today’s parable!   Someone so full of himself thinking he deserves the place of honor at a wedding banquet, the best seat in the house where all can see how important and special he is!   And then the humiliation when someone more important arrives an...
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