Dear Friends,

  Today is Sunday, October 4.  It is 3:15 PM while I am beginning this.  The weather is phenomenal, with lots of sun and fluffy white clouds in a beautiful blue sky.  The afternoon sun is strong and direct.  Temps are in the 80s.  Spring is definitely here.  We still wait for the rains, which are supposed to be really heavy sometime this month.

  And after five weeks the teachers' strike is finally ending.  Kids have been home all this time but will return to school starting tomorrow morning!  Can  you imagine!!??  The courts that ordered a pay-raise of 50-60% five weeks ago have now ordered the teachers' back to school, with a 90-day period for negotiations between their unions and the government.  In the meantime, the opposition party has begun impeachment procedures toward the president for disobeying the orders of the Supreme Court.  All of this highlights the fiscal stress in this nation.

  I have just finished a long period of teaching people who were here at the retreat center for the last week:  52 of them, 18 in a course to learn how to guide people through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and the rest involved in learning to be guides for the spiritual life of people. These were two separate groups here at the same time.   I had numerous talks to give, they were all received well, and then I had my weekly spirituality course on Wednesday mornings at the nearby seminary.  I get lots of energy when doing something like this, because, I think, I so enjoy doing this, but when it is over I just crash!  I sleep extra and try to 'veg' by digging in the ground, caring for the roses, etc.  

   Also, yesterday evening a group of us here joined approximately 150 others at a mass and dinner  at the seminary for a fellow Jesuit who was professing his final vows as a Jesuit.  He is from Burkina Faso, a small nation in West Africa near Ghana and Togo.  I very much enjoyed the music at the mass.  It was led by a group of seminarians, some of them my students.  The keyboard, the electric guitar, especially the drums, and then the distinctively African melodies and rhythms made it special.  There was lots of joy on the faces of these young men as they sang and sang, while swaying their bodies and hands in keeping with the beat of the music.  They make liturgy unforgettable and a very human, joyous expression of love and reverence for God.  During the meal, I sat at a table with nothing but male friends of the Jesuit taking vows; they were all from his native land, Burkina Faso.  One was a Muslim, the rest were Christians.  They spoke mostly in French and then would switch into English to include me.  I did enjoy myself with them and the delicious food.

  Of course, the biggest event of these last three weeks since I wrote you last was the visit of Pope Francis to the USA.   I watched on the Internet and listened closely to his talk given to the US Congress.  I saw and heard it live. It was 5 PM here, 10 AM where he was when he gave his talk.  I was very pleased by it, with the issues he addressed, and especially with his appeal to all of us for a more respectful way of relating, conducting dialog, and in conducting government and living together as a nation.   There were so many very impressive moments during his six days in the US.  I was particularly touched by his observation when coming to New York City that there are so many people in big city life who are always forgotten, are left nameless, are never acknowledged, are even shoved aside, yet God lives and acts in them, knows them, each of them, as His children, cares deeply about them, and gives abundantly to them His Spirit.  This has to be a little jolting to those who are rich and comfortable, 'successful' and secure.  His comment on this is a way to alert us to where God especially 'shows up,' especially among the vulnerable and those who are counted as nothing or unimportant.

    I hope those who are social workers and 'pro bono' counselors took notice of what Pope Francis said regarding the mystery of the Divine staring them in the face through such people, in their daily work.  Maybe some of them sensed with a renewed appreciation of how 'vocational' is their work, how much God really values it, how their lives and service are much more than just a career.  St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is today, would heartily agree.  Francis' encountering the leper, at first repugnant to him, and then his resisting those first impulses and then going to receive and even kiss the leper, proved to be one of the big turning points of his life and how he would relate to people, especially the poor.  He continues to be a challenge and powerful example to all of us in our own days about how we would relate to the 'lepers' of our own day.  I think Pope Francis had this same effect on many of the USA during his visit.  He is controversial, as Jesus was controversial.  He challenges by his actions, even more so than by what he says in words. Some people don't like him, they are afraid of him, reject him, criticize him . . .  just as the people of Jesus' day expressed their dislike and criticism of Jesus and what He said and did. Maybe this is why many of us do not want to risk doing what we know is the truth:  it is controversial and we risk being disliked, criticized, and rejected.

  These next three weeks in Rome will be historic.  Pope Francis today opened a three week synod or meeting of major leaders in the Catholic church.  (I saw the mass for this opening on EWTN.  I was very impressed by his homily and hope soon to obtain a copy of it.) Some cardinals and bishops are afraid of Francis, but he does not care about that.  While he wants them all to have the freedom to say what they think, it seems very clear that he is determined to emphasize that in whatever the bishops come up with in their final statement on family life, above all, the church has to be like Jesus, merciful while being clear about what Jesus teaches--passing on more that just WHAT Jesus teaches but doing so especially in the WAY Jesus communicates and applies His teachings.  Francis wants to make every effort to step away from a legalistic, rigid, cold application of Jesus' teachings.  Rather, he sees this to be a critical time for Christians, especially its leaders. to meet people where they are at, in their human situation, to be compassionate and understanding of their struggles and efforts to live in the Spirit of Jesus, to call them to the best of what they can be, and to do this with patience and encouragement, without judging them at the level only God knows their stories and burdens, to do this with a genuine love and respect, and then to show a special care for those who have felt rejected, like 'lepers' in today's society and especially in the Catholic church.  I think you know the people I am referring to;  Real ministry that is convincing, that imitates Jesus' way, begins with listening at length to the personal stories of people, especially closely to those who carry crushing crosses.  One has to feel something of what those who feel so rejected and misunderstood are feeling.  Like the nameless, faceless people Pope Francis says are living in our big cities, also in our prisons.  Otherwise, harsh judgments come out of our mouths, and are stated as if they were God's judgments.  Nothing could be more unlike Jesus' way.  These situations reveal whether we really know Jesus or not, whether we really buy into His way of relating, whether we are willing to wrestle with and confront our fears and judgments that keep us separate from Him and from each other.

   The question that Jesus puts to Peter and His disciples, "Who do you say I am?" is more cogent and relevant today than ever.  We need a critical mass of people who dares to live and relate differently than what our world, so violent, so self-righteous and so self-centered, counsels if the world is going to change at all for the better, to renounce war and become compassionate.  We need to have time for each other, to know and care about the stranger, the rejected, to "find Christ" right there in those people, maybe in the lonely ones living in our own house or community, and in so doing  really know Him for the first time, like Francis of Assisi did when he met the leper and kissed him, only to notice that when the leper walked away, Francis saw the risen Christ walking away.  Francis had seen the Lord, and it really, really changed the way he would live the rest of his life.  Believe me, this attitude and approach to those around us will change the world.  Does anyone hear this??  I pray that I am able to recognize the lepers around me and to be Jesus to them.  I wish the same for you who read this.  The way of Jesus is direct and daring.  I think that is what Pope Francis was modeling to Congress, to the UN, to those who gathered with him at Ground Zero and at the Family gathering in Philadelphia, so too in the prisons he visited.  May we in our own way can be ready and willing to go out to those around us who are in need of understanding and genuine care.  Our lives are precious to God and to the world. Let us support each other in making the most of what has been given to us, for the sake of the world and for each other.  And if we can, let us pray with confidence that the Spirit of Christ Jesus will come upon the gathering of the bishops in Rome during these next three weeks and that in the midst of their deliberations, maybe chaotic at times, the voice of God and Jesus can be heard and obeyed.

Bernie Owens