November 2008
November 20, 2008
Energy
What kind of energy do you put into the world? It counts, you know. Where attention goes, energy flows. Each one of us is like a pebble in a pond. Our energy has a ripple effect that flows way beyond our own home, neighborhood, or work environments.
I like to imagine what the world would be like if we were intentional about putting loving kindness into the universe. When one person’s ever-widening circles of loving kindness energy ripples into another’s, the loving-kindness intensifies. Those lucky enough to be caught in the cross-wake return ripples of gratitude. Over time, the resulting mix of positive energy could tip the world into a just society where right relationships exist and hope blooms everywhere.
In my work the ebb and flow of love and gratitude is a daily event. People like you care about people who are in need and send our Foundation gifts to help our Sisters alleviate the suffering of others. Deep waves of gratitude flow back to you from many places at once. We know that when one person is served it has a multiplying effect in the life of that person’s family.
I work every day to find funding to help support our Sisters’ programs that serve people in need. Do you feel my energy of hope rippling your way? Know that when you respond with a gift to us, your intention of love and compassion comes with it. I feel it, and so do the people we serve. May the return of our gratitude energize and intensify your intentions. Together, we can change the world.
Possumus
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November 14, 2008
Building for the Future
Our Sisters recently purchased a building in the heart of the Minneapolis immigrant neighborhoods. The building, once renovated, will house several programs aimed at people in need. Among the programs will be our English Language Learning (ELL) school, called Learning In Style. This school is for immigrant adults whose families’ welfare depend on their ability to be able to speak enough English to be employed, as well as to be able to speak with their children’s school teachers, make their way around the city, etc.
For the past 10 years we've been renting space nearby in a church building that has long been inadequate. Finding this property in the same neighborhood is a miracle. We’ve begun the renovation and welcome contributions.
Complete renovation costs will come in at only $2 million. Given the fact that hundreds of people will be using the facility each month and that these same individuals are motivated to work hard to become independent, contributing citizens — it is an incredible deal. Anyone who is a part of this effort literally changes the fabric of our society today and impacts the future as well.
I invite you to think about participating in this life-changing project. I promise that if you make a contribution to our Sisters' Ministries Foundation in support of this effort it will change your life for the better as well. A gift to this effort is a gift to yourself. Everyone wins!
Contact me at ioneill@csjstpaul.org with questions.
Possumus
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November 4, 2008
Courageous Followers
It's Election Day. Though the Presidential candidates are Obama and McCain, my mind keeps drifting to St. Joseph. Every time I try to focus, there he is, the father of Jesus. Finally I asked myself, why is Joseph so present today. Not a lot has been said about him. So what do we know?
Well, Joseph was a builder and a dreamer. Maybe that's the connection.
My dream is hope and I'm willing to help build it. I already know that the hardest part of anything is showing up. Everything else is simply the next step.
Most work is done by the courageous follower—someone who believes that building hope is the right thing to do and simply shows up and offers to help.
A leader has the idea for a food shelf and we courageous followers bring the food,
A leader has the dream to build low-income homes—courageous followers show up and build the homes. The world works because courageous followers join in the dreams.
I think that hope is built with bridges. The bridges we need are different than, say, the 35W bridge. We need bridges that span distances as long as continents as far as hearts.
There is an Aboriginal prayer from New Zealand that explains this kind of bridge.
The Bridge
There are times in life
when we are called to be bridges,
not a great monument spanning a distance
and carrying loads of heavy traffic,
but a simple bridge to help one person from here to there
over some difficulty
a bridge which opens the way
for ongoing journey.
When I become a bridge for another,
I bring upon myself a blessing,
for I escape from the small prison of self
and exist for a wider world,
breaking out to be a larger being
who can enter another’s pain
and rejoice in another’s triumph.
I know of only one greater blessing
in this life, and that is,
to allow someone else
to be a bridge for me.
When our new President and all of our other political representatives begin to rebuild America, ask yourself whether or not they are tending the bridges of hope. If not, then take it upon yourself to be a courageous follower and help.
Possumus
