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<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nThis show stopping photo was not taken this year; weather.com<\/a> predicts something like a wintry mix — some snow, temps ranging from the mid-thirties to mid-forties so the view outside my window this year doesn\u2019t take my breath away; just an ordinary workday.\u00a0 This Tuesday, though, takes us a little deeper into Advent – – a season of outrageous promises of hope mostly from Isaiah. \u00a0Advent\u2019s prophets are meant to be read out loud, taken seriously, placed in tension with our gloomiest predictions of a mean world\u2019s worst. \u00a0Here are some verses from Isaiah 35, the prophecy for late in Advent\u2019s first week.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe desert\u00a0and the parched land will be glad; Then will the eyes of the blind be opened Water will gush forth in the wilderness In the haunts where jackals\u00a0once lay, The pic at the beginning of the post was taken some years ago early in Advent\u2019s second week – – Sometimes Detroit is gloomy; sometimes exquisite. \u00a0For more than 4 million people, metro Detroit is home no matter its weather.<\/p>\n Advent reminds me of one of the great saints in my life. \u00a0Here\u2019s an Advent meditation about Dom Helder Camera I wrote some years ago.<\/p>\n Dom Helder Camera\u00a0February 7, 1909,\u00a0Fortaleza<\/a>,\u00a0Brazil<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 August 27, 1999. \u00a0He was archbishop of Recife and Olinda from 1964 to 1985 during a military dictatorship in Brazil. \u00a0He\u00a0interpreted Catholic teaching with consistent, fierce attention to the violence of systems that sustained brutal poverty. \u00a0He made serious enemies.<\/p>\n It is said that some of them hired a hitman to remove him. \u00a0Like the professional he was, the hitman stalked Dom Helder for some time, learning his habits, seeking a place and time apt for killing. \u00a0 In the process, he listened to the Archbishop speak a number of times until, one day, he fell at Dom Helder\u2019s feet, weeping, and begged for the grace to change his life and his profession.<\/p>\n When he walked this earth,\u00a0Dom Helder\u2019s presence\u00a0engaged the world\u2019s wounds.\u00a0 This unblinking attention to the violence of poverty was matched by legendary playfulness. \u00a0Here is one story among many, this one I witnessed. \u00a0Once Dom Helder was speaking to about 1500 Sisters of St. Joseph who sat on the St. Louis levee overlooking the Mississippi River (by the Arch); in the middle of the talk, a helicopter took off right behind him filled with tourists taking a ride with a bird\u2019s eye view of the river and the city. \u00a0 It made enough racket that it was impossible to hear what the Dom Helder was saying. \u00a0He paused, turned around to the\u00a0helicopter, and gave the tourists a puckish little wave. \u00a0When the helicopter got a little farther out on its trip, he turned back to us.<\/p>\n Here is one of his sayings. \u00a0Read it like a poem, out loud, with pauses.<\/p>\n Have a blest work week,<\/p>\n john sj<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Today\u2019s Post \u2013 Dom Helder Camera<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt is possible to travel alone, but we know the journey is human life 7 February 1909 – 27 August 1999<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" December 1, 2020 – Tuesday of Advent Season \u201cCompanion is the one who eats the same bread.\u201d \u2013Dom Helder Camera This show stopping photo was not taken this year; weather.com predicts something like a wintry mix — some snow, temps … Continue reading
\nthe wilderness will rejoice and blossom<\/p>\n
\nand the ears of the deaf\u00a0unstopped.
\nThen will the lame\u00a0leap like a deer,
\nand the mute tongue\u00a0shout for joy.<\/p>\n
\nand streams\u00a0in the desert.
\nThe burning sand will become a pool,
\nthe thirsty ground\u00a0bubbling springs.<\/p>\n
\ngrass and reeds\u00a0and papyrus will grow.
\nGladness\u00a0and joy will overtake them,
\nand sorrow and sighing will flee away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nand life needs company.
\nCompanion is the one who eats the same bread.
\nThe good traveler cares for weary companions, grieves when we lose heart,
\ntakes us where she finds us, listens to us.
\nIntelligently, gently, above all lovingly, we encourage each other to go on
\nand recover our joy
\nOn the\u00a0journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n