OPreach
Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
Every Creature Teaches Us of God
Every creature is a word of God and a book about God.
– Meister Eckhart
Wednesday of Hope – Despair Cannot Stain Joy
…no despair of ours can alter the reality of things, or stain the joy of the cosmic joy which is always there.
– Thomas Merton
The Vulnerability of Precious Things
The vulnerability of precious things is beautiful because vulnerability is a mark of existence. The destruction of Troy. The fall of the petals from fruit trees in blossom. To know that what is most precious is not rooted in existence – that is beautiful.
– Simone Weil
Wednesday of Hope – Entering the Spaciousness of Uncertainty
Hope locates itself in the premises that we don’t know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act.
– Rebecca Solnit
Earth Belongs to All Living Creatures – Not Just Humans
To all earth’s creatures God has given the broad earth, the springs, the rivers and the forests, giving the air to the birds, and the waters to those who live in water, giving abundantly to all the basic needs of life, not as a private possession, not restricted by law, not divided by boundaries, but as common to all, amply and in rich measure.
– Gregory of Nazianzus
Wednesday of Hope – Waiting without Hope
I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope…..wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought. So the darkness shall be the light and the stillness the dancing.
– T.S. Elliot
We in the Mountains/The Mountains in Us
We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.
– John Muir
Wednesday of Hope – Hoping for Light
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.
– Desmond Tutu
The Friend of God
The Friend of God has these three qualities: a generosity like that of the ocean, a compassion like that of the sun, and a humility like that of the earth.
– Bayazid
Wednesday of Hope – Defining Hope
We define hope not as something you have, but something you do. You can see what you want to choose. You take a step and then another step, and you join people who are making that a reality. With that understanding of hope, active hope… Hope is a verb. It was a verb. Then, you are acting, even when you’re feeling hopeless.
– Joanna Macy
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