October
12 , 2008
Lost
In translation
A
Beautiful Moment
When
you read this week’s column, you’ll note I’m writing
from Italy. As luck would have it, there IS wireless internet connection
about a ten minute walk from the place we are staying and the owner
of the house has graciously let me use the connection. As I wrote the
last line of my column, exactly at that moment, the gray sky brightened,
the sun broke through the clouds, the church
bells rang in the distance and the man in the house walked out to
the porch with some fresh-baked, warm from the oven pastries and a cup
of morning espresso.
I tell you this, not to make you jealous, but to share this little moment
of joy in which I saw yet again, God’s grace and care. Yes, God
was indeed taking car of me on this journey.
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past
Columns:
October
5: Violence and Life
Sept 28: Flip Flopping
Sept 21: Congratulations
Socorro!
Sept 14: Lift High the Cross
Sept 7: Happy 90th Birthday
August 31: From "saint"
to "Satan"
August 24: So you're not
the Pope
August 17: When God says
"no"
August 10: The Tiny Whispering
Sound
August 3: A Proud and Tender
Moment
July 27: What
would you ask for?
July 20: Waiting
for the Wheat
July
13: What we Wear
uly
6: We Welcome Westbrook
June
29: Sommer in the Summer
June 22: Welcome
Father Jaime
June 15: Father
Gonzalo Lopez
June 8: What happened
on Sunday
June 1: Where
do you belong?
May
25: We are the Body of Christ
May 18: Trinity,
It's About Unity
May 11: We are
One in the Spirit
May 4: Who's in
Your Top Twelve?
April 27: Now
that he's gone...
April 20: Yay
Deacons!
April 13: Here
comes the Pope
April 6: Fresh Oil
March 30: What are you doing
for Easter?
March 23: Can Easter come
too early?
March 16: Which crowd is
yours?
March 9: We believe, yet...
March 2: Oil or Mud
February
24: What are you thirsting for?
February 17: Who are You
Wearing?
February 10: Just Say No
February
3: The January
20: Being Safer
January 13: Conversations
in 2008
January 6: Matthew's Magi
December 30:
What's Next?
Columns from
2007
Columns
from 2005
Columns
from 2004
Columns
from 2003
Columns from 2002
I’m
writing this from the back porch of an Umbrian farmhouse on a chilly gray
morning as we begin our class’s 25th Anniversary retreat. You are
probably still asleep since it’s 4am on Long Island. We arrived
in Italy on Monday, got our rented cars (there are nine of us traveling
together) and headed out for this place of retreat.
None of us had gone this road before
and we were following directions that had been given to us over the phone
by an English-speaking member of the family whose house we were staying
in. So we knew SHE knew what she was talking about when she told us to
get on to the A-45 route to get to Umbria, an area northeast of Rome.
The problem was that the letter
“A” when pronounced in English is pronounced “Ay”
– but that when you say the sound “Ay” in Italian, Italians
mean the letter “E”. So we really needed to find route E-45.
Which (after an “adventure” or two, we finally did.)
Three hours from Rome, we finally
found the place.
This was actually a good way to
begin a retreat. For when God speaks to us, God knows what the message
is, what the call is about, what direction to send us, what challenge
or comfort to offer, etc. But sometimes when we listen in prayer, something
gets lost in translation. Our life experience so far has led s to some
pre-conceived notions and we’re convinced that “A” is
“A” and have no expectations that it really can be “E”.
My hope in these 2 weeks of retreat
is that I’ll be open to the ways of God that are beyond my own imagination
and pre-conceived notions. On the one hand, that kind of openness is scary
– who knows where it will lead? On the other hand, it’s exciting
to enter into an adventure with God, knowing I can trust God to take good
care of me.
May God take good care of you too.
PS -- see more about our retreat online -- CLICK HERE