This inclination can rise above the level of everyday interaction and beyond the immediate circle of family and friends. A friend of mine recently donated a kidney anonymously, an act of gratitude for the kidney her own husband had received. She struggled, however, upon learning that the surgery was unsuccessful. This in no way negated the sacrifice of her giving, but it left her understandably confused and troubled.

What if there is a dimension here beyond the simple equation of give and take? What if we are moving in the realm of grace? What if the gift was not the kidney but the gift was her giving?

This is the kind of giving that is “laying down one’s life for one’s friends.” Surrendered into the hands of God, it becomes bread blessed and broken, multiplied and given for others. We may never know who or how it blesses, but we are assured that it does, indeed, bless. Nothing is wasted in the economy of God’s grace.

Isaiah 55 offers us this image of God’s overarching grace and purpose when he speaks of the Word of God and says:

 ¹⁰ As the rain and the snow

    come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

    without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

    It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah reminds us God has a purpose overarching all of creation. That we get to play a role in that is where the realm of grace resides. That which we are reluctant to do for ourselves, we often gladly do for another. Left to my own devices, I might well pull those covers over my head in the early morning darkness. I don’t particularly want to get up and face the demands and challenges that await. But then I remember someone I know who will awake this morning, look across at the empty bed beside, and be reminded. For the pain of that remembering, for the daunting emptiness or her day ahead, I can easily swing my legs out of bed. Perhaps I can drop to my knees alongside and whisper a prayer that she will be blessed this day with beauty and kindness, be reminded she is not alone.

For reasons beyond our knowing, God chooses that we should contribute to the good of one another, even of those we will never meet. If we didn’t learn if from the Catechism, we learned it from Covid—our well-being depends upon one another. 

We are mysteriously connected by God’s grace as surely as we are by the human condition we share. Because of that, our choices matter, for others as well as for ourselves. In the old days of my Catholic grade school religion class, we called it, "offering things up." The terminology may be dated, but the concept is eternal.

It matters, the seemingly small choices and everyday activities, they all matter--or at least they can. Offered as gift, surrendered to God's larger purpose, this is the stuff with which God blesses, Christ's ongoing redemption, the stuff which makes the world whole, Tikkun Olam, in Jewish thought. (see earlier article,Tikkun Olam)

This awareness holds incredible power. Like the rain in Isaiah’s passage, we can water the earth making it bud and flourish. We can achieve the purpose for which God has sent us. And we can do it with simple, small intentions of self-giving. On such trivialities of love does our survival, does God’s kingdom depend. Blessed are we.

Advent pondering was the inspiration for my newest book, WHY THESE WOMEN. Please join me in exploring its pages for the Advent wisdom and questions that they contain.  So happy to be partnering once again with St. Placid's Priory, Lacey, WA for

Holy Questions to Prepare Our Hearts:
An Advent Retreat

St. Placid's is now open for in-person retreatants. Thanks to their new Hybrid Zoom technology, folks may participate from anywhere via Zoom or those in the Seattle/Portland area may experience the full getaway of a weekend retreat in the peaceful setting of The Priory. Weekend retreatants will join the rest of us via Zoom on Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday evening and have the remainder of their weekend for quiet, contemplation, and prayer with the sisters of the Benedictine Community.

Take a look at how this retreat works:

Please register EARLY to insure your book will arrive in time (allow two weeks)

Advent Day Retreat, Spokane, WA - in person

To let us know you’re coming, please call 509-212-3003
Free will offering, LUNCH provided 

He was born into a time in Ireland when it was illegal to hold Mass. Both the people and the priest risked imprisonment to gather in secret places for Eucharist. In spite of such a beginning or, perhaps because of it, Fr. Treacy ended up pioneering Ecumenical and Interfaith dialogue when he came to America aboard a troop ship at the end WW II. The presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy surfaced ugly religious bigotry. In response, Archbishop Connolly of Seattle asked Fr. Treacy to join the panel of a new television show, Challenge, wherein a priest, a minister, and a rabbi would discuss pressing issues of the day in light of their religious traditions. The show was widely acclaimed and achieved great popularity, running for 14 years, longer than MASH. In that time a deep bond of friendship was formed between Fr. Treacy which led to their founding Camp Brotherhood with a mission of encouraging people, especially youngsters, to live in harmony.

For me, Fr. Treacy was one of those people who explains why I do what I do.