Prayer for Reconciliation

Let our memories provide no shelter for grievance against each other.

Let our hearts provide no harbor for hatred of each other.

Let our tongues be no accomplices in the judgment of each other.

Adapted from "Prayer for Reconciliation", from Celtic Daily Prayer, HarperSanFrancisco, 2002.

All photographs by Baya Clare, CSJ unless otherwise noted.

Today I am grateful for: the rich and vibrant Jewish roots of my faith.

Holding in prayer today: The Jewish people celebrating Passover, and the Christian people beginning the Triduum.

Foolery for April

In honor of today's deadline for the annual Pioneer Press "Peeps Diorama" contest, here's "The Wreck of the Edmund Peepsgerald" from yesteryear. See several more fine works in the venerable tradition of peep-based art here. The rules for entry are: it needs to be a diorama, and it needs to include peeps.

For the unintiated, peeps are a sickenly sweet, sticky, marshmallow-like candy that comes in several shapes and colors not found in nature. While they are available all year, they are most abundant just before Easter, at least in this part of the world. Some years ago I lived with someone who always took care to purchase her peeps a few weeks before Easter so they could be dried to her preferred consistency in time for the holiday.

Winners of the Peeps Diorama Contest get a toothbrush.

photo by Anita Ritenour

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

May we live this holy season in a spirit of faithful prayer, fasting, and good works.
Create in us new hearts, O God.
In a world of abundance where children go hungry,
may we work so that all will have daily bread.
In a world which values wealth and power more than human persons and community,
may we stand as witnesses to the dignity of every person.
In a world where disagreements and longstanding enmities are resolved by war,
may we spend our lives as apostles of peace and unity.
In a world created out of love and charged with your sacred presence,
may we help to reveal your face in all people and in all creation.
In a world which hungers for meaning and purpose,
may we be companions to the dear neighbor, bearing your light and your truth.

Reprinted from Daily Prayer, Daily Bread, published by the Congregation of St. Joseph, 2006.