James Martin

Learning about Poverty_. __wo young American Jesuits showed up at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome. Father Arrupe asked what assignment had brought them there. They explained that they were on their way to India to work with the poor, as part of their training. Afterward Arrupe said to an assistant, __t certainly costs us a lot of money to teach our men about poverty_.

It is impossible to experience a person__ life, or to be compassionate, if you do not listen to the person or if you do not ask questions.

We are gradually losing the art of silence. Of walking down the street lost in our own thoughts. Of closing the door to our rooms and being quiet. Of sitting on a park bench and just thinking. We may fear silence because we fear what we might hear from the deepest parts of ourselves. We may be afraid to hear that "still small" voice. What might it say? Might it ask us to change?

All Christians have access to the spiritual riches found in the Scriptures, which, after all, were written amid the spiritual turmoil and social conflicts of the writers_ times. We can learn from those who went before us.

Is it right for people to critique others for their supposed un-Christian attitudes by themselves being un-Christian?

In such uncommon longings, hidden in plain sight in our lives, does God call us.

Paradoxically, admitting your own powerlessness can free you from the need to fix everything and allow us to be truly present to the other person, and to listen. A cartoon in The New Yorker had one woman saying testily to her friend, 'There's no point in our being friends if you won't let me fix you.

Joy, humor, and laughter should be part of everyone's spiritual life. They are gifts from God and help us enjoy creation.

Because people understand that the diocese is trying to help the members of that group feel more connected to their church, the church they belong to by virtue of their baptism.