Grace Notes columns

Column by Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT Jesus tells us that we will be accountable for every word we use. Right away, that tells us that there is something extraordinary about language and our use of it that must be respected. With a bit of reflection, it becomes apparent that language in all its forms is meant to serve communion, our communion with God and with others. Likewise, it serves our own inner healing and integrity so that true communion actually becomes possible for us.

Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT, column: In a time that needs the witness of Christian hope more than ever, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, says the following about hope, “It is a gift of God and a task for every Christian.” He explains that it is more than just “a mere act of optimism.” Rather, it is “waiting for something that has already been given to us,” (salvation and full communion with the Lord.) What might that look like in the world of today?

As C.S. Lewis puts it: “If you want to get warm, you must stand near the fire; if you want to be wet, you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.”

Commentary by Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT Most of us could stand to have a little more joy in our lives. In fact, St. Thomas Aquinas said that man cannot live without joy. And if he does not find authentic joy, he will inevitably be drawn to carnal delights (pleasures of the flesh) and the innumerable addictions that derive from them. Pope St. John Paul II speaks of joy this way, “God made us for joy. God is joy, and the joy of living reflects the original joy that God felt in creating us.”