SF's Most Holy Redeemer Parish " The Living Temple of God"

Several weeks ago my sister Bridget, her partner Amy and several of my brother Christopher's friends celebrated Christopher's birthday. We started the morning with mass at Christopher's parish in SF called Most Holy Redeemer. The readings and gospel were essentially about the temple, not the physical structure but the temple that is us, where the Holy Spirit dwells. This concept was well elaborated through the eloquent sermon the pastor gave to the parishioners. But the real essence of this message was alive in the people of Most Holy Redeemer parish. Even when we arrived at this beautiful Catholic Church located in the Castro district of SF, we were greeted by most loving men who offered us name tags so that we could get to know people. We then sat in our pew and the gentlemen next to us greeted us joyfully giving me a personal feeling of true welcome. Then the music begins, the loud voices singing the praises of their love of God and one another. This parish was truly alive with the Holy Spirit; you could feel the presence of God in every person. What does that feel like? I felt loved, I wanted to be more loving and my own temple felt as if it was being hugged by everyone in the church. Even as the weeks pass by since that lovely day with Christopher, Bridget, Amy, Gary, John, Chris and Marcus, the feeling of the Living God is present. Thank you Most Holy Redeemer parish men and women for opening your temple to all of us.

Life in it's Fullness

Since my last blog, I have been to Hawaii, Japan, hosted a wedding shower and numerous house guests, taught 2 yoga classes, attended church planning meetings and set up for a party to be held today at the church auditorium and of course a full time job squeezed into the above mentioned activities. Life is full and suddenly in this quiet morning I hear birds' singing joyfully this early morning as they begin to their day. It is the birds' song that provides my inspiration to write. How often does life get so full that we miss the birds, the flowers blooming and the people with whom we share our life? I rush from activity to activity and sometimes can't fully appreciate the moments of life as I am racing to the next event. However, this morning as birds sing, I quiet my mind, contemplate my blog and realize in this moment I am in states of peace, presence and awareness that the breath of life is breathing me into a new day and I recognize the fullness of life in all it's glory.