Mary van Balen

Like most American's, I am prepared to greet young costumed visitors at my door with small bars of chocolate and a smile. In this part of the country, unlike the east coast, weather is cooperating with crisp air and clear skies. I have never been one to jump into this holiday with extravagant costumes, but I did enjoy the years my children came up with creative outfits. There was the "laundry basket," that was a big hit with everyone who saw my daughter approaching in the middle of a plastic hamper with bottom cut out for her legs, stuffed with towels. She carried a cleaned out laundry detergent bottle to hold her loot. She wasn't as fond of the costume since it made climbing steps difficult.

We had a pac-man that won "most original" in the school contest, and a cheetah with spots hand-painted on orange sweats and a homemade head cap with ears. We have let loose on the streets a Magic Parrot (don't try to find it. It is an obscure Disney film character.), a ballerina, mad scientists with smoking beakers, egyptian gods, well, the list goes on and on.

I remember my first grade year when my mother borrowed a poodle costume from my aunt. It was a hit, but I had to appear in many classrooms and bark when asked to show it off. Not my favorite halloween.

Later, the Catholic schools I attended had "All Saints" day celebrations instead of Halloween parties and the halls were filled with white garbed Marys with heads draped in blue, bearded St. Josephs, and the ever present St. Patrick. A couple angels made appearances too.

I don't go in for the fear tactic of evangelizing would be halloween celebrants with "Hell Scare" scenarios popular with some evangelical churches. I say, let the kids trick or treat, count and sort their candy (good math practice if you think about it), and eat it til its gone. You might want to help a bit. I've been known to raid one of my children's stash on a gloomy November day when I convinced myself that a piece of candy would remedy my mood.

Still, knowing the history of the name "Halloween" and celebrating the two days that follow are good practices, too. Read More 

Today, Pope Benedict XVI has travelled to Assisi to hold a world day of prayer for peace on the 25th anniversary of the first interfaith world day of prayer for peace convened in Assisi by Pope John Paul II in 1986. An AP article, Rainbow of Religious Leaders Join Pope for Peace ,describes the gathering of some 300 religious leaders as well as a few agnostics. Unlike the event it commemorates, this day did not include a communal prayer, but provided quiet time for individual prayer for peace.

Religious belief never provides justification for violence and terrorism, and this diverse group reaffirms that truth.

Why Assisi? St. Francis of Assisi is known as a man of simplicity and peace. A lesser known fact, however, is that in 1219 during the crusades, he travelled across the battle lines (perhaps during a cease fire that followed a ferocious battle, to speak with the Sultan of Egypt, hoping to convert him and thus end the bloodshed. Read More 

I am soon off to work, but want to take a moment to recommend the movie, "The Way." You can follow the link to learn more about it.

This blog takes its name from the symbol of the great pilgrimage route, Camino de Santiago: the scallop shell. The shell has become a universal symbol for pilgrim. As I watched the movie, I became a pilgrim along with the others, carrying my life and my need with them to the Cathedral of St. James. What was true for them is true for me, for all pilgrims on their journey: The WAY not the destination, is what changes us.

See the movie when you are able! Read More 

You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans. If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor's cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor's only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate. Ex 22. 21-27

This reading reminds us that aliens, the poor, widows, children are with us always.
We know only too well that "alien" does not mean only those from a country other than that where they reside. One can be an "alien" through poverty, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, or race. We can feel "alien" when we are not understood, when our work is unappreciated, when we are lonely.

Exodus states clearly how God expects us to relate to those suffering alienation in our midst. We are to serve. We are to love. We are to be a reflection of the Holy One who names herself "Compassion."

Today the pope canonized three new saints. two of whom reached out to women, One, Spanish nun Sister Bonifacia Rodriguez de Castro, a cord maker, founded an order that served poor women, providing them with a safe place to work. Hers was a prophetic voice that spoke quietly through her creation of a community of women that challenged prevailing assumptions about the place and role of women in the world. She offered an alternative to women who often were (and still are in many places here and around the world) abused and powerless.

At a time when even entering a religious order often required wealth and a dowery, Bonifacia's order and workshop accepted all; those who were physically able earned money by making cords or lace and gave their profits to a general fund,enabling those who could not work to remain.

She thought "outside the box," creating something new. God was her strength. The home of her parents' and that of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, a home where money was made simply in their workshop, were her inspiration. Read More 

The parable of the barren fig tree is today's gospel reading. After three years of waiting for fruit from the tree, the orchard owner was ready to cut it down. Why not plant something else? The gardener had another idea. "Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down." LK 13.8-9.

His remark brought another type of cultivation to mind. What do I do to "cultivate the ground" where my soul sinks its roots? What do I do that nurtures my spirit and enables me to share what I have been given?

Our lives are full of choices. How do we spend time? When at work, are we mindful of what we are doing, finding ways to serve even in positions that seem unlikely places for meeting God or sharing Goodness with others? And time when we are not at work? Read More 

"Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more." Lk 12. 48

Today's gospel reading begins with Jesus warning "...if the Master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come...." LK 12. 39-41

Peter asks if this message is meant for the disciples or for everyone. Jesus continues with the story of servants who do good and faithful work while their master is away. When the master returns, the servant is rewarded by increased responsibilities. The servant who abuses power while the master is away, squandering food and drink and mistreating those in his care will be punished and demoted from a position of trust to one of severe servitude.

He ends with the advice much is expected from those who are given much.

Who IS given much? What are their responsibilities? Unlike Peter, I know these words are meant for me, for all of us, today. One thing I pondered is the "much." Jesus didn't say money, or power, or material goods. He just said "much. Read More 

Last week I was feeling particularly discouraged. Selling intimate apparel was never my dream job! As I spoke with customers and cleaned out fitting rooms that had been left a mess, I wondered what a person with a graduate degree, an educator, and author was doing in my position. The Holiday shopping season looming ahead did littel to brighten my mood.

I guess I had forgotten the lessons learned from Brother Lawrence about "Practicing the Presence of God." Reading through some of the reflections in Liturgical Press's new monthly prayer guide, "Give Us This Day," reminded me of the call to be present to God in the ordinary events of our lives.

The October "Blessed Among Us" reflection highlighted a woman I have read, Caryll Houselander, an English laywoman mystic whose vocation was to help others become aware of Christ in our world. She was not the stereotypical mystic. She enjoyed a drinking, battled for twenty years to give up chain-smoking, and was left broken hearted by the man she loved. She never married.

Her mystical visions were of Christ in those around her. In one, she saw him suffering in a Bavarian nun, who being German, suffered discrimination during WWII in England. In another, she saw Christ in each person in a busy railway station. In some he was rejoicing, happy, in others, suffering and in pain. Her first book. This War Is the Passion,"was written in 1941 and presented the sufferings of those traumatized by WWII through the perspective of the passion of Christ.

She was an artist, a wood carver, but later in her life, writing became her primary artistic expression. Read More 

When my daughter briefly entered graduate school in science and math education, she did a short stint in an affluent suburban high school physics class. Besides being disappointed in the interest and knowledge base of the students, she was surprised by the software being used. Instead of actually building small "contraptions" to test various energy sources (springs, levers, weights, etc) the students manipulated models on a computer program.

"If the spring didn't work, 'click,' they replaced it with something else. If that didn't work, 'click.' No one was invested in the project. They didn't have to be. They just clicked their way to the correct answer, not having to give much thought let alone time to the process."

I thought of this conversation while reading an article in the Oct 8 edition of the New York Times, "Inflating the Software Report Card," by Trip Gavriel and Matt Richtel. Basically, the article reviewed rating systems for the success of computer based curricula and found them misleading.

My experience as a teacher and programming director as well as being the mom of three children tells me that acting on concrete materials is indispensable in the process of learning. Read More 

Almost two months have passed since my last blog. The reasons are many. The most important is the passing of my father, Joseph Van Balen. My siblings and I have shared Dad's care for about two years. Despite evenings when I wanted to drive home after a long day at work rather than drive to have dinner and a walk with Dad, I was always richer for having spent time with him. I hope the hours we spent together were as much a blessing for him as they were for me.

He was a gentle man who touched the lives not only of his family, but of everyone who walked through his door. Along with Mom, he had an easy way of making visitors feel special, giving them undivided attention and, of course, food and drink.

He was a wonderful father providing unconditional love to each of us. Once, a friend who was a priest told me he wanted to meet my father. He gave Dad much credit for my knowing of God as loving Presence in my life. How true that parents are a child's first glimpse of God, the one they trust, the one they depend on. Mom and Dad gave us experience of unlimited love that could be counted on, no matter what. Read More