Mary van Balen

This article on the Huff Post caught my attention. Employment Non-Discrimination Act 2013:The 'T' in LGBT Protections.As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has be introduced into the congress...again. In its earlier forms, ENDA did not include transgendered people in its protection. Why? As Rep. Barney Frank was quoted in the above article: "There is more resistance to protection for people who are transgender than for people who are gay, lesbian and bisexual," Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said in a statement at the time. "This is not a good fact, but ignoring bad facts is a bad way to get legislation passed."

The 2013 bill includes transgendered people. As you can see from the graphic, only sixteen states provide employment protection for transgendered people. It is time to contact your Senators and Congressmen and express support for the inclusive bill.

No one should fear for his or her job because he or she is transgendered. Or gay or lesbian or Bi-sexual. This is an issue of discrimination and of justice. Click on the article or on the link below the graphic to learn more. Read More 

Today is the International Day of Peace, originally declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981 to be celebrated each year on the third Tuesday of September by a cessation of acts of war and access for humanitarian aid access in areas affected by war. In 2002 the date was fixed on September 21, and in subsequent years, a call to non-violence was included in the twenty-four hour observance.

People worldwide observe a minute of silence at noon, and various ways of honoring the day have emerged around the globe.

Today is also the feast of St. Matthew, evangelist, whose gospel includes the Beatitudes and the parable of the final judgement when all are judged on their love and charity to others. The reading from Ephesians 4 for today's Mass as well as the gospel reading (Mt 9,9-13), stress love, mercy, and peace. Paul writes< "...I...urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the hone hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all..."

As I spent time in quiet prayer this morning the words "one God of all, who is over all and through all, and in all" lodged in my heart. Before we can bring peace, we must, as Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh writes, be peace.  Read More 

The homily at Mass yesterday included a reference to the pelican and the stained glass window depicting a pelican feeding her young. I first encountered this image in an old university building housing the school of theology. Intrigued by the old ceramic tile with the image of a pelican and her young, I made a rubbing of it in my journal and later asked about it.

According to legend predating Christianity, when food was scarce and starvation threatened, the mother pelican would peck at her breast and feed her chicks on her blood, saving them though perhaps dying herself. Christians used the symbol to represent Jesus Christ, who sacrificed his life for all of us.

Often the case with legends, its origin is unknown, though it may have come from the pelican's habit of pressing its bill to its breast to more completely empty its food pouch. No matter. The image is powerful and an appropriate one to use on Mother's Day, focusing as it does on the feminine face of God. This day provided me with much to ponder from divine motherhood, the joy of my daughters, and national and international issues that face women and girls around the globe.

Blessed with three daughters who each helped me celebrate the day in their unique ways, I am often reminded that God is our Mother as well as our Father.

After a wonderful, long conversation with my middle daughter, I woke on Mother's Day to find an e-card from her in my inbox, an unusual event. She had honored me with a donation in my name to the Girl Effect, an organization that addresses issues that prevent young girls from developing in a healthy way into young women who can contribute their gifts to the world. I encourage you to look at the website and view their short video.  Read More 

Reading reports of the trial of Monsignor Lynn, the first Roman Catholic church official to be tried in the US in the sexual abuse scandal, I remembered a column I wrote two years ago that dealt with the issue of hierarchy culpability and the need for accountability and repentance. During that Holy Week news of widespread abuse in Europe and Ireland was making headlines. The column was never printed. I knew it would not be, yet I had to write it; I had to put into words the betrayal and frustration I, along with many other Catholics, felt.

Two years later, the news again is of complicity and cover up, but this time, an official of the Church is on trial. I say it is about time. The monsignor's defense claims that he passed the information on to the now deceased Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and others in the Philadelphia archdiocese. No matter. The cardinal is now beyond the reach of civil law, and the defense is the same "passing the buck" that we have heard for over a decade.  Read More 

Today's headlines include an AP article about the increase of poverty in the US. According to census figures, 1 in 2 people in the US are poor or low income. The figures are not surprising since the economy has been struggling for years, and government programs that act as safety nets have been decreased. My job, fulltime at a large department store, would put me in the low income range even though I work 35-39 hours per week. It does provide good benefits, and many of those who work there are not the sole income earners for themselves or their families. Still, I am blessed to have other sources of revenue to supplement my pay check. All are not so fortunate.

I am well educated and have a wide variety of experience and a strong social network that gives me support. What about those who have less education? Who have young children to support? Who are single parents? Who have been out of work for years? If I had difficulty finding a job, imagine the plight of so many others. As I said, the figures were not surprising.

What bothered me in the article was a comment by Robert Rector, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. He questioned whether those classified as poor or low-income in the census report actually suffered material hardship. He thinks the safety-net governmental programs offered to such people have been overdone. His rationale? Some of them have cars, decent sized homes, and widescreen TVs. Read More 

Four saints are mentioned for remembrance today on Universalis The first, St. Elizabeth of Hungary was daughter of a king and became the loving wife of Ludwig, a count, and mother of three which is cause for sainthood itself. Ludwig supported what some considered her extravagant generosity to the poor and the sick. After her husband's death, Elizabeth continued her life of service.

St. HIlda, also mentioned today, shared Elizabeth's eagerness to reach out to all regardless of status. She is known as a woman of great learning and wisdom who was the founding abbess of the famous monastery of Whitby, a double monastery that had both women and men as members. They lived together in small houses of two or three people, and the men and women came together to worship. All types of people sought her out for guidance, including royalty. She gave freely of her gifts to all, and I imagine, teaching women to read and study Scripture, as well as to pray with it, was not common in her time.

She encouraged the man who cared for the animals, Caedmon, in his poetry and song. He became a brother at Whitby and is the first English poet that we know by name.

St Hugh of Lincoln is another mentioned today. He was a Carthusian at the monastery of La Grande Chartreuse until, asked by King Henry II of England, he became prior of a Carthusian house in England. Later he was named bishop, a position he accepted only when directed to do so by the abbot of La Grande Chartreuse. He worked with his hands helping to extend the cathedral building, but is known primarily for his commitment to justice and service to the poor.

These three saints stood out to me as I read readings from Amos for the Hours today. Amos was prophet in the 700's BCE, when both Israel and Judah knew times of great prosperity and excess. The rich lived lavishly at the expense of the poor, and Amos spoke out forcefully against that, reminding them of God's vengeance against those who do not keep his commands Read More 

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spreads out the earth with its crops,
Who gives breath to its people
and spirit to those who walk on it:
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
Is 47,1-7


Today's first reading eloquently describes the one sent by God to bring justice to the world. The images of gentleness come to mind when I watch a candle holding on to a wavering flame or carefully remove a bent flower stem and preserve the bloom by placing its shortened stalk into a tiny vase of water.

Isaiah does not reveal a blustery savior but one who is self effacing. Verses 6-7 describe the God who sent the Servant in an equally compassionate way: This is the One who created the earth, filled it with crops, and inspirited the people who populate it. This is a God concerned about the poor, the imprisoned, the sick. This is our God, pained by injustice.

As I read this passage today, I lingered over the line "I have grasped you by the hand..."  Read More 

For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.”...And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these, you did it to me.”
Gospel Mt 25, 35-6; 40




This morning I craved something warm for breakfast along with morning tea.

"Too bad the waffle iron is gone," I thought, almost able to taste the crunchy sweetness of the well-done pastry drizzled with maple syrup. I looked through the pantry for biscuit mix, the refrigerator for something to warm up. Nothing.

With resolve, I pulled the old stainless steel mixing bowl out of the cupboard below the counter and began to assemble ingredients for biscuits. They are not difficult to make: a little flour, salt, leavening, milk, and sugar tossed together then kneaded and patted into a soft pad of dough. Read More 

IMAGE:Our Lady of Gudalupe

The Mother of Heaven was standing in the very same place where he had first seen her. He knelt before her and said:
"Lady, my Child, tiniest of my children, I went to fulfill thy command. I saw the prelate and related to him thy message. By his reply I realised he did not think it to be thy order. Send, Lady, a person of mark that he may believe it. My lady, I am a paltry fellow, a man of straw, a bumpkin, a commoner and Thou my child, my lady, didst send me to a place I go not, where I stay me not. Forgive me the great grief I cause thee, lady and mistress mine."

"Listen, my son, least of my sons," the Most Holy Virgin answered him, "Many are my servants whom I can charge with my message; yet I wish it to be thou to make my petition, to help by thy mediation my will to be accomplished. I charge thee, go again to the bishop, tell him again that the Holy Mary, Virgin Eternal, Mother of God, sends thee."
from Nican Mopohua 1545 by by Don Antonio Valeriano

The small parish church I attend has a large number of Mexican members. For a few Sundays over the past month they have held a food sale featuring a wide variety of homemade Mexican dishes from tamales to tres leche. Everything is $1 and I never go away hungry. The sale raises money for the procession and celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The feast commemorates the apparitions of Mary to a poor Indian, Juan Diego, in 1531. She requested that a church be built at the top of the hill where they stood and instructed Juan Diego to carry her message to the bishop. He did, but the bishop did not believe him. Juan Diego returned to the hill and spoke with Mary, who sent him back to the bishop with her request.

On his fourth visit with Mary, she instructed him to gather roses growing on the snowy hill. She arranged them in his cloak and sent him back to the bishop with a sign he had requested. When Juan was admitted to see the bishop and opened his cloak to show him the flowers, the blooms tumbled onto the floor revealing an image on the inside of the cloak of Mary as Juan had seen her. The bishop fell to his knees and soon the church project was underway.

Over the years, the validity of this story has been questioned, as all miraculous events are. Scrutinized by unbelievers or others curious about such things, the cloak is preserved and displayed at the church on the hill of Tepeyacac near Mexico City. Juan Diego was canonized a saint in the Catholic Church in 2002.

Whether or not one believes that the image appeared miraculously on Diego's tilma or not, the story has something to teach us. Read More 

PHOTO: Mary van Balen



Strengthen all weary hands,
steady all trembling knees
and say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid...'
from Is 35





Today is the feast of Saint Nicholas, the "ancestor' of sorts to our Santa Claus.The readings from today's Mass reflect the divine generosity and compassion that are common attributes of Saint Nicholas found in stories about him. Though much we hear about Nicholas is legend, legend often has its beginning in historical people and events.

The earliest written record of Nicholas, bishop of Myra (now in Turkey), is a Greek document from around 400 AD. Nicholas appears on some lists of those who attended the Council of Nicaea, and the tale of his rescue of a poor man's daughters who would likely have been sold into a life of prostitution without Nicholas's generous intervention appears in no other saintly hagiographies. Stories about his saintliness were circulating during his lifetime.

What remains constant in all the stories is the bishop's intervention on behalf of the poor, the unjustly accused, the ones with little hope or recourse.  Read More