Dear Friends,

Today The Spirit of Life Community is gathering at 5pm for a Communion Service led by community members. Jean and I are away participating in our Granddaughter Elisabeth's First Communion and her brother Maxwell's 10th Birthday Celebration! We invite you to join the community at our regular time and space; we will be with you in Spirit.

This Sunday's Gospel finds Jesus saying, "I am the Vine, You are the Branches." What a glorious image of the same life juices flowing through Jesus and us, calling us to compassionate and prophetic action for others in our world. Jesus goes on to say, "Make your home in Me as I make My home in You." Do we think of God as Home, where we can kick off our shoes and relax and just settle in being who we are? What wonderful images to inspire us this week.

As I read the many articles being written about the Vatican's crackdown on Religious Sisters, one frequent lens used to talk about the issue is "bullying." It is pointed out that this kind of inquisition and crackdown was not directed at pedophile priests or at the bishops own collusion by reassigning these predators to other parishes where other children would be preyed upon.

In the spirit of today's Gospel, it seems the hierarchy is among the branches needing to be pruned to bear even more fruit. Jesus' words come to mind, "You hypocrites, first remove the plank from your own eye and then you'll be able to see clearly to notice the speck of dust in someone else's eye."

There clearly seems to be a double standard applied here. Once again, the hierarchy is attacking women—and this time it is the visionary women religious who so often have been the prophetic voice speaking the Gospel message and leading the Church to action. Call to Action is spearheading a nation-wide effort to draw attention to this injustice by sponsoring prayer vigils in support of Women Religious in cities across the country. Starting on Tuesday, May 8th, five cities have committed to holding a prayer vigil every Tuesday through May 29th, the day the Leadership Conference of Women Religious begins their meeting to discern a response to the Vatican.

Here in Boston, we will be gathering on Tuesday evening, May 8, from 5:30 to 7:00PM for a prayer vigil in front of Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross. We invite you to join us for this time of prayer together; we would like to have as large a crowd as possible. Other prayer vigils will be planned for the Tuesdays in May. These actions are meant to offer prayerful public support for Women Religious who educated many of us and serve as profound models of social justice for all.

We loved this show of support from a parish in Portland Oregon reported in an NCR article: "One Spirit - One Call, a women's support organization that reaches out to the entire diocese, threw a potluck birthday party in the parish center to honor St. Catherine of Siena, a woman who spoke truth to papal power in her own day. Postcards of support were on hand to sign and send to sisters whose communities are members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, said Rossini, a founding member and secretary of One Spirit's board. The event drew 95 women and men, "25 more than we expected," Rossini said." Awesome!!

At The Spirit of Life, through our time of prayer and sharing together, we work together to grow in our self-understanding and in our relationships with God and with God's people. We celebrate the gift of our faith and the responsibility that is ours as followers of Jesus Christ. It is our prayer that what we as a community experience in our praying together will overflow into the rest of our lives, making us more fully human and more 'whole'....holy! We invite you to join us in this endeavor and journey with us as we seek to grow in our love of God and to grow in our capacity to be living expressions of God's loving peace and justice in our world.

May the love and joy of the risen Christ be your Home and be made manifest in your lives!

Ron & Jean