Morning Briefings

There is more good than bad in the world, more light than darkness and YOU can make more light.

– from a Facebook post attributed to Peter H. Reynolds

Retired Infantryman Brendan Marrocco spoke at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Tuesday, the day he was to be discharged. Mr. Marrocco received a two-arm transplant after losing all four limbs in a 2009 bomb attack in Iraq. The surgery has been performed in the U.S. only seven times.

–
The Wall Street Journal photo caption, January 30, 2013

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

– Romans 15:4

I need a sign to let me know you’re here, all of these lines are being crossed over the atmosphere. I want a reason for the way things have to be. I need a hand to help build up some kind of hope inside of me.

– Train, Calling All Angels

It seems to me that the season of Lent and the celebration of Easter fall at the perfect time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. Easter and spring arrive together. The church asks us to imitate nature and make sure that we are giving birth to new life at Easter. No matter how old we are, there is still new life in all of us.

– Reverend James O’Leary
I Think I Am Happier Than I Think I Am

Amid Tragedy, A Remarkable Rescue Nine Miles at Sea: Japanese sailors rescue Hiromitsu Shinkawa Sunday, two days after the 60-year-old was washed to sea on the roof of his Minamisoma home by a tsunami caused by a powerful earthquake. Thousands feared dead.

– The Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2011

Yet often it is from the failures that wisdom comes. When I reflect back on what has happened. I learn something about myself and about life, something I had not seen before or else had not held onto at the crucial time. I gain more self-understanding, the ability to see the wider picture, and the courage to be patient in difficult circumstances. And the openness of my heart to God’s presence and teaching leads me along the path of wisdom.

– Sacred Space

Hope is often the most important gift we can impart to each other. When you’ve suffered a great deal and yet manage to emerge with your strength and hope intact, you can be of tremendous assistance to others.

– Anthony DeStefano
Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To

Presence is noun, not a verb; it is a state of being, not doing. True presence, or ‘being with’ another person carries with it a silent power–to bear witness to a passage, to help carry an emotional burden, or to begin a healing process.

– Debbie Hall from
This I Believe

It so happens that there is a considerable amount of evidence for a beginning of the universe from both physics and philosophy.

– Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., author of New Proofs for the Existence of God and President of
Magis Center of Reason and Faith