The keeper tells me that this has been a weekend of so much intensity--life, death, hope, destruction, sadness, delight. On the way to the funeral, she ran into a pack of fire engines heading toward a big plume of smoke in the Fremont area. It smelled horrible and people were lined up on the street. She didn't give it much more attention since she needed to be at the funeral home. Only later did she learn that four children and an adult died in this fire. And they were from the Ethiopian community. Some of the fire department equipment wasn't functioning. It's a terrible tragedy for which there are no words. The keeper said we should also remember the fire fighters who must also feel terrible right now.
On the other hand, today she attended a young Hispanic priest's First Mass. The line up of his friends who are seminarians and other young Latino priests was impressive. The keeper said that she prayed for those young men that they learn to love their people, more strongly than anything else, more than strongly than church politics or opportunities for advancement or following the law rigidly. She prayed that they would help their people become strong leaders and wise in faith and tradition. And she prayed that they would fight for their people--for justice, recognition, in the face of bureaucratic manipulation.
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