Friday Reflection v.1 n.6

Today is my last official day of break. I have enjoyed the time to go to mass 3 times this week and get some doctor's appointments out of the way. I still have a few more to go including another EEG - yuck! Haven't had one of those in years. Anyway...back to mass

This morning Msgr. talked about fasting. It seems like in most places that is getting thrown aside - or not feeling like a sacrifice - how is smoked salmon a Friday sacrifice anyway? We concentrate so much on the parts that we forget about the motive. That was the topic today and it got me thinking about pregnancy centers. How does not eating switch over to pregnancy? Let me explain how my mind works.

Fasting has layers and one layer is drawing closer to God, or just becoming a better person. There should be a positive change like increased self-discipline and not a negative one like complaining of hunger. The same layers can be seen in the pro-life movement. Some are so focused on telling the other person/side why they are wrong that they forget the positive change we could be making. That led me to pregnancy centers and a shout out to all those involved with pregnancy centers by donating time, talent or treasures. It is the positive change that makes our movement shine. Another part of the homily talked about how we can have more empathy for the hungry if we experience a little bit of hunger. We can have more empathy for surprised mothers-to-be if we take time to know and help them as opposed to just arguing the politics of the options available to them in this country.