Creative

God makes wine.  For all its difficulties, there is no way around the doctrine of creation.  But notice the tense:  He makes; not made.  He did not create once upon a time, only to find himself saddled now with the unavoidable and embarrassing result of that first rash decision.... It was St. Thomas, I think, who pointed out long ago that if God wanted to get rid of the universe, He would not have to do anything; He would have to stop doing something.  Wine is -- the fruit of the vine stands in act, outside of nothing -- because it is His very present pleasure to have it so.  The creative act is contemporary, intimate, and immediate to each part, parcel and period of the world.

Robert Farrar Capon
The Supper of the Lamb

Members of Christ

If you are in class, recognize one another; if you are in the store, recognize one another; if you are in the housing estate, recognize one another; if you are in the parish, recognize one another: you are members of one another if you are members of Christ. This is the most revolutionary sentence that can be expressed: "you are members of one another." ... And this recognizing one another ... is witness to Christ. This is the first expression of our yearning for Christ.

- Luigi Giussani, Italian Catholic priest and founder of the Communion and Liberation movement of the Catholic Church.

Photo: Traces Magazine, March 2005