Ursuline Sisters Elect a New Leadership Team Learn More

See with your heart a great crystal bowl big enough, huge enough to hold within itself the entire earth, all the four legged, the two legged, the trees, plants, everything. The crystal ball is good and all is secure. Humankind was part of the whole earth.

March of 2020 the great crystal ball gets smashed into a million pieces, shattered beyond belief. Crisis and disorder reigned and safety was gone. Everything exposed to annihilation by a virus.

What does one do? Within and without all know the crystal bowl that was so safe needed to be fixed. First, go to prayer.

We pray for help and the Spirit always answers. The answer comes. The clear, crystal piece of glass needs to be glued together again. How to do gluing is very clear. In prayer, again, the Spirit gives the life, the spiritual energy of acceptance, compassion, and healing.

So one works to glue pieces of broken crystal back together, practicing acceptance, compassion, and healing. The glue, of course, is the power of the Spirit who always draws together and brings harmony out of chaos. The task is tremendous, bigger than one person so others are asked to help. Everyone picks up clear glass pieces and puts them together.

Along comes another person, probably female, who brings a piece of red glass. The first reaction is to send her away for the task is to rebuild the crystal bowl with clear glass. After prayer, however, the three main sources (fire) of the Holy Spirit are clearly acceptance (number 1), compassion and healing. The red glass must be welcomed and the odd colored glass is allowed to be added. Behold, more people come with all different colors of glass – purple, green, yellow etc. This is terrible! This is unexpected! Something new is being born! The crystal bowl is transformed into something new and wonderful, better and different from the old.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming … prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” Revelation 21

“God is now making all thing things new. ... St. Paul puts it this way [2 Cor. 5.17]: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

Sister Mary Joan Grisez