To the good faithful of the Diocese of Colorado Springs:
 
Please know of my abundant gratitude to every one of you. Your kindness, generosity, faithfuness,
and prayers have been gifts to me.

A los buenos fieles de la Diócesis de Colorado Springs:
 
Por favor, tengan presente mi más sincero agradecimiento hacia cada uno de ustedes.
Su amabilidad, generosidad, fidelidad y oraciones han sido regalos para mí.

What do we owe to the poor?

That question underlies much of our current political and social discourse. We ask it — perhaps subconsciously — when we encounter someone on a street corner asking for money, when we drive through struggling neighborhoods, or when we read about the human impact of government shutdowns or freezes on benefit payments. How we answer the question of what we owe our poor reveals something profound about our understanding of charity and justice.

Recently I re-read “Dear and Glorious Physician,” Taylor Caldwell’s masterful historical fiction about St. Luke. One of the biblical occurrences cited is “from the sixth hour there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour” (Mt 27:45; cf. Mk 15:33; Lk 23:44).  Caldwell depicts the celestial events experienced by the Passover throng gathered in Jerusalem as being witnessed by Luke hundreds of miles away.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Sister Frances Sedlacek, OSF, died Feb. 20 at St. Francis Nursing Center following a five-year cancer diagnosis. Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated March 2 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Colorado Springs, followed by burial in Mount St. Francis Cemetery.