Urban 2011 March

There is something drab in the hurly-burly of Connecticut Avenue, something missing in the anxious faces on M Street, something lost in the marching feet on Rhode Island Avenue. Urban life often leaves us peevish and anxious and ready for brief childish temper tantrums because someone is driving or walking to slowly, or talking too loudly, or not paying attention while walking and almost collides with you.
Urban life often leaves us feeling insignificant and drab. How we long for a verdant pasture with soft grass and towering oak trees, for solitude, for silence. But when we have schedules to keep and meals to miss to complete this deadline, there is nowhere to go but back to our offices, back to our cubicles. Our souls are under attack each and every day, we are subjected to rudeness, hatred every day. Often we are able to overlook it, to protect ourselves from the corrosive, corrupting experience.

Urban living can overtime leave our souls dull and lifeless, our minds darkened and depressed, our hearts cold and locked. Our being, our spiritual being needs to be nurtured each and every day, our spiritual life needs to be sharpened with love and hope and mercy. We must learn how to love, how to follow in the footsteps of Christ Jesus, how to be obedient to God.

Each day we hear about man’s inhumanity. Each day we make typographical and grammatical errors. Hopefully, in our hearts we ask God for forgiveness when we sin. Each day we dream of a better tomorrow for ourselves and our loved ones.

Being Christian is the most beautiful gift; being Christian is the best prize; being Christian is alive with undiscovered prayers which slowly awaken within us each time we go to Mass or unexpectedly share goodness and kindness with others. Being Christian allows us to join the story of the life and resurrection of Christ.

The city is often described as a jungle or a forest. It is neither. The wilderness in the city is dangerous, meant to tempt us, lead us away from God, away from goodness, away from holiness, away from kindness. The pulse of the city is always a little elevated. City living demands that we ignore much of what we see, hear, and feel. Neither the street lamps nor the neon lights can hide the darkness which envelopes the city.

Attending Mass can be a moment of hope, a moment of love in our lives when we are able to relax and allow the Lord into our lives.

The pulse of his being moves around us each day; the pulse of his being encourages us to stop before making some questionable decisions; the pulse of his being asks us to be compassionate to our neighbors; the pulse of his being reminds us to love, to share mercy and kindness with each other.