Holy Listening by Father Richard Rohr, OFM July 30, 2022

Week Thirty Summary and Practice Holy Listening July 24–July 29, 2022 Sunday  Jesus says people who live the vulnerable life of connection and relationship will bear much fruit. These are the people we trust, like, and admire. And yet so many of us are afraid to be the very thing that we admire the most. —Richard Rohr Monday  Compassion and dialogue are essentially vulnerable positions. If we are into control and predictability, we will seldom descend into the vulnerability of undefended listening or the scariness of dialogue. —Richard Rohr Tuesday  Listening does not grant the other side legitimacy. It grants them humanity—and preserves our own. —Valarie Kaur Wednesday  Perhaps one of the most precious and powerful gifts we can give another person is to really listen to them, to listen with quiet, fascinated attention, with our whole being, fully present. —Kay Lindahl Thursday  To listen closely, with every fibre of our being, at every moment of the day, is one of the most difficult things in the world, and yet it is essential if we mean to find the God whom we are seeking. —Esther de Waal Friday  If something comes toward us with grace and can pass through us and toward others with grace, we can trust it as the voice of God. —Richard Rohr

St. Joseph the Worker Day!

Saint Joseph the Worker, inspire all laborers of mind or body to work for their daily bread as much as your glorification. May our work be done well to perfect us and to make us participants in completing the creation God began in Genesis. Amen.

Mattoon Illinois firefighter dies. rip

I am the vine, you are the branches, remain in me and I will remain in you.

MATTOON, Ill. — A firefighter died from injuries he sustained in a crash while en route to a call in his personal vehicle.

Mehdi Mourad, 21, had officially joined the Wabash Fire Protection District as a volunteer five days earlier, and was responding to only his second call for service at the time of the crash.

Mehdi Mourad, 21, had officially joined the Wabash Fire Protection District as a volunteer five days earlier, and was responding to only his second call for service at the time of the crash.

Mehdi Mourad, 21, had officially joined the Wabash Fire Protection District as a volunteer five days earlier, and was responding to only his second call for service at the time of the crash. (Photo/Wabash Fire Protection District)

While en route to the call, Mourad lost control of the vehicle he was driving, and crashed into an SUV whose driver had pulled over due to severe weather. Mourad required extrication before first responders could remove him from his car, and was taken to an area hospital, where he later died.

“We are saddened to announce the passing of one of our firemen last night,” the department said in a post on social media. “Please keep his family, friends, and our department in your thoughts and prayers during this unimaginable time.”

Mourad was originally from Morocco and was attending a local college on a student visa. Gary Kepley, WFPD safety officer, said Mourad’s enthusiasm for the fire service was evident.

“He had relayed to his family how excited he was to be on the fire department. He was going to be a great asset to this department, we could tell,” Kepley said. “He just had a passion to get on a fire department and that young man showed up here, not knowing any of us, and asked if he could apply, which says a lot about his character to walk into the unknown.”

Mourad also worked part-time as a student assistant to the Lake Land College Police Department.

The prayers of the Joliet Fire Department and the entire firefighter family offer prayers for the Mourad family.

Brother Ed