I thought of history as the dull memorization of dates. Fr. “Bunk” Russell taught me that there was so much to learn from history. He taught us to “question” history. Not only what happened? Why did it happen? What can I learn about today and tomorrow?
This Vincentian Mindwalk reflects on the “dangerous memory “ of the Exodus and Independence Day in our past, present, and future.
For the third and final reflection “Mary – Mother of the Church” teaches us to go beyond our self-centered dreams to God’s dream for us as sisters and brothers.
“Dangerous memories are not nostalgia or visions of the past, but “memories which make demands on us” in the present. Such memories are ones “that we have to take into account, memories, as it were, with a future content.
The tradition of ‘thanksgiving” is not new. It has deep roots in the Old Testament and especially the New Testament. The Last Supper was a celebration of thanks but it was also a call to giving.