ANOTHER YEAR: LIFE GOES ON

It goes on in the Albany Diocese. In Nassau, St. Mary's parish marks its sesquicentennial. In Germantown, a retreat center holds a tenth anniversary celebration. In Albany, six permanent deacons are ordained.

It's the end of summer, and life goes on in your house. There are groceries to buy, dental appointments to keep, homework to do and football games to watch.

Life goes on around the world. In India, the fifth anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta is observed at a Mass attended by hundreds of people from various religions. In Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the Latin American bishops are reminded by their head to lobby governments to prevent globalization from threatening traditional family and pro-life values. Greeting a new ambassador from Uruguay to the Vatican, Pope John Paul II tells him that nations must work harder to develop warm relations and use dialogue to resolve their conflicts. In Pakistan, Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore says: "The past year has been the most stressful in our Church history. We have never experienced so many attacks on Christians and so many killings. We must seek ways of working together with Muslim groups."

Life goes on in ordinary ways: dining out, brushing your teeth, kissing the kids goodnight. It also goes on in interfaith meetings, at special religious occasions, through the sharing of ideas on peace, and in inner hope.

A year ago, millions of people wondered how life could go on, but it does. Because that's one way to fight back: to live, to celebrate the accomplishments of the past, the look to the future, and to find ways to make life better through dialogue, understanding and prayer.

(09-12-02)