November 2018 – JoAnn Amicangelo

Grief November 16, 2018

The worst thing to offer a grieving heart

There is so much in this article by Michael Morgan that resonates with me about the grieving heart. Morgan is a man longing to help his wife as she grieves the sudden loss of her mother. She has questions and he wants to offer her answers, but he has the good sense not to. While they masquerade as the desire to ease her pain, of course answers are more about easing mine. A means of pulling her out of the dark without getting my hands dirty. Being present is being vulnerable. This man gets it. He understands that, though grief is a solitary journey, it doesn’t have to be walked alone. He steps into the darkness with her, offering comfort by his willingness to be present. Sometimes, the worst thing to offer a grieving heart is an answer. If someone has been sitting in the dark, the most painful thing…

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Everyday Life November 12, 2018

For freedom or greed: A Veterans Day reflection

In honor of Veterans Day, I set out to write an article about my father’s brief stint in the army. He was 20 in 1943 when the call came to serve his country during World War II. Just three years before, he left Pacentro, Italy, to join his father and other family members in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Like his fellow immigrants, he came with the hope of a better, more prosperous lifestyle than he might have had in his hometown. Fortunately for my dad, he never saw a battleground. He did his basic training at Camp Custer in Michigan and Camp Robinson in Arkansas. Due to stomach ulcers that kept him in the infirmary more than on duty, he was granted a medical discharge six months later. But not every soldier was that lucky. While doing some research about Veterans Day, I found a list of the 11 wars or…

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Faith November 5, 2018

Silence is the language of God

A couple of weekends ago, I attended a women’s retreat with more than 80 others at St. Paul of the Cross Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit. I’ve been on several self-directed, silent retreats before, where, believe it or not, I did not speak for more than 40 hours from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. This retreat was different. It had an agenda which included prayer services, teaching from various speakers, and mass. We were expected to remain silent only between the planned sessions. At meal times we were free to let loose, and, man, did we ever. The cafeteria was anything but silent! Why all the silence, you ask? Silence is the language of God Most mystics and contemplatives would say that if you want to hear from God, you must shut your mouth and listen. God can and does communicate with us in many ways. We might hear God’s…

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