“Each year our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate what for them is the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement,” says Father Jerry in today’s homily, “On this day they are invited to confront the reality of their own death.” The liturgical high point of Yom Kippur is the recitation of a prayer shows how fragile human life is, and asks, “Who shall live, and who shall die?”

“The message of the prayer is that death shows no favorites,” says Father. Will it be heart attack, cancer, despair, COVID, stroke, car crash, or age? “Death will strike everyone. It will even strike me and you,” he adds. But there is light…

Watch today’s video and hear how Father so wonderfully connects our own journey to the struggle of a lotus flower’s initial growth through mud and muck, seeking the light, and growing upward, as it eventually pokes through the water, then blossoms to share its unique beauty for all to see.