Reflection by Sr. Maria DiBello, RSM

Over these months at Cranaleith, music of awakening souls poured hope into the seeming endless night our world has known. They stilled the raucous babble that robs the darkness of dreaming…of rest. Hidden in the folds of Cranaleith's beauty, they listened. And they found their echoing voice.

Whose voice is it that awakens the dawn over our blood-drenched earth…our frenzied cities and numbed gatherings? It belongs to Brian, the young man from St. John's Hospice, who sat singing and playing on our porch after gardening, realizing that "he may be homeless, but he has a castle within him." And it belongs to Tom, the corporate leader who realized after a day of reflection, that perhaps his plans for another house were being transformed into longing for an inner home. It belongs to the young adult who brought Cranaleith's piano to life, as she held her fellow volunteer groundskeepers in the mystery of heaven's nearness. And it belongs to the woman who survived mental illness and life on the streets, to touch this same piano's keys with exquisite healing grace for others. It belongs to the struggling, burnt-out minister of the gospel whose sorrowing songs accompanied his crushed spirit to a place of solace and trust. And it belongs to the young widow who played her undying love through the long hours of a Valentine evening. Finally, it is the voice of a magnificent chorus of volunteers, who fill this wondering space with their goodness…and the voice of countless benefactors whose generosity resounds much beyond their reach.

All of these friends communed with one another and with the music of stars keeping vigil over our anguished planet. May the merciful song of God's heart take up the night cry of our time, and break on us in the startled joy and wakens the dawn.

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