A Young Woman Washing Dishes ~ 1882

These years at Pontoise, Pissaro has shifted away from landscapes to the depiction of peasants. Here a young woman is washing plates in a bucket on a little makeshift table outside the kitchen door. She is not a drudge; not in tattered clothing or a uniform suggesting she is employed by a rich person. She is not dirty or bent over in oppressive misery. She stands in a lovely setting -  a path with little hedges, flowering vines and a fruit tree. It's a sunny day with some mottled shadows behind her. She wears a simple white cap, dress and apron. Pissaro seems to be saying, "Everyone's work has value."

There is no tension in this painting - no class struggle (rich against poor), no color, national or religious tension. This may well be the lady's home, and she has taken her everyday task outdoors to enjoy the sunshine and warmth of spring. There is a sense of leisure-d peace to the painting.

Recently canonized, Oscar Romero, the martyred archbishop of El Salvador said (and he understood tension): "I do not want to be anti-anybody, against anyone. I simply want to be the builder of a great affirmation: the affirmation of God, who loves us and who wants to save us."

That pretty much sums up the Christian life.

Peasant Woman With A Goat ~ 1881

I hope this happy painting brings you joy. Does this goat belong to the lady who wears a blue hooded cloak? She's smiling -  has she just found her goat that perhaps got out of its pen and wandered up into the wooded hills. The village is below and seen (just for a second) along the left margin of the painting. There is a fence behind the trees at the top of the rise. We might wonder if she's been searching for the animal, because she has some branches in her left hand, as if to lure the goat home.

Some years ago while on retreat in a monastery of nuns, I discovered a small herd of goats milling around on the dirt road I walked each morning. They had evidently gotten out through a hole in the fence. Not wanting to bother the sisters with so mundane a problem, I returned to my hermitage to fetch a box of Cheerios which I knew would do the trick. I simply opened the box, held out a handful and "everyone" came along (like first-graders on a field trip) back through the fence-opening to their pasture, where they were  again safe and sound. 

When we are children, animals are a source of fascination. Paul Claudel wrote: "Intelligence is nothing without delight." Some people retain their sense of wonder and delight all their lives. Others at some point make animals the enemy, to be abused or even killed. Major opinion: For the life of me, I can't understand killing great animals called, trophies. I find it to be rather appalling really. Pressing animals to extinction is for me, a kind of blasphemy (a God insult), as God, in great imagination and pleasure, created the animals even before creating us.

But here is a woman of gentle-kindness enjoying the company of a goat. Pissarro seems to have enjoyed animals, frequently including them in his scenes: a pony, herds of cows, flocks of sheep and goats, a gaggle of geese, a rafter of white turkeys.

Intercessions ~ Fifth Sunday in Lent

The return of birds each spring is a sign of hope restored./ We pray not to become embittered cynics,/ lost in negativity and ungrateful grumbling./ May we keep our sights set on Easter,/ and the wonder of Christ's bright rising./ We pray to the Lord.

For the President of the United States,/ our Congress and world leaders./ May they realize the only real power/ is the Rule of God's Kingdom./ May they be instruments of God's generosity,/ justice and mercy./ We pray to the Lord.

Pope Francis/ reflecting on the nations which lead the global arms trade/ speaks of:/ "The economic system that orbits around money,/ the industry of death,/ the greed that harms us all."/ May we be brave and creative in finding new ways to build a genuinely peaceful world./ We pray to the Lord.

For the people around us at Mass today,/ may they and their families be of good health,/ good faith,/ good will,/ and good cheer./ We pray to the Lord.

In this season of thawing and warming,/ we pray for those we do not love rightly,/ or do not love at all./ For those who live un-befriended/ and in loneliness./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the sick entrusted to our prayer./ For those who live in chronic pain or weakness./ For the healing of any who are emotionally or spiritually unwell./ And as the light increases these days,/ we pray for those who live in inner darkness./ We pray to the Lord.