Emmaus Blog

January 6, 2026: Need to lift up Hermine in prayer and an invitation from Father John Dear:  Light the candles, wherever you can, you who have them. Dear Sisters and Brothers of our Emmaus Community and beyond:  As we know, our sister Hermine Glaser is undergoing cancer treatment. In a couple of days she will start receiving a  new chemo drug which could have some difficult side effects. Hermine is nervous (rightly so) and has asked for our prayers. Let's lift her up! An announcement from our friend and mentor John Dear: It begins with a story from his next speaker Paula D'Arcy, founder of Red Bird Foundation:  In 1975 Paula D’Arcy’s husband and daughter were killed in a drunken driving accident. She was twenty-seven years old and three months pregnant, yet survived unharmed. Six months later she gave birth to her second daughter, Beth, and began the long process of healing. Since that time she has authored ten books, worked as a therapist in private practice, and es...

 Monday, January 5, 2026Announcement about our dear sister Mary Dixon and a reflection on Salt and Light Dear Sisters and Brothers of the Emmaus Community: We recently lost Mary Dixon, one of the brightest and kindest lights at St. Leo's, Emmaus and Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church in Sonoma where she and her husband Tom found a spiritual home. Here they are with us at St. Patrick's in Kenwood along with Jenny Janssen.  We will miss Mary, her spirit and her commitment to creating a better world. (This is the only photo I could find of Mary. It was taken in 2014. If you have others and want to share them please email photos to me at kivamedia@gmail.com.) Thank you -- David Mary’ Dixon’s Celebration of Life service is January 31 at 1:30 PM at Saint Andrew Presbyterian  Church Sonoma, 16290 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, California 95476 Carlos Rodríguez, founder of The Happy Givers nonprofit based in Puerto Rico, shares how he was challenged to be salt and light for an elderly man: ...

Saturday, January 3, 2026: Join us Today for a rally against the War in Venezuela: 3:00PM, Courthouse Square Santa Rosa: We Must Rise! See you There! Not on Our Watch, Not in Our Name Resistance and Persistence Build Community as We Search for Hope The horrors of this current administration feel like they are coming at us rapid fire. Last night the Trump Administration attacked Venezuela and absconded with President Maduro and his wife. This morning no one knows where they may be. This is a brazen act, carried out without the authorization or knowledge of Congress.  The idea that this administration gives a care about drugs - whether cocaine or fentanyl - is made completely laughable by Trump's pardon of Juan Orlando Fernandez. Trump pardons a guy who was in prison for smuggling 400 tons of cocaine, then bombs Caracas and kidnaps Venezuela's president because of cocaine?  My belief is that it’s a last gasp to get hold of Venezuela’s oil. It’s also one more effort to distract a...

January 1, 2026: New Year's Day! Happy New Year. May 2026 bring us more light, wisdom and willingness to engage in good trouble! On World Peace Day, the funding for war roars ahead Jan. 1 is marked each year as the World Day of Peace, a tradition begun by Pope Paul VI in 1967 and continued by every pope since. Across decades and vastly different global moments, each has insisted on the same foundational truth: Peace is not simply the absence of war, but the long and demanding work of building justice, protecting human dignity, fostering dialogue and addressing the conditions that give rise to violence. Now in its 59th year, the World Day of Peace was intended by Paul VI to serve as a moment of moral reckoning, not a ceremonial pause — an annual opportunity to examine whether public choices align with professed values. That question needs to be asked urgently today: How have we fared? Where are we now? Government priorities do not remain abstract. They are translated, year after yea...