Life is full of uncertainty and fear, but we do not make our journey alone. And one thought from Genesis looms with special power: God created humankind in his image. We might linger in this incredible mystery. We resemble our Creator and so does everyone around us. 

So when a gunman opens fire in a spa in Atlanta or hunts down shoppers in a supermarket in Boulder, it is the Divine Image that is being targeted and torn. The mirrored image of God in all men and women demands our care and respect. Jesus had the clearest eyes of all for the imago Dei— the image of God— in every person he met. We can pray for our portion of this gift!

Easter is here! Our souls bless the Lord who remembers and redeemed us! It is very good!

 —Joe Kraemer, SJ, is a scholastic of the Jesuits West Province in his second year of Theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California.

Prayer

Bless the Lord, O my soul.
  O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honour and majesty,
  wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
You set the earth on its foundations,
  so that it shall never be shaken.
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
  the waters stood above the mountains.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
  they flow between the hills,
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
  they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
  the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
  and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
  In wisdom you have made them all;
  the earth is full of your creatures.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
  and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!

—Psalm 104