"They who do justice will live in the presence of the Lord.” The responsorial psalm this weekend tells us that it is by doing justice that we live in the presence of God…it is in and through building justice we encounter God. How is it then that such great injustices, racism, bigotry and misogyny, are so prevalent in our “Christian” society? Racism, bigotry and misogyny are outright sins and need to be called what they are. Justice demands that we look at the very structure of our society that claims to be built on the ideal of “justice for all persons” and yet, clearly acts contradictory to our notion of all women and men being equal are committed more and more frequently and without appropriate consequences.

The reality of “inequality” is seen in the Gospel this weekend. Mary chooses to sit at the feet of Jesus as a disciple, a decidedly male role, clearly breaking the norms of their society….and Jesus defends this unacceptable behavior. Mary is drawn to Jesus’ words like other women of Jerusalem who broke with tradition and traveled with Jesus to support him in his mission. Jesus did not uphold the laws that created a patriarchal society that clearly valued men over women. This attitude of inclusion that Jesus demonstrates over and over again by eating with sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes, shows his willingness to stand up to societal conventions that degraded or dishonored the dignity of a person.

Jesus reached out to the poor and the marginalized and commanded that his disciples do the same and in doing so they would be recognized as his followers. We simply cannot stand by in silence as our government continues to separate immigrant children from their parents, housing them in inhumane and heartless conditions, turning away legitimate asylum seekers and immigrants fleeing violence, poverty, seeking a better life for themselves and their families. As disciples we have to ask ourselves what are we doing in the face of the racism, bigotry and misogyny that plagues our nation? How can we work to build justice, to call out the racism, bigotry and misogyny in all its forms whether in our schools, our neighborhoods, our places of work or the highest offices of our government? How will I “do justice” this week, how will I live out my discipleship of Jesus Christ?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

This Sunday’s Gospel is without doubt one of the most famous in all of scripture. We all know it and we all get the point…or do we? As a “supposedly” predominately Christian nation we certainly fail to live up to it! We find ourselves living in a country of great extremes…on the one hand we have sinful waste and staggering excess and on the other hand we have huge numbers of our sisters and brothers living in cruel poverty…and so very many of our citizens seem to not care at all. Our political discourse has degraded to an increasingly violent and vitriolic disdain for not only competing ideas but for the actual persons who hold them. The more hysterical the rhetoric, the more it seems to garner support among what appears to be a callous and uncaring faction of our nation. Somewhere along the journey we have lost sight of the meaning of the parable of the good Samaritan.

Samaritans were considered, by some Israelites to be almost “sub-human”. They were often called dogs…not the cute cuddly puppy…but rather the mangy half-starved denizens of the night who wander the dark streets in search of a morsel of food. And this is precisely who is the hero of Jesus’ story. It is the dehumanized one who acted with humanity, one who acted as God would want us to act. Who was his sister? Who was his brother? Surely not an Israelite…who after all most likely hated and despised him…but in the very midst of that knowledge, the Samaritan was moved with pity and cared with gentleness and kindness for the one who despised him.

This Sunday’s Gospel offers us the chance to reflect on who we wish to be…the heartless priest who passes by…or the good Samaritan who risks being gentle and kind to someone who despised him? God cries out to us to be compassionate and kind toward others especially those in need, especially to those whom our society marginalizes and despises. We know who they are…what are we willing to do for them? Are we willing to risk being good Samaritans? Are we willing to stand up on their behalf and demand justice for them?

Blessings,
Fr Tim

This week’s gospel reading recounts “the sending out of the seventy-two” disciples to preach the Reign of God. They were preaching this reign that was “at hand” and is still coming upon us. Last week the theme of Sunday’s readings was “God’s call”. And so we reflected on God’s call to each of us, here and now. God’s call to each of us is at the same time unique for each one of us and yet the same in that we are all called to live the Reign of God.

But are we ready to “live” the Reign of God? Jesus makes it abundantly clear that it will not be easy, and in fact our very lives may be at risk for proclaiming it and “living it”. Jesus cautions us that we are being sent out into the world “like lambs among wolves”. As we have just celebrated the 4th of July, the great “high feast day” of our nation, perhaps we should ask ourselves if we as citizens are working to build a country that reflects the Reign of God? Are the homeless housed… are the thirsty quenched…are the hungry satisfied…are immigrants and migrants welcomed? Are these not signs of the bursting forth of the Reign of God? And when we fail to feed the hungry, to shelter the homeless and to welcome the immigrant and migrant then we fail “the mission”, we fail to build up the Reign of God”!

Each of us has been called to build up the Reign of God…to “live” it in the here and now. Perhaps in light of the celebration of our nation’s birthday we should take a few minutes to reflect on how, we as a nation, and as individuals, are doing living out the mission Jesus gave us and ask ourselves what we might need to do differently.

Blessings,
Fr Tim