We find ourselves living, perhaps better said “struggling” to make it through one day at a time in a country filled with fear and anxiety over what our futures hold…as individuals, as families, as communities and as a nation! We ask ourselves: what is happening to the order of our lives; what can we count on; how are we going to carry on with our lives? Scripture scholars believe that this is very similar to the geo-political reality of the people living in the Kingdom of Judah after the death of King Uzziah. His reign had been marked with constancy, economic growth, safety and an overall sense of wellbeing. But after his death people were fearful of the future and what would happen to them and what kind of ruler his son would indeed turn out to be.
It is into this socio-economic and political turmoil that the great prophet Isaiah was called by God and rose up to provide guidance and assure the people that God was with them and that God sent him to speak his word to them.
Times of transition from one governmental administration to another whether kingly or democratic in nature, often cause
fear, anxiety and uncertainty -- especially when those in leadership show no care or concern for lives and the welfare of those they are called to govern. When leadership acts in ways that show a lack of respect for the dignity of other human beings and disrespects the rules and laws of the land, they show themselves to be unworthy to be leaders.
It is precisely in these times when we are most in need of prophets’ words, and need to look to God for guidance on how to respond and how to move forward.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, is written to a divided and troubled Church. There are serious disputes over leadership and allegiance to different leaders. There are disputes over the Gospel itself and Paul is writing to them to call them back to return to the unity that they had once shared and to correct the errors that had crept into their preaching. He sought to do this by reminding them of the central message of the Gospel and of the way of life that discipleship in Jesus Christ called them to live. And it would be through living their discipleship that they would avoid falling into the wickedness and depravity of the city in which they lived.
And in the Gospel we have the story of the great call of the first disciples. Jesus preaching to a crowd of people along the shore of Lake Gennesaret and in an effort to escape the crush of the people, he gets into Simon’s boat and goes out into deeper water. Here he performs the miracle of the great fish catch, so large that it threatens to swamp the boat. But it seems that what is most poignant in this Gospel story is the response of Simon, James and John…“they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.”
The focus of the passage seems to be found the final words, “they left everything and followed him.” It is the utter abandon
with which they take to Jesus and leave behind their family and livelihoods. James and John left their father there on the shore with the hired help; did they know what lay ahead for them, were they going just for a moment? Well, it would appear not as Jesus tells them that from now on they are going to be fishing for women and men. So he is proposing something totally new for them, something they likely had never thought of doing before.
Remember that in the Gospels, Jesus was preaching the inbreaking of the Reign of God, coming into their very presence in a new and exciting way. He was calling everyone to a new way of life --by loving God with their whole being and their neighbor as themselves. And we are called to the same, in the here and now.
We are called to speak out against those governmental actions and directives that harm and seek to diminish the dignity and safety of any of our sisters and brothers.
Amongst the list of human rights listed by the Church are the rights to:
food, clean water, adequate housing, a right to a good education, a right to a just wage and safe working conditions. A right
to health care, a right for immigrants and refugees to be treated with dignity and respect by the host country. Many of these rights are being violated at this very moment and a whole host of others.
And we know that hundreds of thousands of faithful government worker’s jobs are threatened by callous and immoral persons who seek to destroy all of the federal programs that support and uphold millions of our sisters and brothers, not to mention the millions of children and adults who will suffer famine at the loss of USAID feeding programs.
And so what does our discipleship call us to do when faced with such overwhelming discord and injustice? I think we are called to join peaceful protests, letter writing campaigns, phone calls to all elected officials, Democratic and Republican. For those who are not directly affected, think about reaching out to friends and neighbors who are being adversely affected by what is happening in the US Government today; we all know Federal Employees and contractors who are or will be affected. Think about how you might be able to help our immigrant sisters and brothers, especially members of our parish. We are currently working with multiple immigration legal services trying to connect them with those in need of their services. When someone is arrested or deported, or loses a job, they and their family may well be in dire straits and need help, even if it is a bag of groceries or some food cards -- reaching out to them is a sign that you see them and you care about them.
The truth is that lives are being destroyed and forever changed. We cannot stop all of it at this very moment, but we
can try to make a difference in those whose lives we can touch.
Our discipleship of Jesus Christ calls us to stand up and to seek to be heard and to work towards a different future from what we are seeing being laid out now -- a different future where all women, men and children are treated with dignity, respect and equality.
Blessings,
Fr. Tim
It is into this socio-economic and political turmoil that the great prophet Isaiah was called by God and rose up to provide guidance and assure the people that God was with them and that God sent him to speak his word to them.
Times of transition from one governmental administration to another whether kingly or democratic in nature, often cause
fear, anxiety and uncertainty -- especially when those in leadership show no care or concern for lives and the welfare of those they are called to govern. When leadership acts in ways that show a lack of respect for the dignity of other human beings and disrespects the rules and laws of the land, they show themselves to be unworthy to be leaders.
It is precisely in these times when we are most in need of prophets’ words, and need to look to God for guidance on how to respond and how to move forward.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, is written to a divided and troubled Church. There are serious disputes over leadership and allegiance to different leaders. There are disputes over the Gospel itself and Paul is writing to them to call them back to return to the unity that they had once shared and to correct the errors that had crept into their preaching. He sought to do this by reminding them of the central message of the Gospel and of the way of life that discipleship in Jesus Christ called them to live. And it would be through living their discipleship that they would avoid falling into the wickedness and depravity of the city in which they lived.
And in the Gospel we have the story of the great call of the first disciples. Jesus preaching to a crowd of people along the shore of Lake Gennesaret and in an effort to escape the crush of the people, he gets into Simon’s boat and goes out into deeper water. Here he performs the miracle of the great fish catch, so large that it threatens to swamp the boat. But it seems that what is most poignant in this Gospel story is the response of Simon, James and John…“they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.”
The focus of the passage seems to be found the final words, “they left everything and followed him.” It is the utter abandon
with which they take to Jesus and leave behind their family and livelihoods. James and John left their father there on the shore with the hired help; did they know what lay ahead for them, were they going just for a moment? Well, it would appear not as Jesus tells them that from now on they are going to be fishing for women and men. So he is proposing something totally new for them, something they likely had never thought of doing before.
Remember that in the Gospels, Jesus was preaching the inbreaking of the Reign of God, coming into their very presence in a new and exciting way. He was calling everyone to a new way of life --by loving God with their whole being and their neighbor as themselves. And we are called to the same, in the here and now.
We are called to speak out against those governmental actions and directives that harm and seek to diminish the dignity and safety of any of our sisters and brothers.
Amongst the list of human rights listed by the Church are the rights to:
food, clean water, adequate housing, a right to a good education, a right to a just wage and safe working conditions. A right
to health care, a right for immigrants and refugees to be treated with dignity and respect by the host country. Many of these rights are being violated at this very moment and a whole host of others.
And we know that hundreds of thousands of faithful government worker’s jobs are threatened by callous and immoral persons who seek to destroy all of the federal programs that support and uphold millions of our sisters and brothers, not to mention the millions of children and adults who will suffer famine at the loss of USAID feeding programs.
And so what does our discipleship call us to do when faced with such overwhelming discord and injustice? I think we are called to join peaceful protests, letter writing campaigns, phone calls to all elected officials, Democratic and Republican. For those who are not directly affected, think about reaching out to friends and neighbors who are being adversely affected by what is happening in the US Government today; we all know Federal Employees and contractors who are or will be affected. Think about how you might be able to help our immigrant sisters and brothers, especially members of our parish. We are currently working with multiple immigration legal services trying to connect them with those in need of their services. When someone is arrested or deported, or loses a job, they and their family may well be in dire straits and need help, even if it is a bag of groceries or some food cards -- reaching out to them is a sign that you see them and you care about them.
The truth is that lives are being destroyed and forever changed. We cannot stop all of it at this very moment, but we
can try to make a difference in those whose lives we can touch.
Our discipleship of Jesus Christ calls us to stand up and to seek to be heard and to work towards a different future from what we are seeing being laid out now -- a different future where all women, men and children are treated with dignity, respect and equality.
Blessings,
Fr. Tim
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