Urban Hermit at 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006 US - Feasts

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Transfiguration of the Lord—August 6

Dear People of God,

How did the disciples know who Jesus was? How did they recognize him?

Well, of course, they recognized him from their knowledge of the tradition.  When Jesus takes his closest circle of disciples to the mountaintop, it’s reminiscent of the mountaintop experiences of previous prophets.  Peter, James and John recognize Jesus as a prophet because they know the tradition of their people.

Then, at the top of the mountain, they see Jesus speaking with Elijah and Moses, and so they recognize him as a friend of the two greatest figures in the Jewish tradition.

Another way the disciples recognize Jesus’ identity is that God identifies Jesus.  God calls Jesus the “beloved Son” in the opening chapter of Mark’s Gospel, and in today’s passage Jesus is again identified as the Son of God, with the added instruction to “Listen to him.”

So the disciples understand that Jesus is a prophet, that he is a friend of Moses and Elijah, that is the beloved Son of God.  They have seen him cure the sick and cast out demons; they have themselves been sent out to do the same powerful deeds in Jesus’ name; they now see him in his glory.

Then why does Jesus urge his disciples to remain silent about what they have seen?  They have seen the glory of God shining forth from him, yet he tells them not to speak of it before the resurrection. 

It’s important to see the whole picture, Jesus is saying, not just the good parts.  Without the cross, without the resurrection, the transfiguration is not complete.  We still find it a mystery, from our vantage point 2000 years after the resurrection.  It’s no wonder the first disciples don’t understand.

Of course, they also prefer not to understand.  It’s always easier to look at the positive and ignore the negative:  Ignore it and it’ll go away!

Children are good examples of this tendency of ours.  They want to go to Cedar Point, thinking of the rides and food and friends.  They do not want to think about saving money for admission, toting the cooler and the sunblock, standing in line for hours, getting tired… and so on. 

And it’s not just children.  At a job interview we look at all the attractive things about an employer, the company, the position we’re after.  We ignore the details we have to work with later:  the office gossip, the corporate ladder climbing, the irrational anger of the boss.

Or, at the beginning of a courtship, we see everything coming up roses.  Our beloved has no flaws:  we see him or her on their best behavior, in all their glory, with none of the warts.  Of course, they have warts, but we prefer to ignore them, just as the disciples wanted to set up a booth to live on top of the mountain with the transfigured Jesus in conversation with Moses and Elijah, just as the disciples preferred to ignore the cross.

So the disciples are able to recognize Jesus because of the mountain and the cloud, because of Moses and Elijah, because of God’s voice identifying him.  But they falter, again and again.  Whenever Jesus mentions going to Jerusalem to suffer and die, they argue with him; their picture of Jesus does not include the cross.  They are able to recognize him in glory, but they are unable to recognize him in disgrace, defeat and death. 

Still, where his closest disciples are unable to recognize Jesus, the least likely people do recognize him:  the Roman military officer at the foot of the cross, and the women who follow him to the cross and to the tomb and, eventually, to the resurrection and his appearances afterward.

How do WE know who Jesus is?  How do WE recognize him?  As we go about this week, let’s look for Jesus in the truthtellers of our lives; let’s look for Jesus in the disgraced and rejected people around us; let’s look for Jesus in the faces of those we hate.  For if we are able to recognize him there, they--and we--will be transformed.

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Some stories:

Donald L. Deffner, in Seasonal Illustration for Preaching and Teaching (San Jose, CA: Resource Publications, 1992), p. 166 (“I Broke a Leg”).

Gerald Fuller, in Stories for All Seasons (Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 1996), pp. 14, 54, 98.

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Feast of the Assumption of Mary--August 15:  God Dwelling within Us

Vigil—

1 Chronicles 15:3-4:15-16, 16:1-2—They brought in the ark of God and set it within the tent.

Psalm 132—Lord, go up to the place of your rest, you and the ark of your holiness.

1 Corinthians 15:54b-57—Death is swallowed up in victory.

Luke 11:27-28—Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.

Feast—

Revelation 11:19a, 12:1-6a,10ab—God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

Psalm 45—The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

1 Corinthians 15:20-27—Just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ all shall be brought to life.

Luke 1:39-56—My spirit rejoices in you, God my savior, for you have looked upon your lowly servant.

Dear People of God,

In one of the church buildings I frequent there's a painting of the Dormition of Mary.  On occasion I've heard the guides telling tourists that the painting shows that Mary just fell asleep and was taken into heaven, not dying a physical death.  In that magic theology, Mary takes on a divinity denied even to Jesus, who had to suffer physical death before his resurrection and ascension. 

There is no scriptural evidence for the assumption of Mary into heaven.  The idea began to develop in the 6^th century in apocryphal narratives that created details about Mary's death.  In general, the idea grew that, because Mary gave birth to Jesus, Jesus returned the favor by preserving the body that gave him birth from the corruption of the grave.  The dogma of the Assumption was promulgated officially by Pope Pius XII in 1950.  Pius' intent in doing so was to emphasize the exalted destiny of all the church—each of the members of the Body of Christ is to share, body and soul, in glory with Christ for all eternity.

The story of Jesus' mother is fogged up by centuries of cultural assumptions about women and literal misinterpretations of scripture.  Mary's yes to God's call is too often presented as rising out of a properly submissive personality and paired with urgings for women to imitate that submissiveness as defined by a patriarchal tradition.  In today's culture and understanding, however, we know Mary's submission as courage:  unmarried, pregnant, and powerless in the society, Mary embraces life and bears Jesus.  She takes on Christ and becomes the Ark of the Covenant.  She embodies the sacred.  She is our model:  we also carry God within us through our Baptism as followers of Christ.  Like Mary, we will share—body and soul—in eternal life because of our connection with the Christ.

So often the feast we celebrate today gets lost in banal devotions overlaid by centuries of misunderstandings.  Sometimes it's hard to peel away those layers of accumulated superstition to expose the great truth of the Assumption:  we are all brought to life in Christ, as Paul's letter to the Corinthians puts it.  With Christ's coming we all become, like Mary, the arks of God's holiness.  God dwells in us!

God bless!

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Trinity Sunday (A):  Called to Create, Redeem, and Sanctify

Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9—The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.

Daniel 3:  Glory and praise forever!

2 Corinthians 13:11-13—Rejoice.  Mend your ways.  Encourage one another.  Agree with one another.  Live in peace.

John 3:16-18—God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.

Dear People of God,

God is with us!  Moses on the mountain saw God pass before him, speaking:  " The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."  Not a God of anger at the infidelity of this stiff-necked people, but a God slow to anger!  We are made in the image and likeness of this kind and faithful God, and so we are called today to see in our meditations on the Triune nature of God that God is indeed merciful and gracious in all three manifestations.

When we encounter the Creator God, we encounter the life-giving, nurturing, loving source of our being.  When we encounter the Redeemer God, we encounter the befriending, healing source of our salvation.  When we encounter the Sanctifier God, we encounter the joyful, peaceful source of our anointing.

We are called in this encounter with the Trinity to mirror in our lives its creating, redeeming, and sanctifying relationship.  We are called to create, in whatever way our state of life opens that up to us:  as biological parent, as author, as organizer, as planner.  We are called to redeem, in whatever way our state of life opens that up to us:  as fixer, as healer, as friend, as framer of reality in the thoughtful word spoken.  We are called to sanctify, in whatever way our state of life opens that up to us:  to bless, to approve, to smile, to accept, to embrace.

Attempting to reflect this Trinity is a monumental, life-long task, yet it is the one task to which each of us is called.  Let's be aware of the ways in which we are reflecting the Godhead in ourselves, and of the ways in which we fail to do so.  The bursting forth of spring is a good time to channel our spiritual energies so that they burst forth in praise and service.

God bless!

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Trinity Sunday (B):  Go!

Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40—You must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.

Psalm 33:  Happy the people, O God, you have chosen to be your own.

Romans 8:14-17—Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Matthew 28:16-20—Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Dear People of God,

The high drama of the Lent-Easter-Pentecost cycle has ended, and we return to Ordinary Time, the numbered Sundays of our liturgical year.  Yet they are far from ordinary!  Having celebrated the birthday of the Church in our Pentecost liturgy last Sunday, we now hear the command to go and "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." 

We are cautioned to keep the truth in mind.  Deuteronomy tells us that the Lord is God, and there is no other.  Paul, in the letter to the Romans, tells us that those who are led by the Spirit are sons and daughters of God.  After the preparation of Lent, the excitement of Holy Week and the Triduum, the great feasts of the Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost, we need to ground ourselves in the basics.  God is God.  We are God's children.  We have a commission to go forth and make disciples. 

How we do that is both an individual and a communal effort.  Each of us brings gifts to the task, and each of us is required to work for the kingdom.  Whether we work as parents or teachers, entrepreneurs or preachers, laborers or students, we have the same call.  Yet it is easy to think that the call is to others and not to us.

As we go about this week, let's ask for the gift of vision, that we might see where the Spirit is leading us.  There it is that we will be able to make disciples for the Lord. 

God bless!

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Trinity Sunday (C):  The Love of God

Proverbs 8:22-31—I found delight in the human race.

Psalm 8:  O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

Romans 5:1-5—The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

John 16:12-15—The Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth.

Dear People of God,

Discernment is in some ways a simple and easy process and in other ways a very difficult one.  When the choice is clear between good and evil, it’s a no-brainer.  It’s not that we always choose the good, but we certainly can tell which is which.

When it’s a choice between two very good things, it’s another no-brainer.  In the end, it doesn’t matter which one we choose, since both are good.

The problem comes when it’s not so clear.  And that’s usually how it is underneath the major question.  It’s more than a question of this job or that job; it’s a question of which job will stretch me to serve God more completely.  It’s more than a question of a single act of goodness; it’s a question of all the underlying motives and overlapping meanings contained in that act of goodness.

Today’s feast of the Trinity invites us to reflect on the multitude of meanings that God pours into our lives.  We do not have just God, in all that majesty and glory, but we also have a Trinitarian God, all that love and concern in communion and community with us.   

Over the centuries theologians and homilists have tried to communicate the meaning of the Trinity, and they’ve come up with wonderful images:  St. Patrick’s famous shamrock with its three lobes on one stalk; the painting of Jesus’ baptism, with the hand of God reaching out of the cloud and the white dove hovering over Jesus rising out of the waters; the person who is daughter, spouse, and mother all in one self.  In all of these images the unity of creation in the love of God is clear. 

God’s motive is love.  That love is what moves us when the Spirit of truth speaks.  That love is the delight wisdom finds in the whole human race.

God bless!

________

Corpus Christi (A):  No Barriers

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a—Do not forget the Lord, your God.

Psalm 147: Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

1 Corinthians 10:16-17—We, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

John 6:51-58—Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

Dear People of God,

What has God done for me lately?  Moses reminds the Israelites of all that Yahweh has done for them:  directing their journey in the desert, feeding them with manna, bringing them out of Egypt and slavery, guiding them, giving them water from the rock.  And Paul reminds the Corinthians of the cup of blessing and the bread:  these are a participation in the blood and body of Christ.  God, in Jesus' self-giving, gives us unity and sanctity.  As John's gospel points out, our participation in the Eucharist makes us part of Jesus and Jesus part of us, unto eternal life.

It would seem, though, that the leaders of our Catholic Church are unaware of the egalitarian nature of the scriptures.  God led the entire people out of Egypt, and everyone collected manna—not just a chosen few who had studied it and had been trained on the right way to pick it up.  All the people partake of the bread and the cup, and all are part of the body of Christ—not just a chosen few who have learned the esoteric regulations for liturgical correctness.  People who are baptized and communicating Catholics have no need of further study or training to be able to carry the Eucharist to their homebound family members.

A few years ago one of the deacons at my parish called a meeting of Eucharistic ministers for the purpose of starting a ministry to the homebound and hospitalized.  When the suggestion was made that family members would also be fitting recruits as ministers to carry the Eucharist to their loved ones, in the model of the first Christians, the deacon rejected the idea because he did not believe them to be capable of ministering appropriately without training.  It's good that Moses and Paul and John and the early Christians did not share this concern!  Instead, they followed Jesus' directive to allow anyone to heal in his name.  Here, 2000 years later, a baptized and confirmed Catholic Christian is prohibited from ministering the Eucharist to his or her family without taking the appropriate study and training!  How far we've strayed!

Let's be thankful this week for the gift of the Eucharist.  At the same time, let's be aware that the gift of the body and blood of Christ belongs to everyone, and let's not put barriers in the way of their receiving it.

God bless!

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Corpus Christ (B):  A Eucharistic People

Exodus 24:3-8—All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do.

Psalm 116:  I will take the cup of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

Hebrews 9:11-15—Christ is the mediator of a new covenant.

Mark 14:12-16, 22-26—While they were eating, he took brad, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body."  Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

Dear People of God,

Central to our Catholic Christian tradition is the Eucharist, as Vatican II put it, “the source and summit” of our lives.  Today’s celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, focuses on the tradition and the practice of thanksgiving in our Church.

For too many of us, however, the Eucharist is no longer a daily or even a weekly possibility.  The number of ordained priests continues to decline, and those we have are growing older and retiring.  The priestless parish is common, with more and more priests riding the circuit between two and sometimes among three parishes each weekend; the priestless Eucharistic celebration is also growing more common, with communion services becoming the typical replacement for daily Mass and too often for Sunday Mass as well.

We say we are a Eucharistic people, that this celebration is the source and summit of our faith, yet we have not taken steps as a Church to ensure that all the baptized faithful have access to the Eucharist.  What can we do?

Of course, you probably hear the petitions for vocations at Mass, just as I do.  Maybe you’ve even lifted some of those prayers yourself.  Perhaps you’ve mentioned a possible vocation to a young man who shows an extra devotion and interest in the Church.  Maybe you’ve even encouraged your own child to consider the priesthood.

Some people assert that changing the rule about priestly celibacy will solve our problem, but the statistics from Protestant denominations that ordain married people suggests otherwise.  For example, the New York Times reports a growing clergy shortage in the Presbyterian Church, which ordains both married people and women.  So celibacy is not the issue, nor is the ongoing gender discrimination of our Church the issue.  Even though, as a matter of social justice, married people and women should be ordained, the changing of the rule will not solve the vocation crisis as it’s hitting us today.

Consider that the real reason for the decrease in vocations to the priesthood and religious life is that the foundation for vocation is faith and response to the call of God.  In effect, we are also experiencing a parallel decline in vocations to the married life and the single life and the lay apostolate.  We as a society, including members of the Roman Catholic Church, are walking away from all the lifestyles of faith.  We are avoiding commitment to God and service to others in all forms.

The transitions required of Catholics over the last 30 years since Vatican II have not been easy, and many of us have not embraced the contemporary insights that could underpin a deep faith for our time.  In truth, it may be a romantic notion that there was ever a time when great numbers of people put God first.  

That’s the same struggle Jesus encountered.  We’re challenged to believe and act on it:  do this in remembrance of me.

God bless!

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Corpus Christi (C):  Without Limit

Genesis 14:18-20—Melchizedek brought out bread and wine.

Psalm 110:  You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26:  This is my body.  This is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this in remembrance of me.

Luke 9:11b-17—Give them some food yourselves.

Dear People of God,

Today's Gospel relates Jesus' feeding the people gathered to hear him.  He did not limit participation in the meal.  And God only knows who was on that mountainside! 

In this election year the Eucharist is getting some strange press:  several bishops and priests have announced that they will refuse Eucharist to politicians—and even voters—who have supported abortion legislation.  One must wonder if they will also refuse Eucharist to those who support capital punishment… to those who support war…to those who refuse to campaign for a just wage. 

When we gather to "do this in remembrance," we gather as the Body of Christ.  None of us alone is perfect, but together we constitute the whole and perfect presence of Christ in the world today.  If we begin to exclude this one for this reason and that one for that reason, no one will be gathered "in remembrance." 

The Gospel calls us to inclusiveness, not exclusion.  Jesus welcomed all people—foreigners, women, sinners, children, the anawim.  So must we.

God bless!

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Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul:  June 29—Encountering the Christ

Acts 12:1-11—So Peter followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

Psalm 34:  The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18—The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

Matthew 16:13-19—Who do you say that I am?

Dear People of God,

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, official pillars of the early Christian community.  We know, based on the stories in the Acts of the Apostles, that these men did not agree on some of the tenets of the new faith in Christ.  We also know that they both experienced paranormal "visions" that strengthened them for the opposition they faced. 

This is, it would seem, the Christian way.  We have an experience of an extraordinary nature—a vision, a voice, an encounter that we can only attribute to the presence of Christ with us.  We mull over the experience, we share it with our close friends, and we seek to understand its meaning for us.  Recalling the experience again and again, we find that it takes shape as a supernatural presence in our lives, and we are strengthened by the memory for new efforts.

For some of us this encounter with Christ is dramatic, as with Paul on the road to Damascus.  For others it is automatic, as with Peter's response to Jesus' question in today's Gospel pericope.  In either event, it is a real encounter that we struggle to describe in ordinary, human language, yet it determines our path for life.

As we go about this week, let's take the opportunity to call to mind that first understanding we had of the presence of Christ with us.  Let's thank God for it, and renew our commitment to follow the inspiration we first found with that encounter.

God bless!

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Exaltation of the Cross, September 14--God Loves us!

Numbers 21:4-9—And Moses interceded for the people.

Psalm 78:  Often he turned back his anger and let none of his wrath be roused. 

Philippians 2:6-11—Christ Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant.

John 3:13-17—Whoever believes in him shall not perish. 

People of God,

At some times past the religious culture urged folks to seek extreme sacrifices—disciplines—as a religious practice.  From our 21^st century point of view, those practices look like masochism run amok.  It’s clearer that following Jesus—the cost of discipleship—brings crosses aplenty.  We don’t have to go looking for them, making them up. 

Jesus went to the cross because he chose integrity and honesty.  He looked at life and the world squarely and named what he saw.  He would not pretend that what he saw was something other than what was there. 

The world has not changed.  One who looks straight at what is and names it will find a cross coming along.  One who speaks truth to power will find a cross ahead.  In America today we no longer put people to death for honesty and integrity; instead we take away their jobs if they criticize the organization they work in, we ostracize them in our parishes and dioceses if they point out need for ecclesial reform and renewal, we ridicule them in the media if they propose ideas and ideals that conflict with the governmental power structure—in short, we kill their spirit. 

In these pre-election days in America 2008 I find it’s a cross just to be a Catholic and a progressive and a feminist and a proponent of jubilee/liberation theology.  More personally, I find crosses like disillusionment—the cross of what it is instead of what I thought it was going to be; like failure—the cross of what I didn’t do and should have, or did do and shouldn’t have; disappointment—the cross of who I have become, instead of who I was meant to be.

Taking up any cross means accepting what is, what I didn’t do, who I have become, and through all that disillusion, failure, and disappointment, loving God who loves me just as I am.  Taking up the cross means loving the people who stand in the way of what should have been, who keep me from doing what I should have done, who won’t allow me to be who I was meant to be—starting with my own aberrant thoughts, actions, and decisions.  Taking up the cross means returning again and again to prayer, that I might keep the Spirit alive in me and through me in the world I live in. 

Taking up the cross means loving others—and myself—without condition, no matter what pain they cause, because God loves me.

God loves me!   Wow!  That’s surely all I need to keep the spirit and carry the cross!

God bless!

___________________________________________________________

All Souls—November 2:  Blessed Assurance!

Isaiah 25:6-9—Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!  This is the Lord for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!

1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28—When everything is subjected to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

John 6:37-40—Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

Dear People of God:

Blessed assurance!  On this feast of All Souls we are unequivocally told that God wants us, every one of us.  No matter who we are, no matter what we do, God wants us.  In the pericope from John's Gospel Jesus says that he will not reject anyone who comes to him because that is God's will.  Jesus says that he will raise us up because that is God's will.  Jesus says that all who believe in him will have eternal life because that is God's will.

We can remember with confidence our ancestors in faith.  Those who have gone before us now live on the mountain of the Lord.  They see God face to face, crying out with Isaiah, "Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!"

Our hope for eternal life and our trust in the communion of saints provide great consolation, and so we celebrate both today.  It is a time for remembering those who have gone before us:  our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, our aunts and uncles and cousins, our brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews, our friends and co-workers. 

As we pray these readings, it's fitting to invite the memories of loved ones to tumble through our consciousness.  The father who helped us to shine our shoes on Saturday night so we'd be ready for Sunday Mass… the grandmother who quietly tucked a dollar or two in the visiting grandchild's pocket…  the aunt who always remembered birthdays with a holy card and a blessing… the nephew who lived only four hours… the good friends taken early by war or accident or disease or mistake… each and every one of them lives on.  We remember them, knowing that they remain part of us.  As St. Paul puts it, in Christ all will be brought to life, and God will be all in all.

This past week my parish celebrated the life of another of our members, a middle-aged man untimely pulled from our midst.  We enrolled his name in the Book of Life as we gathered for his Mass of Resurrection.  We shared stories of his life's meaning for us as we gathered for the funeral dinner, knowing that he partakes of the banquet described by Isaiah, the rich, choice food of God's mountain, where death is destroyed forever.

Let us rejoice and be glad!  All who seek God will be raised up.

God bless!

____________________________________________

Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, November 9, 2003—The Temple of God

Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12—The angel brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east….

Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.

1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17—You are God's building….  Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person, for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

John 2:13-22—"Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."

Dear People of God,

The biggest difference between the rich and the poor is choice.  The rich have wide choices, while the poor have severely limited choices.  As a relatively rich person in a technological society, I can choose what to wear and whether to walk, bus, or drive to work.  I can choose to change jobs, retire early, or take a vacation.  In another time or another place I might not have had these choices, or any others.  Had I been born in a place of famine, I would not have the choice to eat.  Had I been born in a place of oppression, I would not have the choice to speak out.  Had I been born in a place of war, I would not have the choice of security. 

When Jesus clears the temple, he cleanses it of those who robbed the poor, the people of his time who had no choices.  Who are the people in our time who have no choices?  We need only look around us.  The homeless, the uneducated, the working poor, the mentally and physically challenged, the refugee, the immigrant, the powerless in our world have few choices. 

To offer choices to the poor is a large mission, and so I much admire the work of the soup kitchens in our city.  The one with which I am most familiar offers a brunch each morning.  Most mornings the edible offerings include toast, potatoes, eggs, sandwiches, soup, stew, casseroles, doughnuts, coffee, milk, and juice.  There are sandwiches and baked goods "to go" every day.  On Thursdays there are socks, underwear, shoes, and sweatshirts, all carefully selected by a woman who honors thereby the relative who left her an inheritance.  On Fridays there are pancakes and sausage.  Vases of flowers sit on the tables, and pictures hang on the walls.  There are tablecloths and napkins, and there's carpet on the floor.  There's a staff person on duty to locate assistance with unpaid bills and transportation problems and the myriad other difficulties that face the poor.  And always, people are greeted by name.

In that place the words of Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians are taken literally and seriously:  each person is seen as the temple of God, a holy person.  The workers do not eat until they are sure there's enough for everyone who comes, and there's no stinting when it comes to dishing out the servings.  The people who eat there may be homeless or jobless or just trying to stretch the food budget to cover the month, but they receive good choices from the church that runs the place.

Today we focus on the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome so that we may take a closer look at the way our own parishes match the mission of Christianity.  Does the church have a mission, or does the mission have a church?  Do we build up the people who are temples of the Spirit, or do we tear them down?  Do we welcome everyone, or do we drive away those who are not like us?  Do we embrace the teenager with the lip ring and bare midriff with the same enthusiasm with which we embrace the business leader in the tailored suit?  Do we greet the bent and halting old woman with the same eagerness with which we greet the visiting politician? 

As we go about this week, let's honor the spirit of God in everyone we meet.

God bless!

_______