My friends, our Christian lives, attempting to walk in our brother, Jesus’ footsteps, is all about walking in love.  In order to do that, we must start with our “hearts,” not our “heads.”  Each of us, for the most part, was born into, baptized, and raised within the Catholic church.  Along with that came a set of rules and regulations that we were expected to follow as a way to show that we were being “good” Catholics. 

   Now, most of us, through our growing years, were content to follow the rules, along with the help of parents—taking us to Sunday Mass, receiving the sacraments, (6 for girls, 7 for boys) and through teachers, and other significant people serving as role models for “good” behavior.  Much of this was about what we might call, “black and white” living—do this, don’t do that, and then we were assured of God’s pleasure with us, and a place at God’s side one day. 

   Then, along came the Second Vatican Council—probably the most significant, religious, and Christian happening in any of our Catholic lives, whether we knew it or not!  Why do I say this?  Well, for the first time in nearly the entirety of Christianity , we were being asked, once again, to truly live out what, in fact, we said we believed! 

   It was no longer enough to simply follow the rules of the Catholic church, to be a good Christian.  Following John XXIII’s lead, we were encouraged, “to open some windows, and let in some fresh air.”  We quickly began to see that, “this opening” –breathing fresh air, would no longer allow us as Catholics, to set ourselves on top of the religious pile, so to speak, deny other faith traditions access, because they weren’t like us, nor refuse to talk with, or listen to others that we thought might contaminate us. 

   John the XXIII always encouraged talking, and listening to others who thought differently, to find God’s Spirit within the words.  And we know there was significant push-back to these revolutionary ideas, as the 28-year pontificate of John Paul II was all about, “closing down the windows,” stifling the “fresh air.”

   Ever since Vatican II, there has been the push and pull between Catholics wanting us to be more inclusive, as Jesus taught, and mostly, hierarchical folks, “leading” –pulling us backward.  The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) is doing, or trying to do, this at present, with our own bishop, Robert Barron, one of its main leaders. At the same time, our pope, Francis is attempting to lead our Church to more inclusivity through a Synod on Synodality coming up in 2024.

   When our church, All Are One, formed 15 years ago, we advertised our Spirit-led desire to be a Vatican II parish where everyone would be welcome at our table of celebration.  Earlier I spoke of the “push and pull” within our Church over time, to be a nice, neat, religious entity, through established rules and regulations that make parishes easier to control, and an entity that is ever-changing, as needed, through a Spirit that is “continually renewing the face of the earth.”  Scripture says this, by the way! -Psalm 104

   Such an entity will, and must, be open to all who are called, women and men, to serve as priestly leaders, must be open to all the beautiful ways that God created humankind, and in as many as 7 distinct genders and maybe more, and all the ways each is called to love in our world. 

   Let’s look to our Scriptures for today to see if we can come to a clearer focus on all of this. The Old Testament reading from 1^st Kings shows us a good and just man, Solomon, who is concerned about ruling a people well, “that he can’t even count.”  Now, from his position of power, he might, in prayer, ask God for just about anything, for himself, for his betterment, but we see, instead, that he asks God “for an understanding heart to judge [God’s] people and discern between right and wrong.” 

   We should notice that Solomon doesn’t claim “the people” to be “his own,” but God’s.  I believe we could say, in this light, that Solomon sees himself as God’s “servant.”  Scripture tells us that, “God was pleased with Solomon’s request,” because it was other-centered. 

   This bit of Scripture reminds me of our sister, Mary Paszkiewicz and who she has been through the years, but especially now, as she was being asked to make a move—from her hometown here in Winona to Madison, WI where family will be closer to give her more regular care.  Mary’s response has always been, “to see whatever happens as what God is asking of her now.” Being able to see things in this light has truly made Mary the happy and delightful person that so many know and love. 

   Paul, in his letter to the Romans says, “We know that God makes all things work together for those who love God…”  In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus talks about the “kin-dom of heaven,” and what that might be like, “a pearl of great price, a treasure in a field, a dragnet thrown into the sea.”  We are asked to consider what are “the pearls, and the treasures” we seek after in life—how much are we willing to give to have these treasures? Are our “pearls” about family, material goods, power, prestige, or something else?  Maybe we are at a point in our life that we can let go of “some” of what we have been clinging to. 

   We saw that Solomon was at a point in life where he could do this, in a position of power, with the welfare of a whole people, able to ask that he could have the strength and wisdom “to lead them well, and this was who he then became. 

   I think of so many in our Congress and our United States vying for power and control at present, and it seems that they, and all of us would be better off if their prayers too, were about serving our country well.  Also, I think about so many in our Congress today who claim to be Christian, yet seldom seem to show it through their actions.  The simple, yet seemingly hard action for many, of, working across the aisle, so that while not getting everything you want, you and they might all get something. 

   This kind of living and working in our diverse world truly calls for the hard work of listening to one another—attempting to love in others what our God finds lovable in them, even if at present, we can’t see it—praying Solomon’s prayer to be a strong, discerning, and wise person.  This kind of living, and hopefully, loving, at some point, calls us to start from our hearts, not our heads. Our heads alone, tend to lead us to black and white answers, whereas our hearts allow us to “open up” a bit, to new ideas, perhaps not before considered.

   Starting with our hearts allows us to recognize that our God sees each of us as a “great pearl,” capable of so much good in our world.  When we can see through our hearts, we can recognize that the Incarnation of God in Jesus was not, not, about rescuing us, but about giving us the model and the strength to become all that each of us is meant to be. 

Amen?  Amen!