My friends, the clear theme, stemming from the Scripture readings today on this 28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, is to look to “wisdom” in our lives as we attempt to follow our brother, Jesus. 

   In the first reading from the Old Testament book of Wisdom, we hear the writer, thought to be, King Solomon, as he supposedly writes to the rulers of the earth, say, “I prayed, and understanding was given me…wisdom came to me…and I valued [her] above even my throne and scepter and all my great wealth was nothing next to this.” 

   The second reading from the New Testament book of Hebrews, often thought to have been written by Paul, but in more present day, it is thought that this letter many have been penned by one of Paul’s disciples, Barnabas, continues the idea of the 1^st reading speaking to “wisdom” and the goodness, rightness of this gift in our lives.  The Hebrew’s writer speaks of God’s Word as, “living and active”— “piercing deeply,” able to judge the thoughts and, “intentions of the heart,” and that all, “is exposed to God.”  I believe we can look at these words and agree that the writer is speaking about the “wisdom” of God.

   The gospel from Mark today gives us a piece of wisdom that seems to frame our thinking and purpose here, by reminding us of Jesus’ words, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kin-dom of God.”  So, let’s try and unpack these readings and more clearly see their import for us today—as we have said recently, “not just nice stories, for past times, but for us, as well.

   The majority of people, ourselves included, live by the status quo—what are others doing? —and then, do the same—quite a natural thing to do. It definitely keeps the peace.  Unfortunately, living like the “status quo” doesn’t necessarily, call forth the best in us. 

   As Jesus’ followers—we are called to more, and deciding, “how to live,” we must go to our hearts—as that is where the truth lies.  Looking to the masses often brings more of, “comfort living” and acceptance of, “what is,” rather than, “what could be.” 

    I said above that the majority of us follow the “status quo” way of life, as frankly, it is the easier way to go.  And who of us is looking for trouble?  But my friends, that is often precisely, what our walk with Jesus calls us to do—make trouble, and not simply, for “trouble’s sake,” but for bringing about justice.   John Lewis, civil rights leader, and former congressman—now deceased, called this action, making, “good trouble!” 

   When we name the injustice, and there is so much of it in our country where non-whites, women, and  the poor, to name just a few groups, are concerned; we can many times find ourselves in the minority proclaiming this truth.  How many of us could be truly “convicted” of being a “Christian” on the evidence of our lived experience? I ask this question of myself and of you, because my dear friends, this is our true mission in this world.  Being a Christian should not slip us easily into the ranks of status quo living—what we might call, “comfort living.” 

   Three years ago, when we addressed these readings, I shared the story of a Catholic priest, Father Jim Callahan who pastors St. Mary’s parish in Worthington, MN. He works primarily with the immigrant population there who labor in the meat-processing plant owned and operated by Swift and Company. 

   Over the years, Father Jim has provided asylum protection for immigrants, here illegally, within the church walls when needed, against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  He, is of course, in the minority where male, Catholic priests are concerned—most, like Father’s Jim’s predecessor, don’t “want to get involved.”  And I would believe that his work continues, as should all of ours, in the tradition of our brother, Jesus. 

   We, each of us, needs to listen to “Lady Wisdom—Sophia,” too, as she makes known her truth to us, and then act.  The problems in our immigration system continue, gun violence still has a “life of its own,” on our streets and in our country; politicians—too many of them, have forgotten what they were sent to Washington or State Houses to do, violence against women and now, especially, Native women, continues.  All of these issues call to us, “to go to our hearts,” where Lady Wisdom lives. 

   The “lady” of which we speak when describing, “wisdom” is the term used from ancient times—pre-Christian in fact, denoting that wisdom has a feminine nature, character and face.  This notion was carried over then in Old Testament literature where Sophia (Wisdom) does indeed speak of the feminine face of God.  One wonders why, then, what was good and appropriate for our forebears in the faith, should be so hard for the present-day hierarchy to get their “heads” around.  As Sandra Schneiders said so well, “God is more than two men and a bird.”  Perhaps if they came at it, from their, “hearts,” where Lady Wisdom lives, it wouldn’t be so hard.

   A present-day example of coming at things with one’s head is the recent, unfortunate, in-action of Pope Francis as he made changes to the Code of Canon Law (Book VI) on offenses and punishments, in June of this year.  His in-action was his, “failure to correct the mis-characterization of the ‘grave crime’ of women following their authentic vocations to ordained ministry,” writes Kate McElwee of, New Women, New Church, a publication of Women’s Ordination Conference. 

   It should be remembered that by not correcting this error of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, Francis is affirming that he believes too that the action of women following their God-given calls to priesthood is analogous to the grave crime of sexual abuse of children by male priests!  Francis, it seems, struggles between his “head and “heart” statements to the detriment of the Church.  There are day-to-day, random examples of his reaching out to the LGBTQ community and to women (heart) and when it comes to the official statement, he falls back on his “head” failing to do much that could be considered, “loving.”

   All the readings today speak to the need, as followers of our brother, Jesus, to get beyond the world of material things, what brings comfort and doesn’t overly, bother us—the status quo, as spoken of earlier. 

   That having been said, it is important to say as well that, “the comfort” that material things bring is not bad in itself, as long as we keep a balance.  I believe this was the caution that Jesus was trying to lay out for the apostles, and ultimately, for us—when he spoke of how hard it is for the rich to enter the kin-dom.  Because friends, the desire for more and more is a powerful deterrent for doing less and less for those in need. 

   This reminds me of a song made popular back in 1970 by country singer, Lynn Anderson, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.”  When first hearing this title, it would appear that the singer considers a “rose garden” a happy place to be, with no troubles, such as, when we speak of, “a bed of roses.”  But, in reality, we know that all rose bushes come with thorns. It strikes me that this might be a good way to view our God-given lives—the beauty and joy of “roses,” showing themselves in people and all of created life—yes, but the “thorns” of injustice, disagreement and more, that come along the way too, that we have to grapple with. 

   Wisdom calls us to this reality and much more.  We are here to enjoy our human existence, but to share it as well.  Jesus, it seems, did promise us a “rose garden.”

Amen? Amen!

Dear Friends, sorry for the lateness of today’s homily, but I was part of a celebration in Rochester to welcome 7 new Cojourners–lay associates with the Franciscan Sisters there. One of the 7, I had the privilege to mentor. So, a bit late today…

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   My friends, as I said in the bulletin this week, Respect Life Sunday gathers together ALL life and if it doesn’t, then it should!  If truth be told though, most of us would have to admit that when we hear the title, “Respect Life Sunday,” we think of the unborn.  Now, not that we shouldn’t go there in our thinking, but our Christian life really calls us to more—so much more. 

   Our brother Jesus gives us two fine examples in today’s Gospel: (1) He is addressing the cultural view of divorce and the place of women in this less than equal arrangement. (2) Jesus is speaking of the place of children in his culture and simply says, and I paraphrase, you can’t be part of me and a greater life, beyond this world unless you become like little children. Let’s look at these two, because both are so about, “respecting life.” 

   First is the example of women:  Jesus is not addressing, “divorce,” because of law, but because of love.  This reading is not about a “black and white” ruling with no exceptions but was in response to the hypocrisy of the men asking him the question. 

   We all know from other readings and other homilies that I have shared, that women had no place in the society in which Jesus was a part, unless they were the “property” of some man, i.e., a father, or a husband.  If these entities weren’t around, in the case of death of one or the other, or both, an adult brother or son, might take the woman in. 

   So, in the case of a potential divorce from an abusive husband, the woman would think twice or more about it, and in most cases, do nothing.  Whereas the man in the same situation certainly had more power. In fact, Jesus’ purpose here in discussing divorce is to raise up the fact that men, having all the power in their society, could stipulate as cause, “Inadequacy in the Wife,” when what he might really want is someone, younger and more pleasing in whatever way, and the woman could really do nothing about it. 

   Then there is the case of children, who just like women, had no power in their society.  Imagine the disbelief within the community to hear Jesus say, “Unless you become like little children,” you can’t be part of the greater life that I have come to offer.

   So, what might Jesus be saying here?  “Becoming like children,” certainly would have to include a purity of heart—a truthfulness of feeling and expression, a sense of wonder of all that is about us in our world.  We have all had those times when children express the unadulterated truth about something that causes us to stop in our tracks and proclaim, “Out of the mouths of babes!”

   This is what Jesus seems to be asking of his, “sisters and brothers” in the flesh—that we would respect ourselves, others, and act accordingly in our lives.  Our living is not just for ourselves, but indeed, for others, and it does matter that when we are claiming, “our freedom,” we are not stepping on others’ freedom. 

   Jesus was sent by the Creator, as spoken of today in the second reading from Hebrews, to show us that we are all, mightily loved and it seemed that the only way we could really know that was through the “expressed” example of One, sent by the Creator for that very purpose.  Jesus, in other words, is such a fine example of one who truly, “respected” all of created life. 

   October is also the month when we celebrate a “Jesus-like” figure (October 4^th) who probably, more than any other human who has lived, showed us Jesus’ face in time.  Francis of Assisi is loved by many Catholics and others around the world for the simplicity of his lifestyle—a childlikeness that saw people and all of creation with joy, naming each as his, “sister and brother.”

   In the beginning of this homily, I spoke of the fact that, Respect Life Sunday is about more than, life in the womb, and went on to address how, in the Gospel Jesus speaks of the plight of women and children in his time.  Now, as we have said many times before, we don’t read the Scriptures as “nice stories” that have nothing to say to our present day.

   With that in mind, I lift up the fact that so many have lauded Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si and rightly so. His beautiful words speak to the fact, perhaps wish, that all are included in God’s love, people, and all of creation.  I, as a woman do though, still await the day that Francis can truly act on his beautiful, inclusive words, and include women in all levels of Church governance and full ministry at the altar as priests. 

   Interestingly, Francis is remembered for his very open comment when asked about the actions of gay and lesbian folks— “Who am I to judge?”  Who indeed, except for where women are concerned? Having said that though, Francis seems to be back-pedaling even with gay and lesbian folk in that he refuses to allow priests to bless their unions, naming them, as “sin.”

   Jesus, I believe, would be very pleased with the reading from Genesis, chosen for today and rewritten by the Priests for Equality, source of all our readings here at All Are One, because of how they have opened up this reading to include more than just heterosexual relationships.

   It is interesting to note that in their translation of this text, we don’t have, “genders” until after the “earth creature” is put to sleep.  Additionally, the derivation of the word, “a-dam” is, “earth creature” and not a name, “Adam” for the male creature created by the male God. And when “genders” are introduced, we see that each is given a choice, which indicates that there could be another choice as well. 

   It is this sensitive writing that finally opens up this Scripture for our gay brothers and sisters, for truly, “It is not good for the “earth creature” to be alone.” 

   So, my friends, bringing together all these thoughts and readings, we could say that the theme within this Respect Life Sunday is really about, “relationships” and how we deal with our world.  Not only must we respect life in its beginnings, but all through life—to the very end.

   We must make sure that we respect life in the hungry, the poor, the uneducated, the homeless, those who are lonely, those persecuted for the color of their skin, their gender, whom they love, those seeking asylum and so on, doing our part to make these situations better. 

   We also cannot live our lives from the standpoint of who has “the power,” but must be open to sharing all that we have.  This still tends to be a very patriarchal world in Church, for sure, but in State too.  Women must operate out of a whole different set of rules than men do.

   In Church this is all too obvious, and I have already lifted up this truth in today’s homily.  In State, women still lag behind men in comparable pay for comparable work.  Across the professions, women make 84% of what men do and at this rate they would have to work 42 days more to be equal to men in wages. And colored women and those of other nationalities have even lower percentages of equality to men with regard to wages.  Over the 25 years that I have tracked this inequality—women have made gains.  My question is, “Why has it taken so long,” if we truly, “respect” life?

   Regardless of whether you like Hilary Clinton, when she ran for president in 2016, it was clear that she was held to a different standard than the man she ran against, or we might say, any man she would have challenged. Rather than lifting up her lifetime of earned credentials for that position, news commentators often spoke about what she was wearing or discounted her for the “sins” of her husband. 

   Hillary’s part to play in breaking, “the glass ceiling” seems to have been to shine a bright light on this kind of discrimination so as to make it easier for up-coming women who want to serve our country. 

   Ah, yes, Respect Life Sunday—we should indeed respect life, but in all it’s many-faceted ways!  Amen? Amen!