- NO MASS AGAIN THIS WEEK, May 7, 2023. We are hoping to resume liturgies next week, May 14, 2023. A final decision will be made toward the end of next week. I continue to have trouble with my nights and sleeping, which makes it difficult to get going in the morning. Continue to pray for me as I do for you. Thanks! Pastor Kathy
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Readings:
- Acts 6: 1-7
- 1 Peter 2: 4-9
- John 14: 1-12
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Dear Friends,
Once again, I can’t be with you for Mass this week, but let’s look forward to next week! In lieu of that, I share a story with you from the past, for your reflection this week. Please keep in mind that the Scriptures included above, for this Sunday, hold the simple message that our God walks with us each day, and, we are never alone.
Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, lifts up the image that those who “preach the Word” should be “freed” from the daily tasks of “caring for others.” In this, I would say, he is wrong. “Preaching the Word” and “caring for the needs of others,” are one and the same, and the mission of all, as was so well demonstrated through the life of our brother Jesus.
Peter, in the 2nd reading confirms that Jesus can be a “stumbling block,” but if we keep our eyes on him, doing as he did, remembering to “not let our hearts be troubled,” all will be well.
His message was always, “If you have seen me, you have seen my Abba-God.” And by extension, we too must see God in others. In light of this, the following story from Sister Joan Chittister says well what we are to be about in our world.
“An old rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell when night had ended and the day had begun. ‘Could it be,’ asked one of the students, ‘when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it’s a sheep or a dog?’ ‘No,’ answered the rabbi. Another asked, ‘Is it when you look at a tree in the distance and can tell whether it’s a fig tree or a peach tree?’ ‘No’ answered the rabbi.
‘It is when you can look on the face of any man or woman and see that it is your sister or brother. Because, if you cannot see this, it is still night.’ ”
Friends, we must always see life on a larger scope than the students in the story did—Jesus, the Christ who came to be one of us, we remember as, “the Light of the World” –if we are to truly follow him, we must too, bring light and not darkness.
Joan ends her reflection of the old rabbi by saying, “Pay attention to the new nativism,” [that seems to continue to be spreading across our country, because] as Joan continues, “if you don’t, we may never know when the night has ended and the day has begun.” Amen? Amen!
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