My friends, I speak often here about us humans striving to be our best for ourselves and for others during our one, wonderful life, which is such a gift, when looked at as our brother Jesus did.  All our readings for this 7^th Sunday in Ordinary Time speak to this issue “of being our best,” so let’s take a deeper look. 

   With this notion in mind then, David would seem, using a familiar movie line from Raiders of the Lost Ark films,“to have chosen wisely.”  He could have easily slain his opponent Saul but chose the “higher road” and let him live.  It may be good for all of us to consider that the world of nations in which we live often chooses the lowest common denominator that we humans are capable of, war, to solve disagreements. 

   Some of you may be familiar with the group, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, and its daily, The Nonviolent Life publication of inspirational quotes on peace.  This past Friday’s offering, and I paraphrase George Saunder’s words in part—just because we keep doing something in the same way, doesn’t mean we should stop regretting it…again and again we hear all the “sober, pragmatic arguments that war is sometimes necessary,” [we must realize that] “war is large-scale murder,” us at our worst.” We have evidence of this in the on-going wars in Europe and Africa. It would behoove us all, and especially any in this world in positions of power over others, who also claim to be “Christian” to remember David’s words to Saul’s general in that 1^st reading, that he basically couldn’t harm someone who was “anointed” by God.  And friends, in the greater world picture, we should consider how we all “are anointed” by our God and “precious” in God’s sight.

    If we can have such a mindset as individuals and nations, of the psalmist today in # 103 that, on the one hand, “Humans last no longer than grass,” and on the other that, “God never treats us as our [failings] deserve,” because “our God is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and forgiving, tender and most compassionate, most loving,” then we would have made great strides in our spiritual journey, to protect the People of God in our world. 

   And friends, we always must remember that for us “People of God,” loved and cherished, each of us, by God, there is the expectation that we will attempt to do the same in our lives as God has done for us.  Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians today gets at this, basically making the point that, “we are human in following Adam, and spiritual in following Jesus.  And you all know how we must struggle our whole lives between the “human” and the “spiritual” in becoming our best selves.  Indeed, we must look for balance.

   In Luke’s gospel today, we are confronted with some of Jesus’ most compelling words—this gospel is basically the “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” scripture.  And along with these compelling words, we see our brother Jesus spelling out how, in many ways that this can be done; “turning the other cheek to have it slapped too, give not only your coat, but your shirt as well—give to anyone who asks.”  And on a bad day, we may find ourselves saying, “really Jesus, I have to give that much!”

   Scripture scholar, Diane Bergant addresses Jesus’ call for over-the-top giving by saying that Jesus “always goes to the extreme” because he knows the human tendency, “to give less, or at best, just enough.”  She thinks it striking that in the 1^st reading, we find David doing exactly what Jesus asks of us today, that we treat others as we would like to be treated. 

   She goes on to say that what has come to be known as the “golden rule” of “doing unto others as we would have them do unto us” has in present day taken a turn where some folks look at this rule, translating it to say, “doing unto others, before they do unto you.”  The Pace e Bene quote earlier speaks to this tendency.  Without being political, I would say that much coming out of Washington these days speaks “to this turn.”

   And our brother Jesus, in my read of Scripture would say, “I made you are better than this—I ask much of you because I know you are capable of it.”  Luke continues sharing Jesus’ words, “Give, and it will be given to you…in full measure…the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.”  And to these words of our brother Jesus, I would add that in a society and world that still expects so much more service from its women than it does from its men, with little, if not less than, or no pay, we must look for that balance and remember to care for our personal selves. 

   I am presently reading Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book, Something Lost, Something Gained wherein reflecting on our country’s exist from Afghanistan, she and a group of educated, compassionate women worked tirelessly, and around the clock to see that Afghan women would be equally air-lifted along with men before the takeover, once again of the Taliban who seemingly have no time for women who speak their minds and hearts for the betterment of all. 

   Hillary and her group of advocates were told early in the evacuation process that everyone’s “pet project” would not be able to be met.  Hillary’s comment that this “male ideology” in Washington that would eliminate “half the population” (women) was very telling of the world in which we live, so she and her friends found other ways to get some of the women out.  Jesus said, “the amount you measure out…”

   So my friends, in these times when it feels like such a “hard slug” to get us humans “to be kind,” I want to lift up just a few things that came to my attention, or that I was apart of this week that gives me hope for our continued journey of following Jesus. 

• The local newspaper, Winona Daily News, ran a story about a Lacrosse, WI group, WINN (What I Need Now) that is comprised of an area woman, Sue Graf, and a former homeless man, Bryan Holiday who traverse the area in a yellow van with food and other necessities which they give out to homeless folks that they find.  Additionally, they help people get connected to other groups in the city and surroundings that may give them assistance finding housing.
• Some of you may read, Asking Eric, a daily column in the Winona Daily News—he took the place of Amy and before her, Abby and Ann.  Someone wrote in this past week complaining about a friend who “constantly talks about how bad it is that so many people are homeless.” Now this same person has two homes that are completely paid for and doesn’t seem to realize that if she sold one of them, she could perhaps help some of the homeless.”

• Just before Valentines’ Day last week, I heard a public radio presentation on the amount of cut flowers coming to our country from developing countries to satisfy North Americans desire to give beautiful bouquets to loved ones.  The piece went on to interview people living in these flower-producing countries asking us to remember that the rain forests are annually being depleted to grow flowers—something for us Christians to indeed think about—and the juxtaposition seems to be that the sale of flowers does indeed help those who grow them…balance…
• Robert and I had the privilege of joining the postcard writing group at the Blue Heron Coffee Shop this past Thursday to write senators, representatives, and others, basically asking them to respect the oaths they took when elected to serve all the people, and especially, if they claim to be Christian, the least among us. 
• This past week also saw our national group of Catholic male bishops taking a stand against the meanness coming out of Washington—good to finally see this!

   Thus, my friends, when we act not only out of our humanity, but out of our spiritual selves too, we can come closer to imaging our brother Jesus. Let us keep trying, hoping, showing up, and striving to be our best.  Amen? Amen!

My friends,  I found myself coming at this homily from several different avenues…On the one hand all the readings for this week are about hope and trust and our God’s great love for each of us.  Those ideas are then butted up against the selfishness that we humans are capable of as we are seeing so much that is good in our country and world upended with the stated purpose of making it all better.  Now while that may be true in part, I see so much more that seems to be about making those “with means,” becoming more so, and those without, as well, becoming more so. 

   Our first reading from the prophet Jeremiah today finds him dealing with the people in his time over apparently the same kinds of behavior—the lowest of what we humans are capable of … Jeremiah says, “do not rely “on the things of the flesh,” basically turning from God.  When you do this, “you are like the bush in the desert with no hope.”  But, he continues, blessed are those who “hope” in God—they are like a tree planted by the river—you will have no worries during a drought—you will never cease, “to bear fruit.”  And apparently our “trust” will not be misplaced when we place it in our God, as Jeremiah continues, “God probes the heart and mind of women and men and knows what we need…”

   So friends, we have the examples of past and present before our eyes, of we humans caring for ourselves, without the balance of caring for others as well, juxtaposed to our country and many areas in the world celebrating Valentines’ Day this past week. 

   Most of us no doubt have at least one person that we shared love and affection for on this traditional “love” day.  Valentines’ Day has somewhat of a sordid past if you go with the pagan stories of how it may have started, but for our purposes here, I choose to uplift the more Christian tradition of remembering St. Valentine, a priest who was executed in the 3^rd Century Roman world for secretly performing marriages for soldiers who were forbidden to marry. 

   There is another story that I somewhat like about a priest named Valentine who was imprisoned and subsequently fell in love with a female visitor, and before he was executed sent her a note which said, “Love from your Valentine,” and I guess, as they say, “the rest is history.” 

   So, what does this all have to do with today’s Scriptures, you may ask…perhaps nothing if we simply stay on the surface “of the story” which as you know, I always advise against.  By “breaking open” the Word, and going “to our hearts,” we Christians have a much greater chance of truly “walking in Jesus’ footsteps.”

   Continuing then to look at today’s readings, we see Paul in his letter to the people of Corinth saying that, “in Jesus, [the] Christ, we [should] place our hope.” And remember that this comes from someone who never met Jesus in his life; but whatever happened on that fateful day when he was “knocked off his horse,” turned him from a “killer” of Christians, into someone who spent the rest of his life attempting to bring people to Jesus.

    In Luke’s gospel for today, reality comes through Jesus’ words to his faithful followers, and this includes us, “this loving” that I am asking you to do will not always be easy—and in fact, you will “suffer in my name,” for attempting to care for the least among you, for “speaking the truth “ to those who don’t want to hear it—but in the suffering, our brother Jesus says, “you will be blessed.”  Jesus has equally strong words for those who are unwilling “to play nice” in this world—“woe to you who enjoy fame and power now”—[you have had your reward!]

   This reminds me of one of our own, Bob Kierlin, philanthropist, founder and CEO of Fastenal Company for many years, who died this past week.  Now while I probably didn’t agree with all his personal values, much of what he did believe and practice in his business life, I do agree with:  treat everyone as your equal, stay out of the spotlight, share the rewards, see the unique humanness in all people, develop empathy, suppress your ego, let people learn, and remember how little you know.  Too bad that all who claim to be “great businessmen” don’t believe the same!

   So my friends, as we think on the Beatitudes today, and all that makes us “blessed,” I lift up another of our own, Michael Maher, who three years ago we were praying for as he lay in a comma from an accident while caring for others—he unfortunately had to leave us, but his memory of goodness toward others lives on. 

   Earlier I mentioned that we as Jesus’ followers must, “break open the Scriptures” to get to the true message Jesus intended for us. Once we have that message, we must then lay it upon our hearts in order that they may be “broken open” too, because that is what “true love” is about—breaking open our hearts for others.  When Jesus was with us, he spoke about the need of us having “hearts of flesh, not stone.”  And when our hearts are open, it is much easier to see the world and its people as “holy” and treat all life with great respect. 

   And yet, “love” can be illusive—how do we ever really know if “what we are about” is love, and not something else?  For myself, if my actions, for the most part, bring good and not bad, then I have more assurance that I am on the right track. 

   But because we all love a good story, I raise up for us that of Tevye and Golda in The Fiddler on the Roof, as a way to explainthis thing we call, “love.”  Tevye has a burning question for his wife of 25 years—“Golda, do you love me?”  And Golda thinks her husband is probably “disturbed,” and rather than answering directly, she ticks off the tasks she has done over those 25 years; cleaning, cooking, giving him children, and so on… But he persists, because he wants to hear her say the words—“but Golda, do you love me?” –to which she finally answers—“after all that I’ve done, I guess I do!”

   And in conclusion friends, Jesus’ time among us was about having us, “get it,” that what we are here for, “is to love”—we know that because he told us so in many simple, yet profound stories, those of The Prodigal, the Good Shepherd, the Good Samaritan, and others—all stories ultimately about love.  His whole personal life was about, “breaking his heart open” for us, and we, in return, must do the same.  Amen? Amen! 

My friends, this week throws us out “into the water,” and “into the boat,” to fulfill our baptismal and confirmation promises, to “be fishers” of the “beloved people” as Pastor Danielle calls her flock. But before we get into that, just a few words about the “sadness” that many of us feel over the mean-spirited, and selfish actions coming out of Washington these days.

Pastor Danielle shared with her community via her bulletin this week some thoughts from Diane Butler Bass, pastor and writer, that I feel are worth repeating. Just as I have been uplifting for all of us, “that in the face of actions that are clearly not, about love, we must continue to do the good that we do, and not be discouraged,” which is easier said than done, and Bass encourages the same.
At times of low-spirit, and that inability to do the loving thing, we must turn to others of good faith who are at a better place perhaps than we may be, for support. We call that, “holding onto the hope,” and we must do that for each other—sometimes we can be the “receptacle” of hope—sometimes other people can be.
Diane Butler Bass recently attended a meeting of spiritual colleagues, wherein one, woman pastor shared that during these “disheartening times” she focuses on a picture of a house in Los Angeles that survived the recent fires because as she said, “it was built to do just that!” The builder of that house, Pastor Traci Blackmon stated, employed “fire-resistant technologies and architectural building techniques” so that this structure could withstand what many houses could not. She then tied this example to a well-known Scripture passage that you all will recognize.

Jesus said, “a wise [person] built [their] house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it was built on rock.” We all know what happened to the foolish [person] who built on sand… In these times my friends, we should remember that our lives are built on rock too, and as Jesus says in today’s gospel, “Do not fear,” when you live and move and attempt to be your best—because this is “ what [we were] made to do.”
But because we are human, and not infallible, nor always, at our best, Bass suggests 10 W’s that may not fix all that is wrong, but will, “steel us,” so to speak, for “the fires, and for the storms.”

1. Wake up every day—sleep is important—be on some sort of schedule to get it!
2. Welcome the day with gratitude—say, “thank you” and believe that each new day gives fresh hope.
3. Walk everyday—get outside—get fresh air—feel the ground beneath your feet—notice all that is around you! I would say, this is prayer in its basic and probably one of its better forms.
4. (Be) with others everyday—don’t isolate yourself—reach out and connect with someone everyday—volunteer at the library, reading to children, feed the hungry—many of you are doing that this month through Home-Delivered-Meals—thank you! Write letters, make calls—many are doing that—thank you! Whatever it is—get out of yourself!
5. Work (most days) –but rest too—seek balance.
6. Write every day, weekly, or often—if you don’t like to write, be creative—draw—throw pots, and I believe she means, “make pots,” but it might help to actually throw something!
7. Watch the news (if able) –if you can’t watch it, do stay informed—that is important.
8. Wide – sight—(a practice to develop) –author, Parker Palmer has introduced this concept—using “soft eyes” or, as he basically says, looking at the bigger picture rather than focusing on the immediate threat—there is more of a chance that you can perhaps “hear or see” something new, instead of moving into the “fight or flight” mode—this one takes a bit more thought—granted.
9. Weep (whenever)—tears are good and cleansing—don’t be afraid of the emotions that come up in these times—anger, joy, laughter, sadness, whatever.
10. Wonder (as much as possible) –go out into nature, go to the art museum, listen to your favorite music, read books, get obsessed with space photos from the Webb telescope… So friends, keeping the above in mind, as a rather long way to begin, let us turn to today’s Scriptures more briefly, because all of the above are really ways of practicing the messages given us today by Isaiah, Paul, and Jesus.
    Isaiah answers God’s question of, “Whom shall I send?” [to care for the people] saying, “Here I am, send me”[!] His response my friends should be ours as well; and this is so because it is what our elders promised at our baptisms, if we were baptized as infants, and what we eventually promised at our confirmations—basically,
    that we would show up! To say that we are “Christian” calls us to no less, than doing our part, in the ways that we come to see that.
    Paul reminds the Corinthians, and ultimately us, that if we basically follow the gospels, they will save us!
    And the instructions today from Luke, in Jesus’ words are profound if we are willing to go deeper than the surface story of a huge catch of fish.
    As you know, Jesus always encloses a deeper story within a surface one. The miracle of the huge catch of fish was, in part, meant to get his new disciples’ attention. And that happened we can assume, because afterward, we are told, “they left everything and followed him.”
    Within this simple, yet profound story, Jesus lets this rag-tag group of fishers know that now, they will be “catching people.” He tries to calm their fears of whether they can do this “new thing” seemingly so foreign to them—as we said earlier, he tells them to “not be afraid,” because he knows what they are capable of—he in fact, “knows how they were made—just for this task!”
    Jesus trusts each of them with “humanity” (we might say, fish) that they will engage with. He trusted them, as he trusts each of us, to bring all the “fish” home.
    This simple story is profound in that it says that “all the fish” – all the people are welcome in the boat, at the table! And if the “boat” gets too full, we, as they did, “must call for help” from friends, to get all the “fish” ashore.
    Friends, I see this story today from Luke as instructive as we continue our relationship with the First Congregational community,
    looking for joint ways to share our brother Jesus’ message –we are more alike than different –they teach us and we teach them. The Scripture quote from John 17: 21, that names our church and our mission, “All Are One” is what Jesus intended and spoke of the night before he died—more than anything, he wanted his little band to stay together, to help and support one another, “to be the hope,” one for another, and to go out and share what they had found.
    So today my friends, as we struggle anew in the face of a time and a place—in a country and world where we haven’t yet, as a people, got the message that all are indeed welcome, are precious and loved, let us here, at least strive, “to be our best” in the memory of Jesus of Nazareth, our brother, who so wanted us, “to be one!” Amen? Amen!

My friends, if you read the bulletin, you know that today the official Catholic church is remembering the Presentation of the Baby Jesus in the Temple—an act that all good Jewish parents did 40 days after the birth of their baby. It was also a time of purification for Mary, Jesus’ mother according to the laws of Moses.
And, as I said in the bulletin, the Feast of the Presentation, when it falls on a Sunday, as it does this year, supersedes the regular Sunday. But being that we have discussed this gospel reading twice already in the new Church Year, I am instead, uplifting the readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Additionally, we Christians should always be about “presenting” Jesus to our world, through our lives, so whether the feast is specifically named, the Presentation, we are bound to that action anyway, and always. Hopefully, that makes sense. Also, I think you will find that the chosen readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time do “present” Jesus quite well, and what our response should be.

Before getting into these alternate readings, let’s just take a quick look at the other choices for the Presentation so as to tie them into those of the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, as I think you will find that they blend nicely and move us into the adult actions of our brother Jesus where we left off last week.
The Old Testament reading from the prophet Malachi basically says, I am sending a messenger to prepare the way. We know that messenger to be John the Baptist whom we remembered during Advent.
The writer to the Hebrews lets us know that our brother Jesus “became human to help us” – we often say, “to show us the way.” And finally, once again, Luke tells us in the gospel on the Presentation that, “Jesus was filled with wisdom—that the grace of God was with him.” I believe we can see how all of the above is played out in the life of Jesus. Therefore, let us move into the readings just proclaimed for us from the prophets, Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The 1st reading from Jeremiah today gives us a wonderful image of our Loving God for each of us: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” [!] This statement is really, in my mind, kind of neat to think on, and I believe we would each do well in our prayer this week to remember—that our God loved us even before our existence began! Such a love as this doesn’t seem to jive with the religious tradition and teaching prior to the Second Vatican Council—that the only reason for sending Jesus was to make up for the sins of humankind! Love and “settling a score” don’t seem to go together with the God that Jesus did in fact introduce to us.

Moving on then in Jeremiah’s reading, we see that this God who has loved us tremendously, trusts us with great things. When we attempt to do good in our world, standing up for the down-trodden, seeking justice for all, “many will fight against us,” we are told. But our God says, “do not be unnerved, or break down in their presence” – in other words, be strong. Jeremiah says further – “they will fight against you, but still not overcome you.”

Delving deeper into what Jeremiah is saying here, is the fact that when we know we are truly loved, as we are by our God, we can do what we might otherwise think impossible, such as speaking truth to power — a bishop, a president, or whoever is not being their best selves as our God challenges us to be. Jeremiah basically speaks a profound truth: “Don’t be afraid of what people will think,” by what you say is your truth, but by what God will say if you don’t in fact speak it! And granted friends, this isn’t easy, but then we were never promised that it would be. Sister Joan Chittister takes it a bit further saying, “Think what will happen to the whole truth, if you don’t speak it.”

The psalmist today in # 71 prays the prayer on our hearts in these trying times: “be [my] sheltering rock” – “you alone are my hope.” And this is probably a great time to raise up the fact that many of us feel overwhelmed in this New Year thus far as to what we can do in the face of so much apparent mean-spirited selfishness being dealt out in our country by those who should know better, and claim to be our leaders. I myself feel overwhelmed at times, and something that I do, and would recommend to each of you, is to ask our brother Jesus to help us carry it, because none of us is equipped to shoulder it all ourselves. The psalmist’s image of a “sheltering rock” is a good one.

And that having been said, let’s move on into Paul’s challenge to the Corinthians, and to us as well today on what our mission must truly be in this world, as we attempt to be true to Jesus’ message. Paul is clear: “If I speak with [angelic tongues], prophesy, and have all knowledge, faith to move mountains, give away everything I own, even hand my body over to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing [!]

This lovely reading is often used at weddings and is such a challenge – one-to-another. Paul then goes on to spell out just what love consists of: Love is patient, kind, not jealous, does not put on airs, is not snobbish, rude, or self-seeking –prone to anger, or broods over injuries – love does not rejoice over wrong, but over truth. Love has no limits; it trusts, hopes, and endures.

This is quite a message to a couple starting out. In the past when I have had the privilege of officiating at a wedding, I would encourage the couple, so full of hopes and dreams to look at this reading on their anniversary each year to see how they are doing, because as we all know, marriage takes the best we have to offer. Paul continues, there are three things that last – faith, hope, and love, and love is the greatest!

My friends, it is primarily from this reading and all that our brother Jesus teaches about “love” that causes, prompts me even, to tell you that love must always be the reason that we act in our world, even if we have to break a law – when it is a case of law versus love, we must always, in the memory of Jesus of Nazareth, do the loving thing!

The gospel from Luke for today let’s us know that “prophets never gain acceptance in their native place.” Jesus, as all prophets before and after, can’t “act” where there is no “faith.” Earlier we reflected on Paul’s words that “there are three things that last, faith, hope and love, and that the greatest is love.” I always think that the three work in tandem, and for “love” to come to its fullest, we must believe in, and hope for the best in ourselves and others. I always think that for Jesus to have returned home, and be rejected by his own people, had to have been very hard to take, and within that context, I think we can see why he was unable “to perform” for them.

Within our universal Church, we have just completed a 2-year synodal process where we were asked to weigh in, sharing ideas to hopefully make our Church better, with the supposed idea that our truth would be listened to, and now upon reflection, at its completion, comes the realization that so many hopes and dreams for inclusion were simply not heard, or if they were, were rejected . Faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.

I know many faith-filled, committed People of God, whom I believe were inspired by the Spirit to submit needed ideas for our Church to grow and become one that is worthy of the memory of our brother Jesus. Looking at the decisions made at the conclusion of this Synod on Synodality, and by the way, the word, “synodality” comes from the Greek, meaning, “journeying together,” –this word is a Church term meaning, “a way of living out one’s faith by listening to others and the Holy Spirit.” I would say that “love” was not acted upon with all those who are still not included, nor recognized – women, LGBTQ+ sisters and brothers and more. One does wonder how Jesus would have handled the faith-filled requests made to Pope Francis and the bishops, cardinals and all…

But lest we end on a negative note, let us remember who we ultimately answer to, and continue to do all the good we do, in faith and hope, that one day, love will be acted upon! Amen? Amen!

My friends, on this 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we are really, as I said in the bulletin, given a template—guidance, so to speak, of how we should be in our world, as followers of our brother, Jesus. In the first reading from Nehemiah, who is known in 1st Testament history, as, “the Builder,” that is, of the walls of Jerusalem, we hear through the priest Ezra, a bit of the story of the Israelite people returning from Exile. The people are understandably sad with regard to their relationship with God whom they feel they have failed. But Ezra reassures them that they should not fear, should not be sad or weep because, as he basically tells them, “Our God will always give you a second chance, as long as you are willing to try again.

Those of you old enough to remember Church teachings before the Second Vatican Council will remember that we Catholics grew up being taught to have the same feelings as the people in Ezra’s time, approximately in the 5th Century B.C. We learned that we had failed God, and had done so grievously, to the point that God “demanded” reparation for our sins in the form of the death of Jesus, “his” own son.
Now, of course we don’t believe this anymore as by “breaking open the Word” more fully after the Council in 1965, we came to understand and believe that our God loves us so much more than we humans can fully imagine. And we know this to be true through such New Testament stories as the Prodigal Child, and that of the Good Shepherd, who would leave the 99 and go in search of one-lost-one. In the story of the Prodigal, we see the “Loving Parent” [God] not just receiving the errant one back,
but running to meet this one, returning home. So, we see the 2nd Vatican Council, through the inspired work of Pope John XXIII, and the experts he gathered around him, were able to unearth and uplift this “old” idea of a God who loves us beyond all imagining.

This theme of a God who loves us in an over-the-top way continues and moves us to the next step in Paul’s selection today to the Corinthians. We learn here that God’s love is universal and equal with regard to us all. Paul basically says, we are different, “many parts, but one body—no one is indispensable, and no one can say to another, I don’t need you.” Additionally, Paul tells us that our love must go further, “if one of you suffers, [we all] suffer with that [one].” [Likewise], “if one of you is honored, we all [should] feel their joy.”

It seems my friends, that according to Paul, our God “constructed” us this way to be “of this vision”—what hurts one, hurts all, and what brings happiness to one should be a joyous thing to all. And he goes even further to say, that we should “care especially for the least among us.” Even the psalmist in number 19 today affirms this thought, “your command,” your precepts, “are clear” –[they] “give light to [our] eyes.” Our National Council of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) finally came out this past week, (saw the light we might say), speaking against most recent executive orders out of Washington targeting, “the least among us!”
And the messages from Scripture today are completed in Luke’s account of Jesus returning to his hometown. As I just read, Jesus proclaimed the words of the prophet Isaiah, in his synagogue, before his family and friends, and even though the Gospel reading didn’t include it today, we know that many rejected his interpretation of the prophet’s words. Jesus spoke of how the long-awaited Messiah would appear and what he would do, reading simply and eloquently: [this One will] “bring glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, (remembering) that people in our world can be held captive, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually too). Additionally, this One will recover, “sight to the blind,” and again, blindness can be present in many-faceted ways. And finally, the Messiah would give, “release to prisoners,” [setting them free not only from physical chains, but from emotional and spiritual ones too.

And the piece that the people couldn’t seem to accept was Jesus’ words, that, “Today this Scripture reading is fulfilled in your hearing.” Those who thought they knew him best, basically said, “Who do you think you are?—we know where you come from!”

And my friends, as I pondered the entire message here, I found myself thinking, in a very humble way, shouldn’t we as Jesus’ followers, if we are really intent on “following him,” be able to say too, “Today, in your hearing, the Scriptures are fulfilled”[!] Shouldn’t each of us be about “bringing glad tidings, proclaiming liberty, and release to prisoners,” and recovering of sight to the blind”[?]—not to the degree of course that Jesus did these actions, but just the same, shouldn’t these actions be part of our lives?

You all know my love of Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister. She teaches that we followers of Jesus must, in living and acting in our world, listen with the “ear of the heart.” I believe we were blessed with such a model to follow in the person of Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde in a National Prayer time address aimed at the 47th president of the United States appealing to him to show mercy in the name of the God of us all. This past week we all have seen many actions coming out of Washington that appear to be simply, “mean.” And again, finally our own bishops have come to say as much. Upon further reflection of this word, “mean,” we see that the first two letters spell, “me.” If we are going to claim to follow Jesus, we simply must be better than this. Amen? Amen!