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Daily Scripture

+ 12th in Ordinary Time

A little hospitality, please.

Readings: Genesis 18:1-15 Responsorial: Luke 1:46-55 Matthew 8:5-17

At the appointed time, about this time next year, I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son. Sarah dissembled, saying, “I didn’t laugh.” But he replied, “Yes you did.” [Genesis 18:14-15]

You need to read, of course, the entire passage to get the gist and understand the message. It’s part of the longer story of Abraham, “our father in the faith” and Sarah, our “mother” in the faith. Yes, I think that Sarah must be named as such with Abraham. Why not? It was she who bore Isaac in her elder years. And yes, wouldn’t you laugh if someone told you a ninety year old woman was going to have a baby, notwithstanding the wonders of modern bio-technology?

At root, this story is about hospitality and faith and the ability to trust that welcoming the ‘stranger’ on to our turf can give birth to new visions and dreams and uncover hidden realities that can chart a new future.

No, I’m not suggesting that we go out into the streets and invite the first stranger to your table. That would be lunacy! However, I think we could take the risk of ‘engagement’ with the stranger. By this I mean to lighten up and smile. Open up to a little spontaneous conversation with someone while your waiting to check out on the grocery line or at the gas pump or on the elevator. Some people will ignore you. Most will not.

When I’m on the elevator at Morristown Memorial Hospital with one of the maintenance crew or a medical technician, I ask, “Do you own this place?” The responses are interesting ranging from, “I wish I did” to “I’m glad I don’t.” Sometimes the conversation continues outside the elevator and we discover that we share the same concerns about medicine about the care of the sick and just about getting through hard times.

We are living in a world that is becoming more and more vulgar in discourse. I think we need more ‘tone setters’ such and you and me to facilitate a change in attitudes. New attitudes can begin with a smile followed by a laugh or two. In this way, we can lighten one another’s burdens and become animators rather than victims of our age and circumstances.

The Grace of Good Friday

Friday March 21, 2008

Jesus is dead! Banks are closed. No mail delivery today. Off to Nassau and the islands for a break? or instead to Disneyworld? Color Easter…Read full entry

Open Letter to US Bishops

Thursday June 21, 2007

Last Sunday in observance of the fifth anniversary of the meeting of the US bishops in Dallas to hear the…Read full entry

Editorial - Op Ed

Sunday June 3, 2007

I have been thinking about drafting an ‘editorial / op-ed’ piece entitled, ‘The Catholic Wink.’ It’s a glib term…Read full entry

Editorial - Op Ed

Monday March 19, 2007

It’s a matter of conscience For several weeks in succession, I repeated the ‘pulpit’ announcement at the conclusion of Mass at…Read full entry

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Saturday January 13, 2007

November 3, 2006 / Volume CXXXIII, Number 19 EDITORIAL – COMMONWEAL Magazine The Catholic priesthood in…Read full entry

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Tuesday January 9, 2007

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The Grace of Good Friday

Friday March 21, 2008

Jesus is dead!

Banks are closed.
No mail delivery today.
Off to Nassau and the islands for a break?
or instead to Disneyworld?

Color Easter eggs but not before 3:00 o’clock.

Collegians off to Florida beaches
for sun, sex and a bottle of booze.
Easter break.

Artist’s rendition of the crucified
in milk chocolate,
on sale at the local candy store.

Nightly news competing with ‘U-Tube’ catering to viewers
telling them what they want to know
rather than what they need to know.

The news is rarely good,
especially on ‘Good Friday.’

Easter bunnies stand on the sidelines of life
watching ‘the Holy One’ pass,
wondering what it’s all about.
No, not the execution,
but life itself.
“What’s it all about, Alfie?”

What IS the grace of the day?

Liturgists remind us that it’s not a feast day
and certainly not a holiday.
It’s a commemoration,
an observance
on which Christians over the world
contemplate and ponder the death of ‘the Christ.’

But the death of the ‘Anointed’ is not on the cross.
It’s at the mall
on the battlefields
and in oil fields
across the world,
in skyscrapers,
on Wall Street
in brothels and casinos that rival ancient shrines
with their gold and silver arches and
and even in basilicas—elegant theaters of ceremony
and carefully staged rituals

Preachers pointing to the large crucifix
mouthing the words of scripture
shouting out to the assembly:
“God sent his son to die” and
“you put him on the cross!”

No, God did not send his son to die;
He sent him to live
and no,
I didn’t put him there,
though I do confess that
I might have been in the crowd that
called for the release of Barabbas,
not for the death of Jesus.
I am innocent of that man’s blood.
I’m no terrorist!
I’m a Christian!

I stood with Peter;
I was frightened,
scared to death that they would haul us all
into the courtyard
and tie us to a cross too.

Yes, it’s all about denial.
Death to the prophet!
It is always expedient that one person die
for the sake of the many.

The grace of the day
is in the air
everywhere.

Be attentive,
stay awake lest you miss the point
not of his death
but of his life.