Sunday, October 30, 2011

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10; Matthew 23:1-12
We have but one Master: they who created us. And she is the creator of all, not just one particular tribe. Stop wasting time fighting over whose definition of the Undefinable One is less ridiculous. You are all brothers and sisters. Stop placing your clerics on a pedestal. They are not holier than you. Authority exists to share God's joy, not to earn a living. No institution has the power to declare someone an expert on our Creator's love. Such an honor can only earned, through service to the family.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Exodus 22: 20-26
"You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt." Listen to these words fellow Americans! Almost all of us were once aliens in these lands. We have taken our fill from them, and now we do not want to share. We are happy to have the labor of the alien, and to benefit from the products that he produces, as long as he stays in his place. He may have the scraps from our table, but we refuse to allow him to dine with us. Be careful, for surely God will hear his cries, and our Creator is fair and just. What goes around, comes around; or more crudely "Karma's a bitch!"

1 Thessalonians 1: 5c-10; Matthew 22: 34-40
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Perhaps we have such a hard time loving our neighbor, because we really don't love ourselves very much. Our culture may be incredibly narcissistic, but at our core we believe that we are fundamentally evil, sinful, flawed, corrupted by original sin. Even those who claim that humans are essentially good don't really believe it; they may want to, but they look over their shoulder just in case. Why else would be believe that we need "Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath." We act like we are some pathetic, miserable child, begging our parent not to give us the beating that we deserve. What bullshit! Our Brother did not come to save us; his life is a testament that salvation is already ours. This universe is our paradise, a part of our Creator's plan. It tells us over and over again that God loves us and that we are good. If you truly believe this, then you will not be able to help but treat your neighbor in the same way.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 22: 15-21
"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." So Jesus meant that religion is supposed to stay out of government? Or is it the other way around? How many times will we hear this said over the next year? How many times will the words be twisted by politicians and clerics to justify their personal endorsements? The Kingdom of God is not of this earth: poverty, war, disease, and all manner of suffering will be with us always. They are part of what it means to be human. But that does not mean we should just accept the status quo. What is unjust should be fought, not because we can save the world, but simply because it is what is right and good. We MUST do something to alleviate suffering, even if it is less that what we would like. Failure to do so, whether in the name of tolerance or righteousness, is the true evil.