Today is the day that we hear the story of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel reading: Luke 10:25-37. This is certainly a parable for our times. We live every day in the midst of often horrific local and global conflicts that pit “my group” against “that group.”In Jesus’ time the Jews and Samaritans were enemies across the border and across the street that could not agree on anything- where to worship, how to worship, the one right way mentality and racial and ethnic differences.  Jesus was courageous enough to address this with a parable that probably no one wanted to hear.  This parable is often “spiritualized”, but here Jesus is teaching what the love of God and our fellow human beings looks like in the context of terrible conflict.

And it is the story of our times here and now. Most notably this week we have two black men in different parts of the USA and in different circumstances killed by white policemen as they tried to comply to what the police asked of them. Then we have five white policemen killed in Dallas, Texas in a spirit of vengeance and retaliation. And, internationally and locally we have the ongoing assault of terrorism and hatred. The words Paris, Istanbul,Bangladesh,  and Orlando all speak in code of this terrorism. And, in Orlando, and elsewhere, the words “hate crime” also apply.  Orlando speaks to the hatred against members of the LGBTQ community and Latinos mixed with the perverted understanding of the Muslim religion that “radical”  terrorists adopt. And in our own community here in Fort Myers, the black on black crime/murder by young thugs makes headlines at least twice a week, and trust for the police is very shaky despite some good local efforts and the new hiring of a black Chief of Police who will have to prove himself and the force trustworthy. I look at the people in my congregation and wonder if a stray or well aimed bullet will end a life this week. Relatives of our families have been killed this year in this crazy violence of young men with guns and assault rifles. Some have been shot by ricochet and some by direct aim in “making good on a beef”-in this strategy not only the gang member is a target but ANY member of his family, young or old. We also have a law here forgiving good Samaritans of any prosecution for crime if they save a life.  It is time for us to put ourselves meaningfully into the Good Samaritan story.

Jesus told this story in response to a question from a “scholar of the law”  who asked what he must do to inherit eternal life? In response to Jesus’ question about how the scholar read the law, the scholar answered according to Jesus’ own sense of the essence of the Law: love God totally and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus and the scholar were on the same wavelength. Or so it would appear until the scholar asked “Who is my neighbor ?” Obviously Jesus’ answer was not what he expected or wanted to hear. The real neighbor who saved the Jewish man who was assaulted and mugged on the dangerous road to Jericho was the hated Samaritan. He not only helped the victim but went the second and third mile, tending his wounds and paying for lodging for him.

Here are some stories I know about good Samaritans. This is an ad we see on TV here: there is currently a bad heroin epidemic and four addicts are shooting up. One,a woman is suddenly dying of an overdose. Two of the men run away as they fear for their lives. The third is terrified but calls 911 and acts to save her with CPR at the instruction of the Operator. When he is told that he has saved her life and simply commended the look on his face says “this could transform me”.

An elderly white woman was assaulted and robbed by black youth on the way home from the store. What little she had was taken from her and she was frightened and hurt. An older black man gently assisted her and saw her home. When he suggested that she press charges she replied: “they must have needed what I had, they are good boys, I can’t press charges”.  Here both the man and the victim, the woman, are the good Samaritans.

A black woman tearfully brought a wreath to place on a spontaneous memorial for the policemen killed in Dallas. She said this was in thanksgiving for their service and assistance. She was joined by a beautiful rainbow variety of other people moved to tears by this anti-police terrorism.

Many white people and Hispanics and Asians, young and old joined in the mourning and orderly protests for the black men killed by police in Minneapolis and Baton Rouge.  As we step out with courage against all forms of hatred, we are good Samaritans.

Yesterday we attended a traditional Roman Catholic Mass with a black woman from our community. When we are not having our own Mass we travel from church to church in the greater community, introducing some of our members to other churches. In this huge well attended church there may have been two or three black people all together.  The priest incorporated great empathy for  the violence against police  into his sermon. He even had a Sheriff who was black come up for a blessing at the end and asked him to say a few words. He asked for cooperation from the community. This was moving, but sadly, it only encompassed one half of the problem.This priest of good will failed to ask us to mourn and pray also for the black men who were killed by the police and their families. Similarly the priest in the Television Mass on EWTN prayed only for the policemen killed not the other victims of brutality and murder by police-perhaps police who were truly frightened and not well trained enough, but who killed without actual threat to their lives, nonetheless.  He recognized only half of the mutual conflict- there is no peace or courage in that.

And on a personal note, in 2013 when I had major surgery for a stomach cancer I remained in the hospital in semi-isolation for eight days. During that time ministering angels came to me. First,  Joseph Cudjoe, the head of an African family whom we have worshiped with for 17 years, came to the hospital just before my surgery. As an elder in our church, he joined Pastor Judy and her sister Jill, who nursed me through the difficult first nights, in healing prayer. Then my primary Doctor Teresa Sievers also a member of our faith community, came and sat with me ministering through the entire night.  When she was brutally killed by friends of her husband in 2015 our entire community was in mourning and shock. We wished that she had had a ministering angel, but if she did, it was not of this violent world. After those first nights, it was really the CNA’s who tended most to me. In particular there was a CNA,a woman from Haiti whose joy and kindness overwhelmed me and another CNA, a gentle and competent Orthodox Jewish American man, who talked with me about God and Israel. In my earlier days I took a Zionist tour of Israel and we had much to share. These were my good Samaritans.

Thanks be to God for all the good Samaritans in our lives, and may we be courageous enough to truly be good to others-to live and remember in our every act the Law of Love and Justice, for it is one.

Amen. Rev. Dr. Judy Lee, Co-Pastor Good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community in Fort Myers

This is the homily of Rev. Beverly Bingle with thanksgiving to her for her inspiration:

“Scripture scholars agree that Jesus
actually spoke today‘s parable of the Good Samaritan,
or something very much like it.
They call the parable itself “a classic example
of the provocative public speech of Jesus the preacher.”
But they also say that Luke
created the dialogue around the parable,
reasoning that the dialogue asks two questions
that are different from the teaching of the parable itself.
Those two questions
are what I’m used to hearing about this passage:
“Who is my neighbor?” and “Which one acted like a neighbor?”
But the parable itself leads us to ask this question:
“From what quarter can I expect help
when I have been robbed, beaten, and left for dead?”
If I’m the one in need of help,
who do I think will step up and be a neighbor to me?
_________________________________________
Phyllis is one.
Whenever I have to go out of town overnight,
she tends my chickens and keeps watch on the house.
Then there’s Carrie and her family, across the street from me.
They’ve learned how to herd chickens
from those times the mail carrier or meter reader
has left the gate open.
Down at Claver House George and John and Tina and Shirley
get worried and phone me if I don’t show up for breakfast.
And you, the members of our Holy Spirit Catholic Community,
tend me every time you see me struggling—
like when I was hobbling around on crutches last spring.
I am surrounded by Good Samaritans,
people who help me instinctively
because they have formed themselves
into compassionate human beings.
So there are people around me who I expect will help me.
But who would I not expect help from?
_________________________________________
Jesus’ audience for this parable would have thought
that the beat-up and bleeding man in the ditch was a Jew.
They would have expected the priest and the Levite to help him.
But they didn’t.
They would not have expected the hated Samaritan to help him.
But he did.
And he went way beyond that,
reaching out with boundless compassion and resources
to bring help and healing.
_________________________________________
Would I expect a Muslim to help me? Or not?
A Mexican immigrant?
A politician?
A homeless person?
A bishop?
My answer will show what I think of other people.
It will lay bare my acceptance of some and my rejection of others.
_________________________________________
We all want to become the kind of person
who will be expected to be a neighbor to anyone in need.
The only way to do that
is to practice compassion in ordinary, everyday life.
When we decide to follow Jesus, it’s a process.
We decide to reflect and pray and study and act
in ways that will form us into a person of virtue.
If we think people who are different from us—
in race or ethnicity or religion
or gender or political persuasion—
would not be expected to help us in a crisis,
that’s a sign that we need to change.
_________________________________________
Toledo janitor Karen Loudermill, taking a break from work,
saw a young girl walking alone on the street
in the middle of the night.
Karen didn’t hesitate to get involved.
She didn’t worry about getting back to work on time.
She didn’t wonder if the girl was on drugs, or mentally ill,
or dangerous in some way.
She didn’t think about what could happen to her.
Karen walked over and started the conversation
that uncovered serious mistreatment
in the home where the girl had been kept a prisoner.
_________________________________________
D.C. government worker Larry Skutnik,
caught in a traffic jam on a bridge over the Potomac
as he headed home,
got out of his car
and saw that a plane had crashed into the river.
Larry watched as a helicopter rescued two of the three people
hanging on to the tail of the plane.
When he saw the third starting to go under,
he took off his shoes and jacket, dived into the freezing water,
and brought the woman to the shore.
Larry’s comment: “I reacted instinctively, that’s all.”
What made Karen and Larry take those heroic actions?
What made them risk danger to help a stranger?
What gave them that instinct for compassion?
_________________________________________
That kind of virtue comes from how they had learned to be
in the ordinary times,
not from extraordinary circumstances.
They are ordinary people
who learned compassion
to the point that they didn’t even think about themselves
when they saw another human being in need.
The crisis didn’t create their character.
It revealed it.
_________________________________________
Social psychologists who study bystander apathy
identify three things a person uses
to decide whether to do something in an emergency:
whether or not they feel the person is deserving of help;
whether they have competence to help;
and what relationship they have with the victim.
As Christians—and as Americans—
we say we believe that all people are equal
and therefore equally deserving of help.
We believe that everyone is a child of God, a brother or sister to us.
That means that we have the same relationship
with any and every victim.
And that means that we have a responsibility
to develop habits of compassion
that will cause us to act instinctively
to help whenever we can.
We can’t hesitate because the person isn’t like us,
or because we don’t know who they are,
or because we aren’t EMTs.
When Jesus says
that the law is summed up as love God and love neighbor,
it sounds easy…
but it’s the journey of a lifetime.
Amen! ”

—
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m./Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
at 3925 West Central Avenue (Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor
Mailing address: 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006
419-727-1774

Here is a beautiful reflection by Rev. Chava Redonnet,RCWP, Priest with the Migrant Workers in New York State. Please remember Rev. Chava’s church in your prayers and giving. They are nearly able to buy the house for the church they so richly deserve. Address on bottom. 

thank you and blessings,

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee

Rev. Chava’s Reflection Sunday July 3, 2016, Oscar Romero Church

                                                                                                           
Dear friends,   

One day many years ago, someone complemented me on my singing. I deflected the complement, thinking of all the wonderful singers we had at church – Eastman students, and professionals, lots of amazing voices. But I felt in my spirit a powerful nudge that said, “don’t devalue your singing!!!” It was like an order.

I think about that sometimes when I’m leading services. Whether at St Romero’s on Sunday mornings, or at the Migrant Mass, or leading services on the floors at the nursing home, we are singing a capella. Without my voice, there is no music. I sing in the car to Santiago all the time, too. He calls me his pajarita, his little bird.

So this past week, we had that reading where Jesus sends people out “like lambs among wolves” and tells them not to bring anything with them, and to accept whatever hospitality they are given. That’s a lot like our little church, worshipping in borrowed spaces, with makeshift altars, no musicians, sometimes even out in the open air. The floor services in the nursing home are like that, too, just making church with what we have and the people that are there. It was so hot one day last week I chose not to wear my alb, and thought that fit pretty well with “don’t even bring an extra cloak.”

Services in the nursing home are usually pretty sleepy affairs, with just one or two really alert people in the room. This week, though, in that one service, it was like a light went on. We were singing “Lord of the Dance,” and people were clapping. One woman was dancing in her wheelchair. A man who was visiting sang along, and his bass voice made it feel like we really had music happening, almost as good as if we’d had an instrument accompanying us. When it was over he thanked me and said “That was great!” It wasn’t until later that I realized, a big part of what made it great was his voice! He was our gift in that moment.

Are you aware of yourself as gift? When I was a student chaplain, we students tended to want to walk into patient’s rooms with stuff in our hands – Bibles, prayer books, rosaries, whatever. Our teachers told us over and over, “YOU are what you bring into the room!” It was our listening presence that people needed, not the stuff we carried.

I think when we are aware of ourselves as gift, we are more easily aware of the gift that others are to us. The giving always goes both ways!

We won’t be having the migrant Mass this week, or Mass at St Romero’s on Sunday, because I will be away.  I’m going to Boston to speak at Spirit of Life church, where Jean Marchant and Ron Hindelang are pastors. Jean asked me to bring pictures, so this week I found all the pictures from five years of the migrant ministry to put on a flash drive. I found photos I’d forgotten, pictures of so many old friends, most of whom have moved on – deported, or moved away – but lots of happy memories.

Blessings and peace, and enjoy this beautiful summer. (Beautiful, but they badly need rain out near Batavia!)

Love to all , Chava

Oscar Romero Church  An Inclusive Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in the Catholic Tradition   Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph’s House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620                                                                          A member community of the Federation of Christian Ministries

This long overdue recognition of Mary Magdalene as Apostola Apostolarum, the Apostle to the Apostles is another welcomed act of Pope Francis. Feminist theologians have long taught this and it is a moment of joy to have it recognized with a genuine Feast Day. Who knows what is next? Maybe we, Roman Catholic Women Priests will be welcomed back too! (Well, it is always good to be hopeful)!

Here is the article from NCR, National Catholic Reporter:

Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service  |  Jun. 10, 2016

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VATICAN CITY

Recognizing St. Mary Magdalene’s role as the first to witness Christ’s resurrection and as a “true and authentic evangelizer,” Pope Francis raised the July 22 memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to a feast on the church’s liturgical calendar, the Vatican announced.

A decree formalizing the decision was published by the Congregation for Divine Worship June 10 along with an article explaining its significance.

Both the decree and the article were titled “Apostolorum Apostola” (“Apostle of the Apostles”).

In the article for the Vatican newspaper, Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the congregation, wrote that in celebrating “an evangelist who proclaims the central joyous message of Easter,” St. Mary Magdalene’s feast day is a call for all Christians to “reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the new evangelization and the greatness of the mystery of divine mercy.”

“Pope Francis has taken this decision precisely in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy to highlight the relevance of this woman who showed great love for Christ and was much loved by Christ,” Roche wrote.

While most liturgical celebrations of individual saints during the year are known formally as memorials, those classified as feasts are reserved for important events in Christian history and for saints of particular significance, such as the Twelve Apostles.

In his apostolic letter “Dies Domini” (“The Lord’s Day”), St. John Paul II explained that the “commemoration of the saints does not obscure the centrality of Christ, but on the contrary extols it, demonstrating as it does the power of the redemption wrought by him.”

Preaching about St. Mary Magdalene, Francis highlighted Christ’s mercy toward a woman who was “exploited and despised by those who believed they were righteous,” but she was loved and forgiven by him.

Her tears at Christ’s empty tomb are a reminder that “sometimes in our lives, tears are the lenses we need to see Jesus,” the pope said April 2, 2013, during Mass in his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Francis also mentions her specifically in the prayer he composed for the Year of Mercy: “Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money; the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things; made Peter weep after his betrayal, and assured paradise to the repentant thief.”

Roche explained that in giving St. Mary Magdalene the honor of being the first person to see the empty tomb and the first to listen to the truth of the resurrection, “Jesus has a special consideration and mercy for this woman, who manifests her love for him, looking for him in the garden with anguish and suffering.”

Drawing a comparison between Eve, who “spread death where there was life,” and St. Mary Magdalene, who “proclaimed life from the tomb, a place of death,” the archbishop said her feast day is a lesson for all Christians to trust in Christ who is “alive and risen.”

“It is right that the liturgical celebration of this woman has the same level of feast given to the celebration of the apostles in the general Roman calendar and highlights the special mission of this woman who is an example and model for every woman in the church.”

Pope Francis

Mary Magdalene

General Roman Calendar

As we experience local and global events that raise anxiety and concern this 4th of July weekend in the United States, we may be prompted to say: What kind of a God do we have? It seems that  acts of horrific terrorism are only matched by  acts of love and kindness. Millions of dollars have been raised to help the families of the 49 Orlando victims and millions of loving acts have been expressed as well. This happens after each mass tragedy and restores our hope though it cannot change what happened. Natural disasters, some precipitated clearly by human neglect or environmental abuse, also challenge us. We are up to the gills here in usually beautiful Florida with a major water problem threatening infection by a blue-green algae and a run-off of murky brown water. Unless we can turn the channel quickly we see over and over again a baby manatee stuck in a surreal and toxic blue-green sludge.  It is a powerful symbol and a page from a bad science fiction movie but alas, it is real. Our mis-management of our water resources has come to this. And yet God was there-there in human love and care- there were people endlessly dragging hoses to the water’s edge and bathing the little one ,making sure it drank clean water. If only people acting together can literally turn this tide. But maybe we can….

The First Reading from Isaiah 66:10-14 is a beautiful poem about God’s love for Jerusalem, and for us.We know that the State of Israel has become a life-filled former desert flowing with water that continues to represent hope for so many and yet the eternal wars and now nuclear threats almost block out the sun of this joy. Almost but not quite.  The text tells us that God is like “a mother who comforts her child” and God says”So I will comfort you….” So, we have a God who loves and provides comfort when we are most in need of it. We are in need of it as a global community, and as a nation and in our individual lives. This year Pastor Judy Beaumont and I have faced the literal threat of another two cancers. Mine could be handled (again!) by surgery and I am on the mend after a second scare that was unfounded-nothing had spread- but hers is not so easy and we turn again to our God of comforting and our God of healing. She has been healed- cured of three other cancers in the last 16 years. We know that God is still with her now. And the prayers and love of the community also bring comfort and strength to us.

The Entrance Antiphon for Sunday in Living with Christ (p.56) says “Your merciful love ,O God, we have received in the midst of your temple.  Your praise,O God, like your name, reaches the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with saving justice”.  Yes, God is still with us. And while it may not always seem so to us,  saving Justice is always with us. The responsorial Psalm of the day is Psalm 66. Verse 20 says” Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what God has done for me, Blessed be God who refused not my prayer or God’s kindness”. The response is “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy”. Yes, it is hard to cry out with joy in the midst of terrorism, violence, pollution and our individual tragedies and challenges-but it is our faith and living experiences of God that let us know that God’s kindness and comfort and God’s saving justice is still with us. Like the 72 sent forth in the Gospel of Luke(10:1-12 and 17-20) we are to “declare what God has done for us”.  And, the Gospel for the day let’s us know that God’s reign IS with us BUT we are to spread it everywhere. We  are called and sent to bring the reign of God, with the Gospel of love and justice and inclusion all over the world, and that means to bloom fully as maturing Christ followers, imitating Christ, right where we are planted for most of us. Jesus has given us the power to deal with all of the enemies of love and justice that we can name, but more, to be thankful that we are named by God. Wow! We belong to the God who  reigns and longs to mother us like a mother comforts her child.  And more, to em-power us to change the world around us. As the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 6: 14-18-it is only the new creation that matters. The new creation, the reign of God, comes through us with power and with love as we LIVE the Gospel and heal the sick and say ” The reign of God is at hand for you”.  Thanks be to God!

And now Rev. Dr. Beverly Bingle’s inspiring homily:

In the chapter before today‘s Gospel,
Luke tells the story of the sending of the twelve apostles,
symbolic of the twelve tribes
and therefore representing the church’s mission to Israel.
Matthew and Mark also tell of the sending of the twelve.
Luke, though, is the only one
who adds the sending of the seventy-two
that we heard in today‘s Gospel.
Like the twelve, the seventy-two is symbolic.
A little background here:
the Greek manuscripts of Luke’s gospel
differ about the number—
it’s seventy in some, seventy-two in others.
In Genesis Moses chose seventy elders to help him,
and Jacob had seventy descendents.
Both seventy and seventy-two
may also symbolize the number of nations in the world—
the Hebrew text of Genesis says seventy nations,
the Greek text seventy-two.
Whichever number is used,
it stands for the mission of the church to the whole world
and shows the understanding of the early church
that they were sent to proclaim Jesus’ message
to all people everywhere.
_________________________________________
And that message begins with peace.
They are to be bearers of peace everywhere they go,
telling people that God is in charge,
not the violent or the greedy or the hate-filled.
As Luke writes it, “The reign of God is at hand for you.”
_________________________________________
Comparing the ways the gospel writers
described the sending of the disciples
makes it clear that the early church communities
freely adapted Jesus’ words to their own circumstances.
The word of God is not abstract.
It doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
God’s word is alive,
and like our ancestors in faith,
we must interpret God’s word
to learn how we are called and sent to preach the good news.
We are the ones who are sent now,
apostles of peace in our time.
_________________________________________
But how can we possibly bring peace to this world?
Or maybe the question is how we can BE peace In the world.
_________________________________________
Down at Claver House this week I noticed Katy being peace.
She and her husband Rob are regular guests.
Katy greets folks by name when they come in.
Whenever a bag of donated clothes arrives,
she unpacks it and folds things on the table,
calling out to folks, “Shirley, this would look great on you!”
or “Matt, wouldn’t your granddaughter like this?”
When Katy notices someone near her with an empty coffee cup,
she’ll get up and get them a refill.
And she does all this with cheerful respect.
And Rob… whenever one of the guests starts to get loud,
or, two of the guests let an argument get out of hand,
Rob calmly and firmly asks them to quiet down.
I’ve seen him defuse some situations that could have turned nasty.
Katy and Rob are peace in the world.
_________________________________________
Then there’s Barbara Coleman.
From her experience
with the anti-racism “Dialogue-to-Change” group,
she realized that her life did not include people of color.
Sure, she worked with black people,
and she went to church with them.
But she went home to a white suburb.
So she decided to integrate her social life.
She began to invite participants in her group
to supper at her house,
eventually resulting in new friendships
among a half dozen or so people
of different races and backgrounds.
_________________________________________
I remember my Aunt Anne being peace in the world.
She preached with her actions,
mothering her five boys,
welcoming their neighborhood buddies into the house
with smiles and snacks
and always an invitation to stay for the next meal.
Whenever a new family moved into the neighborhood,
she was on the step with a cake to welcome them.
She volunteered at the Church.
She made sure people had what they needed,
whether it was a ride to the doctor’s office or a listening ear.
She was a good listener,
asking the right questions and never criticizing.
Kind and generous, she preached peace in her own house,
peace in the neighborhood, peace in her parish—
just by being who she was, all without saying a word.
Aunt Anne had the marks of Jesus in her heart—
marks made by a life of gentleness and a loving spirit.
_________________________________________
In our second reading St. Paul says he’s been troubled so much—
stoning, chains, beatings—
that he considers his scars
to be like the marks of Jesus on his body.
Paul had turned away from his deadly persecution of Christians
to preach peace and practice nonviolence.
We may not have the marks of Jesus on our bodies,
but we can bear the marks of Jesus in our hearts.
Those marks are visible, especially in the world we live in.
They’re the ones that John’s Gospel says
will make all people know that we are Jesus’ disciples—
that we love one another.
_________________________________________
No one of us can bring peace to the Middle East.
No one of us can stop the killings on our city’s streets.
What we can do is be peace right where we are.
Like Tom McDonald and Sharon Havelak
and the Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition,
we can stand on a street corner and hold up a sign.
Like Katy and Rob at Claver House,
we can urge peace in the middle of turmoil.
Like Barbara Coleman,
we can build friendships with people who are different from us.
Like my Aunt Anne, we can reach out with hospitality and concern
to family and friends and neighbors.
_________________________________________
Our hearts will grow in peace
when we walk the way that Jesus taught,
and we too will become peace in the world.
We will be apostles of peace,
living signs of love that can soothe tempers,
bridge divisions,
and heal wounds.
Glory be to God!

—
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m./Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
at 3925 West Central Avenue (Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor
Mailing address: 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006
419-727-1774

AMEN!

Here we have an inspiring homily by Rev. Dr. Beverly Bingle,RCWP of Toledo, Ohio with Reflections by Rev. Dr. Judy Lee,RCWP of Fort Myers, Florida.

The Readings are: I Kings 19: 16b,19-21 where the prophet Elijah passes on his mantel to Elisha who has to go back and provide for his parents first, before accepting the call to walk with then succeed Elijah. Yet, Elisha did this quickly and followed Elijah.

Psalm 16:1-2,5,7-8,9-11
You are my inheritance, O God!” God will show the faithful the path to life and there will be fullness of joy in God’s presence.

Galatians  5: 1,13-18-The whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Serve one another through love…

Gospel: Luke 9:51-52-Jesus is resolutely traveling to Jerusalem where he will face the Cross. He lets those who want to follow him know that the way will be hard and take all they have to give. He asks for whole hearted devotion-for their love and their very lives .

The road to following Jesus is as hard as loving is. Real loving demands all we have.  We can’t love one day and decide to go for ourselves,putting our wants and needs and desires first above all others on another day. We have to learn to love in the way Jesus loved. Paul tells the Galatian followers not to “bite and devour one another”. Indeed the church has been biting and devouring since its inception as well as expressing love in the most beautiful ways. Jesus’ way of inclusion is expressed in his acceptance and love for “hated strangers” like the Samaritans who were a religiously and ethnically mixed group of people who wanted to serve God;and mixing with ” sinners and hated tax collectors” and women, of all people!

I have no doubt that Jesus wept not only for Jerusalem but that he weeps now for Orlando even as people professing his name, feeling they were being good Baptists, stood outside of funerals and carried hate signs for the members of the LGBTQ community whose funerals were taking place. Talk about biting and devouring and the farthest thing from the love of Christ. Yet I know their problem.  I remember a wonderful woman who was a Deaconess in the Methodist church, the wife of  a beloved Pastor  and a friend since my youth.  She visited my partner , Pastor Judy Beaumont, and I in our home in Florida. One day, on a second visit, with tears she confided that she was opening herself to the acceptance of both women and gay men and lesbians in the Methodist Ministry because she witnessed the quality of our lives. This was hard because of the explicit teachings of the church about our sinfulness. But she could only experience our love and she could no longer support such church teaching. Also, she shared that she could now accept the gayness of one of her own children and see the love in that child more than the difference. How wonderful it was for her to share this with us and to give us this gift. How hard it was for her to change and transform herself into this last bit of loving like Jesus, for she , indeed, resembled Christ in every other way and was a role model for us. She has now gone home to our loving God, but what a lesson she left behind. Our Roman Catholic Church and many other churches need this lesson.  They have considered all members of the LGBTQ community “disordered” yet advise pastoral caring. Yet all are excluded from the sacraments of the church including Holy Communion.  How can there be pastoral caring without a full welcome for all people at the Table of Jesus? We have a young man in our church who is gay and he experienced scorn from his family and his African American community that was deeply alienating and painful for him. He literally hung onto our acceptance as a life boat, demonstrating to his family that he was loved fully for himself, and most surely good enough to be baptized and confirmed and accepted as an equal in the church. His family grew to love him without judgement. This was transforming for him and for the family, some of whom still work on this level of Christ like acceptance.   Jesus characterized no one as disordered, except, perhaps, the hypocrites within the religious establishment for whom he often had a few chosen words. And so often these words were about the intolerance and rigidity of the religious establishment. We would be wise as we, with all of our human frailty, seek to follow Christ to realize that the Way of Love is not easy but with God’s grace,  we can be transformed to do it.   And this transformation is possible for all of us, Thanks be to God! Amen.

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee, RCWP, Co-Pastor The Good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community in Fort Myers, http://www.goodshepmin.org

And Now for Rev. Dr.  Beverly Bingle’s Homily: 

This begins the most important section of Luke’s Gospel,

referred to by scripture scholars as the “journey narrative.”
Fr. Raymond Brown calls Luke’s story
of the long journey to Jerusalem
“an artificial framework.”
It’s a literary device created by Luke
so he can tell about Jesus in an organized way.
________________________________________
Jesus actually did travel from Galilee to Jerusalem.
For later followers, his journey takes on symbolic meaning:
it’s the way by which Jesus went from death to new life,
and the way that we, as his disciples,
are called to do the same.
________________________________________
Luke’s story of the beginning of Jesus’ long journey
begins with a lesson that we still need today.
At the very beginning of the trip,
Jesus’ disciples are not welcome in a Samaritan village,
but Jesus will not let them call down fire from heaven
to destroy the villagers.
________________________________________
In the 18th century, Jonathan Swift, Irish Anglican priest,
criticized Christians for having
just enough religion to hate
but not enough to love.
History continues to give us examples of people who,
like the first disciples,
want to do violence to people who don’t agree with them.
We don’t have to look any farther
than the front pages of our newspapers to see it.
People killing other people when they disagree.
People killing other people because they are different.
And people doing murder in the name of God.
It happened in the Crusades.
In Nazi Germany.
In the Middle East.
In Orlando.
It’s still happening.
________________________________________
What motivates people to hate so viciously in the name of God?
Maybe their religion is just a veneer on the surface of their lives.
Maybe they just can’t grasp the message of love
that’s at the heart of all real religions.
Maybe they never really learned what their own religion is about.
Or maybe it’s the failure of religious leaders
to keep their own hatred out of their beliefs.
Whatever it is, Fr. Joseph Pollard rightly calls it blasphemy.
________________________________________
But for us Christians, we should know the way.
Jesus’ response to his disciples call for vengeance
is to go on to another village.
He teaches us that our way to new life
is not through violence and retribution
but through peaceful avoidance of conflict.
________________________________________
So Jesus and his disciples continue on the journey,
and Luke has Jesus give us more advice.
Three people come up to him, one by one,
and each one hears radical requirements for discipleship.
The first person, wanting to follow Jesus wherever he goes,
hears that there will be no place to rest
for the one who joins Jesus on the Way.
We have to ask ourselves if we are ready to follow,
even if we have to walk away
from the comfort and security of our homes and friends.
Are we ready to speak up for what is right and just,
even if we know our family members and best friends
will disagree with us?
________________________________________
The second person, invited by Jesus to join the group,
wants to go bury his father,
and Jesus responds with “let the dead bury their dead.”
If the man goes home to wait for his father’s death
so he can fulfill the law of honoring his parents,
he himself will become dead
to the new life that comes with the journey to Jerusalem.
We have to ask ourselves what we’re waiting for
that keeps us from following Jesus along the Way.
Maybe it’s job security—
I won’t object to my boss’ racist remarks
until I have another job lined up.
________________________________________
And the third person
wants to say goodbye to family before he follows,
but Jesus warns that anyone
who expects to live in the reign of God
can’t live in the past.
As followers along the way, we look ahead.
We don’t regret the past and we’re not obsessed with it,
either by focusing on its mistakes
or by imagining it as a golden age.
________________________________________
We know from other scriptures
that Jesus does not mean these sayings to be absolutes.
What Jesus is doing is making clear
the mindsets that undermine living in the reign of God.
He is reminding us of the greater goal,
and that everything else falls by the wayside
in our choice to follow him.
________________________________________
Rarely are we called to burn all our bridges,
like Elisha in the first reading.
These sayings remind us that, at rare, particular moments,
we are called to be heroic.
But most of the time
we are called to reflect, adapt, and take action.
As Paul puts it in that second reading,
we have to live by the Spirit, not by the law.
We are required to serve one another through love.
________________________________________
I recall times in my own life
when I lacked the courage to follow Jesus’ way,
and a few times when I had the courage to burn bridges,
to walk away from security for the sake of a vision.
Out of Africa author Karen Blixen once said that
“There is probably always one moment in life
when there is still the possibility of two courses,
and another when only one is possible.
At the latter point I have burnt my boats,
and afterwards there can be no retreat.”
Elisha reached that point.
Paul reached that point.
Jesus reached that point.
________________________________________
We reach that point, too,
faced with the question of what it means
for us
to follow Christ today.
It means to act with love where we are,
in our chosen career,
on our chosen life path,
true to the commitments we have made.
It’s not only what we do that’s important.
It’s how we do it.
There’s more than one way to follow Jesus,
but each path has this in common:
we are called to follow with our whole heart,
and our heart must be full of love,
no matter what.
Amen!

—
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m./Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
at 3925 West Central Avenue (Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor
Mailing address: 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006
419-727-1774

From the Quixote Center:

Following the weekend’s tragedy in Orlando, we here at the Quixote Center have been subdued with grief for this senseless loss. We were particularly moved by the following blog post by our friend Frank DiBernardo of the New Ways Ministry and wanted to share it with you.

“This past week, I have been in London, England, for New Ways Ministry connections, and so I feel somewhat disconnected from the grief and anguish that folks in the U.S. are experiencing these past couple of days.  I make the qualification “somewhat” because the news of Orlando is still very much in the forefront here.  For one thing, it’s Pride Week in London, and people are gearing up for their big parade on Saturday, though this year security will be beefed-up because of the Orlando tragedy.

Londoners rally in support of Orlando’s victims and the LGBT community.

Londoners’ hearts are very sensitive to the Orlando news, not only because they have experienced political terrorism, but also because they know the pain of an attack on a gay nightclub.  On April 30, 1999, a member of a neo-Nazi organization set off a nail bomb in a Soho neighborhood gay pub, The Admiral Duncan. The bomb killed three people, one of whom was a pregnant woman.  That event galvanized the LGBT community here in London. Networking with the LGBT Catholic community in England, I’ve learned that one of the positive outcomes of the renewed resolve for equality that emerged from the 1999 tragedy was the establishment of an outreach ministry to LGBT Catholics by the Westminster diocese.

I find it very hard to read news accounts of the shooting, and I don’t even dare attempt to look at any online video. So I’ve busied myself checking out Catholic responses to this tragic event.   New Ways Ministry’s initial response noted that the Catholic bishops’ first reactions were totally unsatisfactory.  Despite the fact that almost every headline reported the event as having taken place in an LGBT venue, statements from the Vatican, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the bishop of Orlando, and several other U.S. prelates, glaringly omitted any reference to the LGBT character of this event.

Were such omissions intentional?  Did the issuers of the statements go out of their way not to mention that the victims were predominantly members of the LGBT community and that the site of the shooting was an LGBT club?   Were they all so oblivious to the prominent details of the news that they did not detect what people around the world noticed about this event?  Last night, here in London, thousands of people marched in solidarity with Orlando. Rainbow flags were everywhere.

Perhaps the Catholic bishops’ omission of LGBT references was not intentional because their eyes have become blinded.  Are they so isolated from LGBT lives that they don’t even recognize a tragedy for these communities when it is staring them in the face?   Are the bishops so used to seeing LGBT people as opponents that they could not muster the most basic forms of Christian charity in the face of such a horrific event?   Or are  they so ignorant of church teaching condemning violence against LGBT people that they simply forgot to apply this official teaching to such an obvious case?

One of the most disappointing responses came from San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.  As leader of the church in one of the most populous LGBT communities of the U.S., one hopes that he would have shown better awareness of LGBT issues. His response did not refer to the LGBT lives lost.  Instead, trying to be sensitive, the Archbishop stated that “regardless of race, religion, or personal lifestyle, we are all beloved children of God.”

“Personal lifestyle”?  His advisors should have informed him that no one uses such language to refer to the lives of LGBT people because it is inaccurate and misleading; it wrongly implies that sexual orientation is a matter of choice and a matter of sexual actions.  He should have been warned that using such a term would push people further away, instead of drawing them closer to the Church and the love of God during this time of deep need.

Cordileone’s statement shows that bishops need much better education about LGBT issues than they have.  Without the simple knowledge of basic terminology, they cannot be pastorally sensitive in a crisis of any size, let alone one of such enormous and historic proportions.  Lack of education does not make someone a bad person.   But becoming aware of this lack makes it incumbent upon a person–especially a bishop–to seek better knowledge, especially knowledge of the Church’s teaching that sexual orientation is not a choice and is not just a series of actions.

In the Catholic world, this incident will be remembered not just for the sheer horror and tragedy of lives lost, but for the fact that it highlighted that so many church leaders still have a long way to go in being aware and sensitive to even the most basic human needs of LGBT people.

Thankfully, there have been a handful of bishops whose statements have offered condolences to the LGBT community.  We reported one on Monday, three more yesterday, and today, the latest bishop to join this small band is Bishop Gerald Barnes, of San Bernardino, California, who noted in his statement that he wanted to “make clear our condemnation of discriminatory violence against those who are gay and lesbian, and we offer our prayers to that community.”

Finally, I am truly saddened that the hierarchy’s LGBT omissions separate them not only from the LGBT community, but also from an overwhelming majority of the laity and the wider world.  In this moment of tragedy, people are banding together to support the LGBT community in a global expression of solidarity.  Catholics, people of other faiths, and people of no faith at all are finding common ground of compassion and witness because of this tragedy.  By ignoring the important LGBT character of this unique moment in human history, the bishops are excluding themselves from the many ways that God’s beloved children are building up the reign of justice and peace, as a way to counter the forces of terror and hate.  It is truly sad that our Catholic bishops are missing out on such an opportunity.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry”

AMEN! jl

(Revised edition).

World-wide sympathy  pours out for the victims, families and friends of the terrorist massacre of 49 (and rising) members of the LGBT community gathered at a club in Orlando,Florida on June 12th, 2016. In articles below: Pope Francis strongly decried this horrific event. Francis De Bernardo of New Ways Ministries notes that many of the religious who decry this event fail to mention that it was a directed attempt against the LGBTQ community.

As I listened to the initial debates as to whether it was terrorism or a hate crime, I was amazed that people thought it had to be either or when, in fact, both hatred and terrorism are events that members of the LGBTQ community have had to endure throughout history. It turns out that the killer did identify with Isis and also other terrorist groups, some hated by Isis. The killer’s former wife said that he was unstable, bipolar and aggressive. Her life was in danger before she escaped and was divorced. The killer’s father said that the killer witnessed gay couples together in Miami and that he hated gays. Yet later reports placed him in the Pulse Club, sitting alone and talking loudly(to himself) over a three year period. So here we have the situation of a profoundly disturbed person with mental illness, unrecognized and untreated by the killer, who identified with terrorists, had some connections with terrorists abroad although he was born in the USA, and hated gays. Perhaps he also hated himself and his own inclinations.His father, a self-styled Afghan leader in the USA, also was quoted with anti-gay statements.

People talk glibly of how easy this would have been to prevent. But the killer was an American,not an immigrant so keeping immigrants or the Muslim faith out would be a ridiculous solution.  (Well, it is ridiculous and hateful anyway!This thinking is the problem not the solution.) Improving the mental health system here might help-but what a big job that will be! Gun control would definitely help-but not eliminate the problems-a multifocal approach is needed.   Attending to diverse youth(both non-majority youth and youth struggling with or being gay) with greater care as they pass through educational institutions and negotiate dominant society in which minorities of all sorts can meet with prejudice and discrimination in doses that cause impotence and rage could help- and yet another tall order.

It is ironic and paradoxical that the killer, a second generation Afghan-American, probably experienced painful discrimination and  his difference as “less than” and those massacred in Orlando experience this most of the time. I remember struggling with my own LGBTQ identity in my thirties and only wanting to be able to hold hands and exchange affection with my beloved partner  in a manner that was so easy to do when I was with my former husband. In many places it was totally unsafe to do this simple thing. And as I fell from heterosexual grace in the church , family and community I realized that I no longer had any of the privileges of heterosexual status. Difference became my name. It took a long while just to be me again. Prejudice, discrimination, misinformation and, yes, hatred, was something I learned to live with.  And so many learned to live with direct violence as well. The horrible example of Matthew Wayne Shepard, a young man in Wyoming who was tied to a fence, pistol-whipped and killed by gay-haters stays in my vivid memory although it was in 1998. Indeed, his sufferings were not unlike Christ’s. Let us see Christ in every one harmed by hate.

It was Latino/a Night at the Pulse Bar where the Massacre took place. The participants there, many in their twenties and thirties, had experienced painful discrimination as Latinos/as and as gays and lesbians (along the LGBTQ spectrum). It is not unusual that one minority may turn against another when the roots of the problem lie in the intolerance for difference passed down the generations. To the extent that some of these roots are part of religious cultures, the church and other religions must cry : mea culpa. mea culpa, mea maxima culpa-“the fault is mine”-and change it. That change must come now-it is already too late, but before it happens again, let us affirm the worth of our GLBTQ sisters and brothers, and ALL people of different religions, races and cultures.  As Pope Francis earlier said and some, like Hillary Clinton and others affirm: let us build bridges not walls.

While there may be some level of greater tolerance for difference in the younger generation there is no doubt that the seeds of prejudice, fear and discrimination are passed on and take root, adding to the kind of horrific event we have witnessed in Orlando.

It is time for all people of good faith to build those bridges: and build them now.    Build them in all we say, in all we do, in all we hope for and in all we are. Build them with progressive political candidates, do not tolerate idiocy even for a minute, build them with good people everywhere-and do it NOW.

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee, RCWP 

We are happy to share the good news from Rev. Chava Redonnet’s Migrant Ministry in a Newsletter from RC woman Priest, Rev. Chava. I am sure that all support is still needed and welcomed. Rev. Judy Lee,RCWP

Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Church
Bulletin for Sunday, June 12, 2016                                                  11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear friends,

This past week, my daughters and I traveled to Boston for the funeral of my Uncle Ed. Clare, Bridget and I shared the driving, and Emily met us there. As such moments often are, it was a warm family time. I talked with my aunt, my cousins and their spouses and children. My aunt and uncle had five children, fifteen grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren, so you can imagine the size of the group. At lunch nearly everybody had on Red Sox outfits, even the four-month-old baby. It was a loving and beautiful family time, with lots of gratitude for a life well lived.

Last night Santiago and I had dinner at our favorite Mexican Restaurant, where we are always greeted like old friends. Our server was a young man who always makes a point of coming over to talk with us. His wife and small daughter are in Mexico; every week he calls them, and sends money home. I know so many people who are doing that. They have kids at home who are growing up, never seeing their parents. Grandchildren never met except on the telephone. Spouses not seen for years. Funerals unattended because they can’t get back. Even weddings never performed, because “We can’t do it without Mom there.”

Culturally, most Mexicans can run circles around most of us in the US when it comes to family values. But when there is no work, no way to support your family in the place where you live, family values mean years of separation, hard work, loneliness. Family values – and survival – means coming to a place where you will be persecuted for being undocumented, for being here without permission. We in the United States haven’t got a clue – when we talk about building a wall, sending everybody back – what the reality is that we’re sending people back to. Every family matters. And we are all family.

I still have not solved the problem of how to get the bulletin out each week, and will be asking Rachael to make another special exception for this one. There are three pieces of news to share: it’s good news/ bad news/ good news.

First, the wonderful news that Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Church is the recipient of a grant of $30,000 from the Joseph Rippey Trust, for the purpose of buying and retrofitting an existing farmhouse to use for the migrant ministry. We had already raised $20K, so now we have met the goal of $50,000 and can start looking. Woo hoo!

Second, we started the migrant Mass earlier than usual this year, and had a lovely celebration in early May, in the little house we’ve been using for church these past several summers. Since then, people have been working too late planting, but by the end of May we were ready to start again. Then, ten days ago when I went to set up for Mass – I found there was someone living in the house! There had been a miscommunication, and someone thought the house was empty and told him he could use it. In the end, his need for a place to live outweighed our need for a place to worship, and last weekend we cleared out all our things but the bookshelves and table (which I still need to go get if I can get the use of a truck). All our books and toys and folding chairs are in my basement, probably until we get a place of our own. The farmer told me that without the house, that man would have been homeless — so here’s a nice bit of reversal. A homeless person threw out a church! – instead of the other way around, as it has so often been. God is smiling.

And I’m not worried. This is our latest blessing, I am sure. Before long we will be saying “oh, thank goodness that happened!” – so we might as well start being grateful right now.

And that brings me to the last bit of good news. Do you know what this coming Thursday is??? It’s our fifth anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!! The first Migrant Mass was on June 16, 2011. We started celebrating Mass in a parking lot in front of a migrant dwelling in Byron, NY, everybody standing around, hearing the birds in the trees and feeling the breeze on our faces while we worshipped. So much has happened since then! So this Thursday we will have a special Mass and party to celebrate. I was trying to figure out where we would have it, when Santiago pointed out, “We started outside…. How about over there?” …pointing to Idalia and Fili’s yard across the street. So that’s where we will be, and everybody is welcome. Bring a dish to pass and we’ll have a community supper before Mass. We’ll try for 7 for supper and 8 for Mass, and afterwards we’ll have cake! – and we are celebrating, not only our fifth anniversary, but Ana’s graduation from High School!!!!! Congratulations, Ana! We are so proud of you.

Let me know if you want to join us and I’ll tell you how to find us!

So: hope, and gratitude, and trust. All will be well. Thank you, God of Love, for five years that none of us could have imagined! You are so amazing.

Love and blessings to all –

Chava

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Words used by Lilla Watson, Aboriginal elder, activist and educator from Queensland, Australia.

Oscar Romero Church  An Inclusive Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in Catholic Tradition   Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph’s House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620
A member community of the Federation of Christian Ministries

The readings for this Sunday are wonderful: Great love is shown by God and by the women in the gospel of Luke. Sins are forgiven when our hearts turn to God no matter how terrible those sins are, as in the case of King David guilty of murder and adultery and more (2 Samuel 12:7-10,13).  We can only imagine that David could finally breathe again when he heard: “…God forgave your sin; you will not die.” And in the Gospel, Luke 7:36-8:3, we see a woman, deemed “a sinner” by the Pharisees/religious leaders, who turns to Jesus in great love, anointing his weary feet despite the presence of her judges, experiencing his understanding, forgiveness and love and giving her best to him. I love the point Kathryn Matthews, UCC Pastor and preacher, makes:  This woman knows she is in the presence of God and is completely free in relating to Jesus despite those who surround her with judgement. And, I also love the end of this Gospel reading where the women loyal to Jesus, forgiven and healed, are finally named.  In so much of the Scriptures, including the Gospels, women simply are called “the women” but here we see the names of Mary of Magdala, Joanna, Susanna “and many others” who accompanied Jesus and the male disciples on their evangelizing journeys and ,in fact, even supported their work.  Jesus says to the woman who anointed his feet in the midst of severe criticism “Her many sins were forgiven her, because she has shown great love”.Obviously Mary, Joanna and Susanna showed great love as well. Let us rejoice in these women, whether or not we are surrounded by the judgement of others,and let us follow them in showing great love.

From Rev. Kathryn Matthews:  www.ucc.org/worship_samuel_sermon_seeds_June_12_2016

Additional reflection on Luke 7:36-8:3:

“It’s very common these days, around the church, to hear the phrase, “We’re all sinners.” Usually it’s in connection with the struggle of the churches to deal with accepting or not accepting gay folks, but it could also apply to, say, divorced and remarried people (which used to be quite scandalous) or people who have been in prison (their sentence is never really over in some minds) or people who are living with HIV/AIDS (we tend to judge people for how they got sick, or how we think they got sick). In any case, we still think there is a subtle, double standard of “sinnerhood”: there are sinners, and then there are sinners.

In this story, the woman who washes Jesus’ feet out of extravagant gratitude and love is a notorious “sinner” in the town. She’s really a sinner with a capital S. Simon the religious leader may be a sinner because “we’re all sinners,” but that’s different. His status as a sinner doesn’t make him unworthy to have Jesus visit his home, along with certain other preferred guests, and it certainly doesn’t put him above judging the intruder and even judging Jesus himself as he witnesses the scene before him.

Simon is too busy to notice

Simon’s not moved or touched by the woman’s love and tenderness, and he’s not impressed by Jesus’ apparent lack of discernment and taste. In fact, he’s so busy judging that he forgets to take care of the basics of hospitality himself, so it’s ironic that the man with all the resources at his command (we can almost picture the setting in his comfortable home) doesn’t use them generously for the sake of his guest, and then he turns a blind eye to the grace of a lowly woman entering uninvited into his little party. If Jesus used the term “debts” to speak of the relief of being forgiven (and how many of us wouldn’t love to be forgiven all our debts, financial and otherwise?), it’s as if this man Simon hasn’t gone online lately to check his credit card balance and doesn’t know just how deep he is in trouble.

Of course, the real twist can be for us, reading the text today. We love the intruder woman and want to identify with her, right? Sometimes it’s hard to find the character we connect with most closely in a story from the Bible. In the prodigal son story, for example, when we take the side of the older brother who has been working hard and doing the right thing all along and has a right to feel outrage at a party being thrown for his good-for-nothing brother, we forget that we probably resemble the prodigal son much more than the righteous older brother. But in this story and in the church, we may find ourselves behaving more like the Pharisee than the open-hearted woman returning in gratitude, even though we find ourselves judging him in our own hearts.
The freedom to enjoy grace

Ironically, it’s the woman in this story who has both power and freedom: she does what she wants to do, from the bottom of her heart, and she is free of worry about what people think about the propriety of her actions.  Rebecca J. Kruger Gaudino sees in her humility an awareness of God’s presence that we should all strive to achieve: “From this foundational principle that reorients our lives from self to divine Presence, all the other principles flow: how we bear ourselves, how we speak, how we live in community, and to what degree we may reveal ourselves to others. In all things, we live out of the humility that comes in recognizing God’s presence among us” (New Proclamation Year C 2007). (Emphasis mine- JL)

Simon, unfortunately, wasn’t in tune with God’s presence in the midst of his party, in the grace experienced by this woman forgiven, the wisdom and tender love of Jesus, who accepted her gratitude, and his own need for God’s mercy and understanding, which were available to him in the person of Jesus, right there before his eyes. Instead, his eyes were clouded by judgment and he missed a golden opportunity for grace….”

In the reading from Galatians 2:16,19-21 we learn that it is faith that justifies us, not the Law and not even good works. David’s faith in a God who could forgive; the anointing woman’s faith in Jesus to accept her and her offerings of love; and the faith of Mary, Joanna and Susanna and many other woman as well as the men who followed Jesus as he loved inclusively and showed us the way of justice and compassion freed each of them to love as Jesus did. However, there are two interpretations of the faith that saves and frees us: first, it is interpreted as our faith in Christ;but the early Greek meanings also imply that it is the faith of Jesus, the faithfulness of Christ that frees us not even our own faith.

Perhaps it is the power of faith in a forgiving ,loving God whose faithfulness demonstrates what love is that frees us. Let us then be as free as the women in this Gospel ,and let us include everyone in our love.

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee, RCWP

Co-Pastor The Good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community of Fort Myers