Where we rejoice as family

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present the question of where do we go to rejoice in our kinship as people in relationship with God? The Prophet Ezra relates the delays in the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem. The completion of the return from exile is celebrated and the psalmist echoes the praise and joy which results from going to the "House of the Lord". A recent presentation on the CBC Tapestry program proposed that people are conscious of and react to the "Sacred Places". This is certainly a Celtic understanding and "thin places" are where the finite world and the infinite world come very close together. The text from the Gospel of Luke presents Jesus response to the idea of family. Human societies often address this in clannish ways with lineage or tradition determining family. Luke writes that Jesus declares all those who hear and act on the Word of God as brothers and sisters. We rejoice in the unity of all through the relationship of our indwelling Spirit to the Spirit of God.