Reaching out to Restore

In the Roman Catholic Lectionary today the text from Isaiah reminds us again of the true fast that frees people and is restorative. Restoring damaged relationships is a theme the psalmist and the evangelist Luke as he relates Jesus action to call the tax collector, Levi, to follow Him and to spend time engaging the other ritually unclean tax collectors by eating and drinking with them at Levi’s house. The barriers that we put in place to avoid engaging those who are not like us include creating enemies. The prayer of the psalmist of “Supplication for Help against Enemies” may not be necessary if we work with the desire of our indwelling Spirit to include and heal.