Respond to the isolation with inclusion

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today bring us  a plan to respond to isolation and desolation. The exiles who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile were, according to Friar Jude Winkler, desolate and confused about the difficulty they were encountering as they sought to restore their society. The advice of the prophet is to begin to live again according to the practices which are directed toward the will of God. The people are implored to end oppression, to feed the hungry and include the interests and needs of others in their actions. The sabbath, a time to meditate on the direction of our journey toward the Divine and extend our affairs to include needs and concerns of others, needs to be observed. As modern society has been living for decades now without the common time when many take rest and have the opportunity to meditate, we need even more to seek community and time for restoration and refocus on those who need inclusion in our circles of living. Jesus makes it clear in the episode from the Gospel of Luke where he includes the "sinners" who, like Levi, work as agents of the Roman oppressor collecting taxes, in His circle of giving, forgiving, presence and love that we do not do the Will of the Great Physician by avoiding, shunning, ignoring, shielding ourselves from those we see as less in our arrogance as "godly people". Our growth in holiness towards seeing with the eyes of God requires welcoming those who look to us to have the face which invites inclusion to "follow me".