The psalmist praises God and declares that those with clean
hands and pure hearts who do not lift their souls to what is false and who do
not swear deceitfully shall ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy
place. The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary remind us of the
difficulties which our fathers in the faith have lived to be examples of
patient, peaceful people striving to maintain the bond of peace of one faith,
one Lord and one Baptism. Friar Jude Winkler comments on the setting of the
Letter to the Ephesians being Paul’s imprisonment. The front of our cathedral basilica
bears these three “one phrases” from the text. The important nuance for those
who pass this church is to place the slogan in the context of the great calling
of Jews and Gentiles to be joined by the Spirit in following Jesus. The text
celebrates inclusion and does not present exclusion or the necessity to accept
a particular culture or tradition as a condition to being called into unity
with the Spirit. We so often interpret the signs and symbols in ways which
favour our preferences, understanding and prejudice. In the Gospel from Luke
today, Jesus exhorts us to open our eyes and see that attitudes based in unclean
and insincere self serving motives will have the consequences in our missing
opportunities to ascend the hill of the Lord.
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