Our communion is in the testimony of the Good Shepherd

Spirit reveals the Shepherd

Calling our enemies to the Life banquet

Food for the spirit and Providence

King who is Present fills our service

We serve as the Shepherd King

The Roman Catholic Lectionary presents texts today to celebrate Christ the King. Our modern understanding of King may be similar to our misunderstanding that righteousness is a matter of following rules of a religious authority. The passage from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel will clarify the role of king at the time of the exile to Babylon. Friar Jude Winkler comments on the historic situation faced by Ezekiel as he uses the Letter of Paul to the Corinthians to remind us of our spiritual heritage as participants in the sin of Adam who are shepherded by Jesus, according to the will of the Father, to be subject to the Will, with Jesus, wherein we find our purpose. This passage is an expression of a religious doctrine of salvation which is one of the grandest themes in Scripture. The Final Judgement passage from the Gospel of Matthew, as noted by Friar Jude, redefines righteousness as compassion, walking with, the other. The Psalmist proclaims the Lord is My Shepherd as we come to understand, through Jesus, that we serve the Will of the Father as we serve others. How can the Real Presence for which Kyle Lierk has reverence be the source today of our service for the hungry, thirsty, abandoned, marginalized, imprisoned, distraught, depressed, war ravaged, desperate, radicalized, rejected, scorned, abused, and vilified? Perhaps if we take the choice of Joseph, from the comments of Friar Jude, to serve our beloved as our surrender to the Will of God, the righteousness which we seek to be sheep instead of goats will grow to the vision of service to all the sheep in the flock of the Heavenly Father.

Invitation to Inclusion

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today marks the start of “Ordinary Time”. The liturgical colour for this time is green. It is not “ordinary” time as compared to special times like Christmas or Easter. It is “ordinary” because it is “numbered” or “ordinal”. The weeks of ordinary time begin at 1 and will continue through the liturgical year to the high twenties or low thirties (in Nov). The count will be interrupted by seasons of Lent and Easter. Mark relates the beginning of Jesus public ministry in the event of the calling of his first disciples. This call is not presented as a lengthy discernment by religious scholars, but as a motion of fishermen from their daily work to new work with Jesus in becoming fishers of people. The attractiveness of Jesus is implied in this story. The great fear of humans, according to Rabbi Harold Kushner who was Mary Hynes's guest on CBC Tapestry, is the fear of rejection. (his new book is Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World). The acceptance of Jesus of these disciples speaks to us of how we are to view and encounter the people around us. “Follow Me” is an extremely powerful and simple command and invitation to inclusion.

Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness and Mercy

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 (Matthew 11:28) The Roman Catholic Lectionary for today contains texts that proclaim the power, goodness and glory of God. The juxtaposition of these proclamations to the tragedy of James Delorey is difficult. Rabbi Harold Kushner has addressed this issue in his writing. He assures us that God is Present in all of human affairs. The deep Mystery of the reason behind that Presence is a part of the journey that we are experiencing.