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Today's Readings

“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.” - Deuteronomy 4:9

My routine is back in place, and as I sit here on a Wednesday morning, with a snow flurry or two squeezing out of the cold grey clouds above (literally one or two flurries), I am reminded of all that we already know... 

The Law of God is not just some list of things to do, its that inner voice that guides us to do the right things at the right time.  Listening to that voice takes time, energy, practice and patience, but it is something that is always with us!  As Christians, Christ fulfills and confirms our ability to follow this Law as it is written on our hearts. (cf. MT 5: 17-19)  Our job as his disciples is to proclaim that Truth, witness to it, dialogue about it, and ultimately liberate the world with it on our lips and through our actions!  (This comes from a DVD lecture entitled Discipleship from NowYouKnowMedia.com, presented by Fr. Anthony Gittins, C.S.Sp., M.A., Ph.D.)

So to coin the phrase from the 80's band Simple Minds, and stretch it towards applying to today's reflection, our Lord is simply saying, "Don't You Forget About Me", or the Law I rode in on!

An Unjust Law!

I live in a state that boasts to have the toughest Immigration Law in the USA, and I wanted to begin to go on record by saying that the law stinks!

Where I'm not a scholar in such areas, nor can I claim to have read the law word by word, i am beginning to understands it's intent and it's expectations and I am very concerned for the well being of many innocent people who simply want to live the same "dream" that many have realized as Americans.

We Stand on the Same Shoulders... You and me stand on the shoulders of a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent, etc. that came to this country to start a fresh life full of hope. Each of those people (no disrespect to your kin) probably "smelled bad", or in some form or fashion didn't measure up to some "royal standard" that was expected of "The Man" who owned the plantation. Yet, there seemed to be a place for "Nare-Do-Wells" to start a new life and raise a family in freedom!

I Know... I Know... They take our jobs, they don't pay their fair share, and they don't follow our ways. It is a legitimate concern that there are so many people in our country that are not citizens, and not paying their way. Society is dependent upon people who answer the call, and invest in their community. So, let 'em in like President Regan did in the 80's. An Amnesty Period of entry would expand the citizenry and legitimize many many lives as simply wanting to be a part of this country.

But They'll Bring Crime and Drain the System! One thing this country did for our kin of yester-year was allow folks to invest in their new country, by agreeing to invest a little in them as well. In other words, we need to trust that someone else's thirst for freedom and a good life will result in their becoming "productive members of society".

Freedom of State AND CHURCH... The new Alabama Immigration Law simply seeks to prevent Church from being church, and hence ties their hands... Under the new law, the Church would be limited in its ability to support those in need by having to report "illegals" or stop assisting those in need that might be "illegal" (food, clothing, transportation). The law states that no one can assist an "illegal". Thee law also requires organizations to open records of students, requiring they report "illegal" parents. This is not the freedom of religion intended by the Constitution. How can a Church be "the hands and feet of Christ" with their hands (and feet) tied?

I don't agree with the new law... And in my ministry, working with the Roman Catholic Faith in the United States of America, I will not follow it! There I said it!

Next blog may be from jail... I'm sure they have wireless internet. They say, those prisoners have cable and live quite well.

Build It Up!

I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. (Matthew 5: 17)

Is it too optimistic of me to ask that we consider following this tiny short “blip” of Jesus’ Gospel? I will freely admit that I have taken this one sentence away from the context of what it refers to in following the Law of God, but look at the phrase on its own, and it calls us to treat one another with potential, and not as a problem!

“I have come NOT to abolish...”

When approaching issues or people, or even future plans in life, let us not seek to tear them apart, or abolish their purpose. The issue of the Gulf Oil Spill will not go away, so ignoring it or saying, “I wish they would stop talking about it on the evening news all of the time” will not remove its vital importance for teaching us a valuable lesson in how to RESPOND to such things.

To turn your back on a person, friend or foe, and refuse to consider their role in a situation, even though its not what you want, eliminates the possibility that they have been sent to change you. You could be turning your back on the change you need to improve your purpose or potential!

To refuse to look ahead in life, and abolish the chance that your hopes and dreams just might come true, deprives you of the limitless promise given to us by God!

“...but to fulfill.”

Issues like the Gulf Oil Spill, or the local election in your hometown, or the controversial decision by a government demands that you pay attention and build it up into something that will truly make a difference for you, your family and this world. Don’t just read about the issue, RESPOND to it! And in the case of issues driven by leadership that ultimately affects you, let them know what’s expected of them in the eyes of the Law, and of the well being of “We the people!”

Doesn’t the old song say, “people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world”? I suppose they would by lucky because you cared enough to care. Help build them up into something amazing! RESPOND to them and their needs with a sense of urgency, and an understanding that without you they are less likely to be what they need to be!

Looking ahead to the future, and embracing its potential establishes a discipline that “fulfillment” really is a way of life. To live with the notion that we will one day fulfill a “prophesy” or a promise from God adds a purpose to our lives that is unmatched to anything we could conjure up on our own! We are God’s children, and we have a purpose to discover and fulfill, and when we RESPOND to life, day after day, with the notion that tomorrow will be better, then we truly become “prophets of a future not our own”! (Bishop Oscar Romero, “Bishop of the Poor”)