Gospel Reflections for June 28 2020
The right choice
You have endured so much these last few months!
You saw a new virus spread quickly and especially target elderly and vulnerable people. You followed social distancing, wearing masks, closing schools and businesses, and stayed at home.
You sacrificed so many normal activities, and worried about caring for your family. Most people accepted that these restrictions had good intentions of protecting your family’s health.
However, there is reasonable debate about them now, and if they are effective or not, or may even have caused more harm than good. There is serious debate about new issues as well.
Your family may also be passionately divided on whether racism is widespread or just limited to a few bad people, and about the right response to police policies. You may also wonder why a violent crowd can just choose to destroy statues and freely loot and burn stores.
The higher the emotional passion on any issue …the more we need today’s Gospel!
This Gospel was written at a time when some family members chose the way of Jesus while the rest of the family did not. You can imagine the hurt feelings. However, those early Christians continued to love their pagan family even as they went separate ways.
Following Christ calls for your faith, hope, love, and courage to follow His path and also your love for those who do not.
Christians understand that everyone is a mixture of saintliness and sinfulness, like the people represented on statues. We do not reduce anyone’s life to just their past bad choices, but respect the good they have done as well.
What can never be respected is violence, coercion, or destruction of property. There is never an excuse for that! Choosing violence clearly proves you made the wrong choice. Stopping their violence is our loving response since violence corrodes the heart and soul of the violent person.
This Gospel affirms you must sincerely love all people on all sides of our present national debates, those who want to open or shut down the economy and those who want to support or reduce police protection. Love also means everyone is welcome to respectfully speak their sincere opinion …including yours!
A genuine love for all people ensures that all voices and all choices can be intelligently and calmly debated with mutual respect.
Wisdom for actual and practical solutions can only come from that love!
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Dear Father Dave,
Thank you for your comments on the issues facing our society today. So important.
It’s very difficult to digest the combinations of pandemic sword-carrying illness and death as well as protestor sword-carrying illness and death. Where does one stop and the other begin? I suppose we could begin with intent … while the stop point is death itself….
At the moment, my small voice can be heard in prayers of peace.
God bless you.
Kathleen A.
Keep your prayers of peace going. We deeply believe in the power of prayer.
Archbishop Cordeleone spoke on the Relevant Radio about Saint Junipero Serra’s contributions and love for the Native Americans. As a Ventura native it breaks my heart that they are removing his statue from in front of the Ventura city Hall. I am praying that all of the California missions will be safe from any destruction. I received all my sacraments in Mission San Buenaventura. It is a beautiful, historic, holy place. Fr. Joe Scerbo along with Fr. Serra pray for us!
Joan Plander
Yes, I hope the many statues of Serra on parish properties will remain safe. Serra was declared a saint precisely because he was DIFFERENT from the prevailing Spanish attitude towards the Indians. He stood out out amongst his Spanish countrymen if always acknowledging the dignity and respect due to the local Indian peoples. It was that distinction that was the cause of his sainthood.
Dear Father Dave,
Your comment concerning Wisdom for actual and practical solutions can only come from love, is the answer!! We need to pray for our loving God to overwhelm our world with love !!! We must help others and reach good conclusions and state that violence is not the way !! We can always better our society with wisdom centered in love!!! Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee your insights!! and love our Faith!!
Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Franca and Dick
Well said, Yes, love is the ground and source of wisdom, and from where solutions will come!
The most difficult idea for most people is that Jesus preached Love. This love is available to all that believe. I was disappointed to see St. Junipero Serra vandalized but realize the removing a Statue may create a desire on more people to study his life and appreciate the zeal with which he lived, worked a believed.
Protesters did not realize the character of Serra and his great love and respect for the Indians. Perhaps one day his statue will return once people realize the great man he was.
When I had open heart surgery many years ago, the idea of having your heart stopped didn’t thrill me.. as I was laying there waiting to go into surgery I had a vision of angels all around. At that moment I new that I will be OK even if I died I would be OK. So when I had a bout with cancer this last year and the doctor told e I jut said, “oh OK” and she looked at me strangely. So after had surgery and all came out OK and I was joking with my Doctor asked why I was so upbeat. I asked if she really wanted me to tell her cause she is from India and he said, “Yes”. So I told her of what happened in open heart surgery and it really touched her
U believe the Bible tells us what is required of us ad it i to share the Love of Christ to all. This reading reminds me of that.
I just had a good friend who died of cancer and he had told me after 10 years of knowing her that she put God on the back burner. Before she passed away we had the Chaplin come in and baptize her. I believe we are to be just available
I am back as my computer wasn’t working and I am o glad to be back to get the word Our Lord gives you to encourage us
Beautiful story! Thank you for sharing it with all of us.
Fr Dave,
I believe in the power of love & prayer, but it also seems to me that if good people don’t resist (peacefully, of course) by surrounding our statues & churches when they come under threat that we are allowing evil to have a bigger voice.
Yes, stopping violent people from being violent is so necessary now.