October 2, 2017   Plotting Goodness

First of all, thanks to all who posted this week. Keep it up...and don't be afraid to comment on one another's posts as well...on to this week's post.


"When we drift from that high calling and start thinking only of me, only of our clan or our nation or our religion, our sense of identity begins to go stale and sour, even toxic." (Page 25)

When I am being honest, I catch myself thinking exactly this way: my parish, my faith, my religion. It's never overt, but too often it is there. How often do I push for my way under the guise of "it is for the common good?" Of course, I push hard for my way because I believe it is the best way. But here's the catch: Am I always sure it is God's way?

A couple of thoughts keep percolating in my head. The first is based on the Mark passage--the cleansing of the temple. In Divine Renovation, Fr. James Mallon reminds the reader that this was an intentional act...Jesus walked into the temple the night before, looks around, and then leaves. The next morning he comes back and cleanses the temple. He thought about it for the whole night. This was no spur of the moment decision. This was an intentional act to change the culture of the temple. For the last few years I have been thinking about how much we need to change the culture of our Church and of our own parish. We need to move away from an "our parish exists for us" mentality to an "our parish exists for the good of others--the common good" mentality.  A parish is one institution that exists not for itself and its members but for those that are not yet members. We are called to make new disciples. We exist for the common good. It is a tough culture to change.

The other thought that comes to my mind is this. There is a song in our hymnal and you'll find it in the "Patriotic and National" section. It is called "This is My Song." I really like this song because it speaks of the greatness of our country, but reminds us that we are only one country among many...I've copied the first two verses here because I think they are so powerful.

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams my holy shrine;
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on clover-leaf and pine;
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
A song of peace, for their land and mine.

That too me is true patriotism...to remember that we are one nation among many nations. To believe that we exist not only for ourselves but for the other...the other person, the other parish, the other religion, the other country...We exist for the common good.

Abram and Sara were told that they would b e a blessing for others. My hope and prayer is that I and our parish will be a blessing for others as well.