January 16, 2010
Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Then, from a flask he had with him, Samuel poured oil on Saul's head; he also kissed him, saying: "The LORD anoints you commander over his heritage. You are to govern the LORD'S people
Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus heard this and said to them (that), "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." Mark 2:16-17
Piety
A Prayer for
Most Holy Creator God, Lord of heaven and earth,
we bring before you today your people of
It is you who set in motion the stars and seas, you who
raised up the mountains of the Massif de la Hotte and Pic La Selle.
It is you who made her people in your very image:
Their gregarious hearts, generous spirits,
their hunger and thirst for righteousness and liberty.
It is you, O Lord, who planted the rhythms of konpa, Twoubadou,
and zouk in the streets of Cite-Soleil. You who walk the paths
outside of Jacmel and Hinche. Your people, O Lord, cry out to you.
the second-oldest republic in the Western world.
You are a God who answers the cries of the suffering.
You are a God who sees, frees, and redeems your people.
“I too have heard the moaning of my people,” you spoke to Moses. Now, Lord, speak to Chanté, Agwe, Nadege, and Jean Joseph.
Speak now, O Lord, and comfort Antoine, Jean-Baptiste,
Toto, and Djakout. Raise up your people from the ash heap
of destruction and give them strong hearts and hands,
shore up their minds and spirits. Help them to bear this new burden.
As for us, Lord, we who are far away from the rubble and the dust, the sobbing and the moans, but who hold them close in our hearts, imbue us with the strength of Simon the
Help us to carry the Haitian cross; show us how to lighten the yoke with our prayers, our aid, our resources. Teach us to work harder
for justice in our own country and dignity in
so that we may stand with integrity when we hold our Haitian families in our arms once again. We ask this in the name of Jezikri, Jesus Christ. Amen.
(c) Rose Marie Berger (Reprint freely.)
http://rosemarieberger.com/2010/01/14/a-prayer-card-for-haiti/
Rose Marie Berger, an associate editor at Sojourners magazine, is a Catholic peace activist and poet.
Study
Once in a meeting, someone made the comment that Jesus did not ask us to be efficient and effective, he only asked us to be loving, obedient and humble. However, if Jesus was going to make the most of his short three years on earth, he also set out to get the most “bang” for his preaching and healing “buck.” Our mission is not an either/or proposition.
Perhaps Jesus calls us to be efficient and effective along with being loving, humble and obedient. (In the face of a regular round of disasters which seem to outdo the record of the previous event can we be anything but all of this?)
That is why Jesus did not have to convert the converted, change those already repentant, or preach to the proverbial choir. So, working among sinners – tax collectors, prostitutes, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the lepers, the blind, the paralytic, and others who hear his word and act on it – would not only have a great impact on the lives of those individuals whom Jesus touched directly, but also upon those who heard about his ministry and were called to authentic faith (like the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Roman centurion and others).
If Jesus was not efficient and effective – more efficient and effective at preaching the Good News that the Pharisees – then the church leaders would not have had to worry about him. If John the Baptist was not effective at what he was doing, then Herod would not have feared him, imprisoned him and beheaded him.
One of the interesting phrases that Jesus employs as he responds to his critics is his reference to “the righteous.” In the “Piety” talk on Cursillo weekends, remember the three false notions of holiness that are discussed. 1) People who give an impression about God which does not fit with reality. They are out to save themselves, not others. 2) People who practice only the external manifestations of religion. They give the appearance of an interior life that does not in fact exist. 3) People who have attitudes which devalue the work of being fully human. They use religion for their own selfish ends. All of these are but caricatures of false notions of holiness that ultimately turn away from God those who are searching for the truth.
When Jesus said he did not come to call the righteous, was he talking about these types of people. Instead, Jesus was planting his seed on fertile ground where people will hear it and grow and change from the message and the actions.
Action
From our friends Deacon Gene Betit and Cursillista Patrick Audant who have helped us with some homework on efficient and effective and humble, obedient and loving organizations working in Haiti.
According to Deacon Gene’s e-mail, “By now all of us know that the earthquake in
Catholic Relief Services http://crs.org/
Partners in Health founded by Dr. Paul Farmer -- subject of a book by the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tracy Kidder called
Doctors Without Borders: http://doctorswithoutborders.org/
Oxfam
Yéle
Mennonite Central Committee https://donate.mcc.org/project/haiti-earthquake
