Why Are You Here?
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire—but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, "Elijah, why are you here?" 1 Kings 19:11B-13
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. Matthew 5:29-30
Piety
All those hours that Sister Mary Theodore drilled the Baltimore Catechism into my brain in CCD classes reminds me today of why we are here:[1]
1) To know HIM
2) To Love HIM and have an active relationship with God
3) To serve HIM as stewards for the gifts God has provided to us
Study
In a flop-flip from the legacy view, the soft-spoken forgiving image of God portrayed in most of the New Testament appears in the First Reading from the Book of Kings. A sterner, more judgmental Jesus is encountered in this continuation from the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus does not hesitate from telling people that they have to abandon the habits to which they have grown accustomed. No sacrifice is too great to avoid total destruction.
The bottom line on all of the Sermon on the Mount is that we are here for God’s righteousness, not our own. We are “here” to bring justice to the other. As Matthew says elsewhere in his Good News (25:35); “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Action
The Catholic Bishops are reminding us about the need to advocate for the stranger.
Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together."
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Galveston-Houston recently issued a statement taking exception from a new Justice Department position not to offer asylum as an option to women who seek to enter the country:
"At its core, asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life. The Attorney General's recent decision elicits deep concern because it potentially strips asylum from many women who lack adequate protection. These vulnerable women will now face return to the extreme dangers of domestic violence in their home country. This decision negates decades of precedents that have provided protection to women fleeing domestic violence. Unless overturned, the decision will erode the capacity of asylum to save lives, particularly in cases that involve asylum seekers who are persecuted by private actors. We urge courts and policymakers to respect and enhance, not erode, the potential of our asylum system to preserve and protect the right to life.
Additionally, I join Bishop Joe Vásquez, Chairman of USCCB's Committee on Migration, in condemning the continued use of family separation at the U.S./Mexico border as an implementation of the Administration's zero-tolerance policy. Our government has the discretion in our laws to ensure that young children are not separated from their parents and exposed to irreparable harm and trauma. Families are the foundational element of our society and they must be able to stay together. While protecting our borders is important, we can and must do better as a government, and as a society, to find other ways to ensure that safety. Separating babies from their mothers is not the answer and is immoral."
At the USCCB 2018 spring meeting, Joseph Cardinal Tobin of Newark suggested that the USCCB send a group of bishops to the border to inspect the detention facilities where children are kept "as a sign of protest against the hardening of the American heart." A Bishop's Presidential Statement "condemns" the use of the separation of children from their parents at the U.S./Mexico border. "It is immoral."
Why are we here is not to advocate for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free?
PS: Thank you, Sister Mary Theodore. I love and still remember the Orange Trick, too!
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