Sunday, September 7, 2014

The Social Network / 1-on-1 / 3-on-1 / more (2014-09-07)

[__01__] In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, our Lord speaks about social connections within the church-community which enable individuals to be saved, to encounter God and to avoid evil and injustice.

Don’t we rely on and trust that our “connections” will save us, help us, that these connections make us… healthy, wealthy, and wise?

[__02__]       Through personal connections, any one of us may be on the lookout for a job, for employment.

How many of us have found a job/career simply because someone knew our name or made an introduction?

Sometimes, it is all about “who you  know.”

And, wasn’t this a theme / topic of the the Hollywood film– The Social Network – about Mark Zuckerberg and his collaborators.   The 19-year old Mark Zuckerberg was a freshman at Harvard University, hanging out in the dorms and classrooms on campus and came up with an idea for a computer program or network that would become “Facebook” … “Facebook-dot-com”

In one stage of the film, one person had an idea that the network should be all about Harvard.. about having a “Harvard connection.”

At prestigious institutions, the alumni and alumnae help each other be successful.

Connections save them.

Our connections save us.

[__03__]     Through personal connections, how many of us have made friends, met our future spouse? Our connections save us.

This is the Good News about connections.

[__04__]          The other day, I was at a reunion with a few friends from college. One of the stories we told – or truly repeated and retold --- was about our first day of college, moving into campus. (We were not at Harvard).

In this case, we were moving into a room that resembled any empty apartment or home… a few things, but not much.

On that day, my father got the room number… went upstairs aheadof me… and told me …. I don’t know what’s going on..but some guy is installing a wall-to-wall carpet in your room. 

My roommate’s father owned a construction company. One of his employees had driven several hours from New York City with the carpet, with his carpet knife … for this installation.

This “connection” saved me from the cold tile floor.

[__05__]        In the Gospel of this Sunday, Jesus our Lord and Savior, speaks about other connections which are meant to save us, teaching us that we are responsible for the salvation of others.

Connections save us…not only financially, not only materially…not only with a nice floor but with a more important foundation/basis in faith and love.

Also, Jesus tells us that these connections are manifested to us in different ways.

Also, Jesus is telling us that sometime our connections are not telling us what is the most convenient or easiest path… or the most luxurious carpet style.

[*__*__pause__*__*]

Jesus, rather is telling us that our connections invite us to conversion, to turn back to God.

This connection could be …

(a)  1 on 1
(b)  3 on 1
(c)   To the wider community

[*__*__pause__*__*]

 [__06__]        First -  1 on 1.

Jesus talks about the 1 on 1 connection and our conversion, saying “if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.”  (Matthew 18:15)

What are your and my 1-on-1 connections? Do we listen to those who speak the truth to us…to those from whom we learn about our own selfishness …?

Perhaps, we hear what we do not want to hear.

But, we can only hear if we listen. And, just as we try to make time for peace and meditation before God, we are also called to do the same 1-on-1 with others.

Thus, our connections can save us. 1 on 1.

[*__*__pause__*__*]


[__07__]      3 on 1.

Our Lord says, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Are there 2 or 3 people from whom we have been receiving the same message about our behavior, about our faults …or even about our strengths, our talents, and how to make use of them?

Our Lord is suggesting, again …listen…

Consider that you or I were on the court or the field with the ball … and we want to score. What is more effective… keep the ball to ourselves … or try to pass, make a few moves…get others on our side … and use the strength we have as a team to move the ball downfield.

Our connections save us…2 or 3 gathered in his name.

[__08__]        In this Gospel reading, Jesus is interested not only in the 1-on-1 or 3-on-1 but also in an even  wider network of connections.

This is the Church, the Catholic Church, manifested here as Our Lady of Lourdes, for which we celebrate 100 years of faith and worship in 2014.

[__09__]      This church, however, of Lourdes is not only a building of brick, tile, wood, marble, glass.

The Church is our connection, our center, which enables us to feed the hungry, to pray for peace, to carry out acts of faith and charity.

These actions are not only a “correction” and penance for our own sinfulness… but they are also a correction and a contribution to help the marginalized.

These actions not need not be well known or even rewarded. Jesus says, in fact, the simpler the better … the less well known, the better… saying ..

“do not let your left hand know what your right is doing” (Matthew 6:3)

[__10__]         In a few weeks, for example, on the weekend of October 4-5, our Rosary Altar Society  will have a baby shower and clothing and goods drive to assist mothers in crisis pregnancy and desperate situations.

Our offering – as the Church – helps to correct a fault, a deficit, both financially and spiritually in the lives others.

Our worship also reminds us that we are not alone in our own  sinfulness, need for grace, and our needs.

St. Paul writes that God makes us alive through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus…even though we were dead in sinfulness. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

God desire that we are joined with him, in communion with him….that we can relate to him through others and through Holy Spirit … in the Church community, or 1 on 1,  or 3 on 1.

In every case, our connections save us.


[__fin__]     



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