[__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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