Hi there! The doorbell rang Sunday afternoon and there were Sue and Jim Ulrich, our friends from up Shokan way with bags of coats and other warm clothing for our street friends. We can't tell you how thankful we are to them and to all of you who've answered the call for help. If you scroll down the left column, you'll see our wish list, just in case you've got some things you can part with. Below, you'll see a photo of a bunch of folks in some kind of meeting room. Well, the room is the Newburgh Library's auditorium that was filled with 115 folks Saturday afternoon to watch a powerful video and talk about "The New Jim Crow" and how to put and end to laws and practices that are relegating millions of Americans to second class status. Click here to learn more about an institutional evil that helps perpetuate a permanent underclass.  |
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Finding Jesus in a gated community
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In case you can't read the sign, it says, "Capharnaum, The Town of Jesus."
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As you can see from the photo at right, Capernaum now a gated community. But in Jesus' day, Capernaum was a town of about 1,000 folks who mostly eked out a living by farming the land and fishing the Sea of Galilee.
I mention Capernaum (the more common spelling of a word which means "Village of Consolation") because, in next Sunday's gospel reading - Matthew 4:12-23 - that's where Jesus headed after he heard that John the Baptizer had been arrested. I find it interesting that Jesus went to the "heart" of Galilee, a region run by Herod Antipas, a man who made his dad, Herod the Great, seem easy going. What's more, he began preaching the very same message that got John busted - "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
But, Jesus' me ssage was different from John's. He wasn't threatening folks with stories about winnowing forks and fire. I think it's no coincidence that Jesus went to a place called "Consolation" to begin his ministry. His message was about a God who consoles us when life is in the pits and seemingly without hope. He brought a message from a God who calls us to change our minds, to turn around and go off in a new direction. He called - and still calls - us to change direction not out of fear that we'll end up on some eternal rotisserie, but because we are so dearly loved by the One who called us to life. Awakening to God's love changes everything from the way in which we see God, the way in which we see ourselves, and the way in which we see others. . . all of Creation. There can be no turning back. That certainly was the case for Andrew, Peter, and the sons of Zebedee who  dropped what they were doing and never looked back. They were "ordinary" people who stepped out on a journey to do extraordinary things. That fits very nicely with the conversation we've begun here in Newburgh about a set of laws, policies and procedures that guarantees the incarceration of extraordinary numbers of young African-American men and the need for ordinary people like you and me to stand up for change.
And, it reminds me of Fr. James Huntington, founder of the Order of the Holy Cross, who said, "Love must act as light must shine and fire must burn." He taught that social justice and advocacy work can only be sustained through constant connection with the kingdom of heaven which, later in Matthew, Jesus will say "is within you."
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