June 14 2023 Weekly Update
Greetings church!
Last Sunday our scripture came from Matthew 9. As Jesus calls Matthew from the ‘tax collector’ life to the ‘follower of Jesus’ life, it has ripple effects in the community. Matthew takes the first uncertain step, and others are able to experience the ministry of Jesus as a result. Matthew’s friends build a relationship with Jesus. A man’s daughter and a local woman are healed, too. Jesus calls us all – some to serve, some to experience new life, some to be healed. Calling is about relationship, and how we respond to the invitation from God for relationship despite our uncertainty of what might happen next.
This year our Leadership Board is reading journal excerpts from Dorothy Day, the writer and Catholic social activist who was central to the Catholic Worker Movement. That movement fed, clothed, and advocated for the poor in New York City, and across the country. Dorothy often struggled with the assurance of her faith and calling despite her commitment and discipline. But she understood that helping those in need was not just about a calling to fix them – it was a calling to relationship.
She wrote, “Many young people have come here (the Catholic Worker House) and worked with us, and they tell us after a while that they have learned a lot and are grateful to us, but they disagree with us on various matters – our pacifism, our opposition to the death penalty, our interest in small communities, and our opposition to the coercive power of the state. You are impractical, they tell us, nice idealists, but not headed anywhere big and important. They are right. We are impractical, as one of us put it, as impractical as Calvary. There is no point in trying to make us into something we are not. We are not another community fund group, anxious to help people with some bread and butter and a cup of coffee or tea. We feed the hungry, yes; we try to shelter the homeless and give them clothes, if we have some, but there is a strong faith at work; we pray.”*
Dorothy’s legacy and work remind us that our calling as God’s people is to serve and love others with grace and prayer – praying to the one who inspires and directs us, and praying for our neighbors as we build relationships of love and healing. May we go and do likewise.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jared
*Excerpt from p. 51-52 of “The Reckless Way of Love: Notes on Following Jesus” by Dorothy Day