Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Last month I wrote about my trip to Lenox, Massachusetts in which I described a visit to Chesterwood, the home and studio of the sculptor Daniel Chester French who created the statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Reflecting on the fact that Monday, July 4, is the 246th anniversary of America’s independence, I chose the dramatic photo of the Lincoln statue as the cover for today’s bulletin, including a quote from his Second Inaugural Address: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.”
Lincoln’s words are as relevant today as they were in 1865 when our nation was in the grip of a bloody and divisive Civil War. He would be assassinated little more than a month after his second inauguration, and just a few days after the War ended at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Those were some of the most traumatic days in our nation’s history. Today, more than 150 years later, we find ourselves living once again in a time of questions about the survival of our democracy.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends the disciples out two-by-two to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God. They are not to be distracted by unnecessary details, nor disappointed if their message isn’t well received. But the fact that they were sent in pairs should not be overlooked. A pair implies dialogue and conversation. Perhaps those pairs of disciples disagreed with each other over certain points of Jesus’s teachings regarding their own beliefs, but they were there to support and strengthen each other along the way. So it should be for all of us as Christians and as Americans.
In my homily last Sunday, I reflected on the reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians in which he said: “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do submit again to the yoke of slavery. For you were called for freedom… But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love… But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another” (5:13-15).
St. Paul is talking about the freedom to live by the Spirit so that we don’t dissolve into a people at war with one another. Over the past several weeks we have been witnesses to a few such examples of being at war with one another. I would like to suggest that these examples have to do with our priorities both as citizens of the Kingdom of God and as citizens of this nation. These examples would include the never-ending scourge of gun violence demonstrated in Buffalo and Uvalde; the Congressional committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol; and the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Each of these examples has two sides battling each other ferociously, with each side zealously protecting their priorities. We have heard impassioned pleas and arguments from both sides demanding justice. And in the words of St. Paul, “we go on biting and devouring one another.”
Whatever the future holds, let us take Lincoln’s words to heart: “With malice toward none; with charity for all … let us strive on to finish the work we are in.” That work includes proclaiming and building the Kingdom of God here on earth. Let us, then, lay aside our differences and unite our hearts and minds in doing the work set before us. Jesus teaches that our first words must be “Peace to this household.” May it always be so.
Blessings on your week ahead.
Fr. Tim Shreenan, O.F.M.
Pastor
P.S. If you have been to the church in the past week you have probably noticed that our venerable Golden Rain tree is no longer where it once stood. It was removed on Thursday, June 23rd. (read more about our tree here) I requested that the workers save some pieces of the tree so that we might re-purpose them in some way. I have some ideas – do you?