Views From The Pews – Sunday, July 17, 2022

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We continue to hear far too often the cry of how challenging the times are.  Most of this cry focuses on economic issues and with some justification.  As we listen to the commentaries and the various responses to the economic issues, we often hear a variety of reasons being  advanced for this situation and even more solutions to overcome them.  Based on this, the question naturally arises, why is it that we continue to experience these challenges as a religious community?  The Church has put forward reasons for these challenges and possible solutions.  The rationale informing the Church’s involvement in any matter is based on the foundation belief of Christian faith.  That is we believe that God became part of human reality in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  In becoming part of our reality, God shares our human experience.  This implies that God knows what it is to be human.  God understands in an experiential way all the things we face as human beings.  In Jesus, God did not participate in a passive way in our reality.  Jesus challenged the Jewish religious belief system because of its legalistic approach, seeking to get the Jewish people to understand that God intended for them to become involved in a relationship with him.  This relationship,  would be lifegiving and life sustaining. Jesus also challenged the Roman colonial rule of his time, as they imposed oppressive political, economic and military systems not only on the Jewish nation but a large part of the world.

In the person of Jesus, God declares the entry of the Kingdom of God, the reign and rule of God.  In this rule, the intention is the reign of the rule of righteousness, justice, equality, dignity, integrity, honesty, decency, mutual respect, the protection of the rights of all people, and responsibility in our relationships with each other.  As Christians both individually and in community our relationship with our Lord Christ makes us responsible to work towards establishing the values of the Kingdom of God.  This is the essence of our mission and the basis of our ministry.  To the work people of God.

Love always,

Fr. Eddie