Shorelines of the Spirit

One Thing Only Today's Gospel passage from Luke,  on this Tuesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time,  is the famous story of Martha and Mary.   Many different "takes" on this story have evolved over the centuries, but it often strikes me that Martha takes a beating in many interpretations. It's sometimes assumed that Jesus is telling her that she has made an inferior choice in how to deal with him as a guest -- she's preparing a meal and therefore carrying out the details of hospitality, while her sister Mary is sitting at the Lord's feet, listening to him and enriching her discipleship by imbibing his teachings.  Jesus' comment that Mary has chosen the better part has invited a lot of criticism, however gentle, of Martha.  It's also created comparisons of Christian lifestyles to the detriment of those whose lives are necessarily busy with family obligations,  with work responsibilties, even with Church ministries. No doubt writers will be cheer...

Right There, At My Door Today's Gospel is that familiar reading, from Luke,  about the rich man and Lazarus.   As I was doing lectio  on it this morning,  what caught my attention was the fact that Lazarus,  poor and sick and covered with sores, was at the rich man's door.    Does this mean that every time the rich man entered or left his house,  there was Lazarus?   Had this desperately needy man become so much a part of the scenery that the rich man simply stepped around him, without a second thought? I can become very opinionated about what's going on in the world and in the nation.   I can sign petitions,  attend demonstrations,  read and listen to the words of both Church and civil commentators on social justice,  sustainability,  concern for the most marginalized and vulnerable.  And I should! But is there a poor person at my door that I don't even notice?   It could be th...

"Shorelines of the Spirit...."   Why that name for these reflections?   Well,  coming from New Jersey, where going "down the shore"  is part of the native vocabulary,  it seemed quite appropriate. But more importantly,  there is a "Shoreline of the Spirit" in each of us,  that deep place where the infinite ocean of  God's presence meets each of us in the sandy stretches of our daily lives.  We're invited each day to walk along that water's edge,  to be refreshed by the presence of God within us. In New Jersey,  we go "down the Shore" almost always by driving along some stretch of the Garden State Parkway, which begins in extreme north Jersey and ends at its southernmost tip, at Cape May. There are a few other ways to get there,  but the Parkway is the one that most people take, because it's quick and fairly direct. On the other hand,  to get to those shorelines of the Spirit within,  there are many r...