Places of Hospitality and Harmony

Dear Friend,

Whenever prophets talk about a Messiah ushering in a world of peace and justice – a world “God-Alive” - people tend to sigh and pray for kingdom come. And meanwhile, it’s business as usual. The poor are ignored or blamed, while the wicked get on quite well. So writes our wise companion, Alice Camille (This Transforming Word). 

And so it goes this week, as the prophet Isaiah offers us the most startling image in all of scripture: a wolf becoming the guest of the lamb. How’s that for hospitality? No wonder we’re tempted to lapse into business as usual. 

I spotted my own “end of the world” sign this week down on De La Vina near Alamar: “Businesses Open During Construction.” With that in mind, I hear the prophets telling us that the Creator of the universe is undertaking a construction project intended to transform our neighborhood, our “common home.” For the prophetic Saint Paul, the person of Jesus Christ is at the center of it, alive “from the beginning,” building us into a human family which strives to “think in harmony” with one another, to welcome one another.  

Like the work on De La Vina, the completion date of this project has not been made public. So, until such time, let’s not fight it. Let’s stay open and be part of it, making places of hospitality and harmony. Myriad species surround us - wolves, lambs, cows, and bears. What’s more, we humans can “morph” in a minute, emotionally anyway. We go to Paul and the prophets to widen our vision and our hearts. Strangely enough, they urge us to get real.  

Gratefully, 

Father Dan ofm, Pastor