|
Connections...
September 8, 2002- 23rd Sunday of the Year
"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18: 15-20
Grand Canyon
In the film Grand Canyon, an attorney attempts to bypass a traffic jam by cutting through the city. But he quickly becomes lost and finds himself driving aimlessly through streets that became progressively darker and more deserted.
The man's luxury car stalls; he calls for a tow truck. But before it arrives, five young street toughs surround the car and threaten him. One of them pulls out a gun.
The tow truck arrives just in time and its driver, a good, earnest man, begins to hook up the sports car. The toughs protest: the driver is interrupting their meal. So the driver, played by actor Danny Glover, takes the gang's leader aside and gives him a five-sentence introduction to metaphysics:
"Man, the world ain't supposed to work like this. Maybe you don't know that, but this ain't the way it's supposed to be. I'm supposed to be able to do my job without askin' you if I can. And that dude is supposed to be able to wait with his car without you rippin' him off. Everything's s'pposed to be different than what it is here."
CONNECTION: Today's Gospel (which sounds more like regulations devised by a church committee than a teaching of Jesus) challenges us to take on the work of making our world "work the way it's supposed to be"--a world in which every human being is respected and honored, a world in which God's justice and peace reign, a world in which selfless servanthood, reconciliation and the common good of all are treasured above all else. Christ challenges us not to tolerate silently the dysfunction in our lives but to confront those problems, misunderstandings and issues that divide us, grieve us and embitter us; he calls us to the hard, hard work of reconciliation and forgiveness, to be committed to seeking solutions to our problems not out of anger or a sense of injustice for what we have suffered but out of a commitment to initiate the great love and mercy of God.
|
|
