Now is the time!

Now is the time to be involved. Now is the time to “get in the game”. To commit. To promise. To make a stand.

This I know: I believe that we all want to make a difference. Or make the world a better place where peace and mercy and compassion are alive and well.

So, my friends. Let your light shine, in whatever small way you can.

Let us, “Honor the dignity of every human being

Speak the truth to one another in love

Walk humbly with each other and our God.”

(Thank you, Bishop Marianne Budde)  

This morning, St. Peter's Square was sun-drenched as Pope Leo XIV presided over his inaugural Mass. (This is ten days after his election, as we watched history's first pope from the United States.)

In his homily, which I watched gratefully, on my computer, Pope Leo made it clear he intends to use his new platform to emphasize a message of peace and love to counter a divided world at war. Christians, he said, must offer a different witness "so that all may experience God's embrace."

Yes. Now is the time. To be involved. To make a stand.

“Brothers and sisters,” Pope Leo said, “I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.

In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalises the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world.

This is the missionary spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world. We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.”

Leo used his homily to call the church toward humility, and pledged to lead by example. "Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him," he said. The office of the pope "is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by means of power. Instead, it is always and only a question of loving as Jesus did."

(A shout out to the National Catholic Reporter) Sabbath Moments

“What Jesus never said: ‘Feed the hungry only if they have papers.’ ‘Clothe the naked only if they're from your country.’ ‘Welcome the stranger only if there's zero risk.’ ‘Help the poor only if it's convenient.’ ‘Love your neighbor only if they look like you.’” Fr. Jim Martin