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| Prison Packages |
The readings to the 15th Sunday in Ordinary time, remind me of a lawyer's summation. The first one, which I am proclaiming, especially.
Deuteronomy 30: 10-14 is pleading to the jury. If only you would heed the voice of the Lord...and keep His commandments and statutes...For this command that I enjoin...
I'm memorizing the last sentence, so I can look everyone in the eyes, when I say,
No, it is something very near to you,
already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out.
I know. I'm such a drama queen. I don't care. I'm proclaiming something important, and it's necessary that everyone understands.
Since I can't trust the second reader to be there, I'm also preparing the reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians 1:15-20. I'll read it as a polemic. I'll emphasize God and just rattle away very quickly: thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers, because I need to get across the concept that only God is important. These titles are inferior. Because
He is before all things...
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning...
I'm really slowing down when I say preeminent. I'll say it slowly and carefully, because it's the context of the verse that must come across. Jesus is first in history, first in the universe, and I want everyone to realize that He must be first in their hearts.
Then there's the Gospel, which is the story of the Good Samaritan. I hope certain people are listening to this lesson. They'll know who they are. They're my friends who are always worried about "liability." Listen up!
