7 Apr 2020
Enough Exile Already
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For 7 April 2020, Tuesday of Holy Week, based on Isaiah 49:1-6
  Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The LORD called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.â€
But I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the LORD,
and my reward with my God.â€
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  And now the LORD says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength—
he says,
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.â€
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Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
08 April 2020 @ 5:47 am
Once again Deborah hits it out of the ballpark. We are never in exile of God unless we choose to ignore His call to communion with him and one another. Bravo Deb!
09 April 2020 @ 3:18 am
PS Just in case anyone is wondering, Dcn. Greg is my (very supportive) husband.
11 April 2020 @ 9:01 am
Deborah, I just want you to know I always listen to you. I’m intrigued by something you say, about how we are a people in exile and how we are doing Mass online and maybe we are ‘feeling like giving up.’ But I’ve wondered if you have thought of another alternative, one that might re-shape the church. What if people have been using online Masses, but find that they have found a better alternative–better liturgy, better music, better homilies. What if they say ‘this particular online Mass makes my church-going better. I can see how this can happen because in slightly a different manner this has happened to me. I am going to be moving to DC (my son is buying a house, and I’ll live in the basement ‘garden’ apartment. A particular Episcopalian church had beckoned me with an architecture that was so similar to the Catholic Church we attended when my kids were in school. I’m a convert from the Epis Church to Catholic and I now fully intend to become a member at an Episcopalian church that is without a doubt the single most friendly church I’ve ever visited, had the single best sermon I’ve ever heard, and the music was absolutely ideal. Obviously, part of the reason I would join it is because of the amazing friendliness, and by this, I mean what I believe is truly the desire on the part of the lion’s share of the congregation to show their love for the Saviour. With only a bit of tweaking, it isn’t hard to envision many Catholics who each week are spoonfed paltry doses theology, horrible music, bad preaching, especially the ones who literally hate the people God has ‘chosen’ to march alongside of, deciding to find a church where this is not the weekly fare (believe me, I have suffered all of these and some at the same time. I have tried not to hate, though I knew people who did. I just wonder if you have given any thought to these possibilities. I did greatly appreciate your homily though. I’m sort of in hyper-exile. I am on a brand-new chemo drug for a cancer that currently has no cure, but hey, I’ve been going on for 40 years with it, so it wasn’t so much of a problem until now (esp today when they told me they couldn’t mail my chemo drug across state lines–it’s all worked out now). Plus I’m currently living at my husband’s house and really missing my own home. Plus I’m really excited about my new home and having to put it off feels like I’m in further exile. I hope you are doing well–I feel like I can ‘out’ my own self in this comment but wouldn’t want to do so to you. But please feel free to email directly if you’d like!
13 April 2020 @ 3:26 pm
Melody, it is such a wonderful surprise to see your name and read your comment–it’s been far too long since we’ve been in touch! I’ll send you an email, and let’s continue this conversation.
Peace and Easter Joy,
Deborah