Word to the Wise
Thursday, February 20, 2014 - Thursday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jas 2:1-9 and Mark 8:27-33,410]Show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person with shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here, please," while you say to the poor one, "Stand there," or "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs?
I live in a part of Houston that is called "midtown." Our priory is in the midst of an apartment building boom! It seems that the health care and energy businesses (and others) are making Houston a very desirable place and many of the people coming want apartments! Our priory is also near an area where the homeless congregate because of a number of church agencies that provide assistance! We contribute to the support of these agencies. One wonders if the transformation of this neighborhood will result in the poor and homeless being forced out of the area. The Letter of James suggests that such will be the case!
Indeed, some are willing to be generous as long as the poor and homeless stay out of sight! I can recall the Dominican archbishop of Louisville saying that when he moved into the cathedral rectory, the care of the street folks was located around the back of the rectory. He insisted that it be placed at the front because, as he said, "We need to see the faces of the poor." Pope Paul VI pointed out in his encyclical, ECCLESIAM SUAM, that Christ is truly present in the faces of the poor! Pondering the words of the Letter of James today can give us an opportunity to ask ourselves how we would behave in similar circumstances? AMEN