“We should vote, not to win,
but to belong.”
The Civil Sacrament of Voting
October 1, 2020
At a time when so many are telling us how we should cast our vote, we sometimes overlook the amazing process of voting, in and of itself. We are so busied, these days, with trying to control one another, we too easily miss the honor of being part of one another.
Our country was built on a two-party system. We have recognized opposing opinions from our earliest days and believed that in the possibility of a “fruitful tension” of ideas. Of late, we have too often become a squabbling band of adolescent postures, each seeking to “wipe out” the other side.
In this Touchstone, I want to explore the richness of voting, not to win, but to participate. With this thought (and continuing my series of “reflective piano meditations”) I’ve recorded a medley of two very different, but well established American religious melodies. One is of Celtic origin, and the other is an African-American Spiritual. I have woven them together with two of the themes from the movie, “The Mission.”
Those who have seen this film know it is about the tragedy that occurs when cultures choose dominance over coexistence. The melodies all work together, and I hope you will recognize all of these melodies.
God Bless. Vote if you can. Know that you belong.
Fr. Pat
.
In this same vein, as an accompanying song I went scavenging through my own archives to find a favorite piece that I used to sing fairly often. Not really a church composition, per se, it is a song by Stephen Schwartz about being open and prepared enough to recognize when something amazing comes along and being ready take a chance, make the change necessary and embrace the unimagined possibilities of a greater, joy-filled life.
I hope you are all continuing to be well and to actively and intentionally hunt the good moments and savor them when you can.
God Bless,
Fr. Pat
Thursday of the Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel | Luke 10:1-12
Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.’
Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day
than for that town.”
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.’
Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day
than for that town.”
Lord of the World - Fr. Pat Dolan
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