St. Mary Catholic Church ~ Chelsea, Michigan

January 20 – Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time.docx

Imagine being a second-class citizen because of birth. In Jesus’ time, if you had a congenital issue (blindness, deafness, a “withered hand” etc.) or if you were an outsider – an ethnic / religious / racial “other than Jew”) you were forever excluded from full participation in the community. On the sabbath, Jesus saw a man with a withered hand “in his place” at the very back of the crowd. Jesus healed the man, which removed the barrier between him and the community. Instead of rejoicing, the Pharisees began to plot to kill him.

Can we find ways to rebuild our national community so everyone is seen, heard and respected, and treated equally before the law? – that no one goes hungry, that no one is homeless, that no one is denied access to medical care or an education? For this, we pray to the Lord.

Deacon Tom