For some reason, it is easier to genuflect in reverence to the presence of Christ in the tabernacle of a church than to genuflect in reverence to the same presence of Christ in another person’s soul. We wrongly believe that God divides himself, placing himself in one place in preference to another. It doesn’t work that way. Love of God and love of neighbor are intimately and inseparably connected because the essence and spark of God’s very presence is in all creation. God’s presence is just as real in the one who is good, as in the one who is bad, and the one who is just, and the one who is unjust.

Nobody enjoys paying taxes. Despite our displeasure in being forced to do so, we also realize that the monies generated from taxes allows governments to provide essential services for its people. Corruption really gets our goat, however. When we witness malfeasance, overspending, irresponsibility, and dishonesty in governmental spending, the grave injustices make an already unpleasant and arduous task even more difficult. The inappropriate distribution and use of hard-earned monies can leave a person quite angry and disconnected. It’s bad enough the government wants something from me, now God does, too?

As we have stated before, parishes have noted an increase in scam attempts directed toward their parishioners. In these scams, a call, text, or email is sent, appearing to come from the priest and requesting that the individual send money to a certain location/account or purchase gift cards whose serial numbers are then forwarded along to the “priest.” Often, the phone number or email address used appears as if it might be coming from the priest but is, in fact, fake.

Your parish and your priests do not request donations in this way.

God gives us an invitation to have an abundant life. The banquet is ready, and the tables are set. Come!

There is so much to attend to in the everydayness of our lives. We have plans, after all. There is never enough time and so much that needs to be done. There is work, children, and grandchildren, paying the bills, planning for retirement, figuring out the details of our next vacation, making sure we are on top of our game with work, planning social engagements, answering emails, texts, and getting our latest pictures on Facebook. There is always something. What is this about a banquet?

God calls us to participate in the banquet of life, a banquet that can fill and satisfy us like no other. It is a spiritual feast where we kind find inner refreshment and satisfy the thirst and hunger of our souls. Do you want to come?

Do you ever wonder why things never seem to come together? We see glimpses of consistency, equity, justice, peace, harmony, and well-being, but it always falls short. Human life is still expendable and manipulated, people are used for personal advancement, countries are at war, the economy continues to face turbulence, anger and frustration are widespread, and happiness is the possession of just a few and not the many.

Could it be that we are serving the wrong kingdom? We keep trying to make our kingdom work and find ourselves still scratching our heads after repeatedly failed attempts to do so. It is almost as if people are saying, “we’ll get it right this time if we do … ,” as if some new and secret innovation has yet to be tried.