what if jesus is right again?
“When you have a reception, invite beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind.” —Luke 14:13
The welfare system is not working. Thank God it’s keeping people alive. However, it’s not setting them free. It may even be enslaving and conditioning people in a generational cycle.
The nuclear family is under attack. Thank God for marital faithfulness in a society of broken promises, broken families, and broken hearts. Yet the nuclear family is not thriving. It is struggling merely to survive.
What if the nuclear family became an extended family — even a Christian community? What if welfare was not a government program? What if family hospitality took the place of welfare? What if Jesus intends today’s Gospel reading to be taken seriously? What if Jesus is right again about loving the poor, offering hospitality, being family, and living life?
Are you trying to share meals with “beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind”? (Lk 14:13) Are you caring for the poor in a hands-on way? Are you caring for your brothers and sisters in Christ in a practical way?
If we lived in Christian community as described in Acts of the Apostles, maybe we would do the acts of the apostles in feeding and freeing the poor. Jesus is right.
Prayer: Father, may my love for the poor open me to living in practical Christian community.
Promise: “Hope in the Lord, both now and forever.” —Ps 131:3
Praise: Clarence took in a fellow Christian when he became homeless until he found a job again.
Reference: (For an Introduction to Small Christian Communities, view, download or order our booklet or listen to, download or order our CD 76-1 and CD 76-3 or DVD 76 on our website.)
Rescript: In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from October 1, 2022, through November 30, 2022. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio January 3, 2022
The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.