Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - RESPECT_100321

Deacon Tom Writes,

RESPECT

Twenty-seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Aretha Franklin was arguably one of Rhythm and Blues top female vocalists. Referred to as the “Queen of Soul”, one of her many blockbuster hits was, “RESPECT.” It became the US’s No. 1 hit in 1967. The following year it won two Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it at No. 5 on their list of “The Greatest Songs of All Time” securing its place in music history for all time.

Besides being a musical blockbuster, the very title of Franklin’s music expresses, perhaps, the most fundamental obligation and duty we owe not only to one another but to the entirety of creation around us. Why is that?

In calling forth creation, Genesis recounts this majestic moment when, after Adam named all the animals, God found no suitable partner for him. That there was no suitable “partner” for the man from all that God had made is telling. Man’s partner does not come from all prior life that he was given dominion over. Rather, the man’s partner is “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” How unique that this creation story is centered around a partnership between two created beings, intimately sharing the same flesh and blood, whose purpose in life was to become, as it was to begin, “one flesh?”

This is our foundational narrative. This is the Creator’s plan from the beginning, a plan that would manifest itself in the unity and equanimity of the man and the woman that would extend to all of creation they were to govern.

Respect is a duty we owe to one another and all creation. It is the profound recognition that we are “created beings” whose origin is from the beneficent Creator who has made us “little less than god” (Ps 8:6) who are destined to share in his very being for all eternity.

If we only understood the meaning of the word “respect.” If we only knew the meaning of the Creation Story, what a different world we would experience. Fostering respect for one another is the way out of many of the problems we confront in our society today. This is certainly rich soil to cultivate. We are living in a time when respect for one another has all but disappeared. Worse, we are living at a time of disrespect for individuals, institutions, laws, any moral authority. Don’t tell me what to do!!! Don’t try to limit my freedoms!!! Such disregard for others can only produce outcomes that will lead to further division, strife and alienation from one another.

Today’s readings urge us to reflect on not only how we treat others but how we view them. For in Christ we are all members of the “One body”. And people of faith treat one another with RESPECT.


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Deacon Tom Writes,

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Twenty-seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Aretha Franklin’s recent passing filled the airways with one of her blockbuster hits, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” One simple word behind which summarizes the basic obligation and duty we owe not only to one another but to the entirety of creation around us.

In the calling forth creation Genesis recounts this majestic moment when, after naming all the animals God created and finding no suitable partner for “man”, God creates “woman”. If we were to travel to the end of the cosmos and, arriving there, find an ancient text that recorded these same words, I wonder how we back on earth would interpret those words today in the fuller context of the same passage of our first reading.

That there was no suitable “partner” for the man is telling. Man’s partner does not come from all prior life that man was given dominion over. Rather, man’s partner is “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” How difficult would it be to see the creation story of this distant world organized around a partnership between two created beings, sharing the same flesh and blood, whose purpose in life was to become “one flesh?”

I suspect that if this distant civilization evolved from with this understanding of partnership and purpose it would have would have built a society much different than ours who have this same text as our foundational narrative. Our interpretation is much different and we are just coming to terms with the problems our poor judgment has sewn throughout time memorial.

Respect is a duty we owe to one another. It is the profound recognition that we are “created beings” whose origin is same beneficent creator who has made us “little less than god” Ps 8:6 in the sense that we are all destined to share in His very being for all eternity.

If we only understood the meaning of the word “respect.” If we only knew the meaning of the Creation Story, what a different world we would be living in. Fostering respect for one another is the way out of many of the problems we confront in our society today. This is certainly rich soil to cultivate. Interestingly, in a recent article in America Magazine on-line confronting the negative caricature facing Georgetown Prep in the aftermath of the Judge Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court, Fr. James Van Dyke, S.J. the schools president remarked, “the problem facing the larger culture among both men and women that we sadly cannot seem to address—a fundamental lack of respect for persons as such”.

Today’s readings urge us to reflect on not only how we treat others but how we view them. For in Christ we are all “One body”.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom