Talk about readings that come at us from such different angles! My goodness!

At the beginning of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he seems to pray out of deep consolation, recognizing how God has worked for our salvation from the very beginning of time: the Father has revealed the mystery of the divine will, hidden from of old yet now shining forth in Christ.

Here’s one of my soapboxes: What Paul does by blessing the One for salvation plays itself out in the Church’s Eucharistic Prayers. Today and every day, worshipers are invited to proclaim thanksgiving to God for salvation, blessing the divine favor for redemption. (Recall, Jews bless God; Catholics bless things)

The General Instruction instructs us: “The priest invites the people to lift up their hearts to the Lord in prayer and thanksgiving; he unites them with himself in the prayer which, in the name of the entire community, he addresses to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the meaning of the prayer is that the entire congregation of the faithful should join itself with Christ in confessing the great things God has done and in offering the sacrifice.”

On the other hand, in the gospel passage from Luke, Jesus goes after just about everyone: scribes, Pharisees, teachers of the Law, etc…

It’s easy for me to say, “So what! He’s not talking to me! I’m not responsible for the blood of Abel. I don’t plot to catch Jesus in a trap.”

I wonder, however, which prophets am I deaf to? Which do I naturally agree with and which do I filter out? Those on the left? The right?

In this run up to our U.S. elections, I find it so easy to stay entrenched within my own world of ‘true believers’ and dismiss everything the other camp says as just more hooey. Am I missing the prophetic word coming from THEM? Are you?