Serving others in God's name
can be difficult

	Word to Life  By Sharon K. Perkins

The other evening I left the office after a very long day without a lunch break. I was tired and hungry.

Heading straight for the nearest purveyor of fast food and seeing a long line in the drive-through, I went inside, only to find even more customers waiting for their dinners. On this night there were only three employees juggling order-taking, the drive-through, and food preparation in a situation that called for twice as many workers.

June 15, 2008 Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Exodus 19:2-6a Psalm: 100:1-3, 5 Romans 5:6-11 Matthew 9:36 to 10:8

I suppose the manager could have recruited any of the customers to help out, but as I watched their feverish activity, it dawned on me that preparing fast food and providing it to hungry customers is not as easy as one might think. In any industry, job descriptions and procedures call for certain kinds of training and orientation just to keep workers from stumbling over each other, making a mess of things.

Today's first reading finds the Lord calling the people of Israel to be a "kingdom of priests, a holy nation" - with instructions to "hearken to my voice" and "keep my covenant." Called to lead others by example and service, the people were to conform to a clear "job description" with a specific set of requirements.

The Gospel describes Jesus as moved with pity at the sight of the unshepherded, "troubled and abandoned" crowds; his response was to call 12 disciples by name, authorize them to exorcise evil spirits and heal the suffering, and send them out on their missions with very specific instructions.

In both cases, the call to serve others in God's name is described as neither random nor haphazard, but as purposeful and often demanding.

Today's readings remind us that a baptized person's commission to serve is tremendously significant in God's overall saving purpose for humanity. But the call is not for the naive or the faint of heart. If it were easy, everyone would do it - but obviously everyone doesn't.

Each servant chosen to bring God's life and love to others is called by name, authorized and empowered in a unique and specific way to carry out one's mission "without cost" to the ones he or she serves. It's a calling that is both deceptively simple and heroically difficult - especially for imperfect people.

	For reflection: • In what specific way have you been called and empowered to serve others?

For all servants-in-training, today's words of St. Paul are not only reassuring but orienting: "God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."

This column is offered in cooperation with the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas.

Fighting for God's goodness

	Word to Life  By Jean Denton

W.D. doesn't blame his two lung transplants on the quarter century he spent working in the Virginia coal mines, "but it sure didn't help," he said.

No, he explained, his lungs failed because of a genetic condition that was present in only two of his parents' nine children.

W.D. has lived his entire life in Appalachia, a beautiful mountainous region of the eastern United States known for its paradoxical culture of riches and poverty.

June 22, 2008 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jeremiah 20:10-13 Psalm 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35 Romans 5:12-15 Matthew 10:26-33

Like most natives of Appalachia, W.D. loves the land where he lives - he loves his mountains and he loves his neighbors. With them, he's struggled over the years against various forms of injustice that have been perpetrated on the region mostly from outside sources.

Of all the forces that have exploited his community - unfair labor practices, environmental destruction, lack of health care, domestic violence, poor schools, and general impoverishment - the one that hit him hardest was the most recent outrage: rampant drug abuse. This specter arrived less than 10 years ago, entering the region in the form of an evil specifically targeting a weak human community.

This weekend's Gospel gives voice to what W.D. and the people of Appalachia have been doing for decades: fighting for God's goodness against forces of darkness that will destroy the body and more.

The pain drug oxycodone was aggressively marketed in Appalachia because of the poverty and high incidence of disability and injury among the populace. Abuse of the highly-addictive drug spread like wildfire. The result: broken families, broken lives, death.

W.D. told me about his work as a community volunteer. After his last transplant, he explained, "As soon as I got some of my health back, I started working every day with the anti-drug program we started in our schools." Pressed for details, he said his daughter had become addicted to drugs. "It's torn our community up," he said. "Those drugs coming in here have really hurt our young people."

	For reflection: • What have you experienced that poses a threat to the living God among humanity today? • How can you stand up to that threat?

W.D. has stood in the courtroom with a crowd of others in testimony against the drug manufacturer. They continue to stand publicly against such victimization.

Theirs is the Gospel message: Don't fear those who can kill the body, but protect the true gift of humanity that God created - the life within you that won't die.

This column is offered in cooperation with the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas.

Prayer to St. Raphael Glorious Archangel St. Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, you are illustrious for your gifts of wisdom and grace. You are a guide of those who journey by land or sea or air, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners. We beg you, assist us in all our needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once you helped the young Tobias on his travels. Because you are the "medicine of God" we humbly pray you to heal the many infirmities of our souls and the ills that afflict our bodies. We especially ask your guidance of our diocese as we journey toward the rebuilding of a cathedral bearing your name, and the great grace of purity to prepare us to be temples of the Holy Spirit. As our intercessor, beg the Blessed Trinity to prosper the work of our hands and, above all, to bring us, face-to-face, into their Holy presence. Amen.