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Deacon's Deliberations

1/22/2017

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The elements of the conflict now raging are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the marvelous discoveries of science; in the changed relations between masters and workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals, and the utter poverty of the masses; the increased self-reliance and closer mutual combination of the working classes; as also, finally, in the prevailing moral degeneracy. The momentous gravity of the state of things now obtaining fills every mind with painful apprehension; wise men are discussing it; practical men are proposing schemes; popular meetings, legislatures, and rulers of nations are all busied with it - actually there is no question which has taken deeper hold on the public mind.

Opening of “Rerum Novarum” (Of New Things), promulgated May 15, 1891


Your poor deacon considers it his duty to imitate Paul (the Church marks his Conversion this coming Wednesday the 25th, by the way) as he spoke and acted to the Ephesians, when he counseled his brothers and sisters to speak “…only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear” (Ep 4: 29). Such was my intention this week when I entered into today’s Gospel, of Jesus’ call to the fishermen, known concisely as The Summons. This passage from Matthew made me think of work narrowly, and vocations more broadly, and so I re-read the above-cited encyclical, with the hope of applying it to the Scripture and to our lives today.


But nothing was as cogent and prescient as the opening, with the exception of “the closer mutual combination of the working classes,” which has not really taken hold widely in the US. About other nations I’m not sure, except that Germany is often held as the exemplar for worker-management cooperation. Generally, however, the practice with regard to wage costs is a “race to the bottom,” and with that race goes workers’ hopes for gains. I’ll go no further than encourage having your own journey with the document.


​What was on the minds of Simon, Andrew, James, and John when Jesus called them away from their labors with the intriguing if vague promise to be re-purposed as “fishers of men” (Mt 4: 19)? “Is there dental with that?” (OK, I stole that joke from Grosse Pointe Blank) My conversion story unfolded during my move to Detroit in 2008, in the week before I started at my Mercy Volunteer Corps ministry site. I was walking from Corktown to St. Al’s on Washington Blvd., and was thinking about all the holy people I’d met in the days prior, who though they knew me not, seemed – I saw it and I felt it – to believe that I would succeed in my work. And the phrase from Mass popped into my head: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” And as I was walking across the Lodge overpass, it hit me – that, ideally, this means all of us. May we be blessed, and may we bless each other, through our labors.


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Deacon's deliberations

10/30/2016

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This Is Your Deacon Speaking

“Luke 19: 5, in today’s Gospel, is every hotelier’s dream, when Jesus tells Zacchaeus, “Today I must stay at your house.” In my industry days (everyone knows I was in hospitality before I joined the Capuchin Franciscans, right?) this is what we’d call a “hard booking.” If there were theatre tickets or dinner reservations or an airport pick-up attached to the booking, we knew there was a high likelihood the party would come in. Jesus booked dinner, so we’d know he’d need the overnight. It was often the case, especially on the weekends, that bookings were soft, that a party would reserve at our hotel as a sort of hedge – maybe they were iffy about the trip; maybe they wanted a back-up in case they didn’t like the other place; maybe a secretary or personal assistant was covering their bases for an unpredictable boss. There were many more variables in the time before Yelp and Trip Advisor. That said, no promotional considerations have been made in the preparation of this post. And take a hint from an old pro: use the concierge, especially pre-arrival.

Jesus’ booking with Zacchaeus is hard because Jesus is truth and because every word God speaks is truth (Psalm 135: 6), plus the dinner res. But what of the fine points of the booking, the attention to detail that should cue Zacchaeus as to what kind of guest experience Jesus is seeking? The key – and the example – is in the word “must.” It’s a cue to the tax collector, but it’s a command for us, to welcome the stranger (Lev 19: 34), to treat hospitality not as an industry or a sector of the economy but as a cornerstone of our Catholic Christian vision and the basis for our actions toward our sisters and brothers.

Be not confused by advertisements or advertorials (in fact, be wary of the latter) or loyalty programs or miles or points: before it became a business, hospitality was and remains a virtue, grounded in the habitus of seeing Christ in everyone, and loving neighbor as self. Here’s another industry term, this from the airlines: VFR, for “visiting friends and relatives.” Airlines segment the market in terms of VFR and corporate travel. One is price-sensitive, the other not so much. Opening our homes, or our nation, is how we answer the call to serve not just the VFR “market,” those we know and love, but all people. The former is easy (Mt 5: 46), the latter not so much. It requires sacrifice and mindfulness. Think of what’s happening in Germany, and with Chancellor Merkel, who truly led by exhorting and encouraging the people, “Wir schaffen das (We can do it),” when her government made space and set aside funds to accept tens of thousands of refugees from the war in Syria. Now she risks being turned out of office in the face of an anti-immigrant backlash. Welcoming an unexpected stranger, and allowing himself to be transformed by the experience, is what Zacchaeus did, and it was what Jesus of Nazareth depended on when he walked. If Zacchaeus can do it, wir schaffen das.

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