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Monday of the 5th Week of Lent
Mepkin Abbey
March 18, 2013
PUBLIC
OFFICE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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One reads laments occasionally that really good people in our
country – persons of integrity and character – don’t run for public office
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One reason advanced for this is that once someone puts him or
herself forward in this way they become a steady target for attack and for
probing
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It happens with the election of a new pope as well
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One’s private life is over
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Even the slightest lapses in one’s past become fodder for the
press and other politicians
WOMEN IN
FIRST READING ++++++++++++++++++++++
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Think of what an unforgiving enemy or press could do with the
histories of two people like those we hear about in today’s first reading!
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The two women there stand for each of us
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Like the woman taken in adultery, most of us have sins and
failures in our past if not in our present
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Like Susanna, any one of us is open to accusations – whether false
or with some truth, or based on misunderstanding or misinterpretation
REGARDING
OURSELVES ++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Our only security is God and our conscience
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If, despite failures in the past, we are trying to live a good
life today, we need to trust in what we know to be true of ourselves
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We need to trust in our intentions and God’s acceptance
REGARDING
OTHERS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Further, we all contribute to the climate of our monastery, our
home, our place of work by the severity or gentleness with which we judge each
other
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The question for us today may be, “Do we possibly impose outrageously unrealistic standards on others,
while excusing ourselves?”
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We need (1) To know ourselves honestly and (2) To allow for the
fact that we cannot know others as well
CONCLUSION
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Through our feasting on the word and body of Jesus in this Mass,
we learn something of his gentleness, forgiveness, and understanding
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The issue is whether we become what we’ve heard and eaten
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