Pentecost +22 Sunday – A

Pentecost +22 Sunday – A

Years A
Deuteronomy 34:1-12 or Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18
Psalm 90:1-6:13-17 or Psalm 1
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46

Moses, the great liberator, is shut up in foreign Moab. Ruth, the great grandmother, comes forth from Moab.

All of this disparagement and honoring of Moab, depending on time and perspective, is background to the famous "love your neighbor" dicta.

This is basic inclusionary, progressive vision. It allows Jesus to continue engaging those who would be his enemy, in this particular the Pharisees.

It is encouragement to us to keep the line open with our supposed enemies, for we may well find ourselves dying in their space and rejoicing when they bring forth a heroine of our own.

= = = = = = =

what is a millennia
what is a moment

a tension between
enlivens this present

relatives become enemies
enemies become friends

we chase one another
and flee the same

in a moment
all is lost

in a millennia
we can see today

may we prosper
in our in-between time