13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Intro:

I have some friends, who, not too long ago, decided to build their own home. They met with builders and contractors and finally made the decision as to its “look.”

As time went on, many more decisions had to be made, but one that intrigued me was “planning” the exterior of the house: its color and landscape.

What they did to help them decide the color and landscape….

They went around their new street to the houses that were already built for their ideas on color and landscape.

For instance…………. the paint color,
they wanted theirs to BLEND, not COMPETE….

And when they planned the landscape, they became aware of the different shrubs and trees and flowers growing in the other yards and decided theirs should be similar to “fit in.”

Overall, they wanted ……………………….

THEY WANTED TO BE A PART of the street, the neighborhood,

NOT SET APART, different, nor dissimilar.

I took it that they wanted to be a part of the neighborhood, to be a PART OF THE COMMUNITY! To be ONE with their brothers and sisters.

Well, Jesus is teaching US to be ONE in our Gospel today, to be part of the community, not set apart when he takes the boat to
“The other side.”

Geographically he is on the Sea of Galilee and the other side he mentions means the side of the Sea where the JEWS lived. If you do not know it, the Sea of Galilee DIVIDES the JEWS from the GENTILES and Jesus of course takes the church to minister in BOTH lands:
TO ALL PEOPLES in the Gospel stories.

He had just left the land of the GENTILES in the story before this one and now travels “to the other side.”

So, I see this as Jesus wants UNITY, as he ministers to all peoples in His mission of LOVING GOD + MAKING DISCIPLES.

Jesus was teaching us to get it together with our prejudices.

CONCLUSION

Whether we ‘re
BLACK or WHITE,
SHORT or TALL,
IMMIGRANT or CITIZEN
Male or FEMALE
Buddhist or Muslim
GAY or STRAIGHT
JEW or GENTILE

Jesus teaches us to get along and respect one another.
May today’s Christ, today’s HOLY COMMUNION guide you and me into this action of Jesus who MINISTERS on BOTH SIDES of the Sea of Galilee.