Dear Parishioners,
I left church today with a lot on my mind. I read a book in college that I have been thinking about called, “I and Thou.” It is by a Jewish philosopher, Martin Buber, written in the 1930s. It is profound in that it identifies the relationship that God has with us as a “Thou.” This means that we are seen from God's perspective as not to be things to be used by others. That is we are not just customers or consumers or seniors or voters or employees. We are deeper than that. We are an instance of God’s divine creativity, each endowed with dignity and value. Each of us is given gifts to develop. I think our world does not work like that. The world sees us for what it can get out of us. To some bosses, we are only looked at as 40 hours of work. To others, we are seen as someone to scam. To others, we are a paycheck or a ride or a good time. You know what I mean. God sees us as we are: truly miraculous living beings. We are not things to be used for some purpose or another. We have been given God’s gift of life and this is more precious than all the gold in Fort Knox! We are allowed to see and feel and move and love and have relationships and feel the warmth of the sun on a beach or hear the birds chirping in the morning on the deck. This life is a gift to explore and experience. God has made this so. He created this planet with its beauty and mystery to enthrall us. He gave us each other to love and enter into deep, caring, and committed relationships. All of this is gift, and we fit into it as God’s children whom he loves and cherishes. Let us open our eyes to this reality and thank God for his small miracles.
Blessings,
Deacon Steve
Rev. Stephen Hook is Pastor of the Pastorate of St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Riviera Beach) and Our Lady of the Chesapeake (Lakeshore) in Pasadena, Maryland. He is assisted by Associate Pastor Rev. James Bors and Deacon Howard Klohr. To learn more about our parish, please visit www.stjane.org.
