MATTHEW 22:34

Jesus is a Jew. A devout Jew. A teacher. So when he is asked by this lawyer, “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” he replies with the basic acclamation of faith of Judaism, the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5): “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all you mind.” He then adds Leviticus 19:18: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and notes that “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Indeed, the first reading, from Exodus 22, is an example of the law being based on love of God and neighbor. There are three commandments there: Do not molest or oppress aliens, do not wrong widows or orphans, and lend to the poor without interest or collateral. All of these boil down to not taking advantage of people with less power than you have.

In the second reading, Paul lauds the Thessalonians for turning away from idols to serve God, which lines up pretty well with Exodus. When we make idols of wealth, or our favorite sports team, or any other hobby that keeps us from loving neighbor, we have moved away from loving God.

Institutional racism has come to the fore this summer. It is the modern American version of violating Exodus 22 and all the commandments that underlie it. Let us work for the Kingdom and support those who are working to dismantle the exclusionary disadvantages built into our society.

We made our Annual Catholic Appeal Goal! Yea!!! Thank you to all who supported the work of the Church of Western Washington! As I have mentioned many times, much of your contribution comes back to the parish in the form of central office services, such as facilities and personnel consultations, payroll servicing, and management of employee health insurance and retirement funds.

Last week you received in the mail a list of ministries through which you can help build the Kingdom. Some of these ministries just require you to show up and do a task (remember, Laudato Si’ second Saturdays, 9:30!) Or getting out a mailing. Some require volunteer coordination, others, such as Social Justice, are very process-oriented. Almost all the councils and commissions need someone to take minutes. Some need people to keep track of money. If you’re really not sure how you might fit in, take the Strength Finders assessment on the website. The commitment form is on st-therese.cc on the right sidebar on a computer or near the bottom of the scroll on a phone.

The Adult Religious Education program is presenting a series on The Sin and Tragedy of Racism. The first and second sessions are available as a video on our website. The last session will be November 5 at 7:00 p.m. See below for more details.

By the way, this series is presented by the Religious Education Commission because the Social Justice Commission is leaderless as well as followerless. If you are interested in getting our missions right, sign up using the aforementioned commitment form.

Father Maurice has announced that if attendance at the 11:30 mass reaches 50, he will restart the 8:30 mass. Currently attendance is a bit over 30. Masks are worn, social distancing is in force, there is no communal singing (sob!) and there is lots of ventilation. Use Sign Up! from the website or your phone to reserve a spot, though currently there is plenty of room for walk-ups. Y’all come! (If you use Sign Up! on your phone, the button is at the bottom of the scroll, not on the right where it appears on a computer.)

Let us be generous with our financial resources:

• Give to the St Vincent de Paul Society by going to our website at st-therese.cc.  Scroll down to the St Vincent de Paul button near the bottom of the home page. If you prefer to write checks, please send them to Sr. Kathleen -SVdP , 3514 E. Marion St. , Seattle, WA 98122. The St. Therese conference has been overwhelmed by requests in the St Edwards area, which our conference is now serving. When the ban on evictions is lifted, the amount of accumulated delinquent rent will be crippling to many families. Please be generous!
• You can make a gift to the parish online at st-therese.org and clicking on the “Donate Now” button or use the Push-Pay app on your phone.