Saturday 5 April 2025
St Vincent Ferrer
Jeremiah 11:18-20. Lord, my God, I take shelter in you – Ps 7:2-3, 9-12. John 7:40-52.
Value of connections
It seems strange for the Pharisees in today’s reading to make so much of where Jesus is (and isn’t) from. According to Google Maps, the distance between Bethlehem and Galilee is around 192km. That’s about the same distance as Melbourne to Shepparton, or Sydney to Orange. Still, it seems that was enough to mark Jesus as an outsider. What could a ‘country hick’ possibly have to say to the cosmopolitan people of Jerusalem?
My wife grew up in the country, while I grew up in the suburbs. Our environments were important in shaping our ways of engaging with the Church. While my family were members of a parish, we had little to do with the broader Catholic community. My wife’s family, on the other hand, were familiar with the local bishop and were part of a group of Catholic families that connected across the diocese. Their ‘remoteness’ actually made it more important to be able to connect with others, which has also helped me see the value in those connections.
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