Today on my way to Mass at Mt. Irenaeus I recited the Franciscan Crown Rosary. It’s a prayer that has become more and more a part of my life. I can’t really explain why either. It just has. Nonetheless, I stopped at a convenience mart nearby, bought some gasoline and walked into the store to get some orange juice and eggs. On the way I passed a car with a bumper sticker that read, “Keeping working and paying taxes. The people on welfare need your money.” It occurred to me what a well orchestrated campaign of hate we have towards those less fortunate in our country. In this year’s federal budget we will spend as a nation over 650 billion dollars on war. We ought to have a bumper sticker that reads something like. “Keep working and paying taxes so the military industrial complex can survive.”
At Mass today the Passion was read and during its reading and Fr. Bob’s homily I came to realize a significant point, at least for me. The crucified Jesus has become and abstraction. We go to Mass, go through the motions, worship the crucified Savior and don’t see the crucified in our midst. They include the folks on welfare, the wounded and crippled soldiers of our armies, the gay people, the disenfranchised of every sort. They are the crucified today. They are the presence of Jesus in our midst. Whoever is the acceptable victim in our midst can be the crucified Christ for us.
As I did my taxes over the weekend, I found myself wishing that an accompanying note: “Put most of mine towards education, energy conservation measures, foreign aid, healthcare, and violence reduction initiatives – with plenty for Head Start. Not one red cent to Halliburton or the war.” would do any good.