21ST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME : INCLUSIVENESS VERSUS EXCLUSIVENESS IN GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION..........

Some Jews think they have the right to an exclusive relationship with Yahweh, (God) because the Hebrew Scriptures proclaim them God's Chosen People.  Some Catholic-Christian self righteously think they have an exclusive place in the Kingdom of God, because of their superficial relationship Jesus Christ.  Some Muslims are so over zealously fanatical about their relationship with Allah, (God) that they are almost suicidal in living out that relationship.  However, today's Sunday Scriptures make a clear and obvious statement that God is inclusive, not exclusive, and that all people in Creation have the right to a relationship with God.  There is One, Living, True, Higher Power, and Supreme Being in all the Universe, the God of Creation.  The manifestations and multifaceted faith traditions of God may differ from Yahweh, to the Holy Trinity, to Allah, Budda, etc., but God is still One, not a multiplicity of deities.  And in order to be included in the infinite presence of God requires humility, acceptance of others, and a right relationship with the Divine, that is truly loving and unconditional - not prejudicial, discriminatory, and unfairly critical and dismissive, of those different from us, spiritually, religiously, theologically.  So as we enter into the wider world of this week, let us take the scales, the blinders of superiority and smugness out of our attitudes and actions, and walk and work together in uniting and building God's Plan, not dividing and destroying the promise and the power of Love..........In The Unity Of Community With The One And True God,   Fr.  Troy