Last night I drove my kids to San Jose to see my hometown Philadelphia Flyers play against the Sharks. I was raised as a big ice hockey fan, and I am proud to pass along that enthusiasm to my children. Although the Flyers lost, we enjoyed this annual ritual yet again. Simply sitting still together for several hours felt relaxing!

Many of this week’s Gospel readings focus on the invitational aspect of Jesus’ ministry. Some refer to these stories as Jesus’ table fellowship. Often Jesus explicitly invites the outcast, the downtrodden, and the marginalized to join him for a meal. This public invitation was counter-cultural, and likely contributed to Jesus’ execution. Jesus’ example informs my own vision of heaven, where each and every person is welcome and treated as an honored guest. This inclusive feast will one day be realized in the Kingdom of God.

“The danger of privilege is that we can tell ourselves we’ve opened our tables when we really haven’t. We’ve changed some rules; we’ve donated to some charities; we’ve stoped telling some jokes. But these things are not nearly enough. The challenge and opportunity for those of us with privilege is to realize that no matter how much we work to invite others to the table, ‘there is still room’ for more.” – Nick Wagner

Together let us be grateful for the privilege of life. Enjoy the quote below and a Tiny Desk concert from one of my favorite blues artists. Blessings on your week ahead!

“Gratitude is more than a reflex ‘thank you’ when someone holds a door for you. Gratitude is a spiritual practice that embraces life’s tension-flexing web of relationships and actions, like those that occur every day, all through the day.” -Tim Joy, Lasallian Colleague

This past weekend our family attended the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park. This free annual event is a San Francisco treasure. I am pleased to share a performance by artist Leyla McCalla, who we were introduced to on Saturday. I also share some prayer resources that have come my way recently.

Blessings on your week ahead!

Excerpt from “House of Hospitality” and “From Union Square to Rome”

– Dorothy Day

People say, “What good can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?” They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time. We can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment. But we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transform all our individual actions and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes. Do what comes to hand. Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. After all, God is with us. It shows too much conceit to trust to ourselves, to be discouraged at what we ourselves can accomplish. It is lacking in faith in God to be discouraged. After all, we are going to proceed with His help. We offer Him what we are going to do. If He wishes it to prosper, it will. We must depend solely on Him. Work as though everything depended on ourselves, and pray as though everything depended on God, as St. Ignatius says.