"Outside the camp..."

Lent begins Wednesday, Feb. 14.

For Lent my "A Contemporary Way Of The Cross"

Book: $6.95

"Engaging!" "Exceptional!" "Meaningful!"

Review by Joyce Rupp

Obtain from: http://vesueviuspressincorporated.com/a-contemporary-way-of-the-cross/

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"Outside the camp..."

Today's scriptures focus on Leprosy...An ancient scourge today mostly eradicated.

But in ancient days it was highly contageous requiring lepers to be separated frm the community: placed "outside the camp."

In modern times whole races and nationalities have been segregated and"placed outside the camp."

Not only "outside the camp of the righteous," but concentrated in:

"Concentration camps" and then "cleansed" from the rest of society in gas chamers.

Those considred by Hitler"outside the camp of regular society

were first of all the Jews, but also"

Gypsies,

Homosexuals,

the handicapped,

and many Lutherans and Catholics who would not accept Naziism.

In the US.- Mexican War of 1846,a brigade of Irish immigrants were so badly treated and despised by their Anglo Union officers that they crossed the Rio Grande and joined the Mexican Army where they were welcomed.

They constituted the San Patricio Brigade and are highly honored in Mexico.

However if they were captured by Union forces, a branding iron burned into their forehead the word "traitor."

Thus they would be forever viewed as lepers outside of normal human society.

In our own day, unless a solution is reached by March 6, we will symbolicaly "brand" thousands of Dreamers who have known no land but the USA as home, as "outside our camp" and we will deport them to a land they have never known.

This is a scandal of our time!

And so we pray with the ancient Jews:

"Harden not your hearts as at Meriba in the desert!"

so goes the ancient biblical refrain.

O Lord deliver us from hardened hearts.

Help us in this Lent to

"rend our hearts and not our garments."

Deliver our President and our Congress from their

hard heartedness,

which would place thousands of our young people

"outside our camp."

Deliver us from such great sin.

Amen