Why is it that the parking space which is the closest distance to the main entrance of the cathedral is also the one that is most unused?
It is a show of respect for the bishop.
Reading I
Naaman traveled a long distance only to be shown little respect before he was healed and came about to a right worship of God.
“If you will not accept,
2 Kgs 5:17
please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth,
for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice
to any other god except to the LORD.”
Responsorial Psalm
Instead of undue demands for shows of respect that create a distance between ourselves and others, the Lord draws respect from others by way of kindness…
The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power…He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
Ps 98
toward the house of Israel.
Reading II
We “accommodate” the “Respect Life Mass and Walk” so that we can remember an overturned court decision and walk a distance to a long closed Planned Parenthood center; but we deny the signs of our being unfaithful in accommodating the life in our midst that is due respect.
But if we deny him
2 Tm 2:13
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
Alleluia
So we go on, going the distance in doing God’s will by showing our signs of “Respect Life”, while complaining of the inflation, immigration, drought, flooding, war, …which cry out to us, “repent and modify (your) lifestyles and destructive systems.”
In all circumstances, give thanks,
1 Thes 5:18
for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
Gospel
Instead of showing ourselves to and with the priests at the “Respect Life Mass and Walk”, demanding respect from those who, “in their smallness cannot give”, wouldn’t it be more Eucharistic if we…
…stood at a distance from him and raised (our) voices, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
This is not to forget that there is an infinite distance between God and the things of this world, which do not possess his fullness. Otherwise, we would not be doing the creatures themselves any good either, for we would be failing to acknowledge their right and proper place. We would end up unduly demanding of them something which they, in their smallness, cannot give us.
Laudato si’, paragraph #88