Like many of you, I have good neighbors.  My next-door neighbor, for example, while mowing his own lawn continues over to cut mine—and not just the mowing but the weeding and trimming, too.  Another oversaw renovations to my house, and she steps in to assist with ongoing needs.  Still another, as long as I keep his favorite beer in my garage fridge, orients me to daily matters like trash pick-up and neighborhood happenings.  And there are others up and down the street who have open doors for family gatherings and events.

Along with Rabbi Michael Zedek, I serve as chaplain for the Truman Foundation, a local group that honors the former president with an annual Good Neighbor Award luncheon near his birthday in May.  As usual, the event this year will be held at the Muehlebach Hotel in downtown Kansas City where Truman got his start in business after World War I.  The luncheon began soon after the thirty-third president returned home from the nation’s capital to be a private citizen and neighbor to many, having completed his executive service to our country through very trying times.  Friends gathered on his birthday in the mid-1950s to toast him and discuss American values; it quickly became an annual occurrence.

Guests of Honor through the years include presidents, vice-presidents, supreme court justices, military commanders, civil rights leaders, astronauts, legislators, ambassadors, authors, educators, scholars, humanitarians, and others.  This year’s honoree is Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, Bob Woodward.  The message of each gathering encourages attendees to inculcate the no-nonsense, peace-seeking, servant leadership that Truman embodied for our global community and to care for one another.  It highlights his efforts to lift up the lowly and to be a helpful neighbor in local communities where we live, learn, work, and worship.

I also serve as chaplain to Saint Teresa’s Academy and Avila University, two local educational institutes founded by the Congregation of Sisters of Saint Joseph (CSJ) that follow a mission of service to God and care for the dear neighbor without distinction.  The mission of both the CSJs and Truman Foundation remind me of Jesus’ essential commandment to love God and to demonstrate it by loving our neighbor.  When asked, “And who is our neighbor?” He told the famous Parable of the Good Samaritan, a story that contrasts leading citizens with an outcast and robbers with an innocent victim.  It reminds us of our obligation to look after one another, regardless of societal status.  Truman and the dutiful Sisters are powerful examples for how to set aside prestige and give attention to those who struggle or suffer. In honor of the good neighbor, I want to invite you to two upcoming events: one is a May 1 Mass that pays tribute to the CSJ community in Kansas City; the other is the May 14 Truman Foundation Good Neighbor lunch celebration.  May 1 is the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, patron of the Sisters who have dedicated their time, energy, and work to educate teenage girls and young women and men according to their mission of service.  The Mass will be at 11:00 at Avila University’s Foyle Hall (former convent) Chapel.  Anyone is welcome.  May 14 marks Truman’s 140^th birthday celebration.  To learn more about the Truman Foundation and/or register for the luncheon click here to go to the website.  We are each given numerous opportunities to express our role as a good neighbor to others.  Let’s pray for one another as we seek to fulfill Christ’s command and follow His example.