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We shall be as a city upon a hill

Commentary
Proper 22 | Ordinary Time 27 - A
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Philippians 3:4b-14
Matthew 21:33-46
Ron Love
Over fifty years ago on January 9, John Fitzgerald Kennedy gave his farewell speech to the Massachusetts legislature before departing to Washington DC to prepare for his presidency. Kennedy opened his speech with these words: "We shall be as a city upon a hill." Kennedy was quoting John Winthrop, who used that phrase in his speech abroad the ship Arbella in 1630 as the Puritans were preparing to land in the New World. Kennedy was implying that the eyes of the world would be upon the new administration, and in so doing his presidency must be like a city upon a hill.
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