Sunday, February 20, 2011

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 5:38-48
ARE THERE EVER TIMES WHEN SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN AND YOU WILL FEEL RAGE OR EMBARRASSMENT OR FEAR, OR SOME UNWANTED EMOTION, WELLING UP INSIDE YOU? IT HAPPENS. I REMEMBER A TIME IN COLLEGE WHEN SOMEONE WAS DESPERATE FOR MONEY, AND PROMISED THAT IF I LOANED HIM FIVE DOLLARS HE WOULD PROMPTLY PAY IT BACK. FIVE DOLLARS, BY THE WAY, WAS A LOT OF MONEY IN THE 1960'S. I ALLOWED MYSELF $20.00 SPENDING MONEY EACH MONTH IN THOSE DAYS. SO AFTER A FEW WEEKS, I ASKED FOR THE RETURN OF MY LOAN. HE STATED THAT THE MONEY HE WAS EXPECTING FROM HIS PARENTS HAD NOT YET COME IN, BUT AS SOON AS IT DID, I WOULD BE FIRST ON THE LIST. SUMMER BREAK CAME ALONG. IN THE FALL, I RAISED THE ISSUE AGAIN. HE DENIED KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT MY LOANING HIM MONEY. AND I HAD NO PROOF. I FELT LIKE AN IDIOT, I FELT DISRESPECTED, AND I FELT LIKE BEATING HIM TO A PULP, ALL IN ONE FLASH. I LOST MY COOL. I NEVER DID SEE THAT FIVE DOLLARS, BUT I STILL REMEMBER THE EMOTIONS I FELT.
I RECENTLY READ ABOUT A PALESTINIAN PHYSICIAN WHO LIVES IN THE GAZA STRIP AND PRACTICED IN A HOSPITAL IN ISRAEL, WHERE JEWS AND PALESTINIANS WORKED TOGETHER. WHEN ISRAEL INVADED GAZA IN RESPONSE TO ROCKET ATTACKS THAT HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, THREE OF HIS DAUGHTERS WERE KILLED. DR. IZELDEEN ABUIELISH WROTE A BOOK CALLED “I SHALL NOT HATE”. HE TOLD A REPORTER, "THE WOUND AND THE PAIN HAVE NOT DISAPPEARED, BUT SUFFERING IS PART OF THE PROCESS OF FORGIVENESS. NOT FORGIVENESS FOR ISRAELIS, BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR MYSELF, IN ORDER TO SHAKE OFF THE HATRED AND THE RAGE AND HOPE FOR A BETTER PATH.” HE WENT ON TO SAY, "IN LIFE, DON'T COUNT ON THINGS THAT CAN CHANGE. POWER CAN CHANGE. TODAY, YOU ARE STRONG LIKE ISRAEL, TOMORROW YOU ARE WEAK. RELY ONLY ON WHAT IS BASIC AND PERMANENT. IN OTHER WORDS, THE HUMANITY IN ALL OF US. THE TOLERANCE, THE CAPACITY FOR FORGIVENESS AND THE DESIRE FOR A BETTER LIFE.”
JESUS TODAY LISTS SEVERAL SCENARIOS WHICH WOULD MAKE ME EXPERIENCE ONE OF THOSE UNWANTED EMOTIONS. IF SOMEONE STRUCK ME, I MIGHT NOT STRIKE BACK, BUT I WOULD PROBABLY INWARDLY BE VERY ANGRY; BUT TO OFFER THE OTHER CHEEK? FAT CHANCE. IF SOMEONE TAKES MY COAT BY FORCE, I WOULD FEEL HELPLESS AND ANGRY; I DOUBT I WOULD GIVE THAT PERSON MY SHIRT. IF I AM FORCED TO DO SOMETHING AGAINST MY WILL, I WILL FEEL LIKE A SLAVE, LIKE AN OBJECT; AND I CAN'T SEE MYSELF VOLUNTEERING TO CONTINUE IN THAT PARTICULAR STATE. I DON'T THINK JESUS IS ACTUALLY GIVING US SPECIFICS ABOUT HOW TO BEHAVE; I THINK HE WANTS US TO PUT OURSELVES INTO THOSE SCENARIOS. WILL WE HAVE THOSE INVOLUNTARY REACTIONS? BECAUSE THEY ARE POINTERS; THEY TELL US THAT WE ARE PUTTING OURSELVES AT THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD. THOSE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS WE FEEL ARE THERE BECAUSE WE SEE OURSELVES AS LOSING OUR INDEPENDENCE, OUR AUTONOMY; IN SHORT, WE SEE OURSELVES AS BEING MADE INTO OBJECTS, CREATURES TO BE USED BY ANOTHER PERSON. AND WE HUMAN BEINGS HAVE A VERY STRONG INSTINCT TO BE SUBJECTS, TO BE IN CONTROL.
JESUS BY HIS WORDS AND HIS LIFE, SHOWED US THAT OUR ATTEMPT TO BE IN CONTROL IS DOOMED TO FAILURE; OUR DESIRE FOR INDEPENDENCE, FOR AUTONOMY, FOR SECURITY – THOSE DESIRES WILL NOT BE FULFILLED, THOSE DESIRES ARISE PRECISELY BECAUSE WE SEE OURSELVES AS THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD – AND WE REALLY AREN'T.
JESUS' ANSWER IS TO PUT GOD FIRST, AND OUR NEIGHBOR SECOND; WE ARE THIRD. THAT IS THE WAY THINGS REALLY ARE, WE MIGHT AS WELL GO ALONG WITH REALITY. GOD IS FIRST, THAT'S NOT HARD TO GRASP INTELLECTUALLY; IT IS HIS WORLD, AND HIS WILL WILL BE DONE. NEIGHBOR IS SECOND. THIS IS HARDER TO GRASP. IT DOES SEEM TO BE BIBLICAL, BUT IS IT NATURAL, DOES IT STEM FROM OUR NATURE? I THINK IT DOES. I THINK PEOPLE ARE HAPPIEST WHEN THEY ARE VOLUNTARILY DOING THINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE – WHETHER FAMILY MEMBERS OR STRANGERS. IF I MAKE A CHILD HAPPY, I'M HAPPY. IF I CAN SEE A SENSE OF RELIEF IN SOMEONE WHO REALLY NEEDED SOMETHING THAT I COULD PROVIDE, I CAN FEEL THAT RELIEF MYSELF. WE ARE DESIGNED, NATURALLY, TO HAVE EMPATHY, TO FEEL WHAT OTHERS FEEL. I'VE LEARNED THAT I CAN'T REALLY MAKE MYSELF HAPPY – I CAN NEVER FIX EVERYTHING I WOULD HAVE TO FIX. BUT I CAN MAKE OTHERS HAPPY AND FEEL THEIR JOY.
SO GOD FIRST, MY BROTHER OR SISTER SECOND, AND ME LAST. AND IF I LIVE THAT WAY, IF SOMEONE SLAPS ME ON THE CHEEK, I CAN TURN THE OTHER CHEEK, BECAUSE IT WON'T REALLY MATTER. I WON'T FEEL RAGE OR ANGER; AFTER ALL, IF GOD IS FIRST, IF GOD IS AT THE CENTER, THEN I AM ASSURED THAT ALL WILL PROCEED ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN, AND I CAN ACCEPT THAT, JUST AS SO MANY MARTYRS WENT JOYFULLY TO THEIR OWN DEATHS.
AN ENEMY IS SOMEONE WHO CONTROLS YOU AGAINST YOUR WILL, OR THREATENS TO DO THIS. THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES MANY PEOPLE IRRATIONAL ABOUT ISLAM – THE IDEA THAT A LEGAL SYSTEM, SHARIA LAW, WOULD BE IMPOSED ON US WITHOUT OUR WILL, IF MUSLIMS HAD THEIR WAY. IT'S ONE OF THE CONSTANT SOURCES OF TENSION IN OUR SOCIETY – SHOULD WE “IMPOSE” MORALITY BY LAW, OR SHOULD WE PUT UP WITH JUST ABOUT ANYTHING BECAUSE WE VALUE FREEDOM AND AUTONOMY MORE? BUT JESUS IS SAYING, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. THAT WILL BE THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS FOLLOWERS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. AND IN ORDER TO REALLY DO THIS, I HAVE TO CHANGE THE WAY I SEE THE WORLD AND MYSELF IN THE WORLD. AND I CAN RECOGNIZE THIS CHANGE AS HAVING TAKEN PLACE IF I NO LONGER FEEL THOSE INVOLUNTARY REACTIONS THAT COME AS A CONSEQUENCE OF PEOPLE THREATENING MY CONTROL, MY AUTONOMY.
ALL OF US ARE BY NATURE DESIGNED TO LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD. BUT THIS WILL ALWAYS LEAD TO UNHAPPINESS; NATURE DOESN'T CARE IF WE ARE HAPPY . JESUS GIVES US THE MEANS TO ALTER OUR WORLD VIEW THROUGH HIS GRACE, THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS, THROUGH HIS WORD. AND IN TODAY'S GOSPEL, WE HAVE A WAY OF TELLING HOW WE ARE DOING. CAN WE REALLY LOVE THOSE WHO TRY TO CONTROL US, WHO THREATEN TO TAKE AWAY OUR INDEPENDENCE, WHO PUSH US AWAY FROM THE CENTER IN WHICH WE SO BADLY WANT TO BE? OR HAVE WE PUT GOD AT THE CENTER, SO THAT WE ARE NO LONGER SLAVES TO HATRED AND RAGE, AND SO THAT WE CAN TRULY LOVE OUR ENEMIES?

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

MATTHEW 5:17-37
ALL THROUGH THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, THERE ARE THE LAWS GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL BY MOSES. THESE AREN'T JUST THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; THEY ARE INSTEAD, LAWS HAVING TO DO WITH OFFERING SACRIFICE, WITH ADMINISTERING JUSTICE, WHICH DIET, WITH HOW TO PURIFY YOURSELF, WITH THINGS LIKE ALLOWING A NEWLY MARRIED MAN TO STAY HOME WITH HIS WIFE FOR A YEAR BEFORE CONSCRIPTING HIM TO GO OFF TO WAR...THERE ARE LAWS DEALING WITH THE PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T JEWS BUT LIVED AMONG THE JEWS – MOSTLY NATIVE PEOPLES WHO HAD BEEN THERE BEFORE THE JEWS ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND.
IT'S INTERESTING THAT SOME OF THESE LAWS WERE QUICKLY IGNORED; THERE IS A LAW THAT TELLS YOU WHEN YOU CAN PUT TO DEATH A DISOBEDIENT SON, FOR EXAMPLE. THERE IS THE LEVIRITE LAW, WHICH SAYS THAT IF YOUR BROTHER DIES, YOU HAVE TO MAKE HIS WIDOW PREGNANT, SO THAT SOMEONE WILL BE AROUND TO BE HIS DESCENDANT. AND THERE IS THE LAW OF JUBILEES, WHICH SAYS THAT EVERY FIFTY YEARS ALL THE LAND THAT HAS BEEN SOLD IS GIVEN BACK TO THOSE WHO HAD IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. BUT SOME JEWS, THE PHARISEES AND THE SCRIBES ESPECIALLY, EVENTUALLY DECIDED THAT GOD WANTED HIS PEOPLE TO OBEY ALL THE LAWS UNLESS OF COURSE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE. BUT SOME OF THESE LAWS ARE A LITTLE VAGUE. ONE SAYS THAT YOU SHALL NOT WORK ON THE SABBATH DAY. SO WHAT IS WORK? SOME RABBIS TAUGHT THAT YOU COULD WALK 100 STEPS FROM YOUR HOUSE WITHOUT BREAKING THE LAW. SOME TAUGHT THAT YOU COULDN'T PREPARE FOOD ON THE SABBATH. EVENTUALLY THE COMMANDMENT WAS BROKEN DOWN INTO ALL KINDS OF SPECIFIC RULES WHICH, IF YOU FOLLOWED THEM, YOU COULD BE SURE YOU WERE NOT BREAKING THE COMMANDMENT. ANOTHER RULE WAS THAT YOU COULDN'T BOIL A KID IN IT'S MOTHER'S MILK. MODERN SCHOLARS THINK THIS WAS BECAUSE THAT WAS A PAGAN PRACTICE; BUT THE PHARISEES AND THE SCRIBES DEVELOPED THAT RULE INTO THE DIETARY LAWS THAT ORTHODOX JEWS STILL FOLLOW; YOU EVEN HAVE TO HAVE TWO SETS OF DISHES SO THAT YOU WILL USE ONE FOR DAIRY AND ONE FOR NON-DAIRY. TO US THIS APPROACH TO LAW IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND, BUT REMEMBER, TO JEWS OBEYING GOD'S LAW WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THEY COULD DO, SO IT HELPED TO HAVE DETAILED RULES. THIS WAS CALLED “PUTTING A FENCE AROUND THE LAW”.
TODAY WE HEAR JESUS COMING UP WITH A RADICALLY DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION. FIRST, HE SAYS THAT HE DID NOT COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW. HE CAME TO FULFILL IT, DOWN TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL. AND THEN INSTEAD OF LISTING WAYS TO AVOID BREAKING A PARTICULAR COMMANDMENT, HE DRILLS DOWN. YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID “YOU SHALL NOT KILL; AND WHOEVER KILLS WILL BE LIABLE TO JUDGMENT.” BUT JESUS RECOGNIZES THAT KILLING STEMS FROM ANGER – NOT THAT MOMENTARY FLASH OF ANGER YOU GET WHEN SOMEONE CUTS YOU OFF IN TRAFFIC – OTHERWISE, I'D BE IN REAL TROUBLE. RATHER, THAT DEEP SEATED ANGER, THAT SIMMERING ANGER THAT COLORS YOUR WHOLE LIFE. IN THE MOVIE “FOR ROSANNA” THERE IS A SCENE IN WHICH A MAN IS RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER SERVING A 20 YEAR SENTENCE. HE BUYS A GUN AND GOES OFF TO KILL HIS WORST ENEMY. WHEN HE LEARNS THAT HIS ENEMY DIED A NATURAL DEATH, HE SHOUTS “YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME IN HELL. I'M COMING TO GET YOU!” AND THEN HE SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE HEAD. LIKEWISE JESUS TALKS ABOUT LUST. IF YOU ARE A NORMAL MALE, YOU CAN'T GET THROUGH A DAY WITHOUT NOTICING ATTRACTIVE WOMEN; IT'S BUILT IN TO YOUR BIOLOGY. IT MAY BE TRUE OF WOMEN AS WELL, BUT I CAN ONLY SPEAK FOR MYSELF. THAT IS NOT LUST. LUST IS THE MAN WHO SITS DOWN IN FRONT OF HIS COMPUTER AND DELIBERATELY GOES TO A PORNOGRAPHY SITE. AFTER A WHILE, HE'S AN ADDICT; THAT'S THE KIND OF LUST JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT.
JESUS TALKS ABOUT DIVORCE. WE HAVE CASUAL DIVORCES IN OUR DAY – JUST OPEN UP PEOPLE MAGAZINE ANY PARTICULAR WEEK – AND THIS WAS THE KIND OF DIVORCE IN JESUS' DAY. A MAN WOULD GET TIRED OF HIS WIFE AND DECIDE HE NEEDED SOMEONE YOUNGER AND PRETTIER, AND ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS WRITE OUT A BILL OF DIVORCE, AND HIS WIFE WAS OUT ON THE STREET. OFTEN THE WOMAN ENDED UP DOING WHATEVER SHE COULD TO SURVIVE, INCLUDING PROSTITUTION. SHE MIGHT EVEN MARRY AGAIN, BUT JESUS MAKES IT CLEAR THAT NEITHER ALTERNATIVE IS ACCEPTABLE. DIVORCE ALWAYS COMES BECAUSE ONE PARTY FEELS THAT THE OTHER IS NOT MEETING HIS OR HER NEEDS, AND THAT ATTITUDE MEANS THAT THE PARTNER IS VIEWED AS AN OBJECT, A POSSESSION, INSTEAD OF AN EQUAL TO WHOM ONE IS COMMITTED.
AND FINALLY JESUS TALKS ABOUT TAKING OATHS. THIS ISN'T THE SAME THING AS PROMISING TO TELL THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. THIS STEMS FROM A SITUATION IN WHICH THERE IS GENERAL DISTRUST, SO THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CASUAL SPEECH AND TELLING THE TRUTH. WHEN PEOPLE TAKE OATHS, THEY ARE SAYING THAT “YOU CAN TRUST ME NOW” BUT ALSO, THAT “YOU CAN'T TRUST ME MOST OF THE TIME.” JESUS IS SAYING THAT IT ISN'T A MATTER OF TRUE OATHS AND FALSE OATHS; IT IS A MATTER OF LIVING SO THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO TAKE OATHS. ALL YOU SAY IS TRUE.
THE PHARISEES BUILT FENCES AROUND THE LAWS OF MOSES. JESUS LOOKED AT THE LAWS AND SAW THEIR ROOTS. WHEN THE ROOTS ARE VISIBLE, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE LAW IS NOT AN EXTERNAL THING BUT HAS TO DO WITH OUR AUTHENTIC SELVES. IF WE GO AROUND CONSTANTLY HOLDING A GRUDGE, WE MIGHT MURDER, WE MIGHT HUT OUR NEIGHBOR, BUT WE WILL DEFINITELY DESTROY OURSELVES, BECAUSE SOMETHING THAT POSSESSES US TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN NO LONGER CONTROL OURSELVES ERASES WHAT IS GOD-LIKE IN US, OUR POWER TO CHOOSE. IF WE LIVE IN A STATE OF LUST, AND LUST ISN'T JUST ABOUT SEX, IT CAN BE ABOUT FOOD, ALCOHOL, POWER, RICHES … ALL OF THESE CAN CAUSE ME TO COMMIT SINFUL ACTS, BUT THEY ALWAYS DISTORT AND DIMINISH MY HUMANITY.
NOW JESUS ALSO DEMONSTRATES SOMETHING THAT EACH OF US CAN DO. IF WE EXAMINE WHAT WE DO, AND RECOGNIZE SINFUL ACTS, WE CAN DIG DOWN TO THEIR ROOTS, AND INVARIABLY, WE WILL FIND SOMETHING THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN – AND WE ARE HUMAN TO THE EXTENT THAT WE ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
BUT WE CAN'T DO THIS BY OURSELVES. FORTUNATELY, JESUS STANDS READY TO HELP US IN THE PERSON OF OUR PRIESTS, IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. WE THINK OVER OUR ACTIONS, WE LAY THEM OUT BEFORE THE PRIEST, AND HOPEFULLY, THERE WILL BE SOME DISCUSSION, LOOKING AT THE ROOTS OF OUR ACTIONS. AND THEN WE RECEIVE GOD'S SACRAMENTAL GRACE THAT CAN HELP US AT OUR ROOTS, THAT CAN LIFT THOSE BARRIERS WHICH KEEP US FROM WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.