Sunday, June 5, 2011

Seventh Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

JOHN 17:1-11
I'VE BEEN TO A FEW FUNERALS IN MY LIFE. IT'S AT FUNERALS THAT I AM MOST UNCOMFORTABLE. IF I KNEW AND LOVED THE PERSON WHO HAS DIED, I FEEL GRIEF, BUT OFTEN A SENSE OF RELIEF AS WELL. AND GRIEF AND RELIEF TOGETHER EQUALS GUILT. GRIEF BECAUSE I'LL NEVER EXPERIENCE THAT PERSON AGAIN IN THIS LIFE; AND RELIEF, SOMETIMES, THAT THE SUFFERING IS OVER, THAT THE BURDEN ON THE LOVED ONES HAS BEEN LIFTED. BUT BOTH OF THESE FEELINGS PRESUPPOSE THE END OF THE PERSON, AND CERTAINLY AS A SCIENTIST I KNOW THAT WHAT IS ME RESIDES IN MY BRAIN, AND IF YOU BLOCK THE BLOOD FLOW TO A FRONTAL LOBE MY PERSONALITY WILL CHANGE; IF I DEVELOP NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES IN MY BRAIN, IF I GET ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, I MAY REACH A POINT WHERE I LOSE MY WHOLE SELF, WHERE EVERY MEMORY I HAVE VANISHES. AND WHEN THE BRAIN DIES, WHAT BECOMES OF ME?
I'VE BEEN TO FUNERALS WHERE SOMEONE, USUALLY A SON OR DAUGHTER OF THE DECEASED, TELLS THE ASSEMBLED MOURNERS THAT DAD IS UP IN HEAVEN, GETTING READY TO TEE OFF ON THE ETERNAL GOLF COURSE, OR THAT GRANDMA IS NOW REUNITED WITH GRANDPA, AND THEY ARE SITTING ON A PORCH TOGETHER JUST LIKE WHEN THEY WERE ALIVE. IT'S COMFORTING TO IMAGINE OUR LOVED ONES GOING THROUGH A GENTLE TRANSITION, TO TAKE UP LIFE AGAIN JUST LIKE BEFORE, EXCEPT NOW WITHOUT ALL THE BAD STUFF. ONE OF MY EARLIEST MEMORIES WAS OF MY FATHER SINGING A FEW LINES FROM A SONG WHICH WAS POPULAR IN THOSE DAYS, “BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN”. IT'S A VISION OF HEAVEN WHERE THERE ARE CIGARETTE TREES, LEMONADE SPRINGS, LAKES OF STEW, STREAMS OF ALCOHOL – THE DREAM OF A HOMELESS HOBO.
BUT AS I WAS READING TODAY'S GOSPEL, I WAS STRUCK BY SOMETHING JESUS HIMSELF SAID: “ETERNAL LIFE IS THIS: TO KNOW YOU, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND HIM WHOM YOU HAVE SENT, JESUS CHRIST.” I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT AT FIRST GLANCE, THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE ANY HEAVEN THAT I'VE EVER IMAGINED.
WE THINK OF HEAVEN AS LASTING FOREVER, AND OF COURSE JESUS DID SAY THAT THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIM WILL NEVER DIE. BUT ETERNAL LIFE IS NOT ABOUT TIME, IT SEEMS; NOT ABOUT GOODIES, AND NOT HAVING TO STRUGGLE ANYMORE. JESUS IS SAYING THAT ETERNAL LIFE IS ESSENTIALLY ABOUT RELATIONSHIP. LAST WEEK HE DESCRIBED THAT RELATIONSHIP. HE SAID “I AM IN THE FATHER AND YOU ARE IN ME AND I AM IN YOU.” IN ANOTHER PLACE HE SAYS, “PROTECT THEM IN YOUR NAME THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME, SO THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, AS WE ARE ONE.”
THERE ARE MANY OTHER PASSAGES IN WHICH JESUS TRIES TO PUT INTO HUMAN LANGUAGE A MYSTERY THAT WE CAN BARELY GRASP: WE CAN BE IN GOD, WE CAN BE IN EACH OTHER, WE CAN BE ONE. AND THAT IS THE GOAL OF HUMAN LIFE – TO BE ONE WITH GOD AND ONE WITH EACH OTHER.
SAINT THERESA OF AVILA WAS GIVEN A VISION OF HELL. IT WAS NOT A PLACE OF FIRE WHERE DEMONS PRODDED YOU WITH PITCHFORKS. SHE DESCRIBED IT AS AN EXPERIENCE OF UTTER SILENCE, OF BLACKNESS, WHERE HERE WAS NOTHING TO SEE, NOTHING TO HEAR, SMELL, TOUCH OR TASTE; WHERE THERE WAS NO PAST OR FUTURE, JUST A HORRIBLE NOW OF EMPTINESS. HELL WAS THE COMPLETE LACK OF RELATIONSHIP.
SO ON THE ONE HAND THERE IS ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH MEANS A DEEP, DEEP RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON, A RELATIONSHIP OF ONENESS. AND ON THE OTHER HAND, AN ETERNAL NOW WITH NO RELATIONSHIP WHATSOEVER, NOT EVEN WITH A HEARTBEAT OR A BREATH. AND THE WONDER IS THAT WE ARE ALREADY HALF-WAY THERE. ETERNAL LIFE IS OURS TO LOSE. JESUS IN HIS PRAYER SAYS THAT WE BELONG TO HIM AND WHAT BELONGS TO HIM BELONGS TO THE FATHER. JESUS TALKS ABOUT GLORY, AND WHATEVER GLORY IS, I WANT IT AND YOU WANT IT, ESPECIALLY IF JESUS WANTS IT, AND HE SAYS HERE THAT HE DOES. GLORY IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE THEOLOGICAL WORDS THAT YOU CAN'T QUITE DEFINE. IN THE END IT S A MYSTERY, BUT IT CERTAINLY IS SOMETHING THAT DESCRIBES THE RISEN CHRIST. IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE POOR HUMANS CAN GIVE TO GOD, JUST AS JESUS GIVES GLORY TO HIS FATHER. IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN SAY ABOUT THE BLESSED MOTHER AND THE SAINTS. AND IT IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE SAID OF YOU AND I AS WELL. GLORY CAN MEAN A LOT OF THINGS, BUT I THINK THE BEST DEFINITION IS THAT IT MEANS REVEALING GOD. GLORY, THEN, IS THERE WHEN THAT RELATIONSHIP IS THERE; GOD SHINES THROUGH US SOMEHOW WHEN WE ARE IN THAT ONENESS THAT JESUS PRAYED WOULD BE OURS.
AND THAT BRINGS US TO THE LAST POINT. SAINT PETER TELLS US TO REJOICE WHEN WE SHARE CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS, BECAUSE IT IS HERE THAT GLORY WILL REALLY BE REVEALED. IF WE WANT GLORY, WE HAVE TO SUFFER. NOW WE ALL SUFFER, WE CAN'T ESCAPE THAT, MUCH AS WE TRY. EVERY DAY AND EVERY MOMENT THERE IS A GAP BETWEEN WHAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD BE AND WHAT WE ARE; SOMETIMES IT'S A TINY GAP, SOMETIMES ITS HUGE. IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE LACK OF FREEDOM; THERE IS NO TIME IN ANYONE'S LIFE WHEN HE OR SHE CAN HONESTLY SAY, “IT CAN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS.” AND SUFFERING CAN BE WASTED. WE CAN CURL UP IN A BALL AND WAIT FOR IT TO PASS; WE CAN SUFFER LIKE A DUMB ANIMAL; WE CAN BE ANGRY WITH GOD BECAUSE WE SUFFER. BUT THERE WAS ONCE A MAN WHO WAS SUFFERING, WHO WAS DYING IN GREAT PAIN; AND HE LOOKED TO HIS SIDE AND SAW ANOTHER MAN SUFFERING WITH HIM, AND SAID, “LORD, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM”. AND THAT OTHER MAN ANSWERED, “TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.”
IF YOU WOULD TRULY ENTER INTO THAT MYSTERIOUS RELATIONSHIP THAT IS ETERNAL LIFE, IF YOU WOULD TRULY ENTER INTO THE GLORY THAT BELONGS TO CHRIST AND THE FATHER, THE GLORY THAT IS SHARED BY THE SAINTS, IF YOU WOULD TRULY LOOK FOR THOSE MOMENTS IN YOUR LIFE WHEN JESUS IS CLOSEST TO YOU, WHEN HE IS MOST ONE WITH YOU, IT IS WHEN YOU ARE SUFFERING. AND THAT IS A GREAT MYSTERY, AND IT'S SCARY, AND IT TURNS EVERYTHING UPSIDE DOWN, BECAUSE WE SORT OF THINK THAT ETERNAL LIFE IS THE ABSENCE OF SUFFERING.
BUT ETERNAL LIFE, JESUS SAYS, IS TO KNOW THE ONE TRUE GOD AND THE CHRIST WHOM HE HAS SENT. AND IT WAS IN HIS SUFFERING THAT JESUS GLORIFIED THE FATHER AND WAS GLORIFIED. AND WE WHO ARE GIVEN TO JESUS BY THE FATHER ARE ALSO GIVEN THE GIFT OF SUFFERING, SO THAT WE CAN BECOME ONE WITH JESUS AND HE WITH US.
WHAT A MYSTERY! BUT WHAT A PROMISE. IF GOD CAN TURN SUFFERING INTO GLORY, THEN WHAT CAN'T HE DO?
LET US PRAY, NOT THAT GOD REMOVE SUFFERING FROM OUR LIVES, BUT THAT WHEN SUFFERING COMES, WE WILL SEE HOW CLOSE WE ARE IN THOSE MOMENTS TO JESUS.