First Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

MARK 1:12-15

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN MONTANA, MY COUSINS WENT TO A SMALL WOODEN CHURCH IN THE TINY TOWN OF EAST HELENA DEDICATED TO SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS. I ONLY KNEW VAGUELY THAT THEY WERE BROTHERS WHO WERE MISSIONARIES. I WAS REMINDED OF THEM ON VALENTINE'S DAY THIS MONTH, WHEN, CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT, WE CELEBRATED THEIR FEAST DAY RATHER THAN THE FEAST OF SAINT VALENTINE. I DON'T HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS, BUT I'M SURE YOU CAN ASK FATHER AFTER MASS.

BOTH BROTHERS ARE WORTH STUDYING, BUT I'M GOING TO CONCENTRATE ON SAINT CYRIL. HE WAS THE OLDER BROTHER, AND STARTED HIS CAREER AS A LAYMAN, WORKING FOR THE BYZANTINE EMPEROR. HIS GIVEN NAME WAS CONSTANTINE. THE EMPIRE WAS THREATENED BY ISLAM AND THERE WERE CONFLICTS WITH JEWISH COMMUNITIES; CYRIL, IN ORDER TO ADDRESS SOME OF THESE PROBLEMS, STUDIED THEOLOGY, AND LEARNED ARABIC AND HEBREW. HE WROTE SEVERAL TRACTS DEMONSTRATING WHY CHRISTIANITY WAS SUPERIOR TO ISLAM AND JUDAISM. EVENTUALLY THE EMPEROR PREVAILED UPON HIM AND HIS BROTHER, WHO WAS A PRIEST, TO CONVERT THE SLAVIC PEOPLE, WHO WERE PAGANS, BUT ALSO, WHO WERE BEING ACTIVELY PROSELYTIZED BY MISSIONARIES FROM GERMANY, WHO REPRESENTED THE POPE. THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCH HAD NOT SPLIT AT THAT TIME, BUT THERE WAS INTENSE RIVALRY. CYRIL WITH HIS BROTHER MANAGED TO CREATE THE SLAVONIC LITURGY AND DESIGNED AN ALPHABET FOR THE SLAVIC LANGUAGES. CYRIL WON THE APPROVAL OF THE POPE FOR HIS EFFORTS, LEGITIMIZING THE SLAVONIC LITURGY IN THE EYES OF ROME. HE DIED AT ABOUT THE AGE 50, AND ONLY A FEW DAYS BEFORE HE DIED, HE BECAME A MONK, TAKING THE NAME CYRIL.

CYRIL WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL BUREAUCRAT, AND MIGHT HAVE SPENT HIS LIFE ADVANCING IN THE COURT OF THE EMPEROR. BUT HE LEFT THIS LIFE FOR A LIFE OF STRUGGLE AND SOME DEGREE OF PERSECUTION AND BEING MISUNDERSTOOD. HE DIED BEFORE SEEING HIS EFFORTS REACH COMPLETION; HIS BROTHER METHODIUS LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO SEE THEIR EFFORTS SUCCEED.

CYRIL ILLUSTRATES SOMETHING ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN. I WAS REMINDED OF THAT BY THE GOSPEL TODAY. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT JESUS WAS “DRIVEN” BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. CYRIL WAS DRIVEN, AS WELL, AS WERE ALL OF THE SAINTS. A CHRISTIAN IS SOMEONE WHO SUBMITS TO BEING DRIVEN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. AND OFTEN THAT MEANS GOING WHERE YOU DON'T WANT TO GO, DOING THINGS YOU DON'T WANT TO DO.

A CHRISTIAN, BY VIRTUE OF HER BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION, BECOMES THE HANDS AND FEET AND VOICE OF CHRIST, AND BECOMES, IN THE WORDS WE USED TO USE WHEN I WAS YOUNG, A TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

THE SACRAMENTS GIVE US THE GRACE TO DO WHAT CYRIL DID, WHAT ANY OF THE SAINTS DID – THE GRACE TO DO WHAT WE DON'T WANT TO DO. BUT LIKE ALL GRACES, THEY DON'T WORK IN A VACUUM. FOR GRACE TO WORK, THE ONE RECEIVING THE GRACE HAS TO COOPERATE. GRACES CAN BE GIVEN, BUT IGNORED.

WE HUMAN BEINGS ARE ALWAYS CAUGHT BETWEEN THE VOICE OF THE SERPENT AND THE VOICE OF GOD. GIVEN ANY DECISION, THERE IS THE ONE THAT ANSWERS THE DESIRES OF MY ANIMAL NATURE, AND THE ONE THAT HELPS BRING GOD'S KINGDOM CLOSER. MOST OF THE TIME, OUR DECISIONS DON'T SEEM TO BE VERY MOMENTOUS, AND IN THE COURSE OF A DAY, WE MAY MAKE SOME DECISIONS OUT OF SELFISHNESS AND SOME BECAUSE WE ARE SENSITIVE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. BUT WE MAKE THESE DECISIONS ON THE EDGE OF OUR CONSCIOUSNESS; NO WONDER WE DON'T SEE MUCH CHANGE AS TIME GOES ON.

AND THAT IS WHERE LENT COMES IN. DURING LENT, OUR GOAL SHOULD BE TO BECOME MORE SENSITIVE TO THE MOVEMENTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. IN ORDER TO TO DO THIS, WE HAVE TO BECOME MORE CONSCIOUS OF THOSE DECISIONS WHICH STEM FROM OUR ANIMAL NATURE, THOSE DECISIONS THAT STEM FROM OUR SELFISHNESS. AND THAT IS WHY WE FAST AND ABSTAIN. IN THE OLDEN DAYS, WE WERE AWARE OF THIS EVERY DAY OF LENT; WE FASTED SIX OUT OF SEVEN DAYS. IT CERTAINLY DIDN'T KILL US, AND SOME OF US LOST A LITTLE WEIGHT, WHICH IS ALWAYS GOOD; BUT IN THE PROCESS OF CONSCIOUSLY NOT EATING AN AVAILABLE PIECE OF CHOCOLATE, OR NOT INDULGING ON THAT NICE MARTINI AT THE END OF THE WORK DAY, WE REMEMBERED THAT WE WERE ABLE TO RESIST TEMPTATION AND GROW IN GRACE. IT'S A GOOD THING, OF COURSE, TO DO SOMETHING POSITIVE DURING LENT, AND SOMETIMES IT HAS A SIMILAR EFFECT; BUT I THINK IT'S EASIER TO ADD SOMETHING TO OUR DAY THEN IT IS TO TAKE SOMETHING THAT IS ALMOST A PART OF US AND PUT IT ASIDE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS SOMETHING THAT REALLY HURTS TO GIVE UP. THAT IS WHAT FASTING MEANS – NOT TURNING INTO SKIN AND BONES, BUT GIVING UP, JUST FOR A TIME, SOMETHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH OUR SELFISH SIDE, OUR ANIMAL NATURE.

REMEMBER, OUR GOAL IS TO BECOME SENSITIVE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WE CAN BEGIN TO DO THIS BY CONSCIOUSLY MAKING A DENT IN OUR SELFISHNESS, OUR SELF-CENTEREDNESS. AND IN THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE FEEL THE ACHE IN OUR LIVES BECAUSE WE ARE FASTING, WE CAN HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SPIRIT, AND BECOME MORE FAMILIAR WITH HIM.

IT SEEMS LIKE A LITTLE THING, TO GIVE SOMETHING UP FOR LENT. BUT REMEMBER THAT OUR GOAL IS TO OPEN OUR LIVES UP TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND ALLOW HIM TO “DRIVE” US, AS HE DROVE JESUS, AS HE DRIVES THE SAINTS. AND ONCE WE ALLOW THIS, WE WILL BEGIN TO SEE THOSE MOMENTS IN OUR LIVES WHEN THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR JESUS TO ACT THROUGH US, AND WHEN HE DOES, IT WILL BECOME POSSIBLE FOR US TO DO MORE, AND AS WE YIELD TO THE SPIRIT, WE MIGHT FIND OURSELVES DOING GREAT THINGS FOR GOD, FULFILLING OUR CALLING AS CHRISTIANS.

SO LET US RESOLVE TO MAKE THIS LENT DIFFERENT, AND PRAY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT; BUT ALSO FAST FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND REACH OUT TO THOSE WHO NEED US FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT. AND MAY THE HOLY SPIRIT DRIVE US WHERE WE DON'T WANT TO GO, AND MOVE US TO DO WHAT WE DON'T WANT TO DO.

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

MARK 2:1-12

WHEN I LISTEN TO THIS GOSPEL, I HAVE AN ODD REACTION. HAVE YOU EVER MOVED A PARALYZED PERSON AROUND? I HAVE. IT'S VERY DIFFICULT. THEY ARE DEAD WEIGHT. HERE FOUR MEN HAVE STRUGGLED TO GET THEIR FRIEND UP ON THE ROOF OF THE HOUSE IN WHICH JESUS IS TEACHING AND HEALING. THEY HAVE REMOVED A PORTION OF THE ROOF, AND THEN VERY CAREFULLY LOWERED THEIR FRIEND DOWN IN FRONT OF JESUS. THE GOSPEL TELLS US THAT JESUS SAW THEIR FAITH. NOW WE KNOW THAT IN OTHER STORIES ABOUT JESUS' MIRACLES, THAT'S IMPORTANT. HE TELLS A WOMAN THAT HER FAITH HAS SAVED HER. HE COMMENTS ON THE LACK OF FAITH WHEN HE IS HAVING PROBLEMS WORKING MIRACLES IN HIS HOME TOWN. FAITH SEEMS TO BE IMPORTANT FOR JESUS IF MIRACLES ARE TO HAPPEN. SO WHEN JESUS SEES THE FAITH OF THE FRIENDS OF THE PARALYZED MAN, WE WOULD CERTAINLY EXPECT THAT THE NEXT THING TO HAPPEN WOULD BE A MIRACLE.

WHEN JESUS SAYS, “CHILD, YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN.” I AM A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED. OF COURSE JESUS GOES ON TO MAKE IT RIGHT AND REALLY DOES HEAL THE MAN, SO IT ALL TURNS OUT WELL IN THE END. BUT THINK FOR A MINUTE ABOUT MY ASSUMPTIONS. FORGIVING SINS IS NO BIG DEAL; HEALING A PARALYTIC IS.

I THINK THE SCRIBES WERE PROBABLY SMARTER THAN I AM AT THIS POINT, BECAUSE THEY REACTED WITH SHOCK AND ALARM WHEN JESUS SAID “YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN.”

DURING THE TIME JESUS WALKED THE EARTH, EVERYONE KNEW THAT HEALINGS TOOK PLACE THROUGH MIRACULOUS INTERVENTION. THEY WERE WRITTEN ABOUT IN THE SCRIPTURES, AND IT WAS COMMON FOR PEOPLE TO SEEK OUT HOLY MEN AND WOMEN, NOT JUST AMONG THE JEWS BUT EVEN AMONG THE PAGANS. AND SOMETIMES HEALING TOOK PLACE. TODAY WE MIGHT HAVE A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION FOR IT, BUT THIS KIND OF THINKING WASN'T HAPPENING THEN, AND IF YOU SOUGHT THE INTERVENTION OF GOD OR A REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD, AND YOU WERE HEALED, CAUSE AND EFFECT WAS OBVIOUS. SOMETIMES JESUS' OPPONENTS ATTRIBUTED HIS HEALING TO DEMONIC FORCES; AND ONCE AT LEAST THEY TRIED TO CONVINCE THE MAN BLIND FROM BIRTH THAT JESUS DIDN'T REALLY HEAL HIM, BUT MOST OF THE TIME, NO ONE QUESTIONS THAT JESUS COULD HEAL.

BUT THAT SOMEONE COULD FORGIVE SINS – THAT WAS BLASPHEMY. A SIN WAS AN OFFENSE AGAINST GOD, AND ONLY GOD COULD FORGIVE SOMEONE WHO OFFENDED HIM. THE JEWS SPENT A LOT OF MONEY AND TIME AND EFFORT HOPING TO PERSUADE GOD TO FORGIVE THEIR SINS. ON YOM KIPPUR, ONE GOAT WAS OFFERED TO GOD AND THE OTHER SENT INTO THE DESERT SYMBOLICALLY CARRYING THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE. EVERY DAY IN THE TEMPLE, A LAMB WAS SACRIFICED IN THE MORNING AND ANOTHER IN THE EVENING FOR THE SINS OF ISRAEL; AND PEOPLE PAID FOR PRIVATE SACRIFICES AS WELL. AND DESPITE THIS, ALL REMEMBERED HOW GOD HAD REJECTED THE SACRIFICE OF CAIN FOR REASONS WHICH NO ONE KNEW; AND THEY KNEW THE SCRIPTURE THAT SAID, “GOD LOVED ISAAC AND HATED EASAU”. WHO COULD TELL IF GOD EVER FORGAVE SINS?

BUT THIS IS WHAT JESUS SAW. THE PARALYTIC WAS PARALYZED BECAUSE OF SIN. IT WASN'T PERSONAL SIN; BUT EVEN NOW, EVERY TIME YOU SEE SOMEONE WHO IS BROKEN DOWN BY OLD AGE, WHO IS WEARING A CASTE, WHO HAS TO HAVE A HEARING AID OR EYEGLASSES TO USE THOSE SENSES; ANYTIME YOU SEE A HUMAN BEING WHOSE BODY OR MIND COULD USE SOME TUNING UP BY GOD, YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN. WE ARE ALL SINNERS; WE ALL SHARE IN THE SIN OF OUR FIRST PARENTS, AND EVEN IF WE HAVE HARDLY EVER COMMITTED ANY KIND OF SERIOUS SIN, WE SHARE IN THE SOCIETAL SINS – AS SOMEONE ONCE SAID, IF YOU HAVE TWO SETS OF CLOTHING AND SOMEONE ELSE HAS NONE, THAT PERSON OWNS THAT SECOND SET. WE ARE ALL DESPERATELY IN NEED OF FORGIVENESS.

AND THE REAL MIRACLE IS THAT WE CAN RECEIVE FORGIVENESS AND KNOW WE ARE FORGIVEN. THAT'S THE MIRACLE OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE.

JOHN PAUL II TELLS US THAT THE BODY IS A SACRAMENT OF THE SELF. THAT MEANS THAT THE BODY REVEALS THE SELF BEHIND IT, WHAT WE MIGHT CALL THE SOUL. AND ACTIONS BY THE BODY, AND ACTIONS DONE TO THE BODY, AFFECT THE SELF. THESE BODIES WE HAVE NOW WE WILL HAVE FOREVER, BECAUSE WE ARE MADE TO BE EMBODIED SPIRITS. SO WHEN THE SCRIBES RECOIL IN HORROR AS JESUS CLAIMS THE POWER TO FORGIVE SIN, JESUS SHOWS THEM THAT HE HAS THE POWER BY DOING TO THE BODY WHAT HE HAS JUST DONE TO THE SOUL – THE SOUL HAS BEEN FREED OF PARALYSIS, NOW THE BODY WILL BE AS WELL.

JESUS LEAVES US WITH ACCESS TO REAL MIRACLES THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS. BUT THEY ARE MIRACLES THAT AFFECT OURSELVES. LAZARUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD, BUT HE STILL GREW OLD AND DIED. NONE OF THE MIRACLES OF HEALING THAT JESUS PERFORMED WHEN HE WAS WALKING THE EARTH, OR EVEN THAT HE PERFORMS TODAY THROUGH HIS MOTHER AND THE SAINTS, IS A LASTING MIRACLE, ONLY A SIGN THAT MIRACLES ARE POSSIBLE. THE REAL MIRACLES ARE THOSE THAT AFFECT THE TRUE SELF, MIRACLES OF FORGIVENESS, AS IN PENANCE; MIRACLES OF BECOMING ONE WITH CHRIST, AS IN THE EUCHARIST, THE MIRACLE OF BECOMING A SON OR DAUGHTER OF GOD, THROUGH BAPTISM; AND YOU CAN FILL IN THE BLANKS FOR THE OTHER SACRAMENTS. JESUS LEFT US THE IMPORTANT MIRACLES, AND IT IS A TERRIBLE FAILURE OF IMAGINATION AND INDEED, OF OUR UNDERSTANDING OF REALITY, THAT WE FEEL A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED WHEN JESUS TELLS THE PARALYZED MAN “YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN.” AND WE WAIT ANXIOUSLY FOR THE SUPPOSED “REAL” MIRACLE TO COME.

AS WE BEGIN TO ENTER THE LENTEN SEASON, LET US MAKE AN EFFORT TO SEE REALITY MORE CLEARLY. LET US APPRECIATE AND REVEL IN THE FACT THAT WE CAN BE FORGIVEN IF WE WANT TO BE; THAT WE CAN BE ONE WITH JESUS IF WE WANT; AND THAT THESE MIRACLES ARE FAR GREATER THAN A MERE HEALING, OR EVEN BEING RAISED FROM THE DEAD. OUR TRUE GOAL, OUR TRUE HOME, IS TO BE GATHERED INTO THE TRINITY, WHERE WE WILL EXPERIENCE LIFE SUCH THAT WHAT WE HAVE NOW WILL BE NOTHING BUT A SHADOW. AND GOD DID EVERYTHING HE COULD TO MAKE THIS A SURE THING IF WE WANT IT. AND THE ONLY THING THAT KEEPS US FROM THAT GOAL IS OUR OWN SELVES. WE WOULD RATHER BE HEALED FROM PARALYSIS THAN HAVE OUR SINS FORGIVEN. OTHERWISE, OUR CONFESSIONALS WOULD BE OCCUPIED DAY AND NIGHT, AND OUR PRIESTS WOULD HAVE TIME FOR NOTHING ELSE.