Sunday, July 1, 2012

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B


MARK 5:21-43
ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE OF MY FAMILY, THERE WERE THIRTY-THREE COUSINS. I THINK IF WE HAD TO TAKE A VOTE ON OUR FAVORITE UNCLE, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN MY UNCLE PAUL. HIS SEVEN KIDS WOULD HAVE TO BE BARRED FROM VOTING, OF COURSE, AND SERIOUSLY, I MAY BE COMPLETELY WRONG ABOUT HOW THE VOTE WOULD TURN OUT. I WAS FOND OF ALL MY RELATIVES BUT EVEN WHEN I WAS SMALL, I LOVED TO VISIT UNCLE PAUL, WHO OPERATED A FARM ABOUT SEVEN MILES FROM WHERE I GREW UP. AND WHEN I TRY TO PUT REASONS FOR THIS, I COME UP WITH ONE; HE NEVER SEEMED TOO BUSY TO STOP AND TALK TO ME, GIVING ME HIS FULL AND SERIOUS ATTENTION. THOSE MOMENTS CAME NOW AND THEN WITH MY PARENTS. BUT USUALLY EACH WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH SOME ADULT CONCERN, OR THEY WERE EXHAUSTED AT THE END OF A BUSY DAY. BUT UNCLE PAUL WOULD PUT DOWN WHAT HE WAS DOING, OR PERHAPS INVOLVE ME IN WHATEVER TASK HE WAS CARRYING OUT. HE'D SHOW ME HOW TO MILK A COW, OR TIGHTEN A BARBED WIRE FENCE, OR EVEN DRIVE AN OLD MODEL A FORD THAT HE KEPT ON THE FARM. AND I WASN'T UNIQUE. I SAW HIM DO THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITH PEOPLE WHO WOULD STOP BY. SO IT WAS NO WONDER THAT ALL THROUGH MY GROWING UP VISITING UNCLE PAUL WAS A HIGH POINT.
DO YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND GOD? SURE, GOD IS PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST AND IN THE WORD, AND IN THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS. BUT GOD IS PRESENT ONLY IN THE PRESENT, IN THE NOW, IN THE MOMENT. FOR GOD THERE IS NO PAST, NO FUTURE; THAT'S WHY IN ANSWER TO MOSES' QUESTION, HE REPLIED, “I AM”, NOT “I WAS AND I WILL BE. YOU AND I ARE MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE AND LIKENESS, AND THE PAST DOESN'T EXIST, AND THE FUTURE DOESN'T EXIST; THEY ARE ONLY MEMORIES AND EXPECTATIONS. BUT FOR SOME REASON, WE HUMAN BEINGS LIVE MOST OF OUR LIVES IN THE PAST AND THE FUTURE, IN PLACES THAT DON'T EXIST. WE CARRY AROUND MEMORIES THAT DRAG US DOWN; RESENTMENTS, REGRETS, SOMETIMES MOMENTS WE LIVE OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN OUR MINDS, GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES; AND WE ALL HAVE LISTS OF ALL THE THINGS WE ARE GOING TO DO WHEN THE FUTURE COMES, WHEN WE FINISH THIS PROJECT, WHEN WE RETIRE, WHEN WE GET THE MORTGAGE PAID OFF. AND BECAUSE OF THIS WE MISS THE PRESENT, WE MISS WHERE GOD IS, AND WHERE WE REALLY LIVE.
IN THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN, JESUS DESCRIBES A PRIEST AND A LEVITE WHO PASS A STRANGER LYING IN THE ROAD, BEATEN NEARLY TO DEATH. THERE ARE MANY EXPLANATIONS FOR THIS; PERHAPS THEY WORRIED ABOUT THIS MAN BEING A DECOY, AND IF THEY STOPPED TO HELP, THEY WOULD BE ROBBED; PERHAPS THEY WERE HYPOCRITES, WHO PREACHED CHARITY BUT DIDN'T PRACTICE IT. BUT I THINK JESUS USED A PRIEST AND LEVITE IN THIS STORY DELIBERATELY; BECAUSE A PRIEST WOULD BE HURRYING TO JERUSALEM TO TAKE HIS PLACE IN WORSHIP, AND THAT WAS SUPREMELY IMPORTANT, AND HE HAD TO BE RITUALLY CLEAN, AND HE WOULD BECOME UNCLEAN IF HE STOPPED TO HELP THIS MAN. THE LEVITE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR DISTRIBUTING SOME OF THE TREASURY OF THE TEMPLE TO THE POOR; AND HE WAS ON A MISSION AS WELL. THEY WERE LIVING IN THE FUTURE AND THEY MISSED THE MOMENT IN THE PRESENT WHEN THEY MIGHT ENCOUNTER GOD, THEY MIGHT MINISTER TO GOD, IN THE PERSON OF THE MAN BEATEN BY ROBBERS.
AND IN TODAY'S GOSPEL, WE SEE JESUS BEING PULLED ALONG FRANTICALLY BY ONE JARIUS, AN OFFICIAL OF THE LOCAL SYNAGOGUE. HIS DAUGHTER WAS DYING, AND JESUS WAS HIS ONLY HOPE. BUT JESUS STOPS, AND SAYS, “WHO TOUCHED ME?” AND PROCEEDS TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH A WOMAN WHO WAS NOT ONLY IN POVERTY BECAUSE SHE HAD SPENT ALL HER MONEY ON DOCTORS, BUT WAS UNCLEAN BECAUSE OF CHRONIC BLEEDING, AND THEREFORE AN OUTCAST. AND EVERYONE ELSE IS LIVING IN THE FUTURE, TRYING TO GET JESUS TO MOVE ALONG, TO GET TO THE DAUGHTER OF JARIUS BEFORE SHE DIES. BUT JESUS IS WHERE GOD IS, IN THE NOW, IN THE PRESENT. AND IN GOD'S OWN TIME, JESUS MOVES ON TO BRING THE YOUNG GIRL BACK TO LIFE. AND EVEN HERE JESUS LIVES IN THE PRESENT, AND ONLY HE NOTICES THAT THE PARENTS ARE DUMFOUNDED, AND THE LITTLE GIRL IS HUNGRY, AND HE TELLS THE PARENTS, GIVE HER SOMETHING TO EAT; PUT ASIDE WHAT JUST HAPPENED; BE A PARENT IN THE PRESENT.
AND THIS IS ONLY ONE OF THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. NO MATTER WHAT HE IS DOING, NO MATTER WHO HE IS TALKING TO, IF SOMEONE COMES TO HIM WITH A NEED, HE PUTS THINGS ON HOLD AND ATTENDS TO THAT NEED. HE NEVER TELLS ANYONE TO GET IN LINE, OR CHECK WITH HIM LATER, OR COME BACK IN THE MORNING.
SUMMER IS UPON US, AND WE HAVE GOOD WEATHER AND MOST OF US HAVE A LITTLE LESS PRESSURE THAN WE DO IN THE REST OF THE YEAR. THE ACTIVITIES OF OUR KIDS HAVE BEEN CUT BACK; OUR COLLEAGUES TAKE VACATIONS AS DO WE, SO THE WORKPLACE ISN'T SO FRENETIC; AND SOMETIMES WE CAN'T HELP BUT BE KNOCKED OVER BY A GLORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL DAY, OR A BACK YARD FULL OF FLOWERS, OR OLD FRIENDS PASSING THROUGH; SUMMER IS A TIME FOR US TO RE-FOCUS ON THE PRESENT, ON WHERE GOD IS. WE HAVE THIS WONDERFUL SEASON WHEN GOD TELLS US TO GO OUT FOR A WALK, TO SIT AND ENJOY EACH OTHER'S COMPANY, TO TAKE THE KIDS TO THE BEACH; TO LIVE MORE COMPLETELY IN THE PRESENT, THE PRESENT WHERE GOD IS. AND LIKEWISE, IT'S A TIME WHEN WE NEED TO LOOK AROUND AT THE OPPORTUNITIES GOD GIVES US FOR WORKING MIRACLES FOR EACH OTHER; A KIND WORD, AN ACT OF CHARITY, A REACHING OUT; BECAUSE WE ARE MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE, AND THE PRESENT IS REALLY THE ONLY PLACE WE CAN ACTUALLY ALL DO GOD'S WORK.
MY UNCLE PAUL WAS A SUCCESSFUL FARMER. HE INVESTED IN REAL ESTATE AND WAS A PARTNER IN A COUPLE OF BUSINESSES, BESIDES. AFTER HIS KIDS WERE RAISED, HE AND MY AUNT DID A LOT OF TRAVELING, AND AFTER SHE PASSED AWAY AND HE STARTED TO FEEL HIS AGE, HE HAD ENOUGH MONEY PUT ASIDE TO AFFORD AN ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY. HE WAS A GOOD BUSINESSMAN AND A VERY PRUDENT FARMER, WHO ALWAYS SEEMED TO KNOW WHAT CROPS OR LIVESTOCK WOULD BRING THE MOST RETURN. BUT HE HAD THE GIFT OF LIVING IN THE PRESENT, AND THAT MEANT THAT HE COULD PUT DOWN WHAT HE WAS DOING, AND GIVE HIS FULL AND UNDIVIDED ATTENTION TO A NINE YEAR OLD NEPHEW. IN A WORLD WHERE YOU ARE JUST A KID, AND ALL THE ADULTS WERE PREOCCUPIED WITH BEING ADULTS AND DOING ADULT THINGS, HE OFFERED ME THE MIRACLE OF TAKING ME SERIOUSLY, OF LISTENING TO WHAT I HAD TO SAY. SOMETHING LIKE JESUS DID FOR THE WOMAN IN TODAY'S GOSPEL, I SUPPOSE.