JOHN 14:1-12
AT THE GATE OF HEAVEN, SAINT PETER
ASKS MOTHER THERESA WHY SHE SHOULD BE ADMITTED TO HEAVEN. SHE
REPLIES, “I FOUNDED A RELIGIOUS ORDER; I SPENT MY LIFE CARING FOR
PEOPLE NO ONE ELSE CARED FOR. I WITNESSED THE GOSPEL EVERY CHANCE I
GOT.” SAINT PETER SAYS, “NOT GOOD ENOUGH. GO TO THE END OF THE
LINE. THEN JOHN PAUL II COMES UP. “I TRAVELED ALL OVER THE WORLD
PREACHING THE GOSPEL. I TRANSFORMED THE CHURCH FOR THE BETTER. I
LIVED A HOLY LIFE AND HELPED FREE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FROM THE SLAVERY
OF COMMUNISM.” AND PETER SAYS, “NOT GOOD ENOUGH, GO TO THE END
OF THE LINE.” THEN THE BLESSED MOTERH COMES UP. “I AM NOTHING,”
SHE SAYS. “MY SOUL REFLECTS THE LORD, MY SPIRIT REJOICES ONLY IN
GOD MY SAVIOR.” “COME RIGHT IN,” SAYS PETER. “THAT'S
ENOUGH.”.
RICHARD ROHR, A FRANCISCAN PRIEST AND
SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, SAYS THAT WE SPEND THE FIRST HALF OF OUR LIVES
DEFINING OURSELVES. WE BECOME WHO WE ARE. I BECOME A HUSBAND,
FATHER, PHYSICIAN, DEACON, AND ALL THE NUMEROUS OTHER THINGS THAT
MAKE ME A UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL. HE GOES ON TO SAY THAT DURING THE
SECOND HALF OF OUR LIVES THE REAL WORK IS TO SHED ALL OF THESE
THINGS. IN THE MOST ANCIENT FORM OF BUDDHISM THEY SEEM TO UNDERSTAND
THAT. MEN SOMEWHERE IN THE LATER PART OF THEIR LIVES GIVE UP FAMILY,
OCCUPATION, SOCIAL ATTACHMENTS, AND ENTER A MONASTERY. THERE THEY
WORK ON SHEDDING THEMSELVES OF DESIRE, HOPING TO ESCAPE THE WHEEL OF
REINCARNATION. BUT ROHR SAYS THAT THE DANGER IN WESTERN SOCIETY IS
THAT WE TEND TO KEEP ALL THOSE THINGS THAT IDENTIFY US; WE TEND TO
HANG ON TO TITLES AND RELATIONSHIPS SO THAT WE NEVER BECOME OUR REAL
SELVES. TODAY WE HEAR JESUS PROCLAIMING TO PHILIP THAT IF YOU HAVE
SEEN ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER; AND WE HEAR HIM SAY, I AM IN THE
FATHER AND HE IS IN ME.
FOR CENTURIES CHRISTIANS HAVE
INTERPRETED THIS AS THE SCRIPTURAL BASIS FOR THE TRINITY, AND IT IS.
BUT IT IS ALSO A MESSAGE FOR US.
JESUS IS THE PERFECT HUMAN BEING.
THAT MEANS, AS SAINT LUKE TELLS US, THAT HE GREW IN GRACE AND
PERFECTION. JESUS DID THE WORK ALL PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO, AND HE
DID IT PERFECTLY. HE WENT THROUGH THAT TIME OF FORMING HIS IDENTITY;
HE BECAME SON, CARPENTER, FRIEND, HEALER, PREACHER; HE BECAME
PROPHET, AND MIRACLE WORKER. HE WAS FAMOUS THROUGHOUT PALESTINE.
BUT THEN AT THE TIME OF HIS TRANSFIGURATION, HE BEGAN THE PROCESS OF
SHEDDING ALL THESE THINGS THAT DEFINE HIM. THE APOSTLES HAD A
MOMENTARY GLIMPSE OF JESUS' TRUE SELF, THE SELF THAT THE FATHER
DECLARED “BELOVED”. AND THEN THEY WENT DOWN TO JERUSALEM, WHERE
JESUS WOULD SHED EVERYTHING, HIS FAME, BECAUSE HE WAS REVILED AND
HUMILIATED; HIS POWER, BECAUSE HE WAS MADE HELPLESS ON THE CROSS; HIS
POSSESSIONS, BECAUSE EVEN HIS GARMENTS WERE DIVIDED AND GIVEN AWAY;
AND HIS PLEASURE, BECAUSE HE WAS MADE TO UNDERGO AN AGONIZING DEATH.
IN TODAY'S GOSPEL HE IS TELLING US THAT IF YOU LOOK BENEATH ALL THESE
THINGS THAT DEFINE WHO JESUS IS, YOU WILL MEET THE FATHER, WHO IS ONE
WITH THE SON.
YOU AND I, IF WE ARE TO BELIEVE
RICHARD ROHR, ARE CALLED TO DO THE SAME THING, ONCE WE HAVE BECOME
WHO WE ARE, ONCE WE HAVE DEFINED OURSELVES, WE HAVE REACHED A POINT
WHERE WE ARE “TOGETHER” ENOUGH TO SEARCH FOR THAT DEEPER SELF,
THE SELF THAT THE FATHER CALLS “BELOVED”. FOR US TO BECOME THAT
SELF, WE NEED TO IDENTIFY IT, TO FIND IT, AND THEN TO LEAVE BEHIND
FAME, POWER, POSSESSIONS AND PLEASURE. FOR SOME THIS PROCESS BEGINS
EARLY, AND FOR OTHERS, VERY LATE IN LIFE; FOR SOME IT IS RELATIVELY
SUDDEN, FOR OTHERS, VERY GRADUAL. I AM PRIVILEGED TO WORK WITH
PEOPLE AT THE FAR END OF THEIR LIVES, AND I SEE THIS. THERE ARE SOME
WHO GRACIOUSLY LET GO OF EVERYTHING, WHILE OTHERS HANG ON WITH ALL
THEIR MIGHT TO THEIR RELATIONSHIPS, THEIR PLACE IN SOCIETY, THEIR
PLEASURES AND THEIR POWERS. THERE IS SOMETHING ADMIRABLE ABOUT BOTH;
THOSE WHO CLING TO WHAT MAKES THEM UNIQUE ARE NOT GOING GENTLY INTO
THAT GOOD NIGHT; THEY ARE FIGHTING TO HANG ON TO THEMSELVES. BUT
THAT IS A FUTILE FIGHT THAT CAN'T BE WON. THOSE WHO ARE LETTING GO
OF EVERYTHING, EVEN SOMETIMES THEIR IDENTITIES, ARE HOPEFULLY FINDING
THEIR DEEPER SELF, EVEN IF WE WHO WATCH DON'T KNOW IT.
THAT PROCESS WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH,
THAT PROCESS OF TRUE DETACHMENT, DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE SHOULD ALL GIVE
UP EVERYTHING AND ENTER MONASTERIES. BUT IT IS A WORK, IT ISN'T
SOMETHING THAT IS GIVEN TO US; AND IT HAS TO BE DONE IF WE ARE TO
ENTER INTO UNION WITH GOD FOR ALL ETERNITY. OUR CHURCH SHOWS US THE
WAY. THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS, ESPECIALLY THE EUCHARIST, WE UNITE BODY
AND SOUL WITH JESUS. THROUGH THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION WE
EXAMINE AND CAST OFF THOSE THINGS WHICH PUT BARRIERS BETWEEN US AND
OUR TRUE SELVES. AND THROUGH PRAYER, FASTING, AND WORKS OF CHARITY WE
BEGIN TO DETACH OURSELVES FROM POSSESSIONS, FROM FAME, FROM POWER,
FROM PLEASURE. AND BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT MANY OF US WON'T COMPLETE
THIS WORK ON THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE, AND BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT GOD IS
ALL MERCIFUL, WE BELIEVE THAT EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO COMPLETELY REJECT
THE POSSIBILITY OF BECOMING ONE WITH THE FATHER, WE WILL CONTINUE
THIS WORK IN PURGATORY, UNTIL WE BECOME WHAT WE ARE MEANT TO BE.
WHEN JESUS SAYS, “I AM THE WAY, THE
TRUTH, AND THE LIFE,” HE IS TELLING US TO GO WHERE HE IS GOING,
WHERE HE WILL GO. HE IS TELLING US THAT WE ALSO, BECAUSE HE HAS
PAVED THE WAY, CAN BECOME ONE WITH THE FATHER. WE ONLY NEED TO
FOLLOW HIS LEAD. SAINT AUGUSTINE BACK IN THE FOURTH CENTURY KNEW
THIS. HERE IS WHAT HE SAID.
LATE HAVE I LOVED YOU, O BEAUTY EVER
ANCIENT, EVER NEW, LATE HAVE I LOVED YOU! YOU WERE WITHIN ME, BUT I
WAS OUTSIDE, AIND IT WAS THERE THAT I SEARCHED FOR YOU. IN MY
UNLOVELINESS I PLUNGED INTO THE LOVELY THINGS WHICH YOU CREATED. YOU
WERE WITH ME, BUT I WAS NOT WITH YOU. CREATED THINGS KEPT ME FROM
YOU; YET IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN IN YOU THEY WOULD HAVE NOT BEEN AT ALL.
YOU CALLED, YOU SHOUTED, AND YOU BROKE THROUGH MY DEAFNESS. YOU
FLASHED, YOU SHONE, AND YOU DISPELLED MY BLINDNESS. YOU BREATHED YOUR
FRAGRANCE ON ME; I DREW IN BREATH AND NOW I PANT FOR YOU. I HAVE
TASTED YOU, NOW I HUNGER AND THIRST FOR MORE. YOU TOUCHED ME, AND I
BURNED FOR YOUR PEACE.
THE FATHER IS WITHIN US, TOGETHER
WITH THE SON AND THE SPIRIT. WE HAVE TO STRIP AWAY EVERYTHING THAT
DEFINES US, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, SEPARATES US, FROM WHO WAITS
LOVINGLY AND PATIENTLY FOR US AT THE VERY CENTER OF OUR BEING.
