MARK 13:33-37
MANY YEARS AGO I HAD A
PATIENT WHO, BECAUSE OF HER DISEASE, HAD BASICALLY LOST MOST OF HER
BOWEL. SHE WAS VERY DETERMINED, SO SHE WORE A BACKPACK WITH A PUMP
WHICH DELIVERED NUTRITION AND FLUID RIGHT INTO A VEIN. SHE DID
REMARKABLY WELL WITH THIS SYSTEM, ALTHOUGH NOWADAYS BECAUSE SHE HAD A
TERMINAL DISEASE, I'M SURE YOU COULDN'T GET ANY INSURANCE COMPANY TO
PAY FOR IT. ANYWAY, SHE FINALLY DID PASS AWAY, AND SEVERAL MONTHS
LATER HER HUSBAND GAVE ME A COPY OF THE BOOK SHE HAD BEEN WORKING ON.
IT WAS A COLLECTION OF POETRY CALLED “THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE.”
THE FIRST POEM HAD THE SAME TITLE. THE THEME WAS THAT MOST OF THE
TIME WE NOTICE WHAT IS PRESENT, BUT WE NEED TO NOTICE WHAT ISN'T.
AND OF COURSE THERE WERE MANY EXAMPLES FROM HER OWN EXPERIENCE,
INCLUDING HOW SHE NOTICED THE ABSENCE OF TEA. SHE HAD BEEN A REAL
TEA DRINKER, AND OVER AN AVERAGE DAY SHE WOULD HAVE SEVERAL CUPS.
NOW OF COURSE SHE COULDN'T DRINK OR EAT ANYTHING. SHE NOTICED THE
ABSENCE OF FRIENDS, OF HER PARENTS, AND IN THE LAST VERSE, THE
ABSENCE OF GOD.
IF YOU NOTICED, IN THE
FIRST READING THE PROPHET IS IN ANGUISH BECAUSE GOD SEEMS TO HAVE
DESERTED HIS PEOPLE. IN THE GOSPEL JESUS ALSO POINTS OUT AN ABSENCE
– THE SON OF MAN, THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, AND WITH HIS COMING, THE
WORLD WILL BE SET RIGHT. THE PROPHET ISAIAH SEEMS TO HAVE AN
ATTITUDE OF HOPELESSNESS AND OF LONGING. JESUS URGES US TO HAVE AN
ATTITUDE OF ALMOST BREATHLESS ANTICIPATION.
WE ARE BEGINNING THE
ADVENT SEASON AND WHEN WE WERE LITTLE CHILDREN WE KNEW WHAT
BREATHLESS ANTICIPATION WAS ALL ABOUT. THANKSGIVING WAS OVER, AND
CHRISTMAS LOOMED ON THE HORIZON. WE WERE THINKING ABOUT
POSSIBILITIES – WHAT WOULD OUR GIFTS BE? AND AS WE GOT OLDER, WE
THOUGHT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE MIGHT GIVE OUR OWN SIBLINGS OR
PARENTS. AND FOUR WEEKS SEEMED TO STRETCH OUT FOREVER. WE COULD
SENSE THE ABSENCE OF CHRISTMAS, AND SAVORED IT IN OUR IMAGINATIONS.
AND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT
IT, EVERY TIME WE COME TO MASS WE ARE EXPERIENCING ABSENCE. THE
BANQUET TO WHICH WE ARE ALL INVITED IS ABSENT; THERE IS ONLY A LITTLE
BIT OF FOOD, NOT ENOUGH TO BEGIN TO TAKE AWAY OUR HUNGER. OUR LORD
FEEDS US WITH HIS OWN FLESH, BUT JUST A TASTE. AND THE THIRST WHICH
HE PROMISES TO QUENCH, THE THIRST FOR THE NEW COVENANT WHERE HIS
KINGDOM COMES AND HIS WILL IS DONE ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN – WE DRINK
HIS BLOOD, AND IT IS ONLY A TASTE, NOT ENOUGH TO EVER SATISFY US IN
THIS LIFE. AND WE HEAR HIS WORD. JESUS IS THE WORD, THE LAST WORD
THE FATHER SPEAKS TO HUMANKIND, THE ENDURING WORD THAT HAS INFINITE
DEPTH, THAT WILL TAKE AN ETERNITY FOR YOU AND I TO UNDERSTAND
COMPLETELY. BUT WE ONLY HEAR A SMALL BIT OF THE WORD, BARELY ENOUGH
TO SATISFY US FOR A LITTLE WHILE, LET ALONG A WHOLE WEEK. AND WE
EXPERIENCE EACH OTHER. WE COME TOGETHER IN HIS NAME AND KNOW THAT HE
PROMISED HE WOULD BE HERE AMONG US. AND BY FAITH WE KNOW THIS TO BE
TRUE, BUT SOON WE WILL SCATTER, WE WILL GO BACK INTO OUR DAILY LIVES,
WHERE WE WILL MEET OTHERS, OF COURSE, BUT WE WON'T BE GATHERING IN
HIS NAME, OR AT LEAST MOST OF THE TIME WE WON'T. AND WE WILL
EXPERIENCE THAT ABSENCE AS WELL, WHEN WE SIT DOWN WITH OUR FAMILIES
AT SUPPER OR MEET OUR COWORKERS OR CUSTOMERS OR CLIENTS; WHEN WE GO
OUT TO LUNCH OR SUPPER WITH SOMEONE. WE WILL SEE THAT HE IS NOT
PRESENT.
ONE OF THE REASONS WE
COME TO MASS IS TO EXPERIENCE ABSENCE. IF WE COME TO CHURCH TO BE
FILLED UP, TO BE FED, TO EXPERIENCE GOD'S LOVE AND MERCY, THOSE ARE
GOOD THINGS. BUT WE CAN'T LOSE SIGHT OF THE MANY REMINDERS THAT
THE BIT OF FOOD WE ARE GIVEN, THE DROP OF WINE WHICH WE DRINK, THE
SMALL HELPING OF THE WORD THAT WE HEAR, THE MOMENTARY PRESENCE OF
THE LORD IN EACH OTHER – ARE ALL POINTERS, POINTERS TO THE
WONDERFUL FULFILLMENT JESUS PROMISED THOSE WHO LOVE HIM. AND WHEN WE
FEEL THAT, WE SHOULD LONG FOR THE REAL THING, THE GOD WHO ALONE CAN
FILL UP OUR EMPTINESS, THE CHRIST WHO WILL BE OUR SHEPHERD AND LEAD
US TO GREEN PASTURES, THE SPIRIT WHO GIVES US WISDOM AND
UNDERSTANDING AND ALL THE OTHER GIFTS, BUT ONLY SHADOWS OF WHAT THEY
ARE REALLY MEANT TO BE.
ISAIAH LOOKS TO THE PAST
AND SEES THAT WHERE GOD WAS WITH HIS PEOPLE, HE IS NO LONGER ALL HE
CAN DO IS LAMENT THOSE GOOD OLD DAYS. JESUS LOOKS TO THE FUTURE AND
SEES THAT WHAT IS COMING MAKES EVERYTHING ABOUT TODAY JUST A SHADOW
OF THE REAL THING, AND HE URGES US TO BE READY. AND IF WE NOTICE THE
ABSENCES WE WILL HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF HOW THINGS WILL BE WHEN WHAT
THEY SIGNIFY BECOMES PRESENT.
THE BLESSED MOTHER, IN
HER MAGNIFICAT, PRAISES GOD BECAUSE OF WHAT HE HAS DONE IN THE PAST,
BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF WHAT HE HAS PROMISED HE WILL DO IN THE FUTURE.
SHE PRAISES GOD IN WORDS THAT SEEM TO SAY THIS HAS ALREADY HAPPENED –
“HE HAS SCATTERED THE PROUD IN THEIR CONCEIT, HE HAS CAST DOWN THE
MIGHTY FROM THEIR THRONES, AND HAS LIFTED UP THE LOWLY. HE HAS
FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS, AND THE RICH HE HAS SENT AWAY
EMPTY.” IN MARY'S TIME, AND IN OURS, THESE THINGS HAVE NOT YET
HAPPENED. BUT MARY IN HER UNSHAKEABLE FAITH KNOWS THAT THEY WILL
HAPPEN, AND PRAISES GOD FOR WHAT WILL COME. OUR GOAL IN ADVENT IS TO
TAKE ON MARY'S ATTITUDE, AND MAKE A NEW RESOLUTION TO USE OUR GIFTS
TO BUILD UP THE KINGDOM WHICH JESUS HAS ALREADY PLACED IN OUR MIDST.
BECAUSE THEN WE WILL BE INDUSTRIOUS SERVANTS, WHO ARE NOT SURPRISED
OR SHAMED WHEN THE MASTER RETURNS. LET US RESOLVE NOT TO BE ASLEEP.
