Sunday, July 19, 2015

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 6:30-34
SOME OF YOU KNOW I'M FROM MONTANA, WHERE THEY RAISE A LOT OF CATTLE.  BUT THERE ARE LARGE HERDS OF SHEEP THERE AS WELL.  ONE THING THAT'S TRUE OF CATTLE AND SHEEP IS THAT THEY PREFER REST TO ACTIVITY.  IF THEY HAVE FULL STOMACHS AND THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE THREAT, THEY TEND TO RELAX AND SOAK UP SOME SUN.  THE CATTLE AND SHEEP HERDS ARE NOT AS LARGE AND OBVIOUS AROUND HERE, BUT JUST DRIVE OUT INTO THE COUNTRYSIDE  AND SEE WHAT COWS AND SHEEP ARE UP TO.  NOT MUCH.
ON THE OTHER HAND LOOK AT PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY IN LONGMEADOW.  THEY SEEM TO HAVE TO BE DOING SOMETHING ALL THE TIME.  WHEN I MEET PEOPLE WHO ARE EMPLOYED, THEY ARE MAKING PLANS FOR WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO WHEN THEY GET OFF WORK, AND THEY AREN'T TALKING ABOUT RELAXING IN THE SUN.  AND WEEKENDS ARE EVEN WORSE – GETTING ALL THE STUFF DONE THAT HAS BEEN PILING UP DURING THE WEEK.  I'M AS GUILTY AS ANYONE.  JOAN AND I TOOK TWO GRANDCHILDREN ON A SHORT TRIP THIS LAST WEEK.  WHEN WEREN'T DOING SOMETHING, WE WERE TRAVELING TO DO SOMETHING.  ONLY IN THE EVENING WHEN WE WERE EXHAUSTED COULD WE LET OURSELVES JUST RELAX, AND THAT WAS MORE IN PREPARATION FOR SINKING INTO A SLEEP.  WE HAD A GREAT TIME, BUT AGAIN, WE FELT THAT WE HAD TO FILL UP EVERY MINUTE WITH ACTIVITY.
TODAY JESUS GIVES US A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE:  “COME AWAY BY YOURSELVES AND REST FOR A WHILE.”  AND HE MIGHT HAVE SAID, “COME AWAY WITH ME AND REST FOR A WHILE”.  IF HE WANTED US TO GO OFF WITHOUT HIM, HE WOULD HAVE SAID, “GO AWAY AND REST FOR A WHILE”.
CHRISTIAN LIFE IS MOVEMENT BETWEEN ACTIVITY AND REST, BETWEEN GOING OUT INTO THE  WORLD AND THEN WITHDRAWING.  IF YOU READ THE GOSPELS, YOU FIND THAT JESUS IS ALWAYS GOING OFF TO PRAY BY HIMSELF AFTER PREACHING AND WORKING MIRACLES.  AND SO HE ADVISES HIS APOSTLES, AND US TO “COME AWAY”.  WE CAN'T FIND THAT REST WE NEED IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR DAILY LIVES.  WE HAVE TO LITERALLY MOVE OURSELVES INTO A DIFFERENT SPACE.  SOME PEOPLE HAVE A LITTLE PRAYER ROOM IN THEIR HOUSE;  THERE ARE STILL A FEW PEOPLE WHO DROP INTO THE CHURCH FOR A VISIT.  BUT THE FIRST STEP IS TO COME AWAY FROM DAILY LIFE.  IF WE CAN DO THIS  FOR A  FEW MINUTES EVERY DAY AND FOR A LONGER PERIOD EVERY WEEK – AND MAYBE A WHOLE WEEK EVERY YEAR, WE'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK.  
WHEN WE COME AWAY, WE WANT TO BE WITH JESUS.  WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE SEEKING A CLOSER RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, BUT WE HAVE A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY WHEN WE COME AWAY.  BEING OUT IN NATURE IS A WONDERFUL WAY TO BE CLOSER TO GOD.  A GREAT MYSTIC ONCE SAID, “IF MAN COULD KNOW GOD WITHOUT THE WORLD, HE WOULD NEVER HAVE CREATED THE WORLD.”  WE HUMAN BEINGS OFTEN FORGET OURSELVES WHEN WE ARE ON THE SEASHORE OR IN THE MOUNTAINS AND WE EXPERIENCE NATURE DIRECTLY.  AND FORGETTING OURSELVES, BECOMING LOST IN THE PRESENT MOMENT,  IS IMPORTANT IF WE ARE TO LET GOD INTO OUR LIVES.  GOD IS NOT IN THE PAST OR THE FUTURE, WHERE OUR MINDS ARE MOST OF THE TIME; HE IS ALWAYS FULLY IN THE PRESENT.
WHEN WE COME AWAY WITH JESUS WE ARE SUPPOSED TO REST.  THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE LIE FLAT ON OUR BACKS, BUT IT REALLY MEANS THAT WE TRY TO MOVE INTO A SPACE WHERE THE CONCERNS THAT OCCUPY US EVERY DAY  ARE OUT OF OUR MINDS.  I'VE GONE ON VACATIONS WHERE I WOULD CALL BACK TO THE HOSPITAL EVERY DAY TO MAKE SURE THINGS WERE GOING THE WAY I THOUGHT THEY SHOULD.  I'VE BEEN ON VACATIONS WHERE I FELT NERVOUS WHEN I COULDN'T GET ON THE INTERNET.  THAT'S NOT REST.  REST IS WHEN WE ALLOW OUR MINDS TO SLOW DOWN AND ALLOW ROOM FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SPEAK TO US.
FINALLY, WHEN WE COME AWAY WITH JESUS TO REST, IT IS FOR A WHILE.  A CHRISTIAN IS IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF THE WORLD.  THE AMISH ARE WONDERFUL PEOPLE, BUT WITHDRAWING FROM THE WORLD IS NOT WHAT CHRISTIANS ARE  SUPPOSED TO DO.  THERE ARE A FEW EXCEPTIONS – PEOPLE WHO DEVOTE THEIR LIVES TO PRAYING FOR THE REST OF US – BUT JESUS NEVER SUGGESTED THAT HIS FOLLOWERS LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND.  HIS MISSION IS TO BRING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN THIS WORLD THROUGH HIS FOLLOWERS.  IF WE AREN'T WORKING TO BUILD THE KINGDOM, IT WON'T GET BUILT.
SO THERE IS A RHYTHM IN CHRISTIAN LIFE, BUT IN OUR WORLD, WE TEND TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF TOO MUCH ACTIVITY.  WE ARE NOT ALONE, HOWEVER.  SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGOURI, THE FOUNDER OF THE REDEMPTORIST ORDER, USED TO SPEND ALL THE TIME HE COULD WRITING.  IN HIS LATER YEARS HE SUFFERED FROM MIGRAINE HEADACHES AND WOULD HOLD A COLD STONE AGAINST HIS HEAD SO THAT HE COULD EASE HIS PAIN AND CONTINUE TO WRITE.  EVENTUALLY HIS SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR ORDERED HIM TO STOP WRITING ENTIRELY.
OUR LIVES SHOULD BE BALANCED; THERE IS A TIME FOR ENGAGING WITH THE WORLD AND A TIME FOR PULLING BACK.  BUT THESE NEED TO REINFORCE EACH OTHER.  WHEN WE PULL BACK, WE NEED TO OPEN OURSELVES TO GOD'S PRESENCE, LISTEN TO HIS VOICE, AND BECOME REFRESHED IN BODY AND SOUL.  WHEN WE ENGAGE, WE NEED TO BE THE INSTRUMENTS BY WHICH GOD BUILDS HIS KINGDOM.  SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS ONLY ACHIEVED IF WE HAVE THIS RHYTHM; WE TAKE WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED BY ENGAGING THE WORLD AND BRING IT TO OUR CONTEMPLATION.  THAT IN TURN FUELS OUR NEW ENGAGEMENT, AND W BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE IN EVERY RESPECT, SPIRITUAL AS WELL AS MATERIAL.
JOHN PAUL II, ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE PEOPLE OF RECENT TIMES, WOULD RISE IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING AND SPEND NOT ONE, BUT TWO HOURS BEFORE THE BLESSED SACRAMENT.  MOTHER THERESA AND HER SISTERS SPENT AN HOUR EVERY MORNING BEFORE THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, THEN ATTENDED MASS, THEN WHEN OUT TO DO THE WORK FOR WHICH THEY ARE MOST WELL KNOWN. THIS IS NOT JUST TRUE OF SAINTS, IT'S ALSO TRUE OF EFFECTIVE POLITICIANS, SCIENTISTS, MILITARY LEADERS, AND OTHERS.
SO TODAY, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER, WHEN PEOPLE ARE THINKING ABOUT VACATIONS, WE SHOULD ASK, ARE WE IN BALANCE?  DO WE MAKE TIME FOR PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION NOT JUST A FEW TIMES A YEAR, ON RETREAT, ON VACATION, ON A PARISH MISSION, BUT EVERY DAY?  ARE WE WILLING TO BE RADICAL AND FOLLOW OUR LORD, WHO DEMONSTRATED IN HIS OWN LIFE THE POWER OF RETREAT, AND WHO ADVISED HIS DISCIPLES, CAUGHT UP IN THE EXCITEMENT OF HEALING THE SICK AND DRIVING OUT DEMONS, TO COME AWAY OURSELVES WITH HIM AND REST FOR A WHILE?