Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

MARK 6:30-34

SOME DAY THERE WON'T BE ANY PEOPLE AROUND WHO GREW UP IN THE DAYS BEFORE VATICAN II, WHEN WE HAD CLEAR RULES AND KNEW JUST WHAT WE HAD TO DO TO GET TO HEAVEN AND STAY OUT OF HELL. THERE WERE THESE TEN COMMANDMENTS, YOU SEE. WE WERE TAUGHT ABOUT HOW CERTAIN BEHAVIORS AND EVEN THOUGHTS BROKE THEM. IT WASN'T HARD NOT TO HAVE STRANGE GODS; I'M NOT SURE I KNEW WHAT THEY WERE ANYWAY. I DIDN'T MAKE GRAVEN IMAGES, LET ALONE BOW DOWN BEFORE THEM. WE WERE TAUGHT THAT SWEARING AND CURSING WERE SORT OF VIOLATIONS OF THE COMMANDMENT NOT TO TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD IN VAIN, BUT AS LONG AS WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY BLASPHEME, THESE WERE MOSTLY VENIAL SINS. AND THEN THERE IS THAT THIRD COMMANDMENT: REMEMBER TO KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH DAY. SIX DAYS THOU SHALL LABOR AND WORK, AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY YOU SHALL NOT WORK, NOR SHALL YOUR SON, OR DAUGHTER, OR MANSERVANT OR MAIDSERVANT...THE COMMANDMENT GOES ON TO GIVE THE REASON: GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE IN SIX DAYS, AND RESTED ON THE SEVENTH.

WHEN YOU READ THE ACTUAL COMMANDMENT, AND NOT OUR SHORTENED VERSION OF IT, “REMEMBER TO KEEP HOLY THE LORD'S DAY,” IT SEEMS PRETTY SERIOUS. BUT THE GOOD SISTERS WHO TAUGHT ME BACK IN THOSE DAYS FIRST OF ALL EXPLAINED WHY WE REST ON SUNDAY INSTEAD OF THE “SEVENTH” DAY, AND THEN EMPHASIZED THAT THE REAL ISSUE HERE WAS SERVILE WORK. SERVILE WORK ALWAYS SOUNDED A LITTLE SLEAZY, BUT BASICALLY IT MEANT THINGS LIKE MOWING THE LAWN, PAINTING THE HOUSE, WEEDING THE GARDEN – I COULD LIVE WITH THAT. IT DID NOT MEAN, UNFORTUNATELY, DOING MY HOMEWORK OR MAKING MY BED IN THE MORNING; AND IT CERTAINLY DIDN'T MEAN YOU COULDN'T COOK, BECAUSE SUNDAYS MY MOTHER USUALLY COOKED UP A STORM. IT WAS COMMONLY HELD IN MY HOUSE THAT YOU COULD DO UP TO AN HOUR'S WORTH OF PHYSICAL WORK BEFORE YOU PASSED INTO THE DREAD REALM OF MORTAL SIN.

THINK OF IT. GOD GAVE US TEN RULES, AND ONE OF THEM IS THE COMMAND TO REST, TO DO NO WORK AT ALL, ABOUT 15% OF THE TIME WE HAVE ON THIS EARTH.

I'M NOT SURE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THIS COMMANDMENT IS ANY BETTER TODAY THAN BEFORE. IN FACT, I THINK IT 'S WORSE. THOSE OF US CHRISTIANS WHO WORSHIP FOR A PERIOD EVERY SUNDAY STEP OUT OF OUR CHURCHES INTO A WORLD THAT ISN'T VERY DIFFERENT FROM SATURDAY OR MONDAY. WE CAN STILL BUY STUFF, EVEN BEER AND WINE; WE ARE SO BUSY DURING THE WEEK THAT WE DO THOSE THINGS ON THE WEEKEND LIKE MOWING THE LAWN AND PAINTING THE WOODWORK, AND TELL OURSELVES THAT IT IS “EXERCISE” OR “RECREATION”. AND HOW MANY OF US USE SUNDAYS TO GET A JUMP ON THE WEEK AHEAD – WE SHOP, WE STUDY, WE WRITE, WE MAKE LISTS – SO THAT WHEN MONDAY COMES, WE ARE GOING FULL SPEED AHEAD.

THE APOSTLES CAME BACK FROM THEIR FIRST MISSION ALL EXCITED; THEY HAD DRIVEN OUT DEMONS, CURED THE SICK; ILLITERATE FISHERMEN WORKING MIRACLES! AND THEY HAD BEEN ON FIRE AS THEY PREACHED THE MESSAGE THEY HAD HEARD FROM JESUS. WORDS SEEMED TO FORM EFFORTLESSLY, AND PEOPLE LISTENED! I'M SURE THAT IF JESUS HAD SAID, “GET OUT THERE AND DO MORE OF THAT!” THEY WOULD HAVE DONE SO. DOING SOMETHING YOU REALLY LIKE TO DO IS ADDICTING. BUT JESUS SURPRISES THEM JUST AS GOD SURPRISED THE PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN SLAVES IN EGYPT. COME AWAY AND REST, HE SAY TO THEM. ON THE SEVENTH DAY YOU SHALL DO NO WORK, GOD TELLS THE HEBREW SLAVES.

THERE SHOULD BE A RHYTHM IN OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE. SAINT BENEDICT RECOGNIZED THIS WHEN HE FOUNDED HIS ORDER. YOU DID NOT BECOME A MONK TO PRAY, OR TO STUDY, OR PERFORM PENANCES, OR TO SING IN THE CHOIR. WHEN YOU ENTERED HIS FORM OF MONASTIC LIFE, YOU ENTERED A LIFE OF BALANCE. THE BELL WOULD RING, AND YOU WOULD STOP WHAT YOU WERE DOING AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ACTIVITY. NO EXCEPTIONS. PRAYER, WORK, STUDY, EAT, RELAX, SING, SLEEP – AND SO IT WENT, DAY AFTER DAY, SEASON AFTER SEASON.

AND THAT SHOULD BE THE WAY WE LIVE AS WELL.

THERE ARE TWO MAJOR DANGERS TO THE CHRISTIAN WAY OF LIFE. ONE IS THE TEMPTATION TO BE PRODUCTIVE. AFTER ALL, WE HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME ON THIS EARTH, ABOUT A THIRD OF IT SPENT SLEEPING. AS WE GET OLDER, WE SENSE THIS LIMITATION, AND FEEL GUILTY IF WE AREN'T GENERATING BILLABLE HOURS, OR DOING SOMETHING WHERE YOU CAN SEE A RESULT. BEING RETIRED AFTER A LIFETIME OF WORKING AT LEAST SIX DAYS A WEEK IS VERY DISTURBING, I CAN TELL YOU FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

THE OTHER DANGER IS TO FAIL TO PLAN. EVEN WITH THE BEST INTENTIONS, UNLESS WE PLAN FOR REST AND PRAYER AND RECREATION AND WORK, WE WILL NOT BE IN BALANCE. AN UNCLE OF MINE SAID THAT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH, HE AND MY AUNT SET ASIDE SOME MONEY IN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT. THAT WAS THE FIRST THING THEY DID. IN THE DEPRESSION YEARS, IT MAY HAVE BEEN A DOLLAR. LATER, WHEN THINGS WERE GOING WELL, IT WAS MORE. AND WHEN THEY RETIRED, THEY HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH. BUT THEY FOLLOWED A PLAN. WE NEED TO PLAN AS WELL, PUTTING THOSE THINGS THAT SEEM LEAST IMPORTANT ON OUR PRIORITY LIST – TO REST, TO RECREATE, NOT ALL THE TIME, BUT FOR A WHILE; AND TO REALLY DO THESE THINGS, NOT USE THE TIME TO GET A JUMP ON THE WEEK, OR TO TACKLE THAT PROJECT I'VE BEEN PUTTING OFF BECAUSE I'VE BEEN TOO BUSY AT OTHER THINGS.

JESUS TELLS HIS APOSTLES TO COME AWAY – GET OUT OF YOUR ROUTINE; TO A DESERTED PLACE – LEAVE BEHIND THOSE THINGS THAT DISTRACT YOU ALL THE TIME – AND REST – REALLY REST, WHICH DOESN'T MEAN LYING ON YOUR BACK STARING AT THE STARS, BUT DOING SOMETHING YOU LOVE SO THAT YOU ARE LIVING IN THE MOMENT, NOT DISTURBED BY THE FUTURE OR THE PAST. AND DO THIS FOR A WHILE, NOT FOREVER. AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT JESUS SHOULD BE THERE WITH YOU AS HE WAS WITH THE APOSTLES, EVEN AS THEY RESTED.

THERE'S A STORY ABOUT TWO LUMBERJACKS WHO HAD A CONTEST TO SEE WHO COULD CHOP THE MOST WOOD. ONE WOULD CHOP FOR A WHILE, THEN SIT DOWN AND REST, THE OTHER DID NON-STOP CHOPPING. AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE SECOND WAS EXHAUSTED, AND LEARNED TO HIS SURPRISE THAT THE FIRST, WHO WAS RESTED, HAD ACTUALLY WON THE CONTEST. “HOW COULD THIS BE?” HE SAID. “YOU TOOK A REST EVERY HALF HOUR.” “DID YOU SEE WHAT I DID WHEN I RESTED?” REPLIED THE OTHER. “I WAS SHARPENING MY AXE.”

REST IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH?

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

MARK 6:7-13

JOHN WESLEY WAS ORDAINED A PRIEST IN THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND. HE WAS THE RECTOR OF A CHURCH, AND LOOKED FORWARD TO A NICE MIDDLE-CLASS LIFE, SEEING TO THE SACRAMENTAL NEEDS OF HIS FLOCK, PREACHING A SERMON ON SUNDAY, DOING SOME COUNSELING AND TEACHING, AND BEING SUPPORTED BY A GOVERNMENT SALARY, BECAUSE HIS CHURCH WAS THE OFFICIAL CHURCH. BUT AS TIME WENT ON, WESLEY SAW THAT HIS FLOCK WAS JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS. THE MESSAGE OF JESUS HAD NOT PENETRATED VERY FAR OR VERY DEEPLY. HE BEGAN ORGANIZING SMALL GROUPS WHO STUDIED THE SCRIPTURES AND CONSCIOUSLY TRIED TO CHANGE THEIR CHARACTER; TO BE MORE GENEROUS, TO BE LESS SELFISH, TO CARE LESS ABOUT THEIR PLACE IN SOCIETY, TO LIVE THE BEATITUDES. THE WAY THEY WENT ABOUT THIS WAS LIKE FOLLOWING A RECIPE, AND BECAUSE OF THIS THEY WERE CALLED “METHODISTS”. THE MOVEMENT MADE SOME HEADWAY IN ENGLAND, BUT NOT A LOT; IT WAS STILL A LOT EASIER BEING A MEMBER OF THE OFFICIAL CHURCH, WHICH LOOKED WITH SUSPICION ON THE METHODISTS, BECAUSE THEY SEEMED ON THE VERGE OF BREAKING AWAY AND BECOMING LIKE THE OTHER ALTERNATIVE CHURCHES – BAPTISTS, QUAKERS, THE SO CALLED “PURITANS” WHO FOLLOWED JOHN KNOX. BUT WESLEY FELT CALLED TO GO TO AMERICA, WHERE HE BROUGHT THE MOVEMENT. WESLEY'S CHURCH OF ENGLAND, LIKE WE CATHOLICS, BELIEVED THAT ONLY A BISHOP COULD ORDAIN A PRIEST, AND WESLEY COULD NOT GET ENOUGH CLERGYMEN TO JOIN HIM, SO HE BEGAN TAKING ANYONE WHO WAS FAMILIAR WITH SCRIPTURE AND UNDERSTOOD HIS METHOD OF BECOMING HOLY. AND THESE HE SENT OUT TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE. WHEN THE PRESBYTERIANS AND LUTHERANS SENT MISSIONARIES TO THIS COUNTRY, THEY TRAVELED WITH THEIR PERSONAL LIBRARIES, SO COULD ONLY GO WHERE THE RAILROAD TOOK THEM. AND USUALLY THEY WOULD DISCOVER THAT A METHODIST CIRCUIT RIDER HAD ALREADY BEEN THERE AND WAS HOLDING SIMPLE SUNDAY SERVICES IN A SMALL CHURCH. EVENTUALLY THE METHODISTS FORMED THEIR OWN DENOMINATION, AND FOR A TIME IT WAS THE LARGEST IN OUR COUNTRY, A PHENOMENON WHICH WAS ENTIRELY ATTRIBUTABLE TO POORLY EDUCATED MEN WITH A BIBLES, HORSES, AND A LOT OF ENTHUSIASM.

JESUS GIVES HIS DISCIPLES RATHER PECULIAR INSTRUCTIONS. THEY CAN TAKE A WALKING STAFF AND SANDALS, BUT THEY CAN'T TAKE FOOD OR MONEY OR EXTRA UNDERWEAR, OR EVEN A SUITCASE. IN OTHER WORDS, HE ALLOWS THEM WHAT THEY NEED TO TRAVEL – A WALKING STICK AND SANDALS – BUT DOES NOT PERMIT THEM TO TAKE ALONG WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER NECESSITIES OF LIFE. INSTEAD, THEY ARE TO BE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON THE PEOPLE THEY MEET IN THEIR TRAVELS. AND OF COURSE THE DISCIPLES HAVEN'T BEEN WITH JESUS THAT LONG. THEY HAVEN'T GOTTEN THEIR CERTIFICATES, THEY HAVEN'T BEEN AWARDED THEIR DIPLOMAS. I SUSPECT VERY FEW OF US WOULD ACCEPT THESE CONDITIONS. I WOULD AT LEAST WANT TO TAKE MY CREDIT CARD, MY DRIVER'S LICENSE, A FEW EXTRA SOCKS … THE LIST GOES ON. AND JOAN WOULD NEVER BE WITHOUT HER PURSE, WHICH I CAN BARELY LIFT. RECENTLY WE TRAVELED TO OCEAN CITY FOR A FAMILY REUNION. JOAN AND I DROVE OUR MINIVAN, WHICH WAS LOADED TO THE HILT WITH STUFF.

IN FACT, YOU MIGHT TRY THIS LITTLE EXERCISE. WHAT WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL FOR YOU TO EMBARK ON A MISSION FOR JESUS? BECAUSE IF YOU ARE VERY HONEST WITH YOURSELF, YOU MIGHT LEARN WHAT MATTERS MOST TO YOU.

SO WHY THESE INSTRUCTIONS? I THINK THE ANSWER LIES IN THE NEXT FEW PHRASES. THEY ARE TO PREACH REPENTANCE – THAT IS, THE NECESSITY TO CHANGE HOW ONE THINKS, BECAUSE THE GREEK WORD FOR REPENTANCE DOES NOT MEAN BEING SORRY FOR SINS, IT ACTUALLY MEANS GETTING OUT OF YOUR MIND. AND IF PEOPLE DON'T LISTEN, SHAKE THE DUST FROM YOUR SANDALS. BECAUSE THAT WAS THE CUSTOM WHEN JEWS CAME TO THE CITY OF JERUSALEM; THEY DID NOT WANT TO TAKE EVEN THE SOIL FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD INTO THE HOLIEST PLACE ON EARTH. IF PEOPLE WOULDN'T LISTEN, THEN THEY WERE NOT IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AND NO MORE TIME SHOULD BE WASTED ON THEM.

AND IT SAYS THAT THE DISCIPLES HEALED PEOPLE, DROVE OUT DEMONS, WORKED MANY MIRACLES. THE CONDITIONS JESUS GAVE THEM WERE NECESSARY FOR WORKING MIRACLES, BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES YOU THE POWER OF JESUS TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU LET GO OF WHAT YOU FEEL ARE YOUR NECESSITIES.

AS I TURN MY ATTENTION TO GUARDING MY BELONGINGS, MY RELATIONSHIPS, MY CAREER, AM I LESS ABLE TO REACH OUT IN KINDNESS TO ANOTHER? FOR ME THE ANSWER IS YES. BECAUSE I CAN'T DO ANYTHING FOR ANYONE ELSE WHEN I AM NOT LIVING IN THE PRESENT.

AS I CAREFULLY PLAN FOR EVERY EVENTUALITY, AS I COUNT MY PENNIES AND CONSULT SCHEDULES AND TRY TO LIMIT UNCERTAINTY AS MUCH AS I CAN, AM I ISOLATING MYSELF FROM THE SURPRISES GOD HAS IN STORE FOR ME?

AS I STRUGGLE TO ACCUMULATE ALL THAT I WANT AND ALL THAT I NEED, AM I CLOSING MYSELF OFF FROM THE GIFTS THAT COME TO ME IN NATURE, AND THROUGH MY FELLOW MAN?

A FINAL POINT OF THIS PASSAGE IS ITS URGENCY. JESUS DID NOT SAY “FORM A COMMITTEE TO COME UP WITH A PLAN TO DEVELOP A TASK FORCE TO IMPLEMENT A PROGRAM TO MAKE THE NEXT DECADE THE “DECADE OF SPREADING THE GOSPEL”. AND THERE ARE PEOPLE YOU KNOW, PEOPLE AMONG YOUR ACQUAINTANCES, YES, BUT ALSO AMONG YOUR LOVED ONES, WHOSE SALVATION MIGHT HINGE ON WHETHER YOU PERSONALLY ANNOUNCE THE GOSPEL TO THEM. AND THERE ISN'T MUCH TIME.

SO THE WAY JESUS SENT OUT HIS DISCIPLES – UNPREPARED, VULNERABLE, COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS – BEGINS TO MAKE MORE SENSE WHEN WE SEE IT IN RELATION TO JESUS' OWN PRIORITIES. THE LESS WE DEPEND ON OURSELVES, THE MORE WE DEPEND ON GOD. THE EMPTIER WE ARE, THE MORE THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN FILL US UP. AND THE MORE URGENT WE SEE OUR MISSION, THE MORE WE ARE LIKE JESUS HIMSELF, WHICH IS THE GOAL OF BEING A CHRISTIAN.

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 6:1-6

WHEN I WAS ABOUT TWELVE, I READ A BOOK CALLED “MR. BLUE” BY MILES CONNOLLY. MAYBE SOME OF YOU OLDER PEOPLE REMEMBER THAT BOOK. IT WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1928, AND REMAINED IN PRINT UNTIL 1980. I REMEMBER THE STORY NOT BECAUSE OF THE DESCRIPTION OF MR. BLUE AS A MODERN-DAY SAINT FRANCIS, BUT ABECAUSE OF A STORY WITHIN THE NOVEL WHICH IS TOLD BY MR. BLUE. HE SPEAKS OF A FUTURE WHERE THE GOVERNMENT HAS HERDED ALL HUMAN BEINGS INTO GIANT CITIES, WHERE ALL THEIR BASIC NEEDS ARE PROVIDED. THEY GET A PROTEIN MIXTURE TO EAT AND WATER LACED WITH VITAMINS TO DRINK. THERE IS AN ACTIVE EFFORT TO WIPE OUT ALL RELIGIONS AND TURN EVERYONE'S DEVOTION TO THE STATE. THERE ARE STILL A FEW PARTS OF THE WORLD WHERE THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT REACHED, AND THE STORY BEGINS WITH THE CAPTURE OF A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE FROM ONE OF THESE AREAS. THE MEN AND WOMEN ARE ASSIGNED JOBS, AND THE HERO WORKS AS A LABORER. HE MANAGES TO SNEAK OFF AND IN A TINY BIT OF DIRT HE GROWS A FEW GRAINS OF WHEAT AND STARTS A GRAPE VINE. ONE OF HIS CO-WORKERS NOTICES THIS, AND AFTER A WHILE, DECIDES TO TELL THE AUTHORITIES OF THIS UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVITY. AS THE POLICE COME SEARCHING FOR THE RENEGADE, HE IS ON THE ROOF OF THE BUILDING. HE HAS A TINY CUP CONTAINING JUICE FROM A SINGLE GRAPE, AND SOME OF THE GRAIN, GROUND WITH STONE AND FORMED INTO A WAFER WITH A LITTLE WATER; AND JUST AS THE POLICE ARE ABOUT TO BURST IN ON HIM, HE HOLDS THEM UP AND SAYS, “THIS IS MY BODY...THIS IS MY BLOOD.” AND THE SKY IS FILLED WITH JESUS AND THE HOST OF HEAVEN COMING WITH TRUMPET BLASTS TO END THE WORLD. FOR THE MAN WAS A PRIEST, AND HAD JUST SAID THE LAST MASS.

ONE OF THE MOST SCANDALOUS LINES IN SCRIPTURE, I THINK, IS IN THE GOSPEL TODAY. IT SAYS, “HE WAS NOT ABLE TO PERFORM ANY MIGHTY DEED THERE, APART FROM CURING A FEW SICK PEOPLE...” I THINK FOR THOSE OF US WHO KNOW JESUS TO BE BOTH GOD AND MAN, WHEN IT SAYS HE ISN'T ABLE TO DO SOMETHING, IT IS KIND OF A SHOCKING STATEMENT. SO WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THIS?

THE GOSPEL IMPLIES THAT JESUS CAN'T DO ANY MIGHTY DEEDS EITHER BECAUSE EVERYONE IS TOO FAMILIAR WITH HIM, OR BECAUSE OF THEIR LACK OF FAITH, AND MAYBE THE TWO ARE BASICALLY THE SAME REASON. THERE ARE, OF COURSE, OTHER PLACES IN THE GOSPELS WHERE JESUS ATTRIBUTES A MIRACLE TO THE FAITH OF THE PERSON WHO IS BEING CURED. BUT THEN AGAIN, THERE ARE MANY OTHER MIRACLES WHERE FAITH IS NOT MENTIONED, OR WHERE FAITH SEEMS UNLIKELY, AS WITH THE RAISING OF THE LITTLE GIRL THAT WE HEARD ABOUT LAST WEEK, OR THE RAISING OF LAZARUS.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK IS THE ONE GOSPEL THAT PORTRAYS JESUS AS BEING A LITTLE FALLIBLE, OR PERHAPS A BETTER WAY OF PUTTING IT, AS TRULY HUMAN. THERE ARE OTHER PASSAGES, LIKE THE ONE WHERE HE CURES A BLIND PERSON, BUT HAS TO DO IT TWICE, SINCE THE FIRST TIME THE PERSON COULD SEE, BUT NOT AT ALL CLEARLY. AND THERE ARE OTHER SUCH CURIOUS PASSAGES, THAT STAND IN SUCH CONTRAST WITH THE OTHER THREE GOSPELS. JOHN'S GOSPEL OF COURSE, IS ALMOST THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE; NOTHING IS BEYOND JESUS' POWER, AND HE DOESN'T HAVE TO LAY HANDS ON ANYONE, DOESN'T HAVE TO MAKE MUD TO COVER THE EYES, OR STICK HIS FINGERS IN THE EARS OF THE PERSON TO RELIEVE HIS DEAFNESS. IN JOHN, JESUS SIMPLY SAYS THE WORDS; THERE IS NOTHING THERE ABOUT FAITH. SO WE HAVE THESE VERY DIFFERENT PICTURES OF JESUS.

MARK AND JOHN ARE ALSO SEPARATED BY MANY YEARS, SCHOLARS TELL US. MARK WAS WRITTEN ABOUT 30 TO 40 YEARS AFTER JESUS DIED; JOHN ABOUT 70 TO 100 YEARS. BY THE TIME JOHN WAS WRITING THE CHURCH HAD BEEN REFLECTING ON JESUS FOR QUITE A WHILE; WHEN MARK WROTE, THE CHURCH WAS STILL YOUNG, AND PROBABLY THERE WERE STILL PEOPLE AROUND WHO ACTUALLY REMEMBERED SEEING AND HEARING JESUS.

WELL, THAT'S ALL INTERESTING HISTORY, AT LEAST TO ME. BUT JESUS, NOT BEING ABLE TO DO MIGHTY DEEDS? THIS IS WHAT I THINK. WHEN JESUS BECAME A HUMAN BEING, HE HAD TO TAKE ON LIMITATIONS, BECAUSE HUMAN BEINGS ARE LIMITED. WE ARE SUBJECT TO PAIN, DISEASE, IGNORANCE, TEMPTATION .. AND MUCH AS WE LIKE TO THINK OF JESUS AS THE GOD-LIKE PERSON DESCRIBED IN JOHN, IT'S MORE LIKELY THAT HE WAS MORE LIKE THE HUMAN BEING IN MARK. AND WHILE HE COULD WORK MIRACLES, HIS MIRACLES OF HEALING SEEMED TO REQUIRE THE CONSENT OF THE PERSON BEING HEALED, IN OTHER WORDS, FAITH. AND THAT IS AS IT SHOULD BE; GOD RESPECTS WE HUMAN BEINGS SO MUCH THAT HE DEFERS TO OUR FREE WILL, EVEN WHEN WE MAKE STUPID OR SINFUL CHOICES. AS A GOOD FATHER, THIS MAY BREAK HIS HEART, BUT HE STILL GIVES US OUR INHERITANCE AND WATCHES US WANDER OFF TO ANOTHER COUNTRY, HOPING WE WILL RETURN.

THE PEOPLE OF NAZARETH SAW JESUS AS THE KID WHO GREW UP THERE, DISAPPEARED FOR A WHILE, AND NOW WAS BACK, PUTTING ON AIRS. WHERE DID HE GET THIS STUFF, THEY ASK. HE'S ONLY A CARPENTER AFTER ALL. AND JESUS STOOD READY TO GIVE THEM EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED, BUT COULD NOT, BECAUSE HE HAD DELIBERATELY TAKEN ON THAT LIMITATION – HE COULD ONLY WORK MIRACLES IF THE PERSON BELIEVED HE COULD.

AND THAT HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR US. WE CLAIM TO BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS PRESENT UNDER THE APPEARANCE OF BREAD AND WINE, PRESENT JUST AS HE WAS TO THOSE ANCESTORS OF OURS IN THE TOWN OF NAZARETH. YET AN OUTSIDE OBSERVER COULD HARDLY BE BLAMED FOR THINKING THAT WE DON'T REALLY BELIEVE THIS. AFTER ALL, A LOT OF US COME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY DRESSED FOR A DAY AT THE BEACH. SOME OF US CARRY ON A CONVERSATION DURING MASS. SOME OF US RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST WITH HARDLY ANY THOUGHT. WE COME LATE, WE LEAVE EARLY, AND WE LET OUR MINDS WANDER. AND AS WE SPEND OUR WEEKLY 45 MINUTES WORSHIPING THE GOD-MAN WHO DIED FOR US, SO THAT WE COULD ENTER HEAVEN, WE GLANCE AT OUR WATCHES, WONDERING IF THE BATTERY NEEDS CHANGING.

AND ARE WE NOT BEING LIKE THOSE PEOPLE IN NAZARETH? IS OUR FAMILIARITY WITH THE EUCHARIST KEEPING US FROM RECOGNIZING THAT THIS MAN, PRESENT UNDER THE APPEARANCE OF BREAD AND WINE, IS REALLY GOD, THE GOD WHO WANTS TO HEAL US, TO CONSOLE US, TO GIVE US EVERY GOOD THING?

WHAT KIND OF MIRACLES ARE WE MISSING, BECAUSE OF OUR LACK OF FAITH? I SUSPECT, MANY, BECAUSE MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN, ALTHOUGH THEY SEEM FEW AND FAR BETWEEN.

TODAY IS A GOOD TIME TO PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE GRACE TO RECOGNIZE JESUS FOR WHO HE REALLY IS, AND PRAY FOR THE GIFT OF FAITH THAT ALLOWS US TO BE REALLY PRESENT TO HIM. AND PERHAPS WE MIGHT EVEN PRAY WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING, OF COURSE, THAT DURING OUR LIFE-TIMES THE DAY WILL COME WHEN THE OLD ORDER IS PUT TO DEATH AND THE NEW WORLD IS FINALLY REALIZED, WHERE CHRIST COMES IN TRIUMPH TO BRING ABOUT HIS KINGDOM FOREVER.

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.

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

MARK 4:26-34

TODAY IS FATHER'S DAY. IT DOESN'T GET AS MUCH PLAY AS MOTHER'S DAY, AND THAT'S FINE. WE FATHERS PROBABLY DON'T PUT NEARLY AS MUCH DIRECT EFFORT INTO RAISING OUR CHILDREN THAN DO THEIR MOTHERS. ON THE OTHER HAND, MOST OF US HAVE BEEN THE MAJOR BREADWINNER, THE DISCIPLINARIAN, AND THE ONE WHO TAKES THE KIDS OFF THEIR MOTHER'S HANDS ONCE IN A WHILE SO THAT SHE CAN REST OR CATCH UP ON OTHER THINGS. A LONG OR SHORT TIME AGO WE AND OUR WIVES MADE THE DECISION TO HAVE CHILDREN, AND WITH GOD'S HELP, CHILDREN CAME ALONG. EVERY DAY WE DO WHAT WE MUST; AND EVERY EVENING WE GO TO BED KNOWING THAT WE COULD HAVE DONE MORE. THERE ARE ALL THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE COULD HAVE SPENT TIME WITH THE KIDS BUT DIDN'T BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE SEEMED MORE IMPORTANT AT THE TIME. THERE ARE THOSE TIMES WHEN BECAUSE OF A TEMPER FRAYED AT THE WORKPLACE WE OVER-REACTED TO SOMETHING THAT NORMALLY WOULDN'T HAVE MADE US LOOK UP FROM OUR NEWSPAPER. AND WE GO TO BED GRATEFUL THAT OUR CHILDREN HAVE SHORT MEMORIES AND ARE DISPOSED TO LOVE US AND LOOK UP TO US REGARDLESS OF OUR MANY FAULTS.

AND AS THE GOSPEL SAYS, WE SEW THE SEED AND SLEEP AND RISE AND THE SEED GROWS AND YIELDS FRUIT, WE KNOW NOT HOW. AND WE OLDER FATHERS LOOK AT OUR CHILDREN, AT THEIR INDEPENDENCE, THEIR SEPARATE AND UNIQUE PERSONALITIES; WE REJOICE IN THEIR JOY, WE FEEL THEIR PAIN; AND SOMETIMES WE GRIEVE BECAUSE THEY LEAVE THE CHURCH OR FIND THEMSELVES IN FAILED MARRIAGES OR DIE BEFORE WE DO. AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT GOD HAS THE GREATEST HAND IN HOW THINGS ARE GOING TO TURN OUT FOR THEM, AND WE ARE JUST INSTRUMENTS.

THERE IS A MOMENT IN SCRIPTURE WHEN THE NOTION OF FATHERHOOD TURNS UPSIDE DOWN. REFERRING TO GOD AS FATHER WAS NOT VERY COMMON AMONG THE PEOPLE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. FOR THEM, A FATHER WAS, WELL, LIKE FATHER ABRAHAM. ABRAHAM COULD COMMAND HIS WIFE TO JOIN THE HAREM OF THE LOCAL PRINCE; IF SHE WAS NOT FERTILE, HE COULD TAKE HER MAIDSERVANT. AND WHEN HE HAD A SON BY THIS MAIDSERVANT, AND SARAH BECAME UPSET, HE HAD NO COMPUNCTION AGAINST DRIVING THE SON AND HIS MOTHER INTO THE DESERT, PRESUMABLY TO DIE. AND STRONG AS ABRAHAM'S FAITH WAS, THERE IS STILL SOMETHING SHOCKING, AFTER ALL THESE CENTURIES, TO IMAGINE HIM ABOUT TO KILL THE SON HE LOVED BECAUSE HE WAS COMMANDED BY GOD TO DO SO. AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT OTHER EXAMPLES OF FATHERS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, AMONG THE PATRIARCHS, AMONG THE KINGS, THEY WERE DESPOTS TO THEIR CHILDREN AS WELL AS TO THEIR WIVES. DAVID'S FAVORITE SON, ABSOLOM, REBELLED AGAINST HIM AND TRIED TO TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM. IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS, FATHERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO PUT THEIR SONS TO DEATH FOR CURSING THEM. IN THE PSALMS, THERE ARE A FEW REFERENCES TO GOD AS FATHER, BUT MOST OF THEM HAVE TO DO WITH GOD DISCIPLINING HIS CHILDREN, OR INSTRUCTING THEM.

BUT SOMETHING CHANGED, AND IT CHANGED NOT WITH JESUS, BUT WITH JOSEPH. FOR JOSEPH WAS THE NEW KIND OF FATHER. HIS WIFE AND SON DID NOT EXIST FOR HIM, BUT HE FOR THEM. HE WAS A JUST MAN FROM THE BEGINNING; WHEN HE BELIEVED MARY HAD BEEN MADE PREGNANT BY ANOTHER MAN, HE DID NOT TAKE THE REMEDY HE COULD HAVE, WHICH WAS TO DEMAND THAT SHE BE STONED, OR EVEN, DEMAND THAT SHE BE CAST OUT OF THE VILLAGE. HE MADE UP HIS MIND TO TELL PEOPLE THAT SHE WAS CARRYING HIS CHILD, BUT THEY JUST COULDN'T GET ALONG ANY MORE. JOSEPH WOULD TAKE THE SHAME AND THE GUILT. AND JOSEPH ALWAYS LOOKED TO GOD FOR HIS DIRECTION, RATHER THAN HIMSELF. WE HAVE FIVE INSTANCES IN WHICH JOSEPH MADE DECISIONS BASED UP HIS DREAMS, DECISIONS WHICH HE NEVER WOULD HAVE MADE IF HE WERE PURSUING HIS OWN INTERESTS. AND WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE THOSE YEARS IN NAZARETH, WHEN JOSEPH TAUGHT JESUS HIS TRADE, WHEN JOSEPH HELPED JESUS STUDY THE HOLY BOOKS OF ISRAEL, WHEN JOSEPH TREATED MARY AS A REAL HUMAN BEING AND EQUAL PARTNER, RATHER THAN AS HIS PERSONAL POSSESSION, HIS SLAVE – THE WAY WOMEN WERE USUALLY TREATED IN THOSE DAYS.

AND JOSEPH ONLY KNEW THAT THIS CHILD WAS SPECIAL BECAUSE OF HIS DREAMS. JESUS, AFTER ALL, WAS LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN. AND JOSEPH GOT UP EVERY MORNING AND PUT IN A LONG DAY AT WORK, SPENT SOME TIME STUDYING, PRAYED IN THE SYNAGOGUE ON SATURDAYS, MADE THE ODD PILGRIMAGE TO JERUSALEM, AND HE WORRIED ABOUT BILLS, AND TRIED TO WALK THE LINE WITH JESUS BETWEEN BEING A DISCIPLINARIAN AND BEING SOMEONE JESUS COULD COME TO WITH HIS QUESTIONS AND TROUBLES. JOSEPH HAS BEEN WHERE ALL OF US FATHERS HAVE BEEN.

AND JOSEPH GREW SICK AND DIED, AND ON HIS DEATHBED HE LOOKED AT THIS SON, WHO HAD GROWN TO BE A GOOD MAN, A GOOD CARPENTER, AND A DECENT HUMAN BEING; BUT NOTHING SPECIAL, NOT YET. AND JOSEPH THOUGHT TO HIMSELF, IT IS AS IF A MAN WERE TO SCATTER SEED ON THE LAND, AND IT WOULD SPROUT AND GROW, HE KNOWS NOT HOW.

AND MAYBE JESUS WAS THE FIRST TO KNOW A NEW KIND OF FATHER, A FATHER SO CLOSE, SO LOVING, SO CARING; A FATHER WHO PUT HIMSELF COMPLETELY AT THE SERVICE OF HIS WIFE AND SON; A FATHER WHO LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR THOSE HE LOVED. AND WHEN JESUS WAS DESCRIBING GOD, THE IMAGE THAT CAME CLOSEST TO WHAT JESUS KNEW GOD TO BE WAS FATHER, THE ESSENCE OF FATHERHOOD, REFLECTED WITH SUCH CLARITY IN THE HUMBLE CARPENTER, JOSEPH.

BEING A FATHER IS AN AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY AND A GREAT PRIVILEGE. TOGETHER WITH THEIR MOTHER, A FATHER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH UNDER THE BEST OF CIRCUMSTANCES WILL RAISE UP SAINTS. HE DOES THIS BY PROVIDING THE MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE FAMILY; HE DOES THIS EVEN MORE BY BEING A ROLE MODEL FOR HIS CHILDREN; AND HE DOES THIS MOST SUCCESSFULLY BY GIVING HIMSELF UP, EMPTYING HIMSELF OUT, DAY AFTER DAY, IN IMITATION OF GOD THE FATHER. AND A FATHER DOES ALL HE CAN, KNOWING THAT, LIKE JOSEPH, HE WILL PROBABLY NEVER SEE THE FRUITS OF HIS EFFORTS; BUT HIS CHILDREN AND HIS CHILDREN'S CHILDREN WILL ALL BEAR HIS MARK, FOR GOOD OR FOR BAD.

MAY WE FATHERS LIVE IN SUCH A WAY THAT WHEN OUR CHILDREN SAY THE LORD'S PRAYER, THEY IMAGINE OUR FACES WHEN THEY SAY THE WORDS, “OUR FATHER”.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Body and Blood of Christ, 2012

MARK 14:12-16; 22-26

I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF YOU HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE “THE AVENGERS”. WE SELDOM GO TO MOVIES, BUT WE ALLOWED OURSELVES TO BE TALKED INTO TAKING SOME OF THE GRANDCHILDREN TO THE THIS ONE. IT WAS LOUD, HAD LOTS OF ACTION; IT WAS A REAL VISUAL TREAT SHOWING WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH COMPUTERS THESE DAYS; AND THERE WAS ENOUGH HUMOR TO KEEP US OLD ADULTS AMUSED AS WELL AS THE KIDS. THE STORY IS THAT IRON MAN SAVES NEW YORK FROM AN ATOM BOMB BY GRABBING THE BOMB AND FLYING IT HIGH INTO OUTER SPACE, WHERE IT EXPLODES. UNFORTUNATELY, IT CREATES A PASSAGE THROUGH WHICH COME SOME PRETTY AWFUL ALIENS, INTENT ON TAKING OVER THE EARTH. DESPITE DESTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS AND SHOOTING OF RAY GUNS THAT VAPORIZE EVERYTHING IN SIGHT, AND DESPITE SUPERHEROES GETTING SLAMMED INTO BRICK WALLS, NOBODY GETS HURT, NOT EVEN ANY OF THE BYSTANDERS, AT LEAST SO YOU CAN TELL. THE SUPERHEROES ARE ALL HAVING A TERRIBLE TIME AND IT LOOKS LIKE EARTH IS GOING TO BE TAKEN OVER BY REALLY UGLY MACHINES, BUT AT THE LAST MINUTE, THEY DECIDE TO WORK TOGETHER, AND ONCE THIS HAPPENS, THE SPACE MONSTERS ARE HANDILY DEFEATED AND THE HOLE IN OUTER SPACE CLOSED UP.

TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. ALTHOUGH WE CELEBRATE THE HOLY EUCHARIST EVERY DAY, AND MOST OF US GET TO MASS ON SUNDAYS, THE CHURCH INVITES US TO CONSIDER THIS SACRAMENT IN GREATER DEPTH ONE DAY EVERY YEAR. AND THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS WE COULD TALK ABOUT. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO THINK ABOUT ONE THING TODAY. WE CALL THIS SACRAMENT THE EUCHARIST, THE TABLE OF THE LORD, THE SACRED MEAL, BUT TODAY WE WILL THINK ABOUT ONE OF THE NAMES FOR IT, HOLY COMMUNION.

WE BELIEVE AS CATHOLICS THAT RECEIVING THE BREAD AND WINE, OR EITHER, IS THE SAME THING AS RECEIVING JESUS. WE BELIEVE, IN FACT, THAT THE ELEMENTS OF BREAD AND WINE BECOME JESUS, SO THAT DESPITE THE APPEARANCE, THE UNDERLYING SUBSTANCE CHANGES. AND AS WE RECEIVE THE BODY AND BLOOD INTO OUR OWN BODIES, WE BECOME LINKED WITH JESUS IN A MOST INTIMATE WAY.

AND THERE IS ANOTHER MYSTERY HERE. JESUS, NOW RISEN FROM THE DEAD, BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY, CANNOT BE DIVIDED, CANNOT BE SPLIT UP AND PORTIONED OUT; SO WHEN I RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION, IN A VERY REAL WAY, YOU, AND ALL OF US WHO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, STEP OUT OF TIME AND SPACE AND BECOME ONE; THERE IS ONLY ONE JESUS.

AND THE THIRD POINT IS THAT UNLIKE WHEN WE EAT ORDINARY FOOD, WHICH IS CHANGED INTO OUR BODIES, WHEN WE CONSUME THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, WE TAKE IN HIS LIFE, WE BECOME PART OF HIS BODY, THE MYSTICAL BODY.

OTHER CHRISTIANS BELIEVE OTHER THINGS ABOUT THE EUCHARIST. OUR ORTHODOX BROTHERS AGREE WITH US, BUT DON'T TRY TO EXPLAIN HOW IT HAPPENS. LUTHERANS BELIEVE THAT THE BREAD AND WINE REMAIN, BUT JESUS BECOMES PRESENT; AND MANY CHRISTIANS SIMPLY SEE HOLY COMMUNION AS A SYMBOLIC ACTION. BUT JESUS DID SAY, “THIS IS MY BODY” AND HE DID SAY, “UNLESS YOU EAT MY FLESH AND DRINK MY BLOOD, YOU SHALL NOT HAVE LIFE IN YOU.” WE CATHOLICS, I GUESS, HAVE ALWAYS TAKEN HIM AT HIS WORD.

BUT WHY? WHY DID JESUS DO THIS?

JESUS BECAME A HUMAN BEING 2000 YEARS AGO IN PALESTINE FOR ONE REASON, AND THAT WAS TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, AND MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR HUMAN BEINGS TO ENTER INTO THE LIFE OF GOD HIMSELF. HE FOUNDED THE CHURCH, HE TAUGHT, HE HEALED, AND HE SUFFERED AND DIED FOR THIS PURPOSE. AND HE USHERED IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, WHICH HE TOLD US WAS NOT LOCATED FAR OFF IN THE SKY SOMEWHERE, OR AFTER DEATH, BUT IT WAS RIGHT HERE, AMONG US. OUR MOTHER MARY DESCRIBED THE KINGDOM; IT WAS WHERE THE MIGHTY WOULD BE PULLED DOWN AND THE WEAK AND SUFFERING WOULD BE RAISED UP; JESUS COMPARED IT TO A BANQUET TO WHICH EVERYONE WAS INVITED; AND IN FACT EVERY TIME CHRISTIANS ENACT THE EUCHARIST, WHATEVER ELSE THEY BELIEVE ABOUT IT THEOLOGICALLY, THEY SEE THIS AS LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT BANQUET, WHERE EVERYONE IS CONTENT, WHERE ALL THAT DIVIDES US, ALL THAT HURTS US, IS FOREVER FORGOTTEN.

AND AFTER JESUS DIED AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD, THE TINY CHURCH BEGAN TO GROW, AND BY FITS AND STARTS BEGAN TO REMAKE THE WORLD. BUT SOMETHING SEEMS TO HAVE GONE WRONG. WE CATHOLICS MAKE UP ENOUGH OF THE POPULATION OF THIS COUNTRY, AND IN FACT, OF MANY COUNTRIES, SO THAT IF WE WORKED TOGETHER AROUND THE PRINCIPLES THAT CHRIST LGAVE US, WE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD, WE COULD USHER IN HIS KINGDOM. IT'S NOT PIE IN THE SKY. ALTHOUGH I THINK JESUS KNEW IT WOULD NEVER BE FULLY REALIZED IN THIS LIFE, HE DID EXPECT THAT HIS PEOPLE WOULD NEVER STAND BY AND WATCH PEOPLE STARVE WHEN THEY COULD HELP IT. HE DID EXPECT THAT HIS PEOPLE WOULD NOT ALLOW INNOCENT BABIES TO DIE, SOMETIMES BECAUSE THEY WERE MEMBERS OF THE SEX WHICH THE PARENTS HAD DECIDED THEY DID NOT WANT. HE DID EXPECT THAT HIS PEOPLE WOULD DO EVERYTHING THEY COULD TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD, RATHER THAN GET DISTRACTED BY POLITICS, OR EVEN DIFFERENCES IN RELIGION. AND WE AREN'T DOING A VERY GOOD JOB.

BEFORE THEY JOIN FORCES TO BATTLE THE ENEMY, THE AVENGERS ARE PROUD OF THEIR INDEPENDENCE. EACH OF THEM HAS NO NEED OF ANYONE ELSE, AND EACH REVELS IN HIS OR HER OWN POWER. BUT THE REALITY IS THAT EVEN WITH GREAT POWER, NOTHING SERIOUS WILL BE ACHIEVED UNTIL ALL BAND TOGETHER, UNTIL ALL REALIZE THEIR INTERDEPENDENCE. AND ONLY THEN DO THE TIDES OF BATTLE TURN, AND THE POWERS THAT BELONG TO EACH ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING.

JESUS GIVES US, THE MEMBERS OF HIS BODY, THE TASK OF BUILDING HIS KINGDOM. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE FOR, THIS IS OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE. JESUS GIVES US THE THINGS WE NEED TO DO THIS. OUR BAPTISM IS OUR COMMISSION; WE BECOME PART OF A LARGER PURPOSE. OUR CONFIRMATION EQUIPS US WITH POWER, WITH THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. OUR EUCHARIST IS OUR FOOD AND DRINK, WHICH STRENGTHEN US AND INDEED TRANSFORM US SO THAT OUR EVERY ACTION TRANSCENDS SPACE AND TIME, SO THAT WE BECOME POTENTIAL HEIRS OF HEAVEN AND MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE THE RIGHT TO SIT WITH MARY AND THE SAINTS IN THE HEART OF THE TRINITY. AND EVERY TIME WE RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, WE ARE THUS TRANSFORMED.

SO LET US TODAY THINK THROUGH THE IMPLICATIONS OF WHAT WE EAT AND WHAT WE DRINK WHEN WE PARTAKE OF THIS SACRAMENT. AND LET US NEVER TAKE IT FOR GRANTED AGAIN.

Trinity Sunday cycle B, 2012

MATTHEW 28:16-20

ALL REPUTABLE PHYSICISTS SUPPORT THE BIG BANG THEORY, WHICH SAYS THAT THE UNIVERSE BEGAN AT A CERTAIN MOMENT, BEFORE WHICH THERE WAS NOTHING, NO TIME, NO SPACE, NO MATTER. BUT WHAT BOTHERS THEM ABOUT THIS THEORY IS THE FACT THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN NUMBERS, WHICH ARE CALLED FUNDAMENTAL CONSTANTS, WHICH SEEM TOTALLY ARBITRARY; AND IF YOU CHANGED THEM BY JUST A LITTLE BIT, YOU CAN SHOW THAT YOU WOULD NOT HAVE THE UNIVERSE WE KNOW OF, AND WE WOULDN'T BE AROUND TO WORRY ABOUT THAT. THIS BOTHERS PEOPLE WHO HATE TO SEE THE HAND OF GOD INVOLVED IN ANYTHING. NEWSWEEK JUST RECENTLY RAN AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE “MULTIVERSE” THEORY. THIS THEORY SAYS THAT IF YOU CHANGE THE VALUES OF THE FUNDAMENTAL CONSTANTS AND PLUG THEM INTO THE EQUATIONS WHICH DESCRIBE THE PROPERTIES OF THE UNIVERSE, YOU CAN COME UP WITH DIFFERENT POSSIBLE UNIVERSES. IN FACT, YOU CAN COME UP WITH AT LEAST ONE FOLLOWED BY 500 ZERO'S WORTH OF DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES. (THE NUMBER OF ATOMS IN THE UNIVERSE WE LIVE IN IS ESTIMATED TO BE BETWEEN 1 FOLLOWED BY 78 TO 1 FOLLOWED BY 80; A BILLION IS 1 FOLLOWED BY NINE ZEROS.) THE MULITIVERSE THEORY SAYS THAT ALL THESE UNIVERSES EXIST, SO IT IS NOT AT ALL SURPRISING THAT OUT OF THAT INCREDIBLE NUMBER, THERE WOULD BE AT LEAST ONE LIKE OURS. OF COURSE THERE IS NO WAY AT ALL TO PROVE THIS THEORY, SINCE BY DEFINITION WE CANNOT EVER DETECT ONE OF THESE OTHER UNIVERSES, BUT MORE AND MORE PHYSICISTS LIKE IT BECAUSE YOU DON'T NEED A FIRST CAUSE, A PRIME MOVER – AS STEPHEN HAWKING SAID, WE DON'T NEED GOD ANYMORE.

WELL, WE CHRISTIANS HAVE AN EVEN BETTER THEORY, AND OURS IS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND. IT IS THE TRINITY. AND UNLIKE THE MULTIVERSE THEORY, THERE IS EVIDENCE FOR THE TRINITY – NOT STRICTLY SPEAKING, SCIENTIFIC, BUT LOGICAL AND DERIVED FROM SCRIPTURE AND REASON, AS WELL AS EXPERIENCE. AND WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHETHER THE MULTIVERSE EXISTS OR NOT, BUT WE WILL SOMEDAY EXPERIENCE THE TRINITY.

FIRST, WE BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER, THE CAUSE OF EVERYTHING. THOMAS AQUINAS SAYS THAT HE IS PURE ACT; THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY IN GOD, ONLY REALIZATION. IF THERE ARE OTHER UNIVERSES, GOD THE FATHER HAS BEEN THERE, DONE THAT. WE CANNOT USE WORDS TO DESCRIBE HIM; ALL WE CAN DO IS FEEL WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE LOOK AT THE STARS IN THE SKY, OR THE GRAND CANYON, OR A MAGNIFICENT CATHEDRAL, OR A NEWBORN BABY – WHEN YOU FEEL AWE AND WONDER, YOU ARE JUST BEGINNING TO SENSE GOD THE FATHER.

THE FATHER CREATES THE UNIVERSE, OR MULTIVERSE, OR WHATEVER; NOTHING EXISTS UNLESS HE MAKES IT TO EXIST. AND YET THE FATHER REALLY DOES ONLY ONE THING, HE GENERATES THE SON. ONE THEOLOGIAN TALKED ABOUT THE “COSMIC CHRIST”. HE HAD A DREAM THAT HE ROSE ABOVE THE EARTH AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND FAR INTO OUTER SPACE UNTIL HE COULD SEE THE WHOLE UNIVERSE, AND IT WAS THE FACE OF JESUS. SCRIPTURE TELLS US THAT ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM. EVERYTHING THAT COMES INTO BEING IS BECAUSE THE FATHER GENERATES THE SON. WE CAN NEVER KNOW THE FATHER. BUT WE CAN KNOW THE SON, WHO BROKE INTO OUR WORLD AND TOOK ON OUR HUMAN NATURE, AND TOLD THE APOSTLE PHILIP, “HE WHO HAS SEEN ME, HAS SEEN THE FATHER”. THE FATHER POURED HIMSELF OUT IN THE GENERATION OF THE SON, AND THE SON, WHO BECOMES ONE OF US, OFFERS HIMSELF TO THE FATHER IN THE CRUCIFIXION, AND IN SO DOING, OFFERS ALL OF US, AND INDEED, ALL OF THE UNIVERSE, TO THE FATHER. IN SOME MYSTERIOUS WAY, HE ALLOWS US TO BE IN ALL WAYS, PART OF HIM, PART OF HIS BODY, TO SUFFER HIS FATE, AND TO RISE WITH HIM FOREVER. THE SON, AFTER ALL, HAS ONLY ONE PURPOSE, TO BRING ALL THAT EXISTS BACK INTO A NEW AND PERFECT UNION WITH THE FATHER. AND FINALLY, THE FATHER AND THE SON SEND FORTH THE SPIRIT. THE SPIRIT ALSO HAS ONLY ONE FUNCTION – TO BRING ALL THE CREATURES OF GOD BACK TO THE SON. THE SPIRIT, LIKE THE FATHER AND THE SON, IS A PERSON; SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT THE SPIRIT BLOWS WHERE HE WILLS. ONLY A PERSON CAN GO WHERE HE WANTS TO GO, CAN BE SELF-DIRECTED.

IT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE THERE ARE THREE GODS; BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE; EACH PERSON IS GOD, EACH PERSON IS EQUAL, EXCEPT IN TERMS OF RELATIONSHIP; AND EACH PERSON IS ACTIVE WHERE THE OTHER PERSONS ARE ACTIVE. SAINT AUGUSTINE SUMMED IT UP AS FOLLOWS: THE FATHER IS GOD, THE SON IS GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD; THE FATHER IS NOT THE SON OR THE HOLY SPIRIT; THE SON IS NOT THE FATHER OR THE HOLY SPIRIT; THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT THE FATHER OR THE SON. THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD.

ONCE A YEAR THE CHURCH INVITES US TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY. I SPENT ALL WEEK TRYING TO DO THIS, AND I STILL HAVE A HEADACHE, WHICH WASN'T HELPED BY THINKING ABOUT THE MULTIVERSE. BUT THE TRINITY IS CENTRAL TO OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH. CATHOLICS, PROTESTANTS, AND ORTHODOX CONSIDER THIS REVELATION FUNDAMENTAL, AND LIKEWISE, MUSLIMS AND JEWS SEE THE TRINITY AND ACCUSE CHRISTIANS OF FLIRTING WITH PAGANISM.

BUT WE CAN THINK OF THE TRINITY IN A SIMPLER MORE ACCESSIBLE WAY. THE FATHER IS GOD BEYOND US, BEYOND ANYTHING WE CAN GRASP, WHO, BEING PURE LOVE, CHOOSES TO CREATE ANDSUSTAIN US AND EVERYTHING THERE IS, AND GIVES US ALL THAT WE NEED TO RETURN TO HIM. THE SON IS GOD AMONG US, WHO WALKED AND TALKED AND LIVED AND DIED AND CONTINUES TO DWELL AMONG HIS PEOPLE IN HIS WORD AND IN THE EUCHARIST, AND IN OUR FELLOW CHRISTIANS. AND THE SPIRIT IS GOD WITHIN US, WHO PROMPTS US TO RECOGNIZE THE PRESENCE OF THE SON, AND IN RECOGNIZING HIM, DRAWING NEARER TO THE FATHER. AND THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD.

WHEN ABRAHAM WAS VERY OLD, THREE STRANGERS CAME TO HIM, AND HE INVITED THEM TO REST AND HAVE SUPPER. WHILE THAT WAS GOING ON, THEY TOLD HIM THAT HIS WIFE SARAH WOULD BEAR A CHILD. THE CHURCH FATHERS AND MANY OTHER THEOLOGIANS HAVE SEEN THESE THREE STRANGERS AS REPRESENTING THE TRINITY, AND THERE IS A RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ICON WHICH SHOWS THIS EVENT.

NOTICE THAT ALL OF THE INDIVIDUALS HAVE BLUE IN THEIR CLOTHING. THIS IS THE COLOR OF DIVINITY. NOTICE THAT THE CLOTHING OF THE FATHER IS ALMOST TRANSPARENT; THE FATHER CANNOT BE GRASPED, HE IS BEYOND OUR MENTAL ABILITIES. NOTICE THAT THE SON IS VERY CLEARLY DRAWN, AND IS WEARING EARTH COLORSAS WELL AS THE DIVINE BLUE; HE IS HUMAN AND DIVINE. AND NOTICE THAT THE SPIRIT WEARS GREEN, BECAUSE HE IS LIFE-GIVING. THERE IS A HOUSE ABOVE THE FATHER; BECAUSE JESUS TOLD US THAT IN HIS FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS; THERE IS A TREE ABOVE THE SON, THE TREE OF THE CROSS. THE SON POINTS TO THE CHALICE, WHICH CONTAIN HIS BLOOD. ABOVE THE SPIRIT IS A MOUNTAIN, REPRESENTING HOLINESS, PURITY, DISTANCE FROM WHAT DRAGS US DOWN.

AND THE SON AND THE SPIRIT GAZE UPON THE FATHER, WHO SITS AT REST.

AND THERE IS A FOURTH PLACE IN THIS ICON. IT IS FOR YOU, BECAUSE SOMEDAY, GOD WILLING, YOU AND I WILL BE TAKEN UP INTO THIS TRINITY.