MARK 6:30-34
SAINT BENEDICT LIVED IN THE THIRD CENTURY AND FOUNDED WESTERN MONASTACISM. THE BENEDICTINE MONKS, OF COURSE, TRACE THEIR EXISTENCE TO HIM; BUT SO DO THE CARTHUSIANS, THE TRAPPISTS, THE CISTERIANS, AND INDEED THE MAJORITY OF MONASTIC ORDERS IN THE WEST. AND THEY HAVE IN COMMON THAT THEY FOLLOW THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT, THE ONLY DOCUMENT WE HAVE WHICH WAS AUTHORED BY HIM. THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT IS SURPRISING IN ITS MODERATION. PRIOR TO BENEDICT, THOSE WHO LIVED MONASTIC LIVES, OR LIVED AS HERMITS, INFLICTED THEMSELVES WITH GREAT MORTIFICATIONS, STARVED THEIR BODIES, SPENT WHOLE WEEKS WITHOUT SLEEP; LIVED ON PILLARS, AND IN GENERAL, SPENT THEIR LIVES TRYING TO OUTDO EACH OTHER IN THESE SO CALLED HEROIC ACTS OF HOLINESS. BENEDICT WOULD HAVE NONE OF THAT. THE PURPOSE OF HIS RULE WAS TO HELP THOSE LIVING IN MONASTIC COMMUNITIES TO DRAW CLOSER TO JESUS CHRIST AND LIVE PRODUCTIVE CHRISTIAN LIVES. AND THE RULE IS CHARACTERIZED BY BALANCE. THE MONKS LIVE SIMPLE LIVES, BUT THEY ARE TO EAT AND DRINK NOT JUST TO KEEP BODY AND SOUL TOGETHER, BUT TO HAVE HEALTHY BODIES. THE DIET IS SEMI-VEGETARIAN, WITH MEAT EATEN ON SPECIAL DAYS IN SOME OF THE ORDERS. ALCOHOL IS USED IN MODERATION, AGAIN, RESERVED FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS. MONKS ARE TO GET A DECENT NIGHT'S REST. HAIR SHIRTS AND OTHER PHYSICAL PENANCES ARE LOOKED UPON WITH SUSPICION, AND ARE ONLY TO BE UNDERTAKEN WITH THE PERMISSION OF ONE'S SUPERIOR, AND THEN ONLY FOR A LIMITED TIME.
BENEDICT IS SURPRISINGLY PRACTICAL. IF MONKS CANNOT SLEEP ONE TO A ROOM, THEY MUST SLEEP AT LEAST THREE TO A ROOM, AND AT LEAST ONE OF THE THREE MUST BE ELDERLY. “SPECIAL FRIENDSHIPS” ARE NOT ALLOWED, AND DURING THE EVENING RECREATION, MONKS WERE TO SPEND TIME CONVERSING WITH A DIFFERENT MONK EACH EVENING.
BUT PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING RULES, ONE WHICH COULD APPLY TO EVERYONE, NOT JUST MONKS, IS THAT THE RULE PUTS A LIMIT ON HOW LONG A MONK CAN WORK, OUT ON THE FARM, IN THE KITCHEN, IN THE COPYING ROOM, IN THE LAUNDRY – A MONK HAD TO STOP EVERYTHING, AND GO TO THE SCHEDULED PRAYERS, OR TO THE COMMON MEALS, OR TO THE RECREATION. THIS MEANT THAT THE LONGEST THE MONK SPENT DOING ANY SINGLE ACTIVITY WAS NO MORE THAN THREE HOURS AT A TIME.
CONTRAST THAT WITH OUR LIVES. WE AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO ARE SUCCESSFUL, TEND TO BE WORKAHOLICS. IT BECOMES PART OF OUR INDOCTRINATION. WHEN I WAS TRAINING AS A PHYSICIAN, THERE WAS AN EXPECTATION THAT WE WOULD ARRIVE EARLY AND STAY LATE; PEOPLE WHO PUT IN EIGHT HOURS AND WENT HOME WERE CONSIDERED TO BE LAZY. AND IF WE TOOK A BREAK, IT WAS VERY SHORT; WE HAD TO GET BACK TO WORK. AND WE WOULD FINISH ONE TASK, NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TOOK, BEFORE TAKING ON ANOTHER. I THOUGHT WE PHYSICIANS WERE A PECULIAR LOT, BUT LATER I LEARNED THAT IN MOST PROFESSIONS THIS KIND OF WORK ETHIC REARS ITS HEAD. WHEN MY DAUGHTER WORKED FOR A LAW FIRM AS A YOUNG LAWYER, IT WAS THE SAME THING; IT DIDN'T COUNT TO JUST DO YOUR JOB; YOU HAD TO KEEP EXCEEDING YOURSELF IF YOU WANTED TO GET AHEAD.
AFTER THE APOSTLES HAD GONE OUT TO PREACH REPENTANCE AND DRIVE OUT DEMONS AND HEAL THE SICK – THE GOSPEL WE HEARD LAST WEEK, THEY CAME BACK TO JESUS, PROBABLY ALL EXCITED AND READY TO GET OUT THERE AND DO MORE; AND JESUS TELLS THEM, AND I'M QUOTING THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NOT THE READING WE JUST HEARD, “COME AWAY WITH ME BY YOURSELVES TO A QUIET PLACE AND REST FOR A WHILE.” MAYBE THAT'S WHERE ST. BENEDICT GOT HIS IDEA. WE CANNOT LEAD AN EFFECTIVE CHRISTIAN LIFE IF WE DO NOT MAKE ROOM IN OUR LIVES TO DO JUST THIS.
JESUS SAYS, “COME AWAY” -- WE HAVE TO GET PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY AWAY FROM OUR TASKS.
JESUS SAYS, “WITH ME.” -- WE HAVE TO PUT OURSELVES IN HIS PRESENCE, AND PAY ATTENTION ONLY TO HIM.
JESUS SAYS, "BY YOURSELVES." -- WE HAVE TO CUT OURSELVES OFF FROM THE PHONE, THE INTERNET, AND OTHER PEOPLE.
JESUS SAYS, "TO A QUIET PLACE" – WE HUMAN BEINGS NEED QUIET IF WE ARE TO MEDITATE AND CONTEMPLATE, AND DO ANY KIND OF SELF-EXAMINATION, OR SERIOUS PRAYER.
JESUS SAYS, "AND REST FOR A WHILE." -- EVEN THOUGH THE KIND OF RETREAT THAT JESUS ASKS OF US, HIS DISCIPLES, IS NECESSARY, IT IS JUST AS NECESSARY, AFTER CATCHING OUR BREATH, TO GO BACK TO THE BATTLE.
SO SAY THOSE WORDS OVER AND OVER TO YOURSELVES; HEAR JESUS SAYING THEM TO YOU. "COME AWAY WITH ME BY YOURSELF TO A QUIET PLACE AND REST FOR A WHILE." AND IF WE ARE NOT DOING THIS AT LEAST ONCE A DAY, WE ARE BEING FOOLS; AND IF WE ARE DOING THIS TWO OR THREE TIMES A DAY, THEN MAYBE WE ARE MAKING SPIRITUAL PROGRESS AS WELL AS BECOMING MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE IN THE TASKS GOD HAS FOR US.
IF YOU WANT TO FIND SURPRISINGLY HAPPY PEOPLE LIVING LIVES OF GREAT SIMPLICITY, AND SERVING AS EXAMPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE FOR THE REST OF US TO FOLLOW, TAKE A LOOK AT HOW MONKS ACTUALLY LIVE AND WORK; AND YOU MIGHT DECIDE TO ADOPT A LITTLE OF THIS LIFE STYLE FOR YOURSELF. BENEDICT'S RULE HAS BEEN FOLLOWED FOR 16 CENTURIES AND THE MONASTIC MOVEMENTS ARE STILL GOING STRONG, EVEN WHILE OTHER ORDERS ARE SEEING THEIR NUMBERS DROP. SO HE MUST HAVE HAD A POINT; AND JESUS HIMSELF GIVES US THE SAME ADVICE TODAY – WITHDRAW, RETREAT, EMBRACE SILENCE, CONSCIOUSLY SEEK HIS PRESENCE, EVEN FOR A FEW MINUTES IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR BUSY DAY, AND YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF BECOMING MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, MORE HUMAN.
BECAUSE THAT IS ALL GOD WANTS FOR US, TO BE FULLY AND COMPLETELY HUMAN, THE WAY HE DESIGNED US IN THE BEGINNING.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B
MARK 6:7-13
SOME OF YOU HAVE HEARD ABOUT RICK WARREN, THE SENIOR PASTOR OF SADDLEBACK CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA, AND THE AUTHOR OF THE BEST-SELLER “THE PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH”. HE WRITES ABOUT THE PHILOSOPHY OF HIS EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL NON-DENOMINATIONAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH. HE SAYS, “WE NEVER ENCOURAGE PEOPLE WHO BELONG TO OTHER CHURCHES TO TRANSFER THEIR MEMBERSHIP TO OURS. SADDLEBACK HAS AS ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE BRINGING PEOPLE TO CHRIST WHO ARE UNCHURCHED. IF SOMEONE WANTS TO TRANSFER MEMBERSHIP TO OUR CHURCH, YOU ARE WELCOME ONLY IF YOU ARE WILLING TO MINISTER AND SERVE. IF ALL YOU INTEND TO DO IS ATTEND SERVICES, WE WOULD RATHER SAVE YOUR SEAT FOR SOMEONE WHO IS AN UNBELIEVER. THERE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD BIBLE TEACHING CHURCHES AROUND HERE WE COULD RECOMMEND TO YOU.” PASTOR WARREN HAS BUILT AN EXTREMELY DYNAMIC, RAPIDLY GROWING ORGANIZATION PRECISELY BECAUSE HE AND HIS CONGREGATION ARE FOCUSED LIKE A LASER ON THIS IDEA, THIS PURPOSE, OF BRINGING THE GOSPEL TO PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T HEARD IT.
EARLY IN JESUS' PUBLIC CAREER, WHEN THIS GOSPEL EPISODE TAKES PLACE, HE KNEW THAT IF THE KINGDOM OF GOD WERE TO BE REALIZED, HIS MESSAGE HAD TO BE HEARD BY AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. AND HE SENT OUT HIS DISCIPLES, WHO HAD ONLY BEEN WITH HIM FOR A SHORT TIME, TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS. AS THEY WERE GROWING IN THE NEW FAITH, THEY HAD TO RECRUIT OTHERS; THERE WAS NOT A TIME TO LISTEN AND LEARN AND ANOTHER TIME TO GO FORTH AND TEACH; BOTH HAD TO BE DONE AT THE SAME TIME.
WHAT EXCUSES TO WE HAVE FOR NOT EVANGELIZING? I'M JUST A HOUSEWIFE. I DON'T KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT MY FAITH. WHO WOULD LISTEN TO A PLUMBER, A MECHANIC, AN INSURANCE AGENT, OR YOU FILL IN THE BLANK. I DON'T REALLY KNOW IF I BELIEVE THAT STRONGLY. THESE ARE ALL EXCUSES, BUT THERE ARE TWO THAT WE PROBABLY REALLY MEAN IN OUR HEARTS – I AM AFRAID; AND I AM NOT PREPARED.
DURING THE FRONTIER DAYS IN THIS COUNTRY, AS IMMIGRANTS SPREAD OUT THROUGH THIS LAND, THERE WERE TWO DENOMINATIONS WHICH SET OUT TO BRING ORDER TO THE WILD WEST. ONE WAS THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, WHICH HAD CEDED NEW ENGLAND AND INDEED MUCH OF THE EAST TO THE CONGREGATIONALISTS, WHO HAD GROWN OUT OF THE SAME MOVEMENT IN EUROPE. THE OTHER WAS A SMALL OFFSHOOT OF THE EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH, WHICH HAD DRAWN ITS MEMBERSHIP FROM THE LOWER CLASSES IN THE BIG CITIES IN ENGLAND. THE PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARIES WERE SEMINARY GRADUATES, LEARNED IN THEOLOGY AND BIBLICAL STUDIES, AND NEEDED RAILROADS AND STAGE COACHES, BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT SEE HOW THEY COULD BE MISSIONARIES WITHOUT THEIR BOOKS, ESPECIALLY THE HUGE THEOLOGICAL TREATISE BY THEIR FOUNDER, JOHN CALVIN. THE METHODIST MISSIONARIES, ON THE OTHER HAND, WERE POORLY EDUCATED, BUT NEEDED ONLY A BIBLE AND A HORSE. GUESS WHICH DENOMINATION GOT THERE FIRST AND ESTABLISHED THE MOST CHURCHES?
DURING JESUS' TIME, THERE WERE OTHER WANDERING MISSIONARIES FOR VARIOUS RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS. YOU COULD SPOT THEM ON THE ROAD BECAUSE THEY CARRIED BAGS FULL OF THEIR POSSESSIONS; THEY TOOK PRIDE IN HAVING EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED SO THAT THEY COULD BE COMPLETELY SELF-SUFFICIENT. JESUS, IN CONTRAST, DEMANDS THAT HIS DISCIPLES BRING NOTHING WITH THEM, AND ACCEPT THE CHARITY OF STRANGERS. IN THIS WAY THEY ARE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT, AND IT IS ONLY WHEN THEY ARE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT THAT GOD WORKS THROUGH THEM, THAT MIRACLES OF HEALING HAPPEN, THAT DEMONS ARE DRIVEN OUT, THAT THEIR HILLBILLY ACCENTS AND ILLITERATE SPEECHES WIN CONVERTS.
JESUS TELLS THEM THAT IF PEOPLE DON'T LISTEN, THEY SHOULDN'T INVEST ANY MORE TIME IN THAT LOCALITY; THOSE PEOPLE HAVE HAD THEIR CHANCE, AND IT WOULD BE TIME TO MOVE ON.
JESUS TELLS THEM THEY MUST GO IN PAIRS, AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS CLEAR; THE TWO WILL REMEMBER BETTER THAN ONE WHAT JESUS TAUGHT; EACH WILL BE A REMINDER TO THE OTHER THAT THEY ARE MESSENGERS, AND NOT THE MESSAGE; AND MOST IMPORTANT, THERE HAD TO BE TWO, BECAUSE JESUS SAID THAT WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER HE WOULD BE THERE ALSO.
THE DISCIPLES WERE FISHERMEN, TAX COLLECTORS, ROUGH AND ILLITERATE PEOPLE. THE PEOPLE WHO SPREAD CHRISTIANITY THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND INDEED, THE KNOWN WORLD IN THOSE FIRST TWO CENTURIES WERE MOSTLY FROM THE LOWEST CLASSES, FROM THOSE WHO LIVED ON THE FRINGES OF SOCIETY. AS THE MOVEMENT GREW, THEY WERE PERSECUTED. YES, SOME WERE THROWN TO LIONS, CRUCIFIED, DECAPITATED, BEATEN TO DEATH; BUT MANY, MANY MORE WERE KICKED OUT OF THEIR SYNAGOGUES, DENIED GOOD JOBS, ENSLAVED, AND SHUNNED BY THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THAT TIME. AND FAMILIES WERE BROKEN UP AS WELL WHEN A MEMBER BECAME A CHRISTIAN. IN THOSE DAYS, THE COST OF BEING A CHRISTIAN WAS VERY HIGH; AND DESPITE THAT, THE MOVEMENT GREW LIKE WILDFIRE.
WHAT DOES THIS GOSPEL MEAN TO US TODAY? THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM IS STILL URGENT; THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ON EARTH HAVE NOT YET HEARD THE MESSAGE OF JESUS, AND MANY OF THOSE WHO HAVE HEARD IT HAVE REJECTED IT. THOSE OF US WHO HAVE HEARD AND BELIEVED HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO PREACH THE GOSPEL; AND WE HAVE TO REALIZE, LIKE THOSE FIRST DISCIPLES, THAT WE HAVE NO EXCUSE; AND LIKE THOSE FIRST DISCIPLES, WE WILL BE SUCCESSFUL TO THE EXTENT THAT WE THROW OURSELVES ON GOD, THAT WE ALLOW GOD TO WORK THROUGH US, AND TO DO THAT, WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE HOW DEPENDENT WE ARE ON GOD.
IT IS AN AMAZING THING, ISN'T IT, THAT ALMIGHTY GOD, WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE, WHO CAN DO ANYTHING HE WILLS, HAS CHOSEN YOU AND I TO BRING THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. AND ITS A SCARY THING TO REALIZE THAT IF WE DON'T DO IT, WHO WILL?
SOME OF YOU HAVE HEARD ABOUT RICK WARREN, THE SENIOR PASTOR OF SADDLEBACK CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA, AND THE AUTHOR OF THE BEST-SELLER “THE PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH”. HE WRITES ABOUT THE PHILOSOPHY OF HIS EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL NON-DENOMINATIONAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH. HE SAYS, “WE NEVER ENCOURAGE PEOPLE WHO BELONG TO OTHER CHURCHES TO TRANSFER THEIR MEMBERSHIP TO OURS. SADDLEBACK HAS AS ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE BRINGING PEOPLE TO CHRIST WHO ARE UNCHURCHED. IF SOMEONE WANTS TO TRANSFER MEMBERSHIP TO OUR CHURCH, YOU ARE WELCOME ONLY IF YOU ARE WILLING TO MINISTER AND SERVE. IF ALL YOU INTEND TO DO IS ATTEND SERVICES, WE WOULD RATHER SAVE YOUR SEAT FOR SOMEONE WHO IS AN UNBELIEVER. THERE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD BIBLE TEACHING CHURCHES AROUND HERE WE COULD RECOMMEND TO YOU.” PASTOR WARREN HAS BUILT AN EXTREMELY DYNAMIC, RAPIDLY GROWING ORGANIZATION PRECISELY BECAUSE HE AND HIS CONGREGATION ARE FOCUSED LIKE A LASER ON THIS IDEA, THIS PURPOSE, OF BRINGING THE GOSPEL TO PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T HEARD IT.
EARLY IN JESUS' PUBLIC CAREER, WHEN THIS GOSPEL EPISODE TAKES PLACE, HE KNEW THAT IF THE KINGDOM OF GOD WERE TO BE REALIZED, HIS MESSAGE HAD TO BE HEARD BY AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. AND HE SENT OUT HIS DISCIPLES, WHO HAD ONLY BEEN WITH HIM FOR A SHORT TIME, TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS. AS THEY WERE GROWING IN THE NEW FAITH, THEY HAD TO RECRUIT OTHERS; THERE WAS NOT A TIME TO LISTEN AND LEARN AND ANOTHER TIME TO GO FORTH AND TEACH; BOTH HAD TO BE DONE AT THE SAME TIME.
WHAT EXCUSES TO WE HAVE FOR NOT EVANGELIZING? I'M JUST A HOUSEWIFE. I DON'T KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT MY FAITH. WHO WOULD LISTEN TO A PLUMBER, A MECHANIC, AN INSURANCE AGENT, OR YOU FILL IN THE BLANK. I DON'T REALLY KNOW IF I BELIEVE THAT STRONGLY. THESE ARE ALL EXCUSES, BUT THERE ARE TWO THAT WE PROBABLY REALLY MEAN IN OUR HEARTS – I AM AFRAID; AND I AM NOT PREPARED.
DURING THE FRONTIER DAYS IN THIS COUNTRY, AS IMMIGRANTS SPREAD OUT THROUGH THIS LAND, THERE WERE TWO DENOMINATIONS WHICH SET OUT TO BRING ORDER TO THE WILD WEST. ONE WAS THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, WHICH HAD CEDED NEW ENGLAND AND INDEED MUCH OF THE EAST TO THE CONGREGATIONALISTS, WHO HAD GROWN OUT OF THE SAME MOVEMENT IN EUROPE. THE OTHER WAS A SMALL OFFSHOOT OF THE EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH, WHICH HAD DRAWN ITS MEMBERSHIP FROM THE LOWER CLASSES IN THE BIG CITIES IN ENGLAND. THE PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARIES WERE SEMINARY GRADUATES, LEARNED IN THEOLOGY AND BIBLICAL STUDIES, AND NEEDED RAILROADS AND STAGE COACHES, BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT SEE HOW THEY COULD BE MISSIONARIES WITHOUT THEIR BOOKS, ESPECIALLY THE HUGE THEOLOGICAL TREATISE BY THEIR FOUNDER, JOHN CALVIN. THE METHODIST MISSIONARIES, ON THE OTHER HAND, WERE POORLY EDUCATED, BUT NEEDED ONLY A BIBLE AND A HORSE. GUESS WHICH DENOMINATION GOT THERE FIRST AND ESTABLISHED THE MOST CHURCHES?
DURING JESUS' TIME, THERE WERE OTHER WANDERING MISSIONARIES FOR VARIOUS RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS. YOU COULD SPOT THEM ON THE ROAD BECAUSE THEY CARRIED BAGS FULL OF THEIR POSSESSIONS; THEY TOOK PRIDE IN HAVING EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED SO THAT THEY COULD BE COMPLETELY SELF-SUFFICIENT. JESUS, IN CONTRAST, DEMANDS THAT HIS DISCIPLES BRING NOTHING WITH THEM, AND ACCEPT THE CHARITY OF STRANGERS. IN THIS WAY THEY ARE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT, AND IT IS ONLY WHEN THEY ARE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT THAT GOD WORKS THROUGH THEM, THAT MIRACLES OF HEALING HAPPEN, THAT DEMONS ARE DRIVEN OUT, THAT THEIR HILLBILLY ACCENTS AND ILLITERATE SPEECHES WIN CONVERTS.
JESUS TELLS THEM THAT IF PEOPLE DON'T LISTEN, THEY SHOULDN'T INVEST ANY MORE TIME IN THAT LOCALITY; THOSE PEOPLE HAVE HAD THEIR CHANCE, AND IT WOULD BE TIME TO MOVE ON.
JESUS TELLS THEM THEY MUST GO IN PAIRS, AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS CLEAR; THE TWO WILL REMEMBER BETTER THAN ONE WHAT JESUS TAUGHT; EACH WILL BE A REMINDER TO THE OTHER THAT THEY ARE MESSENGERS, AND NOT THE MESSAGE; AND MOST IMPORTANT, THERE HAD TO BE TWO, BECAUSE JESUS SAID THAT WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER HE WOULD BE THERE ALSO.
THE DISCIPLES WERE FISHERMEN, TAX COLLECTORS, ROUGH AND ILLITERATE PEOPLE. THE PEOPLE WHO SPREAD CHRISTIANITY THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND INDEED, THE KNOWN WORLD IN THOSE FIRST TWO CENTURIES WERE MOSTLY FROM THE LOWEST CLASSES, FROM THOSE WHO LIVED ON THE FRINGES OF SOCIETY. AS THE MOVEMENT GREW, THEY WERE PERSECUTED. YES, SOME WERE THROWN TO LIONS, CRUCIFIED, DECAPITATED, BEATEN TO DEATH; BUT MANY, MANY MORE WERE KICKED OUT OF THEIR SYNAGOGUES, DENIED GOOD JOBS, ENSLAVED, AND SHUNNED BY THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THAT TIME. AND FAMILIES WERE BROKEN UP AS WELL WHEN A MEMBER BECAME A CHRISTIAN. IN THOSE DAYS, THE COST OF BEING A CHRISTIAN WAS VERY HIGH; AND DESPITE THAT, THE MOVEMENT GREW LIKE WILDFIRE.
WHAT DOES THIS GOSPEL MEAN TO US TODAY? THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM IS STILL URGENT; THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ON EARTH HAVE NOT YET HEARD THE MESSAGE OF JESUS, AND MANY OF THOSE WHO HAVE HEARD IT HAVE REJECTED IT. THOSE OF US WHO HAVE HEARD AND BELIEVED HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO PREACH THE GOSPEL; AND WE HAVE TO REALIZE, LIKE THOSE FIRST DISCIPLES, THAT WE HAVE NO EXCUSE; AND LIKE THOSE FIRST DISCIPLES, WE WILL BE SUCCESSFUL TO THE EXTENT THAT WE THROW OURSELVES ON GOD, THAT WE ALLOW GOD TO WORK THROUGH US, AND TO DO THAT, WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE HOW DEPENDENT WE ARE ON GOD.
IT IS AN AMAZING THING, ISN'T IT, THAT ALMIGHTY GOD, WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE, WHO CAN DO ANYTHING HE WILLS, HAS CHOSEN YOU AND I TO BRING THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. AND ITS A SCARY THING TO REALIZE THAT IF WE DON'T DO IT, WHO WILL?
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B
MARK 6:1-6
IN EARLY AUGUST JOAN AND I WILL BE GOING TO MONTANA, WHERE I GREW UP. I'M ESPECIALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING MY COUSINS. WHEN WE GREW UP TOGETHER, WE WERE ALL LIKE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. AND THEY WILL CALL ME “DONNY”, BECAUSE THAT WAS MY NAME 60 YEARS AGO. AND WHEN WE GET TOGETHER THE YEARS WILL SLIP AWAY FOR A SHORT TIME AND PART OF EACH OF US WILL BE CHILDREN AGAIN. BUT AMONG MY CLASSMATES, IT WAS A DIFFERENT STORY. I WENT TO A CATHOLIC SCHOOL, WHERE EVERYONE, IT SEEMED, WAS IRISH, EXCEPT ME; WHERE EVERYONE CAME FROM THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE CITY, EXCEPT A FEW OF US WHO LIVED ON THE EASTERN SIDE; WHERE MY CLASSMATES WERE FOR THE MOST PART GOOD IN ATHLETICS, HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER IN KINDERGARTEN AND EVEN BEFORE; AND I WAS BOOKISH AND LIKED TO BE ALONE AND HAD NOT GONE TO KINDERGARTEN. AS THE YEARS WENT BY, I MADE A LITTLE PROGRESS SOCIALLY, BUT IT WAS ONLY WHEN I LEFT HOME TO GO TO COLLEGE THAT I WAS ABLE TO REMAKE MYSELF, AT LEAST ENOUGH TO FEEL A LITTLE BIT MORE COMFORTABLE WITH PEOPLE; BECAUSE THOSE “FIRST IMPRESSIONS” NEVER QUITE LEAVE, AND THOSE OF US WHO TRIED TO BREAK OUT OF THE MOLD WOULD QUICKLY LEARN THAT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE. SO I RELATE TO JESUS IN THIS GOSPEL; IN HIS HOME TOWN, HE WAS THE CARPENTER'S KID. HE DIDN'T BELONG TO THE TRIBE OF LEVI, NOR WAS HE ORDAINED AS A RABBI, NOR DID HE BELONG TO A PRIESTLY FAMILY, LIKE HIS COUSIN JOHN. WHAT BUSINESS DID HE HAVE TO GO AROUND PREACHING AND CLAIMING TO HEAL PEOPLE?
AND THE GOSPEL OF MARK SAYS AN ASTOUNDING THING: HE WAS NOT ABLE TO PERFORM ANY MIGHTY DEED THERE, APART FROM HEALING A FEW SICK PEOPLE BY LAYING HANDS ON THEM.
GOD IS LOVE. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE; IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN IN LOVE, YOU KNOW THERE IS A POWER IN LOVE. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE WORLD THROUGH ANOTHER PERSON'S EYES? IF YOU'VE BEEN IN LOVE YOU HAVE; IF YOU'VE TAKEN YOUR CHILD BACK TO WHERE YOU GREW UP, YOU HAVE. WHEN YOU LOVE, ITS AS THOUGH YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS EXPANDS A LITTLE BIT; THE BORDERS OF YOUR SELF BLUR. AND YOU KNOW THAT LOVE MAKES YOU DO THINGS YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE OTHERWISE; SOMETIMES THINGS WHICH YOU DIDN'T THINK YOU COULD DO. BUT LOVE ONLY HAS POWER WHEN THERE ARE TWO PERSONS IN THE RELATIONSHIP. AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM TODAY WITH JESUS. HE INVITES PEOPLE TO KNOW HIM, AND WHEN THEY DO, MIRACLES HAPPEN, BECAUSE HE IS GOD, THE GOD WHO IS LOVE. BUT THE PEOPLE IN HIS HOME TOWN DON'T KNOW HIM, THEY ONLY KNOW THE CARPENTER'S KID, WHO GREW UP WITH THEM.
MIRACLES DIDN'T STOP WHEN JESUS DIED; WE SEE THEM CONTINUING IN THE STORIES OF THE APOSTLES. WE READ ABOUT THEM IN THE HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHURCH; WE MAY NOT BELIEVE THEM, BUT IT IS INTERESTING THAT THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME BELIEVED THAT CHRISTIANS HAD A SPECIAL CLAIM ON MIRACLES. RECENTLY THE POPE RECOGNIZED ANOTHER MIRACLE, ONE WHICH HAD BEEN EXTENSIVELY INVESTIGATED, AND FOR WHICH THERE WAS NO RATIONAL EXPLANATION – AND SOON CARDINAL NEWMAN WILL BE BEATIFIED AS A RESULT.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE EARLY DAYS SHARED A FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE OF JESUS' RESURRECTION; MOST PEOPLE KNEW SOMEONE WHO HAD BEEN A WITNESS, OR HAD KNOWN A WITNESS; AND THOSE WITNESSES WERE BELIEVABLE, BECAUSE ANYONE COULD SEE THAT THEIR LIVES HAD BEEN TOTALLY TRANSFORMED.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS HAD NO FEAR; THE EARLY CHRISTIANS DIDN'T CARE ABOUT SELF PRESERVATION, ABOUT WHETHER THEY MIGHT OFFEND SOMEONE; THEY DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT DOING GOD'S WILL. THEY HAD A TOTAL TRUST IN GOD.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS WAS CONSCIOUS OF THE PRESENCE OF THE SPIRIT. THINGS HAPPENED WHEN THEY WORSHIPPED THAT COULD NOT BE EXPLAINED IN ANY OTHER WAY. AND PEOPLE KNEW HOW TO TELL WHETHER SOMETHING WAS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OR CAME FROM SOME OTHER SPIRIT. YOU RUN ACROSS THIS IN THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. AND THEY KNEW THAT NOTHING WAS IMPOSSIBLE IF THE SPIRIT MOVED AMONG YOU.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE TIMES BELIEVED THAT THEIR SINS WERE FORGIVEN. AND WHEN YOU ARE CONVINCED THAT YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN, YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL SENSE OF FREEDOM, A TREMENDOUS LIGHTNESS, BECAUSE IF YOU ARE FORGIVEN, THEN EVEN DEATH DOESN'T FAZE YOU.
AND FINALLY, THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS CARED ABOUT ONLY THREE THINGS; WORSHIP, TEACHING, AND TAKING CARE OF THE POOR AND NEEDY. IF SOMETHING DIDN'T DIRECTLY RELATE TO THESE THINGS, IT WASN'T VERY IMPORTANT.
AND MAYBE THAT IS WHY THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS EXPERIENCED MIRACLES, EXPECTED MIRACLES, AND PERFORMED MIRACLES. AND MAYBE IF WE COULD RECAPTURE SOME OF THOSE QUALITIES OF THE EARLY CHURCH, OF THE FIRST PARISH IN JERUSALEM, MIRACLES WOULD HAPPEN HERE AS WELL.
I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES. I'VE SEEN THEM. BUT IN MY LONG CAREER AS A PHYSICIAN, I'VE WITNESSED ONLY A HANDFUL OF MIRACLES, HEALINGS I COULD NOT EXPLAIN. WHEN JESUS WALKED THIS EARTH, THE POWER OF GOD'S LOVE RESPONDED TO FAITH, REAL FAITH, BY MIRACLES OF HEALING. AND JESUS STILL WALKS THIS EARTH, AND HE STILL WANTS TO HEAL HIS PEOPLE, AND HE STILL ASKS ONLY FAITH FROM US, FAITH THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD, FAITH THAT HE HAS THE POWER TO HEAL US, FAITH ROOTED IN THAT LOVE RELATIONSHIP, THE LOVE THAT CALLS FORTH THE POWER OF GOD.
AND AN INDIVIDUAL WITH THAT KIND OF FAITH REQUIRES A COMMUNITY OF FAITH IN WHICH TO GROW; A COMMUNITY LIKE THAT FIRST PARISH, LIKE THOSE FIRST CHURCHES, WHOSE MEMBERS KNEW THAT CHRIST HAD RISEN, WHO KNEW THAT THEY HAD BEEN FORGIVEN, WHO KNEW THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT MOVED AMONG THEM, AND WHO KNEW THAT NOTHING WAS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD. AND THEY KNEW THIS TO THE EXTENT THAT SOME OF THEM HAPPILY ACCEPTED MARTYRDOM BECAUSE THEY KNEW THAT THE TRUEST AND MOST LASTING HEALING WAITED FOR THEM AFTER THEIR OWN DEATHS.
SO LET US NOT BE A COMMUNITY LIKE THE ONE IN JESUS' HOME TOWN; A COMMUNITY WHICH WOULD AMAZE HIM BY ITS LACK OF FAITH. LET US INSTEAD PRAY TO BE A COMMUNITY LIKE THOSE OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS, WHERE MIRACLES HAPPEN, WHERE SAINTS ARE MADE, WHERE THE WORLD IS CHANGED FOR THE BETTER BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT SETS US ON FIRE. AND MAYBE THEN WE WILL SEE MIRACLES, MIRACLES IN ABUNDANCE, AMONG OUR PEOPLE, LIKE THOSE FIRST CHRISTIANS SAW AMONG THEMSELVES.
IN EARLY AUGUST JOAN AND I WILL BE GOING TO MONTANA, WHERE I GREW UP. I'M ESPECIALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING MY COUSINS. WHEN WE GREW UP TOGETHER, WE WERE ALL LIKE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. AND THEY WILL CALL ME “DONNY”, BECAUSE THAT WAS MY NAME 60 YEARS AGO. AND WHEN WE GET TOGETHER THE YEARS WILL SLIP AWAY FOR A SHORT TIME AND PART OF EACH OF US WILL BE CHILDREN AGAIN. BUT AMONG MY CLASSMATES, IT WAS A DIFFERENT STORY. I WENT TO A CATHOLIC SCHOOL, WHERE EVERYONE, IT SEEMED, WAS IRISH, EXCEPT ME; WHERE EVERYONE CAME FROM THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE CITY, EXCEPT A FEW OF US WHO LIVED ON THE EASTERN SIDE; WHERE MY CLASSMATES WERE FOR THE MOST PART GOOD IN ATHLETICS, HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER IN KINDERGARTEN AND EVEN BEFORE; AND I WAS BOOKISH AND LIKED TO BE ALONE AND HAD NOT GONE TO KINDERGARTEN. AS THE YEARS WENT BY, I MADE A LITTLE PROGRESS SOCIALLY, BUT IT WAS ONLY WHEN I LEFT HOME TO GO TO COLLEGE THAT I WAS ABLE TO REMAKE MYSELF, AT LEAST ENOUGH TO FEEL A LITTLE BIT MORE COMFORTABLE WITH PEOPLE; BECAUSE THOSE “FIRST IMPRESSIONS” NEVER QUITE LEAVE, AND THOSE OF US WHO TRIED TO BREAK OUT OF THE MOLD WOULD QUICKLY LEARN THAT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE. SO I RELATE TO JESUS IN THIS GOSPEL; IN HIS HOME TOWN, HE WAS THE CARPENTER'S KID. HE DIDN'T BELONG TO THE TRIBE OF LEVI, NOR WAS HE ORDAINED AS A RABBI, NOR DID HE BELONG TO A PRIESTLY FAMILY, LIKE HIS COUSIN JOHN. WHAT BUSINESS DID HE HAVE TO GO AROUND PREACHING AND CLAIMING TO HEAL PEOPLE?
AND THE GOSPEL OF MARK SAYS AN ASTOUNDING THING: HE WAS NOT ABLE TO PERFORM ANY MIGHTY DEED THERE, APART FROM HEALING A FEW SICK PEOPLE BY LAYING HANDS ON THEM.
GOD IS LOVE. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE; IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN IN LOVE, YOU KNOW THERE IS A POWER IN LOVE. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE WORLD THROUGH ANOTHER PERSON'S EYES? IF YOU'VE BEEN IN LOVE YOU HAVE; IF YOU'VE TAKEN YOUR CHILD BACK TO WHERE YOU GREW UP, YOU HAVE. WHEN YOU LOVE, ITS AS THOUGH YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS EXPANDS A LITTLE BIT; THE BORDERS OF YOUR SELF BLUR. AND YOU KNOW THAT LOVE MAKES YOU DO THINGS YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE OTHERWISE; SOMETIMES THINGS WHICH YOU DIDN'T THINK YOU COULD DO. BUT LOVE ONLY HAS POWER WHEN THERE ARE TWO PERSONS IN THE RELATIONSHIP. AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM TODAY WITH JESUS. HE INVITES PEOPLE TO KNOW HIM, AND WHEN THEY DO, MIRACLES HAPPEN, BECAUSE HE IS GOD, THE GOD WHO IS LOVE. BUT THE PEOPLE IN HIS HOME TOWN DON'T KNOW HIM, THEY ONLY KNOW THE CARPENTER'S KID, WHO GREW UP WITH THEM.
MIRACLES DIDN'T STOP WHEN JESUS DIED; WE SEE THEM CONTINUING IN THE STORIES OF THE APOSTLES. WE READ ABOUT THEM IN THE HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHURCH; WE MAY NOT BELIEVE THEM, BUT IT IS INTERESTING THAT THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME BELIEVED THAT CHRISTIANS HAD A SPECIAL CLAIM ON MIRACLES. RECENTLY THE POPE RECOGNIZED ANOTHER MIRACLE, ONE WHICH HAD BEEN EXTENSIVELY INVESTIGATED, AND FOR WHICH THERE WAS NO RATIONAL EXPLANATION – AND SOON CARDINAL NEWMAN WILL BE BEATIFIED AS A RESULT.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE EARLY DAYS SHARED A FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE OF JESUS' RESURRECTION; MOST PEOPLE KNEW SOMEONE WHO HAD BEEN A WITNESS, OR HAD KNOWN A WITNESS; AND THOSE WITNESSES WERE BELIEVABLE, BECAUSE ANYONE COULD SEE THAT THEIR LIVES HAD BEEN TOTALLY TRANSFORMED.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS HAD NO FEAR; THE EARLY CHRISTIANS DIDN'T CARE ABOUT SELF PRESERVATION, ABOUT WHETHER THEY MIGHT OFFEND SOMEONE; THEY DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT DOING GOD'S WILL. THEY HAD A TOTAL TRUST IN GOD.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS WAS CONSCIOUS OF THE PRESENCE OF THE SPIRIT. THINGS HAPPENED WHEN THEY WORSHIPPED THAT COULD NOT BE EXPLAINED IN ANY OTHER WAY. AND PEOPLE KNEW HOW TO TELL WHETHER SOMETHING WAS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OR CAME FROM SOME OTHER SPIRIT. YOU RUN ACROSS THIS IN THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. AND THEY KNEW THAT NOTHING WAS IMPOSSIBLE IF THE SPIRIT MOVED AMONG YOU.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE TIMES BELIEVED THAT THEIR SINS WERE FORGIVEN. AND WHEN YOU ARE CONVINCED THAT YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN, YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL SENSE OF FREEDOM, A TREMENDOUS LIGHTNESS, BECAUSE IF YOU ARE FORGIVEN, THEN EVEN DEATH DOESN'T FAZE YOU.
AND FINALLY, THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS CARED ABOUT ONLY THREE THINGS; WORSHIP, TEACHING, AND TAKING CARE OF THE POOR AND NEEDY. IF SOMETHING DIDN'T DIRECTLY RELATE TO THESE THINGS, IT WASN'T VERY IMPORTANT.
AND MAYBE THAT IS WHY THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS EXPERIENCED MIRACLES, EXPECTED MIRACLES, AND PERFORMED MIRACLES. AND MAYBE IF WE COULD RECAPTURE SOME OF THOSE QUALITIES OF THE EARLY CHURCH, OF THE FIRST PARISH IN JERUSALEM, MIRACLES WOULD HAPPEN HERE AS WELL.
I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES. I'VE SEEN THEM. BUT IN MY LONG CAREER AS A PHYSICIAN, I'VE WITNESSED ONLY A HANDFUL OF MIRACLES, HEALINGS I COULD NOT EXPLAIN. WHEN JESUS WALKED THIS EARTH, THE POWER OF GOD'S LOVE RESPONDED TO FAITH, REAL FAITH, BY MIRACLES OF HEALING. AND JESUS STILL WALKS THIS EARTH, AND HE STILL WANTS TO HEAL HIS PEOPLE, AND HE STILL ASKS ONLY FAITH FROM US, FAITH THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD, FAITH THAT HE HAS THE POWER TO HEAL US, FAITH ROOTED IN THAT LOVE RELATIONSHIP, THE LOVE THAT CALLS FORTH THE POWER OF GOD.
AND AN INDIVIDUAL WITH THAT KIND OF FAITH REQUIRES A COMMUNITY OF FAITH IN WHICH TO GROW; A COMMUNITY LIKE THAT FIRST PARISH, LIKE THOSE FIRST CHURCHES, WHOSE MEMBERS KNEW THAT CHRIST HAD RISEN, WHO KNEW THAT THEY HAD BEEN FORGIVEN, WHO KNEW THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT MOVED AMONG THEM, AND WHO KNEW THAT NOTHING WAS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD. AND THEY KNEW THIS TO THE EXTENT THAT SOME OF THEM HAPPILY ACCEPTED MARTYRDOM BECAUSE THEY KNEW THAT THE TRUEST AND MOST LASTING HEALING WAITED FOR THEM AFTER THEIR OWN DEATHS.
SO LET US NOT BE A COMMUNITY LIKE THE ONE IN JESUS' HOME TOWN; A COMMUNITY WHICH WOULD AMAZE HIM BY ITS LACK OF FAITH. LET US INSTEAD PRAY TO BE A COMMUNITY LIKE THOSE OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS, WHERE MIRACLES HAPPEN, WHERE SAINTS ARE MADE, WHERE THE WORLD IS CHANGED FOR THE BETTER BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT SETS US ON FIRE. AND MAYBE THEN WE WILL SEE MIRACLES, MIRACLES IN ABUNDANCE, AMONG OUR PEOPLE, LIKE THOSE FIRST CHRISTIANS SAW AMONG THEMSELVES.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle b
MARK 5:21-43
I THINK MOST CATHOLICS IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE AN EXTREMELY ANEMIC FAITH. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP FOR MASS ONLY ON CHRISTMAS OR EASTER; I'M TALKING ABOUT THE ORDINARY CATHOLIC WHO GOES TO MASS EVERY SUNDAY, PERHAPS HAS A FEW PRAYERS HE SAYS EVERY DAY; GOES TO CONFESSION ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR – IN SHORT, DOES WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO IN ORDER TO REMAIN IN “GOOD STANDING”, BUT VERY LITTLE ELSE. ANEMIC CATHOLICS BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAYER, SORT OF. WHEN A CRISIS COMES ALONG, WE ANEMIC CATHOLICS PRAY; AND SOMETIMES WE ANEMIC CATHOLICS PRAY FOR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, CHILDREN, OUR PASTOR, OUR POLITICAL LEADERS; BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT SOME GOOD WILL COME FROM PRAYER, EVEN IF WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN, EVEN IF WE WOULD BE SURPRISED IF WHAT WE PRAYED FOR ACTUALLY CAME ABOUT THE WAY WE ASKED FOR IT. WE SAY THINGS LIKE, “GOD WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYERS, ONLY SOMETIMES THE ANSWER IS “NO”.” WE ARE BIG PROPONENTS OF “THY WILL BE DONE” BECAUSE IT MAKES US FEEL VIRTUOUS IF OUR PRAYERS ARE NOT ANSWERED, AND WE HAVE LEFT A LITTLE QUALIFICATION IN CASE GOD DOESN'T REALLY WANT TO DO WHAT WE ASK HIM TO DO.
TODAY WE MEET TWO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE ANEMIC FAITH. ONE IS A LEADER OF A SYNAGOGUE. THESE LEADERS OF SYNAGOGUES WERE NOT ACTUALLY RABBIS. THEY WERE PEOPLE WHO WERE ELECTED BY THE MEN IN THE CONGREGATION, AND THEIR JOB WAS TO OPERATE THE SYNAGOGUE. THEY SCHEDULED THINGS, THEY PUT ELDERS ON THE LIST TO READ THE SCRIPTURES ON THE SABBATH; THEY PAID THE RABBI, AND DOLED OUT THE CHARITY, AND COLLECTED THE TITHES. IT WAS A VERY IMPORTANT POST WITH A LOT OF INFLUENCE. AND HERE, THE LEADER OF THE SYNAGOGUE PUBLICLY ASKS A WANDERING PREACHER, WHO HAS BEEN REVILED BY THE PHARISEES, WHO SEEMS TO BE A RABBLE ROUSER, TO COME AND HEAL HIS DAUGHTER. IT WOULD BE LIKE OUR BISHOP GOING TO ONE OF OUR LOCAL PENTECOSTAL PREACHERS WITH THE PRESS IN TOW, TO ASK HIM TO HEAL SOMEONE IN HIS FAMILY. BUT JARIUS OVERCAME ALL HIS SCRUPLES, ALL HIS CONCERNS FOR HOW HE APPEARED TO THOSE OVER WHOM HE RULED, AND SWALLOWED ALL HIS PRIDE.
A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO READ THIS GOSPEL DON'T SEE MUCH OF A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE STORY OF JARIUS AND THE STORY OF THE WOMAN WITH A HEMORRHAGE. THIS HEALING TAKES PLACE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORY OF JARIUS. I THINK THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP. THE WOMAN IS LIKE A LEPER, LIKE SOMEONE WITH AIDS. IN JEWISH LAW, A WOMAN WHO WAS BLEEDING WAS UNCLEAN, AND NEEDED PURIFICATION. THIS WOMAN NEVER STOPPED BLEEDING. SHE COULD NEVER BE PURIFIED. AS SUCH, SHE WAS AN OUTCAST, SOMEONE WHO AVOIDED OTHER PEOPLE, WHO WAS SHUNNED BY HER FRIENDS AND RELATIVES. AND SHE WAS KNOWN TO THE TOWNSPEOPLE, AND EVERYONE KNEW HER PROBLEM; SHE HAD AFTER ALL, GONE TO SEVERAL DOCTORS AND YOU COULDN'T KEEP SOMETHING LIKE THIS QUIET. AND JESUS, FEELING HIS POWER GO OUT OF HIM, DIDN'T JUST LET IT HAPPEN. HE STOPPED AND CALLED ATTENTION TO THE FACT. JARIUS MUST HAVE HAVE REALLY REGRETTED THE FACT THAT HE HAD ASKED JESUS TO HEAL HIS DAUGHTER; NOW JESUS WAS STOPPING AND TALKING TO SOMEONE NO DECENT JEW WOULD HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH. AND HE TOLD HER SHE WAS HEALED – SOMETHING NO ONE COULD PROVE; AND JARIUS, WHO HAD GONE OUT ON A LIMB, WAS FINDING THAT THE LIMB WAS BEING CUT OFF.
AND THEN, WHEN IT SEEMED THINGS COULD NOT GET ANY WORSE, THEY DID. THEY CAME AND TOLD HIM HIS DAUGHTER HAD DIED. AND THEN THE WANDERING PREACHER ADDED FUEL TO THE FIRE BY INSISTING THAT THE DAUGHTER WAS ONLY SLEEPING, WHICH BROUGHT RIDICULE AND LAUGHTER UPON HIMSELF, AND BY EXTENSION, JARIUS, WHO AT THIS POINT SEEMED TO HAVE LOST EVERYTHING – HIS STANDING IN THE COMMUNITY, HIS DAUGHTER, AND HIS VERY REPUTATION AS A PERSON WHO WAS WORTHY OF BEING THE RULER OF THE SYNAGOGUE; ALL BECAUSE HE PLACED HIS FAITH IN JESUS.
BUT JESUS CAME THROUGH; JESUS HEALED THE LITTLE GIRL. AND THE PEOPLE WERE ASTOUNDED, AND JARIUS HAD EVERYTHING RESTORED TO HIM; HIS DAUGHTER, HIS REPUTATION, AND NOW HAD THE FURTHER RESPECT OF THE PEOPLE, BECAUSE HE HAD PUT HIS FAITH IN JESUS, AND IT WAS NOT IN VAIN.
THE WOMAN WHOM JESUS HEALED HAD SAID TO HERSELF, “IF I TOUCH HIS GARMENT, I WILL BE HEALED.” SHE DID NOT SIT IN THE CORNER AND WISH THAT SHE WERE HEALED, SHE DID NOT PRAY SILENTLY THAT SHE WOULD BE HEALED, ADDING THE QUALIFIER, “IF IT IS YOUR WILL”. SHE PUSHED THROUGH THE CROWD AND DID WHAT SHE BELIEVED SHE HAD TO DO, AND HER FAITH WAS REWARDED. BUT I THINK JARIUS MADE THE BIGGER GESTURE; HE PUT EVERYTHING ON THE LINE, AND WHEN IT SEEMED THAT HE HAD MADE A BAD BET, HE DIDN'T BACK OUT, HE CONTINUED TO BELIEVE THAT THIS PREACHER WHO UP TO THAT POINT HAD HEALED, DRIVEN OUT DEMONS, PREACHED A GOOD GAME-- THINGS THAT OTHER WANDERING MYSTICS DID AS WELL-- HE CONTINUED TO BELIEVE THAT EVEN THOUGH HIS DAUGHTER HAD DIED, MAYBE THIS MAN COULD STILL DO SOMETHING – SOMETHING UNPRECEDENTED, SOMETHING UTTERLY ASTOUNDING – AND HE BELIEVED JESUS WHEN JESUS SAID, “DON'T LISTEN TO THEM, SHE IS ONLY SLEEPING.” AND HIS FAITH WAS REWARDED.
WE CATHOLICS OF ANEMIC FAITH; AND I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE NOT ANEMIC, BUT I AM; WE CATHOLICS OF ANEMIC FAITH ARE NOT QUITE WILLING TO GO OUT ON A LIMB; WE ARE NOT QUITE WILLING TO BELIEVE, IN SPITE OF THINGS HAPPENING TO THE CONTRARY; WE THINK THE AGE OF MIRACLES IS OVER, AND WE ARE NOT SURPRISED THAT GOD DOESN'T ANSWER OUR PRAYERS; WE NEVER REALLY EXPECTED HIM TO IN THE FIRST PLACE.
AND YET, SOMETIMES IN OUR HEART, BURIED FAR BENEATH OUR RATIONAL MIND, WE GLIMPSE THAT JESUS STANDS READY TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS, IF WE PUT OUR TRUST IN HIM, IF WE PUSH THROUGH TO TOUCH HIS GARMENT; IF WE HAVE THE FAITH THAT IS WILLING TO TRUST HIM WITH EVERYTHING WE VALUE.
WHEN YOU READ THE GOSPELS, JESUS DOESN'T WORK MIRACLES AS OBJECT LESSONS; HE WORKS THEM BECAUSE HE MEETS SOMEONE WHO HAS A NEED. IN THE TOWN WHERE JARIUS LIVED, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN MANY WHO WERE SICK OR DYING, BUT ONLY JARIUS AND THE WOMAN WITH A BLEEDING DISORDER CAME OUT TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY HAD FAITH.
SO ON THIS SUNDAY WE NEED TO ASK, DO WE REALLY BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYERS, THAT HE DESIRES TO SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS, TO FULFILL OUR NEEDS? AND IF WE BELIEVE THIS, HOW DO WE SHOW HIM THAT WE HAVE THE FAITH OF JARIUS, OF THE WOMAN WITH THE HEMORRAGE, OF SO MANY OTHERS IN THE GOSPELS WHO SHOW THEIR FAITH AND RECEIVE HIS GRACE.
I THINK MOST CATHOLICS IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE AN EXTREMELY ANEMIC FAITH. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP FOR MASS ONLY ON CHRISTMAS OR EASTER; I'M TALKING ABOUT THE ORDINARY CATHOLIC WHO GOES TO MASS EVERY SUNDAY, PERHAPS HAS A FEW PRAYERS HE SAYS EVERY DAY; GOES TO CONFESSION ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR – IN SHORT, DOES WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO IN ORDER TO REMAIN IN “GOOD STANDING”, BUT VERY LITTLE ELSE. ANEMIC CATHOLICS BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAYER, SORT OF. WHEN A CRISIS COMES ALONG, WE ANEMIC CATHOLICS PRAY; AND SOMETIMES WE ANEMIC CATHOLICS PRAY FOR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, CHILDREN, OUR PASTOR, OUR POLITICAL LEADERS; BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT SOME GOOD WILL COME FROM PRAYER, EVEN IF WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN, EVEN IF WE WOULD BE SURPRISED IF WHAT WE PRAYED FOR ACTUALLY CAME ABOUT THE WAY WE ASKED FOR IT. WE SAY THINGS LIKE, “GOD WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYERS, ONLY SOMETIMES THE ANSWER IS “NO”.” WE ARE BIG PROPONENTS OF “THY WILL BE DONE” BECAUSE IT MAKES US FEEL VIRTUOUS IF OUR PRAYERS ARE NOT ANSWERED, AND WE HAVE LEFT A LITTLE QUALIFICATION IN CASE GOD DOESN'T REALLY WANT TO DO WHAT WE ASK HIM TO DO.
TODAY WE MEET TWO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE ANEMIC FAITH. ONE IS A LEADER OF A SYNAGOGUE. THESE LEADERS OF SYNAGOGUES WERE NOT ACTUALLY RABBIS. THEY WERE PEOPLE WHO WERE ELECTED BY THE MEN IN THE CONGREGATION, AND THEIR JOB WAS TO OPERATE THE SYNAGOGUE. THEY SCHEDULED THINGS, THEY PUT ELDERS ON THE LIST TO READ THE SCRIPTURES ON THE SABBATH; THEY PAID THE RABBI, AND DOLED OUT THE CHARITY, AND COLLECTED THE TITHES. IT WAS A VERY IMPORTANT POST WITH A LOT OF INFLUENCE. AND HERE, THE LEADER OF THE SYNAGOGUE PUBLICLY ASKS A WANDERING PREACHER, WHO HAS BEEN REVILED BY THE PHARISEES, WHO SEEMS TO BE A RABBLE ROUSER, TO COME AND HEAL HIS DAUGHTER. IT WOULD BE LIKE OUR BISHOP GOING TO ONE OF OUR LOCAL PENTECOSTAL PREACHERS WITH THE PRESS IN TOW, TO ASK HIM TO HEAL SOMEONE IN HIS FAMILY. BUT JARIUS OVERCAME ALL HIS SCRUPLES, ALL HIS CONCERNS FOR HOW HE APPEARED TO THOSE OVER WHOM HE RULED, AND SWALLOWED ALL HIS PRIDE.
A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO READ THIS GOSPEL DON'T SEE MUCH OF A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE STORY OF JARIUS AND THE STORY OF THE WOMAN WITH A HEMORRHAGE. THIS HEALING TAKES PLACE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORY OF JARIUS. I THINK THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP. THE WOMAN IS LIKE A LEPER, LIKE SOMEONE WITH AIDS. IN JEWISH LAW, A WOMAN WHO WAS BLEEDING WAS UNCLEAN, AND NEEDED PURIFICATION. THIS WOMAN NEVER STOPPED BLEEDING. SHE COULD NEVER BE PURIFIED. AS SUCH, SHE WAS AN OUTCAST, SOMEONE WHO AVOIDED OTHER PEOPLE, WHO WAS SHUNNED BY HER FRIENDS AND RELATIVES. AND SHE WAS KNOWN TO THE TOWNSPEOPLE, AND EVERYONE KNEW HER PROBLEM; SHE HAD AFTER ALL, GONE TO SEVERAL DOCTORS AND YOU COULDN'T KEEP SOMETHING LIKE THIS QUIET. AND JESUS, FEELING HIS POWER GO OUT OF HIM, DIDN'T JUST LET IT HAPPEN. HE STOPPED AND CALLED ATTENTION TO THE FACT. JARIUS MUST HAVE HAVE REALLY REGRETTED THE FACT THAT HE HAD ASKED JESUS TO HEAL HIS DAUGHTER; NOW JESUS WAS STOPPING AND TALKING TO SOMEONE NO DECENT JEW WOULD HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH. AND HE TOLD HER SHE WAS HEALED – SOMETHING NO ONE COULD PROVE; AND JARIUS, WHO HAD GONE OUT ON A LIMB, WAS FINDING THAT THE LIMB WAS BEING CUT OFF.
AND THEN, WHEN IT SEEMED THINGS COULD NOT GET ANY WORSE, THEY DID. THEY CAME AND TOLD HIM HIS DAUGHTER HAD DIED. AND THEN THE WANDERING PREACHER ADDED FUEL TO THE FIRE BY INSISTING THAT THE DAUGHTER WAS ONLY SLEEPING, WHICH BROUGHT RIDICULE AND LAUGHTER UPON HIMSELF, AND BY EXTENSION, JARIUS, WHO AT THIS POINT SEEMED TO HAVE LOST EVERYTHING – HIS STANDING IN THE COMMUNITY, HIS DAUGHTER, AND HIS VERY REPUTATION AS A PERSON WHO WAS WORTHY OF BEING THE RULER OF THE SYNAGOGUE; ALL BECAUSE HE PLACED HIS FAITH IN JESUS.
BUT JESUS CAME THROUGH; JESUS HEALED THE LITTLE GIRL. AND THE PEOPLE WERE ASTOUNDED, AND JARIUS HAD EVERYTHING RESTORED TO HIM; HIS DAUGHTER, HIS REPUTATION, AND NOW HAD THE FURTHER RESPECT OF THE PEOPLE, BECAUSE HE HAD PUT HIS FAITH IN JESUS, AND IT WAS NOT IN VAIN.
THE WOMAN WHOM JESUS HEALED HAD SAID TO HERSELF, “IF I TOUCH HIS GARMENT, I WILL BE HEALED.” SHE DID NOT SIT IN THE CORNER AND WISH THAT SHE WERE HEALED, SHE DID NOT PRAY SILENTLY THAT SHE WOULD BE HEALED, ADDING THE QUALIFIER, “IF IT IS YOUR WILL”. SHE PUSHED THROUGH THE CROWD AND DID WHAT SHE BELIEVED SHE HAD TO DO, AND HER FAITH WAS REWARDED. BUT I THINK JARIUS MADE THE BIGGER GESTURE; HE PUT EVERYTHING ON THE LINE, AND WHEN IT SEEMED THAT HE HAD MADE A BAD BET, HE DIDN'T BACK OUT, HE CONTINUED TO BELIEVE THAT THIS PREACHER WHO UP TO THAT POINT HAD HEALED, DRIVEN OUT DEMONS, PREACHED A GOOD GAME-- THINGS THAT OTHER WANDERING MYSTICS DID AS WELL-- HE CONTINUED TO BELIEVE THAT EVEN THOUGH HIS DAUGHTER HAD DIED, MAYBE THIS MAN COULD STILL DO SOMETHING – SOMETHING UNPRECEDENTED, SOMETHING UTTERLY ASTOUNDING – AND HE BELIEVED JESUS WHEN JESUS SAID, “DON'T LISTEN TO THEM, SHE IS ONLY SLEEPING.” AND HIS FAITH WAS REWARDED.
WE CATHOLICS OF ANEMIC FAITH; AND I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE NOT ANEMIC, BUT I AM; WE CATHOLICS OF ANEMIC FAITH ARE NOT QUITE WILLING TO GO OUT ON A LIMB; WE ARE NOT QUITE WILLING TO BELIEVE, IN SPITE OF THINGS HAPPENING TO THE CONTRARY; WE THINK THE AGE OF MIRACLES IS OVER, AND WE ARE NOT SURPRISED THAT GOD DOESN'T ANSWER OUR PRAYERS; WE NEVER REALLY EXPECTED HIM TO IN THE FIRST PLACE.
AND YET, SOMETIMES IN OUR HEART, BURIED FAR BENEATH OUR RATIONAL MIND, WE GLIMPSE THAT JESUS STANDS READY TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS, IF WE PUT OUR TRUST IN HIM, IF WE PUSH THROUGH TO TOUCH HIS GARMENT; IF WE HAVE THE FAITH THAT IS WILLING TO TRUST HIM WITH EVERYTHING WE VALUE.
WHEN YOU READ THE GOSPELS, JESUS DOESN'T WORK MIRACLES AS OBJECT LESSONS; HE WORKS THEM BECAUSE HE MEETS SOMEONE WHO HAS A NEED. IN THE TOWN WHERE JARIUS LIVED, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN MANY WHO WERE SICK OR DYING, BUT ONLY JARIUS AND THE WOMAN WITH A BLEEDING DISORDER CAME OUT TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY HAD FAITH.
SO ON THIS SUNDAY WE NEED TO ASK, DO WE REALLY BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYERS, THAT HE DESIRES TO SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS, TO FULFILL OUR NEEDS? AND IF WE BELIEVE THIS, HOW DO WE SHOW HIM THAT WE HAVE THE FAITH OF JARIUS, OF THE WOMAN WITH THE HEMORRAGE, OF SO MANY OTHERS IN THE GOSPELS WHO SHOW THEIR FAITH AND RECEIVE HIS GRACE.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle b
MARK 4:35-41
“LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?” THIS IS THE CRY OF THE APOSTLES, CAUGHT IN ONE OF THOSE SUDDEN LAKE STORMS THAT ARE MORE FEROCIOUS WHEN THE LAKE IS LARGE, LIKE THE LAKE OF GALILEE WHICH THEY WERE TRYING TO CROSS. AND IT IS OUR CRY AS WELL. PERHAPS TODAY WE ARE COMFORTABLE, THINGS MAY BE GOING WELL. BUT SOME OF US IN THIS CHURCH, IN THIS PARISH, ARE CRYING OUT WITH THE APOSTLES, “LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?” SOME OF US FEEL OUR BODIES WEARING OUT AS WE AGE, AND WE KNOW WE WILL NEVER AGAIN HAVE THE VIGOR WE ENJOYED A FEW YEARS AGO. SOME OF US ARE LOSING OUR HEARING, OUR EYESIGHT. SOME HAVE LOST THE USE OF A LIMB, OR HAVE BEGUN TO EXPERIENCE ANNOYING AND FRIGHTENING LOSSES OF MEMORY. AND SOME OF US HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT WE HAVE A DISEASE THAT CAN'T BE CURED, A SENTENCE OF DEATH HAS BEEN PRONOUNCED.
“LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?” A MOTHER'S HEART IS BREAKING BECAUSE HER SON HAS REJECTED ALL THE VALUES SHE THOUGHT SHE HAD INSTILLED. A HUSBAND DISCOVERS THAT HIS WIFE NO LONGER WANTS TO SHARE HER LIFE WITH HIM. A FATHER OF A FAMILY HAS LEARNED THAT HIS JOB IS ABOUT TO BE TERMINATED. AND EVEN FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE HEALTHY, WHO ARE EMPLOYED, WHO ARE BLESSED WITH LOVING FAMILIES, EVEN WE KNOW, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WHEN THERE IS NOTHING BETWEEN US AND TRUTH, THAT THERE IS ONLY A THIN WALL BETWEEN OUR COMFORT AND DISASTER, AND THAT ANY MOMENT A STORM CAN COME UP AND SNATCH AWAY ALL THAT WE NOW ENJOY.
THE APOSTLES HAD SEEN JESUS WORK MIRACLES; THEY HAD HEARD HIS WORDS, AND KNEW THAT THE LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH CARED FOR HIS CHILDREN AS A FATHER. BUT STILL THEY FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES; STILL THEY PANICKED.
AND JESUS DID NOT SAY, “THE STORM IS NOT REAL; IT IS NOT A PROBLEM.” HE REBUKED THE WIND AND THE WAVES, AND CALM WAS RESTORED. NOW NOTICE THAT THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT THE APOSTLES HOPED FOR; OTHERWISE, WHY WOULD THEY HAVE CRIED OUT TO HIM? THEY KNEW HE COULD SAVE THEM. BUT JESUS REBUKED THEM BECAUSE THEY DOUBTED EVEN FOR A MOMENT, THAT GOD WAS WITH THEM.
THE CHURCH, IN GIVING US THIS GOSPEL, TURNS OUR ATTENTION AS WELL TO THE BOOK OF JOB. JOB FOUND HIMSELF THE VICTIM OF A WAGER BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN, AND HE WHO WAS ONCE RICH, COMFORTABLE, SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS AND FAMILY, FOUND HIMSELF ON A HEAP OF ASHES COVERED WITH BOILS. LIKE THE APOSTLES, HE CRIED OUT. BUT JOB HAD REAL FAITH; IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS DESPAIR AND PAIN, HE INSISTED TO HIS FRIENDS THAT HE WAS INNOCENT, THAT HE DID NOT DESERVE WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO HIM. BUT HE NEVER STOPPED BELIEVING THAT GOD WAS GOOD, THAT SOMEHOW GOOD WOULD COME OUT OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING. WE HEAR ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE DRAMA, AND I WOULD HOPE THAT ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU MIGHT READ THE BOOK OF JOB SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY; IT IS ONE OF THE MOST PROFOUND BOOKS IN THE BIBLE. OUR FIRST READING, THOUGH, IS GOD'S REPLY TO JOB AND HIS FRIENDS. GOD BASICALLY SAYS THAT WE HAVE NO RIGHT, WE HAVE NO REASON, TO QUESTION WHAT HAPPENS. AND GOD DOES NOT HAVE TO JUSTIFY ANYTHING HE DOES. AND IF GOD CHOOSES TO TAKE FROM JOB EVERYTHING THAT HE HAS, WELL, JOB MUST NOT QUESTION IT, AND JOB DOES NOT. HE SAYS, “IF I HAVE ACCEPTED GOOD THINGS FROM THE LORD, SHOULD I NOT ACCEPT EVIL THINGS AS WELL?” BECAUSE THE LESSON OF THE BOOK OF JOB IS THAT GOD IS NOT OURS TO COMMAND, TO MANIPULATE; HE IS NOT OUR SERVANT. WE ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE GOD'S CREATURES, AND WHATEVER HAPPENS WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT, IS THE WILL OF GOD, AND FOR THAT REASON, SOMEHOW FULFILLS THE DIVINE PLAN.
THAT'S WHAT JESUS MEANS BY FAITH; THAT'S WHAT BRINGS FORTH JESUS' CRITICISM OF HIS APOSTLES. THEIR REACTION TO THE STORM IS PROOF THAT THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THE LESSON JOB LEARNED; EVERYTHING IS PART OF GOD'S PLAN.
THE APOSTLES WERE RIGHT TO CALL UPON JESUS; THEY WERE RIGHT TO TRIM THE SAILS, TO BAIL THE WATER OUT OF THE BOAT; TO HANG ON TO THE ROPES AND THE SIDES OF THE BOAT WITH ALL THEIR STRENGTH. BUT THEY WERE WRONG TO SAY, “LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?” BECAUSE THERE IN THE BOAT THEY HAD PROOF OF GOD'S CARE; JESUS WAS IN THE BOAT WITH THEM.
IF YOU HAVE CANCER, JESUS IS THERE WITH YOU; IF YOU HAVE LOST YOUR JOB, JESUS IS THERE; IF YOUR EYES ARE FAILING, IF YOUR BALANCE IS OFF, IF YOUR MIND IS SLIPPING AWAY, JESUS IS THERE WITH YOU. THAT IS THE LESSON JESUS TAUGHT HIS APOSTLES. AND IF JESUS IS THERE WITH YOU, YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT IS GOING ON, YOU MAY WISH THINGS WERE VERY DIFFERENT. BUT FAITH GIVES US CLARITY; WE DON'T KNOW WHY GOD DOES WHAT HE DOES; WE DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY HE ALLOWS BAD THINGS TO HAPPEN. PHILOSOPHERS GIVE US POSSIBLE ANSWERS. SCIENTISTS DO AS WELL. DOCTORS CAN TELL US WHY OUR BODIES FAIL US. BUT THOSE ANSWERS DON'T HELP; ONLY FAITH HELPS. AND FAITH IS KNOWING THAT GOD THE FATHER DOES WHAT HE DOES FOR REASONS WHICH WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND; AND FAITH IS KNOWING THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE IN OUR BOAT WHICH IS SINKING; JESUS IS THERE WITH US.
SOMEONE ONCE SAID THAT IF WE COULD ONLY SEE TIME AND SPACE FROM GOD'S STANDPOINT, THERE IS NOTHING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO US, OR COULD HAPPEN TO US, THAT WE WOULD NOT WANT TO HAPPEN EXACTLY AS IT DID HAPPEN. AND THAT IS THE CONSOLATION OF CHRISTIANITY; THE STORM CRASHES AROUND US, THREATENS TO SINK US, WILL CERTAINLY TAKE OUR LIVES SOONER OR LATER; BUT JESUS IS IN THE BOAT WITH US. AND THAT SHOULD BE A REASON FOR CALM, FOR PATIENCE, AND EVEN FOR JOY.
SO LET US PRAY THAT NO MATTER WHAT IS HAPPENING, WE WILL REMEMBER THAT THERE IN THE STERN OF OUR BOAT, DOZING ON A CUSHION, IS JESUS, WHO SHARES WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US.
“LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?” THIS IS THE CRY OF THE APOSTLES, CAUGHT IN ONE OF THOSE SUDDEN LAKE STORMS THAT ARE MORE FEROCIOUS WHEN THE LAKE IS LARGE, LIKE THE LAKE OF GALILEE WHICH THEY WERE TRYING TO CROSS. AND IT IS OUR CRY AS WELL. PERHAPS TODAY WE ARE COMFORTABLE, THINGS MAY BE GOING WELL. BUT SOME OF US IN THIS CHURCH, IN THIS PARISH, ARE CRYING OUT WITH THE APOSTLES, “LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?” SOME OF US FEEL OUR BODIES WEARING OUT AS WE AGE, AND WE KNOW WE WILL NEVER AGAIN HAVE THE VIGOR WE ENJOYED A FEW YEARS AGO. SOME OF US ARE LOSING OUR HEARING, OUR EYESIGHT. SOME HAVE LOST THE USE OF A LIMB, OR HAVE BEGUN TO EXPERIENCE ANNOYING AND FRIGHTENING LOSSES OF MEMORY. AND SOME OF US HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT WE HAVE A DISEASE THAT CAN'T BE CURED, A SENTENCE OF DEATH HAS BEEN PRONOUNCED.
“LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?” A MOTHER'S HEART IS BREAKING BECAUSE HER SON HAS REJECTED ALL THE VALUES SHE THOUGHT SHE HAD INSTILLED. A HUSBAND DISCOVERS THAT HIS WIFE NO LONGER WANTS TO SHARE HER LIFE WITH HIM. A FATHER OF A FAMILY HAS LEARNED THAT HIS JOB IS ABOUT TO BE TERMINATED. AND EVEN FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE HEALTHY, WHO ARE EMPLOYED, WHO ARE BLESSED WITH LOVING FAMILIES, EVEN WE KNOW, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WHEN THERE IS NOTHING BETWEEN US AND TRUTH, THAT THERE IS ONLY A THIN WALL BETWEEN OUR COMFORT AND DISASTER, AND THAT ANY MOMENT A STORM CAN COME UP AND SNATCH AWAY ALL THAT WE NOW ENJOY.
THE APOSTLES HAD SEEN JESUS WORK MIRACLES; THEY HAD HEARD HIS WORDS, AND KNEW THAT THE LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH CARED FOR HIS CHILDREN AS A FATHER. BUT STILL THEY FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES; STILL THEY PANICKED.
AND JESUS DID NOT SAY, “THE STORM IS NOT REAL; IT IS NOT A PROBLEM.” HE REBUKED THE WIND AND THE WAVES, AND CALM WAS RESTORED. NOW NOTICE THAT THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT THE APOSTLES HOPED FOR; OTHERWISE, WHY WOULD THEY HAVE CRIED OUT TO HIM? THEY KNEW HE COULD SAVE THEM. BUT JESUS REBUKED THEM BECAUSE THEY DOUBTED EVEN FOR A MOMENT, THAT GOD WAS WITH THEM.
THE CHURCH, IN GIVING US THIS GOSPEL, TURNS OUR ATTENTION AS WELL TO THE BOOK OF JOB. JOB FOUND HIMSELF THE VICTIM OF A WAGER BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN, AND HE WHO WAS ONCE RICH, COMFORTABLE, SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS AND FAMILY, FOUND HIMSELF ON A HEAP OF ASHES COVERED WITH BOILS. LIKE THE APOSTLES, HE CRIED OUT. BUT JOB HAD REAL FAITH; IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS DESPAIR AND PAIN, HE INSISTED TO HIS FRIENDS THAT HE WAS INNOCENT, THAT HE DID NOT DESERVE WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO HIM. BUT HE NEVER STOPPED BELIEVING THAT GOD WAS GOOD, THAT SOMEHOW GOOD WOULD COME OUT OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING. WE HEAR ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE DRAMA, AND I WOULD HOPE THAT ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU MIGHT READ THE BOOK OF JOB SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY; IT IS ONE OF THE MOST PROFOUND BOOKS IN THE BIBLE. OUR FIRST READING, THOUGH, IS GOD'S REPLY TO JOB AND HIS FRIENDS. GOD BASICALLY SAYS THAT WE HAVE NO RIGHT, WE HAVE NO REASON, TO QUESTION WHAT HAPPENS. AND GOD DOES NOT HAVE TO JUSTIFY ANYTHING HE DOES. AND IF GOD CHOOSES TO TAKE FROM JOB EVERYTHING THAT HE HAS, WELL, JOB MUST NOT QUESTION IT, AND JOB DOES NOT. HE SAYS, “IF I HAVE ACCEPTED GOOD THINGS FROM THE LORD, SHOULD I NOT ACCEPT EVIL THINGS AS WELL?” BECAUSE THE LESSON OF THE BOOK OF JOB IS THAT GOD IS NOT OURS TO COMMAND, TO MANIPULATE; HE IS NOT OUR SERVANT. WE ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE GOD'S CREATURES, AND WHATEVER HAPPENS WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT, IS THE WILL OF GOD, AND FOR THAT REASON, SOMEHOW FULFILLS THE DIVINE PLAN.
THAT'S WHAT JESUS MEANS BY FAITH; THAT'S WHAT BRINGS FORTH JESUS' CRITICISM OF HIS APOSTLES. THEIR REACTION TO THE STORM IS PROOF THAT THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THE LESSON JOB LEARNED; EVERYTHING IS PART OF GOD'S PLAN.
THE APOSTLES WERE RIGHT TO CALL UPON JESUS; THEY WERE RIGHT TO TRIM THE SAILS, TO BAIL THE WATER OUT OF THE BOAT; TO HANG ON TO THE ROPES AND THE SIDES OF THE BOAT WITH ALL THEIR STRENGTH. BUT THEY WERE WRONG TO SAY, “LORD, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?” BECAUSE THERE IN THE BOAT THEY HAD PROOF OF GOD'S CARE; JESUS WAS IN THE BOAT WITH THEM.
IF YOU HAVE CANCER, JESUS IS THERE WITH YOU; IF YOU HAVE LOST YOUR JOB, JESUS IS THERE; IF YOUR EYES ARE FAILING, IF YOUR BALANCE IS OFF, IF YOUR MIND IS SLIPPING AWAY, JESUS IS THERE WITH YOU. THAT IS THE LESSON JESUS TAUGHT HIS APOSTLES. AND IF JESUS IS THERE WITH YOU, YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT IS GOING ON, YOU MAY WISH THINGS WERE VERY DIFFERENT. BUT FAITH GIVES US CLARITY; WE DON'T KNOW WHY GOD DOES WHAT HE DOES; WE DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY HE ALLOWS BAD THINGS TO HAPPEN. PHILOSOPHERS GIVE US POSSIBLE ANSWERS. SCIENTISTS DO AS WELL. DOCTORS CAN TELL US WHY OUR BODIES FAIL US. BUT THOSE ANSWERS DON'T HELP; ONLY FAITH HELPS. AND FAITH IS KNOWING THAT GOD THE FATHER DOES WHAT HE DOES FOR REASONS WHICH WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND; AND FAITH IS KNOWING THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE IN OUR BOAT WHICH IS SINKING; JESUS IS THERE WITH US.
SOMEONE ONCE SAID THAT IF WE COULD ONLY SEE TIME AND SPACE FROM GOD'S STANDPOINT, THERE IS NOTHING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO US, OR COULD HAPPEN TO US, THAT WE WOULD NOT WANT TO HAPPEN EXACTLY AS IT DID HAPPEN. AND THAT IS THE CONSOLATION OF CHRISTIANITY; THE STORM CRASHES AROUND US, THREATENS TO SINK US, WILL CERTAINLY TAKE OUR LIVES SOONER OR LATER; BUT JESUS IS IN THE BOAT WITH US. AND THAT SHOULD BE A REASON FOR CALM, FOR PATIENCE, AND EVEN FOR JOY.
SO LET US PRAY THAT NO MATTER WHAT IS HAPPENING, WE WILL REMEMBER THAT THERE IN THE STERN OF OUR BOAT, DOZING ON A CUSHION, IS JESUS, WHO SHARES WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Corpus Christi, 2009
MARK 14:12-16; 22-26
TODAY IS THE FEAST OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. ALTHOUGH WE CELEBRATE MOST SUNDAYS AND HOLY DAYS IN COMMON WITH OUR PROTESTANT AND ORTHODOX BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THIS FEAST IS A PECULIARLY CATHOLIC FEAST. ALTHOUGH THE ORTHODOX AGREE WITH US ON THE NATURE OF THIS SACRAMENT, FOR SOME REASON IT IS ONLY IN THE WESTERN CHURCH THAT DEVOTION TO THE EUCHARIST REACHED THE HEIGHTS IT HAS. SO WHAT CAN WE SAY ABOUT THE EUCHARIST THAT HASN'T BEEN SAID? IT IS THE BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST, AND IT IS GIVEN TO US FOR OUR SPIRITUAL FOOD. HOW PRIVILEGED WE ARE, AND YET, HOW LITTLE WE FEEL IT, HOW LITTLE WE APPRECIATE IT. BUT I THINK IT MIGHT BE GOOD TO TURN TO OUR MOTHER MARY, THE FIRST PERSON TO RECEIVE WITHIN HERSELF JESUS CHRIST, TRUE GOD, TRUE MAN.
FIRST, MARY TEACHES US THE PROPER ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE EUCHARIST; WHEN THE ANGEL COMES TO HER SHE RESPONDS, “DO UNTO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD.” WE RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST TO BE TRANSFORMED, AND TO THE EXTENT THAT WE MAKE THIS PRAYER OUR OWN, THAT IS THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE WILL BE TRANSFORMED.
AT THAT MOMENT, WE LEARN, JESUS WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT; AN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL WAS CREATED FROM THE SUBSTANCE OF MARY'S BODY, WHICH BECAME AN EMBRYO, A FETUS, AND FINALLY A BABY. BECAUSE JESUS WAS LIKE US IN ALL BUT SIN; HE WENT THROUGH THE SAME DEVELOPMENT YOU AND I DO; AND THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT AT THE MOMENT MARY GAVE HERE CONSENT, JESUS WAS CONCEIVED. SURELY IF WE UNDERSTAND THIS, WE UNDERSTAND THE CHURCH'S UNDYING OPPOSITION TO ABORTION.
SECOND, MARY GOES TO ELIZABETH. THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT ELIZABETH WAS ALSO PREGNANT, AND THE PURPOSE OF MARY'S VISIT WAS TO HELP OUT HER ELDERLY COUSIN. WHEN WE RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, WE RECEIVE GOD'S OWN SELF, FREELY, AS A GIFT WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO HAVE. AND A PERFECT SOUL, LIKE MARY, CAN'T HELP BUT GET UP AND GO GIVE HERSELF TO OTHERS; TO OFFER OURSELVES TO OTHERS IS THE VERY NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY.
THIRD, WE HEAR THAT WHEN THE CHILD JESUS WAS BORN, A PERSECUTION TOOK PLACE, AND JOSEPH, MARY, AND JESUS HAD TO LEAVE THEIR HOME AND LIVE IN A STRANGE LAND. ONCE WE ACCEPT JESUS, ONCE WE EAT HIS BODY AND DRINK HIS BLOOD SERIOUSLY AND FAITHFULLY, WE ALSO CAN BE EXPECTED TO UNDERGO PERSECUTION, JUST AS JESUS DID, JUST AS MARY AND JOSEPH DID. JESUS PROMISED IT, AND SOMETIMES I THINK WE SHOULD BE VERY ANXIOUS IF WE ARE NOT EXPERIENCING SOME SORT OF PERSECUTION – BECAUSE IT MAY MEAN THAT WE DON'T TAKE OUR CHRISTIANITY SERIOUSLY, OR EVEN WORSE, THAT THOSE AROUND US THINK WE ARE JUST LIKE THEM, JUST PRETENDING.
AT THE WEDDING FEAST OF CANA, MARY, THE FIRST PERSON TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION, DEMONSTRATES GREAT SENSITIVITY – SHE IS AWARE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND HER, AND A CATASTROPHE SEEMS TO BE ABOUT TO HAPPEN. SHE NOTICES, AND SHE DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT. THE RICH MAN IGNORED LAZARUS, THE BEGGAR AT HIS VERY FRONT DOOR; MARY NOTICES THAT A YOUNG COUPLE'S PARTY IS ABOUT TO BE RUINED, EVEN BEFORE THEY DO, EVEN BEFORE, IT SEEMS, JESUS DID. AND MARY CALLS ON JESUS TO WORK A MIRACLE – EVEN THOUGH THIS MOMENT WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF SEPARATION OF JESUS FROM MARY; IT WILL SET INTO MOTION THE WHOLE CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT WILL LEAD TO THE CRUCIFIXION. BUT OUR FIRST COMMUNICANT GLADLY MAKES THE HARD CHOICES, BECAUSE THEY ARE RIGHT. HOW OFTEN DO WE NOT NOTICE OUR NEIGHBOR'S DISTRESS, OR NOTICING IT, FAIL TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? HOW OFTEN DO WE MAKE COMPROMISES RATHER THAN TAKE THE ACTION THAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD, THE DIFFICULT CHOICES THAT WE'D RATHER NOT FACE?
AND MARY, THE FIRST COMMUNICANT, WAS NOT SPARED SUFFERING. SHE SUFFERED WHEN SHE FLED TO EGYPT; SHE SUFFERED AT THE TEMPLE WHEN SHE AND JOSEPH SEARCHED FOR THEIR SON. SHE SUFFERED WHEN SHE MISUNDERSTOOD HIS MISSION, AND SHE AND SOME OF JESUS' RELATIVES CAME TO TAKE HIM HOME WHERE THEY COULD CARE FOR HIM, BECAUSE THEY ALL THOUGHT HE WAS MAD, HAVING LEFT HIS ORDINARY LIFE AS A CARPENTER TO BECOME A WANDERING PREACHER. AND SHE SUFFERED WHEN SHE SAW HIM CONDEMNED AND NAILED TO A CROSS, AND WHEN SHE HELD HIS LIFELESS BODY IN HER HANDS. BECAUSE THE EUCHARIST IS A PROMISE THAT IF WE ARE TO BE UNITED TO JESUS, WE MUST EXPECT SUFFERING; PERHAPS THE SUFFERING IS IN PROPORTION TO THE DEGREE TO WHICH WE ARE UNITED TO HIM. EVEN THOSE WHO DO NOT SEEM TO SUFFER – MOTHER THERESA COMES TO MIND – DID SUFFER GREATLY WHEN ALL WAS MADE CLEAR. IF JESUS SUFFERED, WE MUST; FOR HE SAID, “WHERE I AM, THERE WILL MY SERVANT BE.”
AND FINALLY, MARY, THE FIRST TO RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, SAW THE RISEN LORD, AND EVERYTHING WAS MADE CLEAR TO HER. FOR THE EUCHARIST, WHEN WE OPEN OURSELVES TO IT, REVEALS THE PLAN OF THE FATHER; THAT WE ARE MADE INTO CHRIST, SO THAT WE CAN LIVE FOREVER IN THE FATHER'S LOVE, IN THE HEART OF THE TRINITY.
TO RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST IS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF WHICH WE ARE CAPABLE. BUT LIKE ANYTHING WONDERFUL, WE CAN CHOOSE NOT TO INVEST WHAT IT TAKES TO PARTICIPATE. WE CAN COME TO MASS UNPREPARED, LET OUR MINDS WANDER, GO THROUGH THE WHOLE MASS WITHOUT ACTUALLY PRAYING FROM OUR HEARTS. WE CAN RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, NOT EVEN ACKNOWLEDGING HIS PRESENCE INSIDE OUR BODIES. WE CAN WALK BACK TO OUR PEW ALREADY THINKING ABOUT WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO NEXT, WHERE WE WILL GET BREAKFAST, AND SO ON.
BUT WHEN MARY RECEIVED THE FIRST EUCHARIST, SHE GAVE HER FULL CONSENT, AND LATER PRAISED GOD WITH HER IMMORTAL SONG, “THE MAGNIFICAT.” SHE SANG, “MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD, MY SPIRIT REJOICES IN GOD MY SAVIOR.” AND ALL HER LIFE SHE NEVER FORGOT THAT WITHIN HER BODY THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE HAD TAKEN UP RESIDENCE.
ON THIS SUNDAY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, PRAY THAT THE NEXT TIME WE RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, WE WILL DO SO WITH GREAT ATTENTION, WITH FULL PARTICIPATION, AND WITH OUR CONSENT TO BE TRANSFORMED BY THIS HEAVENLY FOOD INTO ANOTHER CHRIST.
TODAY IS THE FEAST OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. ALTHOUGH WE CELEBRATE MOST SUNDAYS AND HOLY DAYS IN COMMON WITH OUR PROTESTANT AND ORTHODOX BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THIS FEAST IS A PECULIARLY CATHOLIC FEAST. ALTHOUGH THE ORTHODOX AGREE WITH US ON THE NATURE OF THIS SACRAMENT, FOR SOME REASON IT IS ONLY IN THE WESTERN CHURCH THAT DEVOTION TO THE EUCHARIST REACHED THE HEIGHTS IT HAS. SO WHAT CAN WE SAY ABOUT THE EUCHARIST THAT HASN'T BEEN SAID? IT IS THE BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST, AND IT IS GIVEN TO US FOR OUR SPIRITUAL FOOD. HOW PRIVILEGED WE ARE, AND YET, HOW LITTLE WE FEEL IT, HOW LITTLE WE APPRECIATE IT. BUT I THINK IT MIGHT BE GOOD TO TURN TO OUR MOTHER MARY, THE FIRST PERSON TO RECEIVE WITHIN HERSELF JESUS CHRIST, TRUE GOD, TRUE MAN.
FIRST, MARY TEACHES US THE PROPER ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE EUCHARIST; WHEN THE ANGEL COMES TO HER SHE RESPONDS, “DO UNTO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD.” WE RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST TO BE TRANSFORMED, AND TO THE EXTENT THAT WE MAKE THIS PRAYER OUR OWN, THAT IS THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE WILL BE TRANSFORMED.
AT THAT MOMENT, WE LEARN, JESUS WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT; AN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL WAS CREATED FROM THE SUBSTANCE OF MARY'S BODY, WHICH BECAME AN EMBRYO, A FETUS, AND FINALLY A BABY. BECAUSE JESUS WAS LIKE US IN ALL BUT SIN; HE WENT THROUGH THE SAME DEVELOPMENT YOU AND I DO; AND THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT AT THE MOMENT MARY GAVE HERE CONSENT, JESUS WAS CONCEIVED. SURELY IF WE UNDERSTAND THIS, WE UNDERSTAND THE CHURCH'S UNDYING OPPOSITION TO ABORTION.
SECOND, MARY GOES TO ELIZABETH. THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT ELIZABETH WAS ALSO PREGNANT, AND THE PURPOSE OF MARY'S VISIT WAS TO HELP OUT HER ELDERLY COUSIN. WHEN WE RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, WE RECEIVE GOD'S OWN SELF, FREELY, AS A GIFT WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO HAVE. AND A PERFECT SOUL, LIKE MARY, CAN'T HELP BUT GET UP AND GO GIVE HERSELF TO OTHERS; TO OFFER OURSELVES TO OTHERS IS THE VERY NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY.
THIRD, WE HEAR THAT WHEN THE CHILD JESUS WAS BORN, A PERSECUTION TOOK PLACE, AND JOSEPH, MARY, AND JESUS HAD TO LEAVE THEIR HOME AND LIVE IN A STRANGE LAND. ONCE WE ACCEPT JESUS, ONCE WE EAT HIS BODY AND DRINK HIS BLOOD SERIOUSLY AND FAITHFULLY, WE ALSO CAN BE EXPECTED TO UNDERGO PERSECUTION, JUST AS JESUS DID, JUST AS MARY AND JOSEPH DID. JESUS PROMISED IT, AND SOMETIMES I THINK WE SHOULD BE VERY ANXIOUS IF WE ARE NOT EXPERIENCING SOME SORT OF PERSECUTION – BECAUSE IT MAY MEAN THAT WE DON'T TAKE OUR CHRISTIANITY SERIOUSLY, OR EVEN WORSE, THAT THOSE AROUND US THINK WE ARE JUST LIKE THEM, JUST PRETENDING.
AT THE WEDDING FEAST OF CANA, MARY, THE FIRST PERSON TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION, DEMONSTRATES GREAT SENSITIVITY – SHE IS AWARE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND HER, AND A CATASTROPHE SEEMS TO BE ABOUT TO HAPPEN. SHE NOTICES, AND SHE DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT. THE RICH MAN IGNORED LAZARUS, THE BEGGAR AT HIS VERY FRONT DOOR; MARY NOTICES THAT A YOUNG COUPLE'S PARTY IS ABOUT TO BE RUINED, EVEN BEFORE THEY DO, EVEN BEFORE, IT SEEMS, JESUS DID. AND MARY CALLS ON JESUS TO WORK A MIRACLE – EVEN THOUGH THIS MOMENT WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF SEPARATION OF JESUS FROM MARY; IT WILL SET INTO MOTION THE WHOLE CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT WILL LEAD TO THE CRUCIFIXION. BUT OUR FIRST COMMUNICANT GLADLY MAKES THE HARD CHOICES, BECAUSE THEY ARE RIGHT. HOW OFTEN DO WE NOT NOTICE OUR NEIGHBOR'S DISTRESS, OR NOTICING IT, FAIL TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? HOW OFTEN DO WE MAKE COMPROMISES RATHER THAN TAKE THE ACTION THAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD, THE DIFFICULT CHOICES THAT WE'D RATHER NOT FACE?
AND MARY, THE FIRST COMMUNICANT, WAS NOT SPARED SUFFERING. SHE SUFFERED WHEN SHE FLED TO EGYPT; SHE SUFFERED AT THE TEMPLE WHEN SHE AND JOSEPH SEARCHED FOR THEIR SON. SHE SUFFERED WHEN SHE MISUNDERSTOOD HIS MISSION, AND SHE AND SOME OF JESUS' RELATIVES CAME TO TAKE HIM HOME WHERE THEY COULD CARE FOR HIM, BECAUSE THEY ALL THOUGHT HE WAS MAD, HAVING LEFT HIS ORDINARY LIFE AS A CARPENTER TO BECOME A WANDERING PREACHER. AND SHE SUFFERED WHEN SHE SAW HIM CONDEMNED AND NAILED TO A CROSS, AND WHEN SHE HELD HIS LIFELESS BODY IN HER HANDS. BECAUSE THE EUCHARIST IS A PROMISE THAT IF WE ARE TO BE UNITED TO JESUS, WE MUST EXPECT SUFFERING; PERHAPS THE SUFFERING IS IN PROPORTION TO THE DEGREE TO WHICH WE ARE UNITED TO HIM. EVEN THOSE WHO DO NOT SEEM TO SUFFER – MOTHER THERESA COMES TO MIND – DID SUFFER GREATLY WHEN ALL WAS MADE CLEAR. IF JESUS SUFFERED, WE MUST; FOR HE SAID, “WHERE I AM, THERE WILL MY SERVANT BE.”
AND FINALLY, MARY, THE FIRST TO RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, SAW THE RISEN LORD, AND EVERYTHING WAS MADE CLEAR TO HER. FOR THE EUCHARIST, WHEN WE OPEN OURSELVES TO IT, REVEALS THE PLAN OF THE FATHER; THAT WE ARE MADE INTO CHRIST, SO THAT WE CAN LIVE FOREVER IN THE FATHER'S LOVE, IN THE HEART OF THE TRINITY.
TO RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST IS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF WHICH WE ARE CAPABLE. BUT LIKE ANYTHING WONDERFUL, WE CAN CHOOSE NOT TO INVEST WHAT IT TAKES TO PARTICIPATE. WE CAN COME TO MASS UNPREPARED, LET OUR MINDS WANDER, GO THROUGH THE WHOLE MASS WITHOUT ACTUALLY PRAYING FROM OUR HEARTS. WE CAN RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, NOT EVEN ACKNOWLEDGING HIS PRESENCE INSIDE OUR BODIES. WE CAN WALK BACK TO OUR PEW ALREADY THINKING ABOUT WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO NEXT, WHERE WE WILL GET BREAKFAST, AND SO ON.
BUT WHEN MARY RECEIVED THE FIRST EUCHARIST, SHE GAVE HER FULL CONSENT, AND LATER PRAISED GOD WITH HER IMMORTAL SONG, “THE MAGNIFICAT.” SHE SANG, “MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD, MY SPIRIT REJOICES IN GOD MY SAVIOR.” AND ALL HER LIFE SHE NEVER FORGOT THAT WITHIN HER BODY THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE HAD TAKEN UP RESIDENCE.
ON THIS SUNDAY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, PRAY THAT THE NEXT TIME WE RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, WE WILL DO SO WITH GREAT ATTENTION, WITH FULL PARTICIPATION, AND WITH OUR CONSENT TO BE TRANSFORMED BY THIS HEAVENLY FOOD INTO ANOTHER CHRIST.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Trinity Sunday, 2009
MATTHEW 28:13-20
DO YOU REMEMBER THREE IN ONE OIL? FOR SOME REASON, I FIRST BECAME AWARE OF IT ABOUT THE TIME I BEGAN TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY. IN THE BALTIMORE CATECHISM, THE TRINITY IS DESCRIBED AS THREE PERSONS IN ONE GOD, SO THREE IN ONE WASN'T A BIG LEAP. THE THREE THINGS, BY THE WAY, THAT THREE IN ONE OIL IS SUPPOSED TO DO IS TO LUBRICATE, TO PROTECT AGAINST RUST, AND TO CLEAN.
BUT THAT CONCEPTION OF GOD, THAT HE ACTS IN THREE DIFFERENT WAYS, AS CREATOR, REDEEMER, AND SANCTIFIER, IS A HERESY KNOWN AS MODALISM. IT IMPLIES THAT THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT ARE JUST MASKS THAT GOD PUTS ON IN DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES.
SAINT PATRICK, LEGEND HAS IT, COMPARED THE TRINITY TO A SHAMROCK – THREE LEAVES GROWING ON ONE STEM. BUT THAT SKATES CLOSE TO THE HERESY OF PARTIALISM: THE IDEA THAT THREE PERSONS TOGETHER MAKE UP GOD, IMPLYING THAT NONE OF THEM IS GOD BY HIMSELF.
OUR MOSLEM FRIENDS CONSIDER OUR TRINITY TO BE THE WORST KIND OF INSULT TO GOD'S ONE-NESS. HOW COULD GOD, WHO IS UNIQUE, HAVE A SON? GOD IS ONE, AND HAS NO PARTS, AND THERE IS NO WAY THAT GOD COULD HAVE PEERS. INTERESTINGLY, THE MOSLEMS WEREN'T THE FIRST ONES TO THINK ABOUT THIS; THE ARIAN HERESY STARTED FROM THE SAME IDEA, AND CONCLUDED THAT JESUS WAS AT MOST A LESSER, CREATED GOD – A BELIEF THAT SURVIVES TO THIS DAY AMONG THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES. IF YOU ARE COUNTING, THIS HERESY IS CALLED ADOPTIONISM; GOD ADOPTS JESUS AS HIS SON.
MORMONS, AS WE LEARNED DURING THE LAST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, SEEM TO HOLD WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS THAT THE FATHER, SON, AND SPIRIT ARE EACH GOD, BUT THEY ARE THREE BEINGS; AND AT SOME POINT, MOST HUMAN BEINGS WILL BECOME GODS AS WELL. THAT HERESY IS CALLED TRITHEISM – THREE GODS IN THE TRINITY.
WE TRINITARIAN CHRISTIANS SAY THAT GOD IS ONE, AND THERE ARE THREE PERSONS – AND A PERSON DIFFERS FROM A NON-PERSON IN THAT A PERSON CAN INITIATE ACTION, A NON-PERSON CAN ONLY BE ACTED UPON. WE SAY THAT THE FATHER IS NOT THE SON, AND THE SON IS NOT THE SPIRIT, AND THE SPIRIT IS NEITHER FATHER NOR SON. AND WE SAY THAT FROM ALL ETERNITY THE FATHER GENERATES THE SON, AND THE FATHER AND THE SON BREATHE FORTH THE SPIRIT. AND WE SAY THAT THE FATHER LOVES THE SON, THE PERFECT IMAGE OF HIMSELF, AND THE SON LOVES THE FATHER, WHO IS INFINITELY LOVEABLE; AND THE LOVE BETWEEN THEM IS THE SPIRIT. AND ANY OF THOSE SENTENCES ABOUT THE TRINITY, AND THERE ARE OTHERS, IS ENOUGH FOR A LIFETIME OF CONTEMPLATION. OUR HUMAN MINDS CAN'T FIND ANYTHING LIKE THE TRINITY IN NATURE OR OUR IMAGINATIONS. IN THE BIBLE, WE DON'T HEAR THE WORD, TRINITY. WE READ THAT JESUS SAID, “I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE” AND WE SEE THAT JESUS BREATHES THE SPIRIT UPON HIS DISCIPLES, GIVING THEM A POWER ONLY GOD HAS, TO FORGIVE SINS. AND THE EARLY CHURCH SOON REALIZED THAT IF JESUS REALLY COULD REDEEM US THROUGH HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION, HE HAD TO BE WHAT HE SAID HE WAS, THE SON OF GOD, TRULY GOD AND MAN. AND IF THE CHURCH REALLY WAS TO CARRY OUT HIS WORK, WHAT ANIMATED JESUS HAD TO ANIMATE THE CHURCH, NAMELY, THE SPIRIT.
BUT WE HOLD, IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY, THAT GOD IS FUNDAMENTALLY ABOUT RELATIONSHIP; PERHAPS THAT IS WHAT JOHN THE APOSTLE MEANS WHEN HE SAYS THAT GOD IS LOVE AND HE WHO ABIDES IN LOVE ABIDES IN GOD, AND GOD IN HIM. AND THAT IS WHERE THE TRINITY GETS DOWN TO BASICS.
IT TELLS US THAT IT IS IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE COME TO KNOW GOD, NOT OFF BY OURSELVES. IT TELLS US THAT GOD IS IN COMMUNITY; GOD IS PRESENT AT THE FAMILY DINNER TABLE, IN A MEETING OF THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS OR THE ST. MARY'S GUILD. GOD IS PRESENT IN THE FAITH FORMATION CLASSES; AND GOD IS PRESENT HERE, WHEN WE WORSHIP TOGETHER. IF WE WANT TO GET TO HEAVEN, WE HAVE TO BE IN COMMUNITY. JESUS SAID AS MUCH; “WHAT YOU DO FOR THE LEAST OF MY BROTHERS, YOU DO FOR ME.” WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, THERE I AM.” “WHOEVER DOES GOD'S WILL IS MY MOTHER AND MY SISTER AND MY BROTHER.” IT IS OUR EXPERIENCE OF COMMUNITY THAT REVEALS GOD TO US, AND WHEN WE ARE IN COMMUNITY, WE ARE IN GOD.
ST. PAUL RECOGNIZED THIS WHEN HE DESCRIBED THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST; HOW WE ARE ALL GIVEN DIFFERENT GIFTS TO BUILD UP THE BODY; HOW WE ARE LIKE THE PARTS OF THE BODY.
THE EARLY CHURCH RECOGNIZED THIS. WHEREVER THE APOSTLES WENT, THEY FORMED COMMUNITIES. EVEN THE OLD HERMITS OF THE DESERT KNEW THEY COULD NOT BE ALONE FOREVER, BUT PERIODICALLY CAME TOGETHER WITH THEIR FELLOW HERMITS TO EXCHANGE IDEAS AND CELEBRATE EUCHARIST.
BEING IN COMMUNITY IS MORE THAN HAVING A MEMBERSHIP CARD. IT MEANS THAT WE RESPOND TO THE NEEDS OF EACH OTHER SO THAT WE ALL CAN BE MORE OPEN TO GOD'S WORD. IT MEANS THAT WHEN WE SEE THINGS THAT THREATEN OUR COMMUNITY, WE ARE PEACEMAKERS, WE TRY TO STRENGTHEN THE BONDS THAT ARE UNDER THREAT. AND IT MEANS THAT WE CORRECT EACH OTHER, IN A POSITIVE WAY, SO THAT WE ALL BECOME TRANSFORMED INTO CHRIST. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS A PLACE FOR SOMETHING LIKE THREE IN ONE OIL IN OUR COMMUNITY – TO LUBRICATE, TO PRESERVE, AND TO CLEAN.
THE BIGGEST THREAT TO OUR UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF GOD INSOFAR AS OUR HUMAN MINDS CAN IS NOT ONE OR ANOTHER HERESY ABOUT THE TRINITY. A PROPER THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING IS OF COURSE IMPORTANT, BUT NO ONE WILL GET TO HEAVEN BY PROPERLY UNDERSTANDING THE TRINITY. THE BIGGEST THREAT IS OUR MODERN INDIVIDUALISM, THAT CONS US INTO BELIEVING THAT WE ARE SELF SUFFICIENT, THAT WE CAN HAVE GOD WITHOUT DEALING WITH EACH OTHER. THE TRINITY SAYS THAT GOD IS IN HIS VERY NATURE COMMUNITY, AND ONLY BY OPENING OUR LIVES TO OUR VARIOUS COMMUNITIES CAN WE COME TO TRULY KNOW GOD.
DO YOU REMEMBER THREE IN ONE OIL? FOR SOME REASON, I FIRST BECAME AWARE OF IT ABOUT THE TIME I BEGAN TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY. IN THE BALTIMORE CATECHISM, THE TRINITY IS DESCRIBED AS THREE PERSONS IN ONE GOD, SO THREE IN ONE WASN'T A BIG LEAP. THE THREE THINGS, BY THE WAY, THAT THREE IN ONE OIL IS SUPPOSED TO DO IS TO LUBRICATE, TO PROTECT AGAINST RUST, AND TO CLEAN.
BUT THAT CONCEPTION OF GOD, THAT HE ACTS IN THREE DIFFERENT WAYS, AS CREATOR, REDEEMER, AND SANCTIFIER, IS A HERESY KNOWN AS MODALISM. IT IMPLIES THAT THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT ARE JUST MASKS THAT GOD PUTS ON IN DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES.
SAINT PATRICK, LEGEND HAS IT, COMPARED THE TRINITY TO A SHAMROCK – THREE LEAVES GROWING ON ONE STEM. BUT THAT SKATES CLOSE TO THE HERESY OF PARTIALISM: THE IDEA THAT THREE PERSONS TOGETHER MAKE UP GOD, IMPLYING THAT NONE OF THEM IS GOD BY HIMSELF.
OUR MOSLEM FRIENDS CONSIDER OUR TRINITY TO BE THE WORST KIND OF INSULT TO GOD'S ONE-NESS. HOW COULD GOD, WHO IS UNIQUE, HAVE A SON? GOD IS ONE, AND HAS NO PARTS, AND THERE IS NO WAY THAT GOD COULD HAVE PEERS. INTERESTINGLY, THE MOSLEMS WEREN'T THE FIRST ONES TO THINK ABOUT THIS; THE ARIAN HERESY STARTED FROM THE SAME IDEA, AND CONCLUDED THAT JESUS WAS AT MOST A LESSER, CREATED GOD – A BELIEF THAT SURVIVES TO THIS DAY AMONG THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES. IF YOU ARE COUNTING, THIS HERESY IS CALLED ADOPTIONISM; GOD ADOPTS JESUS AS HIS SON.
MORMONS, AS WE LEARNED DURING THE LAST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, SEEM TO HOLD WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS THAT THE FATHER, SON, AND SPIRIT ARE EACH GOD, BUT THEY ARE THREE BEINGS; AND AT SOME POINT, MOST HUMAN BEINGS WILL BECOME GODS AS WELL. THAT HERESY IS CALLED TRITHEISM – THREE GODS IN THE TRINITY.
WE TRINITARIAN CHRISTIANS SAY THAT GOD IS ONE, AND THERE ARE THREE PERSONS – AND A PERSON DIFFERS FROM A NON-PERSON IN THAT A PERSON CAN INITIATE ACTION, A NON-PERSON CAN ONLY BE ACTED UPON. WE SAY THAT THE FATHER IS NOT THE SON, AND THE SON IS NOT THE SPIRIT, AND THE SPIRIT IS NEITHER FATHER NOR SON. AND WE SAY THAT FROM ALL ETERNITY THE FATHER GENERATES THE SON, AND THE FATHER AND THE SON BREATHE FORTH THE SPIRIT. AND WE SAY THAT THE FATHER LOVES THE SON, THE PERFECT IMAGE OF HIMSELF, AND THE SON LOVES THE FATHER, WHO IS INFINITELY LOVEABLE; AND THE LOVE BETWEEN THEM IS THE SPIRIT. AND ANY OF THOSE SENTENCES ABOUT THE TRINITY, AND THERE ARE OTHERS, IS ENOUGH FOR A LIFETIME OF CONTEMPLATION. OUR HUMAN MINDS CAN'T FIND ANYTHING LIKE THE TRINITY IN NATURE OR OUR IMAGINATIONS. IN THE BIBLE, WE DON'T HEAR THE WORD, TRINITY. WE READ THAT JESUS SAID, “I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE” AND WE SEE THAT JESUS BREATHES THE SPIRIT UPON HIS DISCIPLES, GIVING THEM A POWER ONLY GOD HAS, TO FORGIVE SINS. AND THE EARLY CHURCH SOON REALIZED THAT IF JESUS REALLY COULD REDEEM US THROUGH HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION, HE HAD TO BE WHAT HE SAID HE WAS, THE SON OF GOD, TRULY GOD AND MAN. AND IF THE CHURCH REALLY WAS TO CARRY OUT HIS WORK, WHAT ANIMATED JESUS HAD TO ANIMATE THE CHURCH, NAMELY, THE SPIRIT.
BUT WE HOLD, IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY, THAT GOD IS FUNDAMENTALLY ABOUT RELATIONSHIP; PERHAPS THAT IS WHAT JOHN THE APOSTLE MEANS WHEN HE SAYS THAT GOD IS LOVE AND HE WHO ABIDES IN LOVE ABIDES IN GOD, AND GOD IN HIM. AND THAT IS WHERE THE TRINITY GETS DOWN TO BASICS.
IT TELLS US THAT IT IS IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE COME TO KNOW GOD, NOT OFF BY OURSELVES. IT TELLS US THAT GOD IS IN COMMUNITY; GOD IS PRESENT AT THE FAMILY DINNER TABLE, IN A MEETING OF THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS OR THE ST. MARY'S GUILD. GOD IS PRESENT IN THE FAITH FORMATION CLASSES; AND GOD IS PRESENT HERE, WHEN WE WORSHIP TOGETHER. IF WE WANT TO GET TO HEAVEN, WE HAVE TO BE IN COMMUNITY. JESUS SAID AS MUCH; “WHAT YOU DO FOR THE LEAST OF MY BROTHERS, YOU DO FOR ME.” WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, THERE I AM.” “WHOEVER DOES GOD'S WILL IS MY MOTHER AND MY SISTER AND MY BROTHER.” IT IS OUR EXPERIENCE OF COMMUNITY THAT REVEALS GOD TO US, AND WHEN WE ARE IN COMMUNITY, WE ARE IN GOD.
ST. PAUL RECOGNIZED THIS WHEN HE DESCRIBED THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST; HOW WE ARE ALL GIVEN DIFFERENT GIFTS TO BUILD UP THE BODY; HOW WE ARE LIKE THE PARTS OF THE BODY.
THE EARLY CHURCH RECOGNIZED THIS. WHEREVER THE APOSTLES WENT, THEY FORMED COMMUNITIES. EVEN THE OLD HERMITS OF THE DESERT KNEW THEY COULD NOT BE ALONE FOREVER, BUT PERIODICALLY CAME TOGETHER WITH THEIR FELLOW HERMITS TO EXCHANGE IDEAS AND CELEBRATE EUCHARIST.
BEING IN COMMUNITY IS MORE THAN HAVING A MEMBERSHIP CARD. IT MEANS THAT WE RESPOND TO THE NEEDS OF EACH OTHER SO THAT WE ALL CAN BE MORE OPEN TO GOD'S WORD. IT MEANS THAT WHEN WE SEE THINGS THAT THREATEN OUR COMMUNITY, WE ARE PEACEMAKERS, WE TRY TO STRENGTHEN THE BONDS THAT ARE UNDER THREAT. AND IT MEANS THAT WE CORRECT EACH OTHER, IN A POSITIVE WAY, SO THAT WE ALL BECOME TRANSFORMED INTO CHRIST. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS A PLACE FOR SOMETHING LIKE THREE IN ONE OIL IN OUR COMMUNITY – TO LUBRICATE, TO PRESERVE, AND TO CLEAN.
THE BIGGEST THREAT TO OUR UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF GOD INSOFAR AS OUR HUMAN MINDS CAN IS NOT ONE OR ANOTHER HERESY ABOUT THE TRINITY. A PROPER THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING IS OF COURSE IMPORTANT, BUT NO ONE WILL GET TO HEAVEN BY PROPERLY UNDERSTANDING THE TRINITY. THE BIGGEST THREAT IS OUR MODERN INDIVIDUALISM, THAT CONS US INTO BELIEVING THAT WE ARE SELF SUFFICIENT, THAT WE CAN HAVE GOD WITHOUT DEALING WITH EACH OTHER. THE TRINITY SAYS THAT GOD IS IN HIS VERY NATURE COMMUNITY, AND ONLY BY OPENING OUR LIVES TO OUR VARIOUS COMMUNITIES CAN WE COME TO TRULY KNOW GOD.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
