Seventh Sunday in Easter, Cycle B

JOHN 17:11-19

IF YOU WERE A MORMON MAN, YOU WOULD WEAR A GARMENT MADE OF LINEN WHICH LOOKED LIKE BOXER SHORTS BUT WITH LONGER LEGS. YOU WOULD TRY TO KEEP THIS TOUCHING YOU EVEN WHEN YOU WERE TAKING A BATH, AND WHEN YOU WANTED TO CHANGE IT, YOU WOULD TAKE ANOTHER GARMENT AND PUT IT ON WHILE REMOVING THE FIRST. SILLY, YES?

IF YOU WERE AN ORTHODOX JEW, YOU WOULD GROW A BEARD AND WEAR YOUR SIDEBURNS IN RINGLETS, AND ALWAYS HAVE YOUR HEAD COVERED. YOU WOULD HAVE TWO SETS OF DISHES, SO THAT IF YOU HAD A MEAL MADE WITH MILK OR CHEESE YOU'D USE ONE, AND IF IT WAS MEAT, YOU'D USE THE OTHER. STRANGE, ISN'T IT?

MEMBERS OF THE SIKH RELIGION WEAR TURBANS AND ALWAYS CARRY A LITTLE DAGGER. AND IF YOU WERE AMISH, YOU'D HAVE NO CLOTHING WITH ZIPPERS; EVERYTHING WOULD BE HOOK AND EYE.

ALL OF THESE CUSTOMS HAVE RATIONAL EXPLANATIONS, ASSUMING YOU BELONG TO THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS WHO PRACTICE THEM. THEY ARE BASED ON THEIR SCRIPTURES AND ON LONG STANDING CUSTOMS. WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON, THOUGH, IS THAT THEY ARE CONSTANT REMINDERS TO THOSE PRACTICING THEM THAT THEY ARE A PEOPLE SET APART, THAT THOUGH THEY MAY BE IN THE WORLD, THEY ARE NOT OF THE WORLD.

JESUS TELLS US THAT WE HIS FOLLOWERS DO NOT BELONG TO THE WORLD ANY MORE THAN HE DID. WHEN WE RECEIVED HIS WORD, WE BECOME CONSECRATED, AND THAT MEANS, MADE HOLY, SET ASIDE FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL. AND OF COURSE JESUS PROMISES THAT IF WE REALLY ACCEPT WHAT HE HAS GIVEN US, THE WORLD WILL HATE US, JUST AS IT HATED HIM.

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN WE CATHOLICS KNEW WE WERE CONSECRATED, WHEN WE KNEW WE WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OF THIS WORLD. AND INDEED, A TIME WHEN WE WERE HATED IN THIS COUNTRY, BECAUSE WE WERE CATHOLICS. IT WASN'T THAT LONG AGO THAT JOHN KENNEDY PROMISED THE MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION OF GREATER HOUSTON THAT IF HE BECAME PRESIDENT, HE WOULD NOT PUT A DIRECT PHONE LINE IN TO THE VATICAN; HE WOULD NOT TAKE ORDERS FROM THE POPE – BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT WOULD HAPPEN IF A CATHOLIC BECAME PRESIDENT.

WE KNEW WE WERE CONSECRATED BECAUSE MOST OF US WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS. WE WENT TO CONFESSION ON SATURDAYS. WE FASTED FROM MIDNIGHT BEFORE RECEIVING COMMUNION ON SUNDAY MORNING. GIVEN THAT WE DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE THE RISK OF ACCIDENTALLY SWALLOWING TOOTHPASTE, BAD BREATH WAS AN OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD FOR OUR PRIESTS. AND OF COURSE, WE AVOIDED MEAT ON FRIDAY, AND REFERRED TO OURSELVES AS “MACKEREL SNAPPERS”. AND WE WORE SCAPULARS, AND CARRIED ROSARIES IN OUR POCKETS AND PURSES. EVERY TIME WE TURNED AROUND, WE WOULD BE REMINDED THAT WE WERE A CONSECRATED PEOPLE, A PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OF THIS WORLD.

WELL, WE'VE GOTTEN RID OF ALL THAT STUFF. SOME OF US OLD CATHOLICS STILL KEEP A FEW OF THESE CUSTOMS, BUT IT SURE ISN'T TRUE OF YOUNGER CATHOLICS. JOAN AND I GIVE OUT ROSARIES TO THE YOUNG COUPLES WHO COME TO OUR PRE-CANA CLASSES, AND ONLY ABOUT HALF KNOW WHAT THEY ARE, AND THE MAJORITY HAVEN'T SAID A ROSARY DURING THEIR ADULT LIFE. THE WORLD CAN NO LONGER TELL THAT WE ARE CONSECRATED, THAT WE ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD. AND WE CAN'T, EITHER. OUR COMMUNITY IS NO LONGER DEFINED BY OUR CHURCH; WE ARE DEFINED BY OUR SECULAR WORLD, AND MOST OF OUR ASSOCIATIONS ARE WITH PEOPLE WHO SHARE OUR PROFESSION, OR OUR SPORTS, OR OUR HOBBIES; AND EVEN WHEN THESE PEOPLE ARE ALSO CATHOLIC, THAT FACT AND THOSE CONSEQUENCES ALMOST NEVER ENTER IN TO OUR DISCOURSE.

I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THIS CHANGE IS GOOD OR BAD. BEING OLD, I LEAN TOWARDS BAD, BECAUSE WE OLD PEOPLE DON'T LIKE CHANGE AS MUCH AS YOUNG PEOPLE. BUT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT.

GIVEN THAT WE NO LONGER HAVE A SET OF CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES THAT DEFINE US, I THINK WE NEED TO FIND OTHER WAYS FOR US AND OUR CHILDREN TO BE REMINDED DAY AFTER DAY THAT WE ARE CALLED TO BE NOT OF THIS WORLD, THAT WE ARE CONSECRATED IN TRUTH. NOTICE IN THE GOSPEL PASSAGE THAT JESUS REPEATS HIMSELF; SO IT MUST REALLY BE IMPORTANT. HE SAYS TWICE, “THEY DO NOT BELONG TO THE WORLD ANY MORE THAN I BELONG TO THE WORLD. IF WE ARE IN SOLIDARITY WITH JESUS, WE NEED TO KEEP THIS FACT BEFORE US AT ALL TIMES.

THERE IS SUCH A THING AS CATHOLIC CULTURE. IT REVOLVES AROUND THE MASS, WHICH IS CENTRAL TO OUR WEEK. IT HAS TO DO WITH REVERENCE TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, WHICH IS JESUS' PRESENCE IN WHAT WAS ONCE BREAD. THE ROSARY, THE MORNING OFFERING, GRACE BEFORE AND AFTER MEALS, WEARING A SCAPULAR OR A RELIGIOUS MEDAL – INVOKING GOD'S PRESENCE DURING OUR DAY BY WHAT WE USED TO CALL “ASPIRATIONS” – JESUS, I LOVE YOU; MARY MY MOTHER, HELP ME BE LIKE JESUS; LORD, I TRUST IN YOU – THESE AND OTHER SHORT PRAYERS SHOULD COME AS NATURALLY AS BREATHING.

IF YOU ARE PARENTS, AND YOU AREN'T HELPING YOUR CHILDREN UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD, YOU MAY LOSE THEM WHEN THEY GROW UP AND SEE NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND THEIR FRIENDS. IF YOU ARE GRANDPARENTS, I HOPE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN SEE THAT ROSARY BY YOUR CHAIR AND ASK YOU WHAT IT IS FOR. AND WHATEVER YOU ARE, SINGLE, MARRIED, OLD, YOUNG – FIND WAYS TO REMIND YOURSELF THAT YOU ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD, NO MORE THAN JESUS IS. HOW CAN YOU TELL WHEN YOU HAVE IT RIGHT? WELL, THE WORLD STARTS TO HATE YOU. YOU MIGHT GET A FUNNY LOOK HERE AND THERE WHEN YOU MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS AND SAY A SILENT GRACE BEFORE EATING IN A RESTAURANT. SOMEONE MAY NOTICE YOUR SCAPULAR WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES IN THE LOCKER ROOM AND LAUGH AT YOUR SUPERSTITION. AND TRY TO FORM FRIENDSHIPS WITH OTHER CATHOLICS BECAUSE YOU ARE CATHOLIC, NOT BECAUSE YOU BOTH LIKE TO GOLF OR YOU BOTH HAVE KIDS IN THE SAME GRADE SCHOOL CLASS, AND TALK ABOUT YOUR FAITH AND YOUR DOUBTS, RATHER THAN KEEPING EVERYTHING HIDDEN WITHIN. WHEN WE DISCUSS OUR FAITH WITH EACH OTHER, WE ALSO STRENGTHEN EACH OTHER.

IF WE REMIND OURSELVES AND OTHERS THAT WE ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD, THERE MAY BE CONSEQUENCES WE DON'T PARTICULARLY LIKE; BUT IT WILL HELP REMIND US THAT WE BELONG TO JESUS, WHICH IS ALL THAT MATTERS IN THE LONG RUN.