Fifth Sunday of Easter cycle A

JOHN 14:1-12

AT THE GATE OF HEAVEN, SAINT PETER ASKS MOTHER THERESA WHY SHE SHOULD BE ADMITTED TO HEAVEN. SHE REPLIES, “I FOUNDED A RELIGIOUS ORDER; I SPENT MY LIFE CARING FOR PEOPLE NO ONE ELSE CARED FOR. I WITNESSED THE GOSPEL EVERY CHANCE I GOT.” SAINT PETER SAYS, “NOT GOOD ENOUGH. GO TO THE END OF THE LINE. THEN JOHN PAUL II COMES UP. “I TRAVELED ALL OVER THE WORLD PREACHING THE GOSPEL. I TRANSFORMED THE CHURCH FOR THE BETTER. I LIVED A HOLY LIFE AND HELPED FREE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FROM THE SLAVERY OF COMMUNISM.” AND PETER SAYS, “NOT GOOD ENOUGH, GO TO THE END OF THE LINE.” THEN THE BLESSED MOTERH COMES UP. “I AM NOTHING,” SHE SAYS. “MY SOUL REFLECTS THE LORD, MY SPIRIT REJOICES ONLY IN GOD MY SAVIOR.” “COME RIGHT IN,” SAYS PETER. “THAT'S ENOUGH.”.

RICHARD ROHR, A FRANCISCAN PRIEST AND SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, SAYS THAT WE SPEND THE FIRST HALF OF OUR LIVES DEFINING OURSELVES. WE BECOME WHO WE ARE. I BECOME A HUSBAND, FATHER, PHYSICIAN, DEACON, AND ALL THE NUMEROUS OTHER THINGS THAT MAKE ME A UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL. HE GOES ON TO SAY THAT DURING THE SECOND HALF OF OUR LIVES THE REAL WORK IS TO SHED ALL OF THESE THINGS. IN THE MOST ANCIENT FORM OF BUDDHISM THEY SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT. MEN SOMEWHERE IN THE LATER PART OF THEIR LIVES GIVE UP FAMILY, OCCUPATION, SOCIAL ATTACHMENTS, AND ENTER A MONASTERY. THERE THEY WORK ON SHEDDING THEMSELVES OF DESIRE, HOPING TO ESCAPE THE WHEEL OF REINCARNATION. BUT ROHR SAYS THAT THE DANGER IN WESTERN SOCIETY IS THAT WE TEND TO KEEP ALL THOSE THINGS THAT IDENTIFY US; WE TEND TO HANG ON TO TITLES AND RELATIONSHIPS SO THAT WE NEVER BECOME OUR REAL SELVES. TODAY WE HEAR JESUS PROCLAIMING TO PHILIP THAT IF YOU HAVE SEEN ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER; AND WE HEAR HIM SAY, I AM IN THE FATHER AND HE IS IN ME.

FOR CENTURIES CHRISTIANS HAVE INTERPRETED THIS AS THE SCRIPTURAL BASIS FOR THE TRINITY, AND IT IS. BUT IT IS ALSO A MESSAGE FOR US.

JESUS IS THE PERFECT HUMAN BEING. THAT MEANS, AS SAINT LUKE TELLS US, THAT HE GREW IN GRACE AND PERFECTION. JESUS DID THE WORK ALL PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO, AND HE DID IT PERFECTLY. HE WENT THROUGH THAT TIME OF FORMING HIS IDENTITY; HE BECAME SON, CARPENTER, FRIEND, HEALER, PREACHER; HE BECAME PROPHET, AND MIRACLE WORKER. HE WAS FAMOUS THROUGHOUT PALESTINE. BUT THEN AT THE TIME OF HIS TRANSFIGURATION, HE BEGAN THE PROCESS OF SHEDDING ALL THESE THINGS THAT DEFINE HIM. THE APOSTLES HAD A MOMENTARY GLIMPSE OF JESUS' TRUE SELF, THE SELF THAT THE FATHER DECLARED “BELOVED”. AND THEN THEY WENT DOWN TO JERUSALEM, WHERE JESUS WOULD SHED EVERYTHING, HIS FAME, BECAUSE HE WAS REVILED AND HUMILIATED; HIS POWER, BECAUSE HE WAS MADE HELPLESS ON THE CROSS; HIS POSSESSIONS, BECAUSE EVEN HIS GARMENTS WERE DIVIDED AND GIVEN AWAY; AND HIS PLEASURE, BECAUSE HE WAS MADE TO UNDERGO AN AGONIZING DEATH. IN TODAY'S GOSPEL HE IS TELLING US THAT IF YOU LOOK BENEATH ALL THESE THINGS THAT DEFINE WHO JESUS IS, YOU WILL MEET THE FATHER, WHO IS ONE WITH THE SON.

YOU AND I, IF WE ARE TO BELIEVE RICHARD ROHR, ARE CALLED TO DO THE SAME THING, ONCE WE HAVE BECOME WHO WE ARE, ONCE WE HAVE DEFINED OURSELVES, WE HAVE REACHED A POINT WHERE WE ARE “TOGETHER” ENOUGH TO SEARCH FOR THAT DEEPER SELF, THE SELF THAT THE FATHER CALLS “BELOVED”. FOR US TO BECOME THAT SELF, WE NEED TO IDENTIFY IT, TO FIND IT, AND THEN TO LEAVE BEHIND FAME, POWER, POSSESSIONS AND PLEASURE. FOR SOME THIS PROCESS BEGINS EARLY, AND FOR OTHERS, VERY LATE IN LIFE; FOR SOME IT IS RELATIVELY SUDDEN, FOR OTHERS, VERY GRADUAL. I AM PRIVILEGED TO WORK WITH PEOPLE AT THE FAR END OF THEIR LIVES, AND I SEE THIS. THERE ARE SOME WHO GRACIOUSLY LET GO OF EVERYTHING, WHILE OTHERS HANG ON WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT TO THEIR RELATIONSHIPS, THEIR PLACE IN SOCIETY, THEIR PLEASURES AND THEIR POWERS. THERE IS SOMETHING ADMIRABLE ABOUT BOTH; THOSE WHO CLING TO WHAT MAKES THEM UNIQUE ARE NOT GOING GENTLY INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT; THEY ARE FIGHTING TO HANG ON TO THEMSELVES. BUT THAT IS A FUTILE FIGHT THAT CAN'T BE WON. THOSE WHO ARE LETTING GO OF EVERYTHING, EVEN SOMETIMES THEIR IDENTITIES, ARE HOPEFULLY FINDING THEIR DEEPER SELF, EVEN IF WE WHO WATCH DON'T KNOW IT.

THAT PROCESS WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH, THAT PROCESS OF TRUE DETACHMENT, DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE SHOULD ALL GIVE UP EVERYTHING AND ENTER MONASTERIES. BUT IT IS A WORK, IT ISN'T SOMETHING THAT IS GIVEN TO US; AND IT HAS TO BE DONE IF WE ARE TO ENTER INTO UNION WITH GOD FOR ALL ETERNITY. OUR CHURCH SHOWS US THE WAY. THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS, ESPECIALLY THE EUCHARIST, WE UNITE BODY AND SOUL WITH JESUS. THROUGH THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION WE EXAMINE AND CAST OFF THOSE THINGS WHICH PUT BARRIERS BETWEEN US AND OUR TRUE SELVES. AND THROUGH PRAYER, FASTING, AND WORKS OF CHARITY WE BEGIN TO DETACH OURSELVES FROM POSSESSIONS, FROM FAME, FROM POWER, FROM PLEASURE. AND BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT MANY OF US WON'T COMPLETE THIS WORK ON THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE, AND BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT GOD IS ALL MERCIFUL, WE BELIEVE THAT EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO COMPLETELY REJECT THE POSSIBILITY OF BECOMING ONE WITH THE FATHER, WE WILL CONTINUE THIS WORK IN PURGATORY, UNTIL WE BECOME WHAT WE ARE MEANT TO BE.

WHEN JESUS SAYS, “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE,” HE IS TELLING US TO GO WHERE HE IS GOING, WHERE HE WILL GO. HE IS TELLING US THAT WE ALSO, BECAUSE HE HAS PAVED THE WAY, CAN BECOME ONE WITH THE FATHER. WE ONLY NEED TO FOLLOW HIS LEAD. SAINT AUGUSTINE BACK IN THE FOURTH CENTURY KNEW THIS. HERE IS WHAT HE SAID.

LATE HAVE I LOVED YOU, O BEAUTY EVER ANCIENT, EVER NEW, LATE HAVE I LOVED YOU! YOU WERE WITHIN ME, BUT I WAS OUTSIDE, AIND IT WAS THERE THAT I SEARCHED FOR YOU. IN MY UNLOVELINESS I PLUNGED INTO THE LOVELY THINGS WHICH YOU CREATED. YOU WERE WITH ME, BUT I WAS NOT WITH YOU. CREATED THINGS KEPT ME FROM YOU; YET IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN IN YOU THEY WOULD HAVE NOT BEEN AT ALL. YOU CALLED, YOU SHOUTED, AND YOU BROKE THROUGH MY DEAFNESS. YOU FLASHED, YOU SHONE, AND YOU DISPELLED MY BLINDNESS. YOU BREATHED YOUR FRAGRANCE ON ME; I DREW IN BREATH AND NOW I PANT FOR YOU. I HAVE TASTED YOU, NOW I HUNGER AND THIRST FOR MORE. YOU TOUCHED ME, AND I BURNED FOR YOUR PEACE.

THE FATHER IS WITHIN US, TOGETHER WITH THE SON AND THE SPIRIT. WE HAVE TO STRIP AWAY EVERYTHING THAT DEFINES US, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, SEPARATES US, FROM WHO WAITS LOVINGLY AND PATIENTLY FOR US AT THE VERY CENTER OF OUR BEING.