MATTHEW 2:13-15, 19-23
THERE ARE TWO WAYS AT LEAST OF LOOKING AT THE GOSPEL FOR THIS FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY. WE MIGHT, FOR EXAMPLE, MEDITATE ON THE ACTUAL EVENTS – THE ANGEL SPEAKING TO JOSEPH IN DREAMS, THE FLIGHT OF THE LITTLE FAMILY FROM ISRAEL INTO EGYPT; MAYBE WE COULD EVEN THINK ABOUT WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR THEM TO BE IMMIGRANTS IN A COUNTRY WHERE CUSTOMS WERE UNFAMILIAR AND THEY COULD NOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE. DID JOSEPH HAVE TO WORK AT ANY JOB HE COULD GET? DID THEY GO HUNGRY? WHAT KIND OF LIVING QUARTERS DID THEY HAVE? OR, PERHAPS, THEY WENT TO ONE OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN EGYPT, BECAUSE THERE WERE JEWISH COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE MEDITERRANIAN WORLD. BUT WE CERTAINLY COULD CONCLUDE THAT IT WASN'T EASY. AND WE COULD RECOGNIZE THAT JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH WERE REFUGEES, MAYBE EVEN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS; AND WE COULD MARVEL ONCE AGAIN HOW JESUS SHARED EVERYTHING WITH US HUMAN BEINGS, EVEN THE VERY WORST PARTS OF LIFE.
BUT I THINK MATTHEW HAD A DIFFERENT INTENTION IN MIND WHEN HE DESCRIBED THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT, AND BACK AGAIN. I THINK THAT BECAUSE HE GOES TO A LOT OF TROUBLE TO MAKE SURE WE SEE THAT JESUS IS FULFILLING PROPHECY.
JOSEPH, FOR EXAMPLE, IS INSTRUCTED THROUGH DREAMS. AND WE MAY REMEMBER THAT ANOTHER JOSEPH, THE SON OF JACOB, WAS AIDED BY GOD THROUGH DREAMS WHEN HE WAS FIRST OF ALL A PRISONER OF EGYPT, AND EVENTUALLY BECAME THE PRIME MINISTER. THAT JOSEPH WAS GIVEN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT A GREAT FAMINE WAS COMING, AND BECAUSE OF THIS FOREKNOWLEDGE, JOSEPH WAS ABLE TO SAVE HIS KINSMEN WHO CAME INTO EGYPT AND EVENTUALLY FORMED THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE THE ISRAELITES. AND JOSEPH, THE FOSTER FATHER OF JESUS, PRESERVES THE LIFE OF JESUS BECAUSE OF HIS DREAMS.
THE READING TODAY LEAVES OUT THE SLAUGHTER OF THE CHILDREN THAT WAS ORDERED BY HEROD. JUST LAST WEEK ON FRIDAY WE CELEBRATED THE FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS. BUT MATTHEW WANTED US TO SEE THAT JUST AS THE BIRTH OF JESUS WAS ACCOMPANIED BY THE TRAGEDY OF ALL THESE DEATHS, THERE WAS A SIMILAR EVENT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT – THE BIRTH OF MOSES. PHAROH HAD ORDERED THAT ALL THE MALE CHILDREN OF THE ISRAELITES WOULD BE PUT TO DEATH, HIS INTENTION BEING TO STOP THE GROWTH OF THE ISRAELITE PEOPLE. MOSES ESCAPED, AND AFTER EXILE, CAME BACK TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE TO FREEDOM. JESUS, MATTHEW SUGGESTS, WILL ALSO RETURN TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE TO A NEW KIND OF FREEDOM.
MATTHEW QUOTES SCRIPTURE; HE QUOTES HOSEA THE PROPHET, WHEN HE SAYS, “OUT OF EGYPT I WILL CALL MY SON”. HOSEA WAS REFERRING TO THE ISRAELITES, THE DESCENDANTS OF THE PATRIARCH JACOB, WHO HAD BEEN GIVEN THE NAME “ISRAEL” AFTER HE WRESTLED WITH AN ANGEL. HOSEA WAS RECALLING HOW GOD HAD BROUGHT HIS PEOPLE OUT OF EGYPT, AND WOULD BRING THEM AGAIN OUT OF THEIR SPIRITUAL EXILE. JESUS IS THE NEW ISRAEL, AND GOD CALLS HIM OUT OF EGYPT TO BEGIN THE TASK OF FORMING A NEW PEOPLE – YOU AND I.
BUT THEN WE COME TO A MYSTERY. MATTHEW QUOTES ANOTHER PROPHECY: “HE SHALL BE CALLED A NAZOREAN”. IF YOU EVER WANT TO GET ONE OF YOUR BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALIST FRIENDS NERVOUS, ASK HIM OR HER WHERE THAT QUOTE CAME FROM. THE SIMPLE FACT IS THAT THERE IS NO SUCH QUOTE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. THERE ARE THREE EXPLANATIONS FOR THIS. ONE IS THAT MATTHEW WAS QUOTING FROM A PROPHECY THAT DIDN'T ACTUALLY MAKE IT INTO THE BIBLE. SOME CATHOLIC APOLOGISTS USE THIS TO SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT REVELATION IS HANDED DOWN BY TRADITION AS WELL AS THROUGH SCRIPTURE. IF THE STATEMENT IS IN MATTHEW, THEN IT IS SCRIPTURE; BUT IF MATTHEW SAYS HE GOT IT FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE, AND IT ISN'T IN SCRIPTURE, THEN TRADITION MUST CARRY THE TRUTH AS WELL. ANOTHER EXPLANATION IS THAT MATTHEW IS REFERRING TO THE NAZARITES. IF YOU REMEMBER YOUR BIBLE, SAMSON, THE GUY WHO GOT BETRAYED BY DELILAH, WAS A NAZARITE. THEY TOOK OATHS NOT TO CUT THEIR HAIR, TO AVOID WINE, TO AVOID WOMEN, AND IN GENERAL, THEY MADE THE PHARISEES LOOK LIKE PIKERS. THERE WEREN'T MANY OF THEM AROUND, BUT THEY WERE REALLY HOLY. THE TROUBLE IS THAT MATTHEW DOESN'T USE THAT WORD, AND REFERS VERY EXPLICITLY TO SOME SORT OF RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOWN OF NAZARETH. FINALLY, SOME HAVE SPECULATED THAT MATTHEW WAS REFERRING TO THE FACT THAT JESUS WAS THE DESCENDANT OF KING DAVID, SINCE THE PROPHETS HAD PREDICTED THAT A SHOOT WOULD SPRING FROM THE STUMP OF JESSE, (WHO WAS THE FATHER OF DAVID), AND THE WORD FOR SHOOT OR BRANCH WAS NETSR. TO ME THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE, BECAUSE IT FITS IN WITH WHAT MATTHEW IS DOING IN THIS WHOLE PASSAGE – PROVING FROM SCRIPTURE THAT JESUS WAS FULFILLING THE PROPHECIES.
SO WHY DO I TAKE YOU THROUGH THIS SCRIPTURE STUDY WHEN I SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT THE HOLY FAMILY, OR FAMILIES IN GENERAL? WELL, I DOUBT THAT JOSEPH OR MARY WERE AT ALL CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT THEIR ORDEAL, THEIR RUNNING IN FEAR FROM HEROD, THEIR EXILE IN EGYPT, THEIR HUNGER AND INSECURITY, THEIR CONSTANT AWARENESS OF THE FACT THAT THE STRANGERS THEY LIVED WITH COULD SUDDENLY DECIDE TO TURN ON THEM, WOULD SOMEDAY BE STUDIED BY MATTHEW AND SEEN TO BE AN AMAZING FULFILLMENT OF SCRIPTURE; THEY WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAD HAPPENED HAD BEEN A PART OF GOD'S PLAN.
AND MAYBE THAT IS WHAT WE SHOULD CARRY AWAY TODAY. IN OUR OWN FAMILIES, IN OUR OWN LIVES, THERE IS JOY AND SUFFERING, PAIN AND PLEASURE, LONELINESS AND WONDERFUL COMPANIONSHIP, SEPARATION AND COMING TOGETHER. AND SOMETIMES IT SEEMS TO MAKE NO SENSE, SOMETIMES IT SEEMS AS THOUGH EVERYTHING IS RANDOM. BUT JOSEPH AND MARY PROBABLY FELT THE SAME WAY; IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE THIS WAS THE WAY TO TREAT THE MESSIAH. BUT THEY NEVER LOST HOPE, THEY CONTINUED TO TRUST, BECAUSE THEY KNEW THAT SOMEHOW IN GOD'S TIME EVERYTHING WOULD MAKE SENSE. AND IT WILL FOR US AS WELL.
SO LET US ASK GOD, NOT TO SHOW US HOW EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE – IF HE DID THAT, WE WOULD NOT NEED FAITH – BUT RATHER, ASK HIM TO GIVE US THE GIFT OF TRUSTING HIM, TRUSTING HIM TO USE US, TO USE OUR FAMILIES, TO FULFILL HIS PLAN. AND IN THAT TRUST WE WILL FIND JOY.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Mass of Christmas Day
JOHN 1:1-5, 9-14
I LOVE EMAIL. I CAN TYPE WHAT I WANT TO TELL SOMEONE, HIT THE SEND KEY, AND KNOW THAT AT SOME POINT SHE WILL READ IT. AND THEN, WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT, I CAN READ HER REPLY. MY SISTER OUT IN RENO DOESN'T SEEM TO BE NEARLY AS BIG A FAN OF EMAIL. WHEN SHE HAS SOMETHING SHE REALLY WANTS TO TELL ME, SHE CALLS ME UP. THIS MEANS THAT I HAVE TO STOP WHAT I'M DOING, ANSWER HER QUESTIONS, ASK MY OWN, AND ON IT GOES. WHAT A MESSY WAY TO COMMUNICATE!
BUT HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY TEACHERS CONTINUE TO GIVE LECTURES, WHY CLERGY CONTINUE TO PREACH, OR WHY EVEN IN THE SUPREME COURT BEFORE THE NINE JUDGES PASS JUDGMENT, THEY ALLOW ORAL ARGUMENT? AFTER ALL, THE LAWYERS HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME METICULOUSLY WRITING DOWN ALL THE REASONS THEY THINK SUPPORT THEIR POSITION. AND THEN THEY HAVE HALF AN HOUR TO MAKE AN ORAL PRESENTATION.
THE POINT IS, AS MY SISTER RECOGNIZES MORE THAN I DO, I GUESS, THAT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ONE PERSON AND ANOTHER IS MOST PROFOUND WHEN IT CONSISTS OF WORDS THAT ARE SPOKEN AND HEARD. THE WAY I SAY SOMETHING, THE PITCH OF MY VOICE – WE ALL KNOW THAT WE CAN USE THE EXACT SAME SENTENCE TO SAY COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. AND IN A DIALOG, THERE IS CONTINUED CLARIFICATION OF MEANING AS EACH PERSON ASKS QUESTIONS OF THE OTHER, UNTIL BOTH KNOW WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN THE MIND OF THE OTHER, AT LEAST AS MUCH AS CAN BE KNOWN.
THE WRITTEN WORD, IN A SENSE, IS A MASK. IT IS STRIPPED OF NUANCE AND EMOTION. IT IS TRUE THAT IF YOU WANT A JUDGE TO DECIDE IN YOUR FAVOR ABOUT A CONTRACT, IT HELPS A LOT TO HAVE IT WRITTEN DOWN. BUT THAT IS ONLY BECAUSE IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MAKE A VIDEO RECORDING OF THE CONVERSATION THAT LED TO THAT CONTRACT. THE FACT REMAINS THAT IF WE REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS IN THE MIND OF SOMEONE ELSE, WE MUST HEAR THE WORD HE SPEAKS.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN WAS WRITTEN A LONG TIME AFTER CHRIST HAD DIED AND RISEN FROM THE DEAD. THERE IS EVIDENCE OF MORE THAN ONE HAND IN THE WRITING OF THE GOSPEL; PERHAPS A CORE FROM JOHN THE APOSTLE, AND SOME ADDITIONS BY SOME OF HIS FOLLOWERS. BUT THIS GOSPEL, UNLIKE THE OTHER GOSPELS, SEEMS TO BE THE RESULT OF A LIFETIME OF THINKING ABOUT JESUS. WHO IS THIS JESUS? THE GOSPEL OF JOHN TRIES TO ANSWER THIS. AND THE BEST IMAGE JOHN CAN COME UP WITH IS THAT HE CALLS JESUS THE WORD, THE SINGLE WORD SPOKEN BY THE FATHER, WHO DWELLS IN SILENT MYSTERY. THE WORD HAS GONE BY OTHER NAMES; THE BOOK OF SIRACH DESCRIBES THE WORD AS WISDOM, AND PICTURES WISDOM AS PLAYING IN THE FATHER'S PRESENCE, AND BRINGING THE UNIVERSE INTO BEING. IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS GOD SPEAKS AND CREATION COMES INTO BEING; GOD CREATES THROUGH THE WORD.
SO THAT IS WHY EVERYTHING IN CREATION SHOWS SOMETHING OF THE MIND OF GOD; BUT CREATION IS LIKE WRITTEN TEXT; YOU CAN CHOOSE TO READ IT OR NOT; AND WHEN YOU DO READ IT, YOU CAN INTERPRET IT IN VARIOUS WAYS. AND THAT IS WHY GOD SPOKE THE WORD THAT IS JESUS; THIS IS THE LIVING WORD, THE WORD WHICH TELLS US EXACTLY WHAT IS IN THE MIND OF GOD, THE WORD THAT IS LIFE, LIFE GIVING, AND GIVES LIGHT TO THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE WORD, LIGHT THAT ALLOWS US TO UNDERSTAND GOD AND CREATION AND EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO US, AS MUCH AS WE ARE ABLE; LIGHT THAT DRIVES AWAY THE DARKNESS THAT SAYS, NOTHING MATTERS, THE WORLD HAS NO MEANING, DEATH IS THE END OF EVERYTHING.
THIS WORD, THIS WINDOW INTO THE VERY LIFE OF THE TRINITY, IS STILL WITH US; THE WORD TOOK ON FLESH AND LIVED AMONG US AND STILL DOES TO THIS DAY.
SO WHERE ARE THE WISE MEN, THE SHEPHERDS, THE VIRGIN MOTHER? WHERE IS JOSEPH THE CARPENTER, THE HERALD ANGELS, THE STAR IN THE HEAVENS ON THIS COLD CHRISTMAS DAY? JOHN DOES NOT WANT US TO BE DISTRACTED, EVEN BY THESE BELOVED IMAGES. HERE IS GOD WITH US, AND THE WORD GOD SPEAKS IS A TINY BABY – THE FATHER TRUSTS US WITH HIS SON; A TINY BABY – THE FATHER WANTS OUR LOVE, AND WHO IS THERE THAT DOES NOT LOVE A BABY? A TINY BABY – THE FATHER, EVEN THOUGH HE HAS BEEN DISOBEYED, REJECTED, EVEN THOUGH HIS CHILDREN HAVE TURNED AGAINST HIM TIME AND TIME AGAIN, THE BABY IS A PROMISE THAT GOD WILL NEVER STOP TRYING, NEVER STOP OFFERING US COMPLETE UNION WITH HIMSELF, JOY FOR ALL ETERNITY. A TINY BABY – THE BEGINNING OF A SENTENCE THAT WILL END ON EASTER SUNDAY, BUT IN A SENSE, WILL NEVER END – THE WORD THAT GOD SPEAKS WILL ECHO DOWN THROUGH ALL OF TIME.
IN THE OLDEN DAYS, THE VERY LAST THING THAT HAPPENED IN THE MASS WAS THE PROCLAMATION OF THE FIRST FEW VERSES OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN – WHAT YOU JUST HEARD. WHEN I WAS LITTLE, IT WAS PROCLAIMED IN LATIN, SO IT DIDN'T MEAN MUCH. BUT SOMETIME, READ IT OUT LOUD, OR HAVE IT READ TO YOU. TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN TO THE WORDS, AND LET THEM WORK IN YOU AS THE MUST HAVE WORKED IN OUR ANCESTORS WHO NEVER TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT THE WORD, THE WORD WHO WAS WITH GOD, THE WORD WHO WAS GOD, WHO WAS THERE AT THE CREATION, WHO TOOK ON FLESH, WHO LIVED WITH US, AND WHO GIVES LIFE AND LIGHT TO THOSE WHO ACCEPT HIM. THEY ARE POWERFUL LIFE CHANGING WORDS. BUT THEY ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO THE WORD OF WHICH THEY SPEAK, THE TINY BABY LYING IN THE MANGER. .
I LOVE EMAIL. I CAN TYPE WHAT I WANT TO TELL SOMEONE, HIT THE SEND KEY, AND KNOW THAT AT SOME POINT SHE WILL READ IT. AND THEN, WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT, I CAN READ HER REPLY. MY SISTER OUT IN RENO DOESN'T SEEM TO BE NEARLY AS BIG A FAN OF EMAIL. WHEN SHE HAS SOMETHING SHE REALLY WANTS TO TELL ME, SHE CALLS ME UP. THIS MEANS THAT I HAVE TO STOP WHAT I'M DOING, ANSWER HER QUESTIONS, ASK MY OWN, AND ON IT GOES. WHAT A MESSY WAY TO COMMUNICATE!
BUT HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY TEACHERS CONTINUE TO GIVE LECTURES, WHY CLERGY CONTINUE TO PREACH, OR WHY EVEN IN THE SUPREME COURT BEFORE THE NINE JUDGES PASS JUDGMENT, THEY ALLOW ORAL ARGUMENT? AFTER ALL, THE LAWYERS HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME METICULOUSLY WRITING DOWN ALL THE REASONS THEY THINK SUPPORT THEIR POSITION. AND THEN THEY HAVE HALF AN HOUR TO MAKE AN ORAL PRESENTATION.
THE POINT IS, AS MY SISTER RECOGNIZES MORE THAN I DO, I GUESS, THAT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ONE PERSON AND ANOTHER IS MOST PROFOUND WHEN IT CONSISTS OF WORDS THAT ARE SPOKEN AND HEARD. THE WAY I SAY SOMETHING, THE PITCH OF MY VOICE – WE ALL KNOW THAT WE CAN USE THE EXACT SAME SENTENCE TO SAY COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. AND IN A DIALOG, THERE IS CONTINUED CLARIFICATION OF MEANING AS EACH PERSON ASKS QUESTIONS OF THE OTHER, UNTIL BOTH KNOW WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN THE MIND OF THE OTHER, AT LEAST AS MUCH AS CAN BE KNOWN.
THE WRITTEN WORD, IN A SENSE, IS A MASK. IT IS STRIPPED OF NUANCE AND EMOTION. IT IS TRUE THAT IF YOU WANT A JUDGE TO DECIDE IN YOUR FAVOR ABOUT A CONTRACT, IT HELPS A LOT TO HAVE IT WRITTEN DOWN. BUT THAT IS ONLY BECAUSE IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MAKE A VIDEO RECORDING OF THE CONVERSATION THAT LED TO THAT CONTRACT. THE FACT REMAINS THAT IF WE REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS IN THE MIND OF SOMEONE ELSE, WE MUST HEAR THE WORD HE SPEAKS.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN WAS WRITTEN A LONG TIME AFTER CHRIST HAD DIED AND RISEN FROM THE DEAD. THERE IS EVIDENCE OF MORE THAN ONE HAND IN THE WRITING OF THE GOSPEL; PERHAPS A CORE FROM JOHN THE APOSTLE, AND SOME ADDITIONS BY SOME OF HIS FOLLOWERS. BUT THIS GOSPEL, UNLIKE THE OTHER GOSPELS, SEEMS TO BE THE RESULT OF A LIFETIME OF THINKING ABOUT JESUS. WHO IS THIS JESUS? THE GOSPEL OF JOHN TRIES TO ANSWER THIS. AND THE BEST IMAGE JOHN CAN COME UP WITH IS THAT HE CALLS JESUS THE WORD, THE SINGLE WORD SPOKEN BY THE FATHER, WHO DWELLS IN SILENT MYSTERY. THE WORD HAS GONE BY OTHER NAMES; THE BOOK OF SIRACH DESCRIBES THE WORD AS WISDOM, AND PICTURES WISDOM AS PLAYING IN THE FATHER'S PRESENCE, AND BRINGING THE UNIVERSE INTO BEING. IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS GOD SPEAKS AND CREATION COMES INTO BEING; GOD CREATES THROUGH THE WORD.
SO THAT IS WHY EVERYTHING IN CREATION SHOWS SOMETHING OF THE MIND OF GOD; BUT CREATION IS LIKE WRITTEN TEXT; YOU CAN CHOOSE TO READ IT OR NOT; AND WHEN YOU DO READ IT, YOU CAN INTERPRET IT IN VARIOUS WAYS. AND THAT IS WHY GOD SPOKE THE WORD THAT IS JESUS; THIS IS THE LIVING WORD, THE WORD WHICH TELLS US EXACTLY WHAT IS IN THE MIND OF GOD, THE WORD THAT IS LIFE, LIFE GIVING, AND GIVES LIGHT TO THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE WORD, LIGHT THAT ALLOWS US TO UNDERSTAND GOD AND CREATION AND EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO US, AS MUCH AS WE ARE ABLE; LIGHT THAT DRIVES AWAY THE DARKNESS THAT SAYS, NOTHING MATTERS, THE WORLD HAS NO MEANING, DEATH IS THE END OF EVERYTHING.
THIS WORD, THIS WINDOW INTO THE VERY LIFE OF THE TRINITY, IS STILL WITH US; THE WORD TOOK ON FLESH AND LIVED AMONG US AND STILL DOES TO THIS DAY.
SO WHERE ARE THE WISE MEN, THE SHEPHERDS, THE VIRGIN MOTHER? WHERE IS JOSEPH THE CARPENTER, THE HERALD ANGELS, THE STAR IN THE HEAVENS ON THIS COLD CHRISTMAS DAY? JOHN DOES NOT WANT US TO BE DISTRACTED, EVEN BY THESE BELOVED IMAGES. HERE IS GOD WITH US, AND THE WORD GOD SPEAKS IS A TINY BABY – THE FATHER TRUSTS US WITH HIS SON; A TINY BABY – THE FATHER WANTS OUR LOVE, AND WHO IS THERE THAT DOES NOT LOVE A BABY? A TINY BABY – THE FATHER, EVEN THOUGH HE HAS BEEN DISOBEYED, REJECTED, EVEN THOUGH HIS CHILDREN HAVE TURNED AGAINST HIM TIME AND TIME AGAIN, THE BABY IS A PROMISE THAT GOD WILL NEVER STOP TRYING, NEVER STOP OFFERING US COMPLETE UNION WITH HIMSELF, JOY FOR ALL ETERNITY. A TINY BABY – THE BEGINNING OF A SENTENCE THAT WILL END ON EASTER SUNDAY, BUT IN A SENSE, WILL NEVER END – THE WORD THAT GOD SPEAKS WILL ECHO DOWN THROUGH ALL OF TIME.
IN THE OLDEN DAYS, THE VERY LAST THING THAT HAPPENED IN THE MASS WAS THE PROCLAMATION OF THE FIRST FEW VERSES OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN – WHAT YOU JUST HEARD. WHEN I WAS LITTLE, IT WAS PROCLAIMED IN LATIN, SO IT DIDN'T MEAN MUCH. BUT SOMETIME, READ IT OUT LOUD, OR HAVE IT READ TO YOU. TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN TO THE WORDS, AND LET THEM WORK IN YOU AS THE MUST HAVE WORKED IN OUR ANCESTORS WHO NEVER TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT THE WORD, THE WORD WHO WAS WITH GOD, THE WORD WHO WAS GOD, WHO WAS THERE AT THE CREATION, WHO TOOK ON FLESH, WHO LIVED WITH US, AND WHO GIVES LIFE AND LIGHT TO THOSE WHO ACCEPT HIM. THEY ARE POWERFUL LIFE CHANGING WORDS. BUT THEY ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO THE WORD OF WHICH THEY SPEAK, THE TINY BABY LYING IN THE MANGER. .
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Fourth Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 1:18-24
WHEN A COUPLE GETS MARRIED, MANY THINGS CHANGE. ONE OF THE COUPLE IS USUALLY IN THE LIMELIGHT AND THE OTHER IS IN THE SHADOWS. OFTEN THE ONE IN THE LIMELIGHT IS THE MAN. I DOUBT MUCH CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT, AT LEAST DURING THIS GENERATION. IN MY OWN MARRIAGE, THIS WAS ALWAYS TRUE. IT WAS “DOCTOR AND MRS”, WHEN I BECAME A DEACON, MY WIFE WAS REFERRED TO AS “THE DEACON'S WIFE”. MY WIFE SHOWED ADMIRABLE FORBEARANCE WHEN SOMEONE WOULD TELL HER HOW HARD I WORKED DURING THE YEARS WHEN SHE HAD SIX CHILDREN THAT SHE HAD TO TAKE CARE OF AND RAISE WITH MOSTLY MORAL SUPPORT FROM ME.
AND I THINK WE BOTH TOOK ALL THIS FOR GRANTED, THIS WAS THE WAY IT WAS. UNTIL ONE DAY JOAN HAD A NEW JOB AS ORGANIST AND CHOIR DIRECTOR IN SACRED HEART CHURCH IN HOLYOKE. ONE DAY I WENT UP THERE TO HELP HER GET THE CHOIR LOFT IN ORDER. AS I WAS WALKING INTO THE CHURCH, THE CUSTODIAN ASKED ME WHO I WAS. I SAID I HAD COME TO HELP MY WIFE WHO WAS THE ORGANIST. HE WALKED ALONG WITH ME AND INTRODUCED ME TO SOME PEOPLE. “THIS IS THE HUSBAND OF OUR ORGANIST,” HE SAID. IT WAS A STRANGE FEELING, FOR ONCE IN MY ADULT LIFE TO BE IDENTIFIED BY MY RELATIONSHIP TO SOMEONE ELSE.
THE GOSPEL TODAY MADE ME THINK ABOUT THAT. JOSEPH, UP UNTIL NOW, HAD CERTAIN EXPECTATIONS IN LIFE. HE HAD LEARNED A TRADE, AND PROBABLY MADE A REASONABLE LIVING. HE WAS ENGAGED, AND HE FULLY EXPECTED THAT IN THE NEAR FUTURE HE WOULD SETTLE DOWN WITH THE GIRL HE LOVED AND THEY WOULD HAVE A FAMILY. SHE WOULD BE JOSEPH'S WIFE. THE CHILDREN WOULD BE “JOSEPH'S CHILDREN”. HE WOULD TEACH THE BOYS HIS TRADE AND HE WOULD SELECT THE HUSBANDS FOR HIS DAUGHTERS. HE WOULD BE FATHER, AND GRANDFATHER, AND MAYBE WHILE HE STILL LIVED A GREAT-GRANDFATHER, AND HE WOULD BE A PATRIARCH, AT LEAST FOR THE LITTLE TRIBE THAT CLAIMED DESCENT FROM HIM. IT WASN'T THAT HE WAS PROUD, OR SELFISH; IT WAS JUST THE WAY THINGS WERE, AND HE GAVE THANKS FOR IT.
AND THEN HIS WORLD COMES APART. MARY IS PREGNANT. I SUSPECT THAT WHEN THIS FACT BECAME OBVIOUS, MARY OFFERED NO EXPLANATION. WHO WOULD BELIEVE WHAT HAD HAPPENED? CAN YOU IMAGINE THE EMOTIONS GOING THROUGH JOSEPH'S HEART? ANGER, FEELING LIKE A FOOL, EMBARRASSMENT – BUT MOSTLY, FEELING LIKE A FOOL. AND THEN, IN A DREAM, HE LEARNS SOMETHING. MARY IS NOT FOR HIM; JUST THE OPPOSITE; HIS PURPOSE, THE REASON HE WAS CREATED, WAS TO BE FOR HER AND FOR THE SON SHE CARRIED. JOSEPH OBEYED. HAD HE CONDEMNED MARY, HIS REPUTATION WOULD BE INTACT. HAD HE DIVORCED HER QUIETLY, AS WAS HIS PLAN, EVERYONE WOULD HAVE PRAISED HIS MERCY, AND WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM HOW LUCKY HE WAS TO HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF THAT RELATIONSHIP. BUT INSTEAD, HE TOOK UPON HIMSELF THE GOSSIP, THE TEASING, BEING LOOKED DOWN ON. I CAN ALMOST SEE HIS MOTHER TEARFULLY SAYING “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?” BECAUSE MOTHERS WERE THE SAME THEN AS NOW.
AND IF JOSEPH THOUGHT THAT WAS THE END OF IT, IT WASN'T. WHO DO YOU THINK DELIVERED JESUS WHEN HE WAS BORN THERE IN A COLD STABLE IN BETHLEHEM? AND JUST WHEN THINGS SEEMED TO FINALLY BE SETTLING DOWN, JOSEPH IS TOLD TO GET UP AND TAKE HIS WIFE AND THE BOY TO EGYPT OF ALL PLACES. AND SO IT WENT FOR THE REST OF JOSEPH'S LIFE. MARY WAS NOT FOR HIM, JESUS WAS NOT THE SON WHO WOULD CARRY ON HIS NAME – HE, JOSEPH, HAD BEEN CREATED FOR THEM. AND A DAY CAME WHEN HE LAY DYING AND LOOKED AT THE WIFE HE HAD LOVED AND THE BOY HE HAD GROWN TO LOVE, AND HE REMEMBERED THE DREAM – WHEN THE ANGEL HAD SAID TO NAME THE BOY JESUS, BECAUSE HE WOULD SAVE HIS PEOPLE, AND THAT HE WOULD BE CALLED IMMANUEL, SIGNIFYING THAT GOD IS WITH US. AND THE BOY HAD TURNED INTO A YOUNG MAN, A COMPETENT CARPENTER, TO BE SURE, A MORAL AND UPRIGHT MAN, JOSEPH WAS PROUD OF THAT, BECAUSE HE KNEW HE HAD A HAND IN RAISING HIM RIGHT, BUT HE COULD SEE NO SIGN OF GREATNESS AND MAYBE HE WONDERED THEN, WAS IT ONLY A DREAM? BECAUSE IN THE END, EVEN THE GREATEST OF SAINTS MUST SOONER OR LATER FACE A MOMENT WHEN FAITH ALONE SUSTAINS THEM, NOT PROOF, NOT CERTAINTY, BUT SIMPLY CHOOSING TO BELIEVE.
I THINK IT IS NATURAL, NOT EVIL, NOT GOOD, JUST NATURAL, FOR EVERY HUMAN BEING TO SEE HIMSELF OR HERSELF AS THE CENTER AROUND WHICH EVERYTHING ELSE REVOLVES. SOME OF US COME TO AT LEAST INTELLECTUALLY APPRECIATE THAT GOD IS CENTER, BUT EVEN THEN, IT IS GOD, THEN ME, THEN EVERYONE ELSE. WHAT A DIFFICULT THING IT IS TO CONFRONT THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS THE CENTER, AND I AM HERE FOR THAT PERSON, THE REASON I EXIST IN THIS TIME AND SPACE IS FOR SOMEONE ELSE. THAT IT IS GOD FIRST, ANOTHER PERSON SECOND, ANOTHER PERSON WHO GOD MADE ME FOR; AND ME A DISTANT THIRD. AND MAYBE I AM HERE FOR MY SPOUSE, MY CHILD, MY NEIGHBOR, MY PARENT, MY STUDENT, MY EMPLOYER, MY EMPLOYEE. BUT ALTHOUGH SEEING THE WORLD IN THIS WAY SEEMS UNNATURAL, IT SHOULDN'T SURPRISE US. BECAUSE JOSEPH DISCOVERED THAT HE WAS HERE FOR MARY, AND HE AND MARY WERE HERE FOR JESUS. AND JESUS IS THE PERSON WHO IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF BEING FOR OTHERS; HE IS THE ONE WHO EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT AND GIVES HIMSELF AWAY SO THAT THERE IS NOTHING LEFT, EVEN THE LIFELESS BODY ON THE CROSS IS NOT HIS, FOR HE HAS GIVEN THAT TO US AS WELL TO BE OUR SPIRITUAL FOOD AND DRINK.
ON THIS LAST SUNDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THINK ABOUT ST. JOSEPH, AND PICTURE HIM, NOT MEETING AN ANGEL IN HIS DREAMS, NOT DRAMATICALLY FLEEING TO EGYPT – BUT GETTING UP EVERY MORNING, PUTTING IN A HARD DAY BUILDING AND REPAIRING THINGS UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE LIGHT; FALLING INTO BED EXHAUSTED ONLY TO GET UP AGAIN. AND LIVING IN A TOWN WHERE EVEN MANY YEARS LATER, SOME OF THE OLD LADIES AND OLD GENTLEMEN AS WELL TOLD THE STORY ABOUT HOW MARY HAD BEEN QUITE PREGNANT WHEN THE TWO OF THEM HAD GOTTEN MARRIED. AND EVERY DAY, JOSEPH EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT FOR MARY, FOR JESUS.
AND HE LIVED OUT HIS LIFE BEING FOR OTHERS. AND MAYBE THAT'S WERE JESUS LEARNED THE CORE MESSAGE THAT HE TAUGHT AND THAT HE LIVED. AND MAY ST. JOSEPH HELP EACH OF US TO DISCOVER THAT THIS IS OUR VOCATION AS WELL, FOR EACH OF US WAS PUT HERE FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
WHEN A COUPLE GETS MARRIED, MANY THINGS CHANGE. ONE OF THE COUPLE IS USUALLY IN THE LIMELIGHT AND THE OTHER IS IN THE SHADOWS. OFTEN THE ONE IN THE LIMELIGHT IS THE MAN. I DOUBT MUCH CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT, AT LEAST DURING THIS GENERATION. IN MY OWN MARRIAGE, THIS WAS ALWAYS TRUE. IT WAS “DOCTOR AND MRS”, WHEN I BECAME A DEACON, MY WIFE WAS REFERRED TO AS “THE DEACON'S WIFE”. MY WIFE SHOWED ADMIRABLE FORBEARANCE WHEN SOMEONE WOULD TELL HER HOW HARD I WORKED DURING THE YEARS WHEN SHE HAD SIX CHILDREN THAT SHE HAD TO TAKE CARE OF AND RAISE WITH MOSTLY MORAL SUPPORT FROM ME.
AND I THINK WE BOTH TOOK ALL THIS FOR GRANTED, THIS WAS THE WAY IT WAS. UNTIL ONE DAY JOAN HAD A NEW JOB AS ORGANIST AND CHOIR DIRECTOR IN SACRED HEART CHURCH IN HOLYOKE. ONE DAY I WENT UP THERE TO HELP HER GET THE CHOIR LOFT IN ORDER. AS I WAS WALKING INTO THE CHURCH, THE CUSTODIAN ASKED ME WHO I WAS. I SAID I HAD COME TO HELP MY WIFE WHO WAS THE ORGANIST. HE WALKED ALONG WITH ME AND INTRODUCED ME TO SOME PEOPLE. “THIS IS THE HUSBAND OF OUR ORGANIST,” HE SAID. IT WAS A STRANGE FEELING, FOR ONCE IN MY ADULT LIFE TO BE IDENTIFIED BY MY RELATIONSHIP TO SOMEONE ELSE.
THE GOSPEL TODAY MADE ME THINK ABOUT THAT. JOSEPH, UP UNTIL NOW, HAD CERTAIN EXPECTATIONS IN LIFE. HE HAD LEARNED A TRADE, AND PROBABLY MADE A REASONABLE LIVING. HE WAS ENGAGED, AND HE FULLY EXPECTED THAT IN THE NEAR FUTURE HE WOULD SETTLE DOWN WITH THE GIRL HE LOVED AND THEY WOULD HAVE A FAMILY. SHE WOULD BE JOSEPH'S WIFE. THE CHILDREN WOULD BE “JOSEPH'S CHILDREN”. HE WOULD TEACH THE BOYS HIS TRADE AND HE WOULD SELECT THE HUSBANDS FOR HIS DAUGHTERS. HE WOULD BE FATHER, AND GRANDFATHER, AND MAYBE WHILE HE STILL LIVED A GREAT-GRANDFATHER, AND HE WOULD BE A PATRIARCH, AT LEAST FOR THE LITTLE TRIBE THAT CLAIMED DESCENT FROM HIM. IT WASN'T THAT HE WAS PROUD, OR SELFISH; IT WAS JUST THE WAY THINGS WERE, AND HE GAVE THANKS FOR IT.
AND THEN HIS WORLD COMES APART. MARY IS PREGNANT. I SUSPECT THAT WHEN THIS FACT BECAME OBVIOUS, MARY OFFERED NO EXPLANATION. WHO WOULD BELIEVE WHAT HAD HAPPENED? CAN YOU IMAGINE THE EMOTIONS GOING THROUGH JOSEPH'S HEART? ANGER, FEELING LIKE A FOOL, EMBARRASSMENT – BUT MOSTLY, FEELING LIKE A FOOL. AND THEN, IN A DREAM, HE LEARNS SOMETHING. MARY IS NOT FOR HIM; JUST THE OPPOSITE; HIS PURPOSE, THE REASON HE WAS CREATED, WAS TO BE FOR HER AND FOR THE SON SHE CARRIED. JOSEPH OBEYED. HAD HE CONDEMNED MARY, HIS REPUTATION WOULD BE INTACT. HAD HE DIVORCED HER QUIETLY, AS WAS HIS PLAN, EVERYONE WOULD HAVE PRAISED HIS MERCY, AND WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM HOW LUCKY HE WAS TO HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF THAT RELATIONSHIP. BUT INSTEAD, HE TOOK UPON HIMSELF THE GOSSIP, THE TEASING, BEING LOOKED DOWN ON. I CAN ALMOST SEE HIS MOTHER TEARFULLY SAYING “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?” BECAUSE MOTHERS WERE THE SAME THEN AS NOW.
AND IF JOSEPH THOUGHT THAT WAS THE END OF IT, IT WASN'T. WHO DO YOU THINK DELIVERED JESUS WHEN HE WAS BORN THERE IN A COLD STABLE IN BETHLEHEM? AND JUST WHEN THINGS SEEMED TO FINALLY BE SETTLING DOWN, JOSEPH IS TOLD TO GET UP AND TAKE HIS WIFE AND THE BOY TO EGYPT OF ALL PLACES. AND SO IT WENT FOR THE REST OF JOSEPH'S LIFE. MARY WAS NOT FOR HIM, JESUS WAS NOT THE SON WHO WOULD CARRY ON HIS NAME – HE, JOSEPH, HAD BEEN CREATED FOR THEM. AND A DAY CAME WHEN HE LAY DYING AND LOOKED AT THE WIFE HE HAD LOVED AND THE BOY HE HAD GROWN TO LOVE, AND HE REMEMBERED THE DREAM – WHEN THE ANGEL HAD SAID TO NAME THE BOY JESUS, BECAUSE HE WOULD SAVE HIS PEOPLE, AND THAT HE WOULD BE CALLED IMMANUEL, SIGNIFYING THAT GOD IS WITH US. AND THE BOY HAD TURNED INTO A YOUNG MAN, A COMPETENT CARPENTER, TO BE SURE, A MORAL AND UPRIGHT MAN, JOSEPH WAS PROUD OF THAT, BECAUSE HE KNEW HE HAD A HAND IN RAISING HIM RIGHT, BUT HE COULD SEE NO SIGN OF GREATNESS AND MAYBE HE WONDERED THEN, WAS IT ONLY A DREAM? BECAUSE IN THE END, EVEN THE GREATEST OF SAINTS MUST SOONER OR LATER FACE A MOMENT WHEN FAITH ALONE SUSTAINS THEM, NOT PROOF, NOT CERTAINTY, BUT SIMPLY CHOOSING TO BELIEVE.
I THINK IT IS NATURAL, NOT EVIL, NOT GOOD, JUST NATURAL, FOR EVERY HUMAN BEING TO SEE HIMSELF OR HERSELF AS THE CENTER AROUND WHICH EVERYTHING ELSE REVOLVES. SOME OF US COME TO AT LEAST INTELLECTUALLY APPRECIATE THAT GOD IS CENTER, BUT EVEN THEN, IT IS GOD, THEN ME, THEN EVERYONE ELSE. WHAT A DIFFICULT THING IT IS TO CONFRONT THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS THE CENTER, AND I AM HERE FOR THAT PERSON, THE REASON I EXIST IN THIS TIME AND SPACE IS FOR SOMEONE ELSE. THAT IT IS GOD FIRST, ANOTHER PERSON SECOND, ANOTHER PERSON WHO GOD MADE ME FOR; AND ME A DISTANT THIRD. AND MAYBE I AM HERE FOR MY SPOUSE, MY CHILD, MY NEIGHBOR, MY PARENT, MY STUDENT, MY EMPLOYER, MY EMPLOYEE. BUT ALTHOUGH SEEING THE WORLD IN THIS WAY SEEMS UNNATURAL, IT SHOULDN'T SURPRISE US. BECAUSE JOSEPH DISCOVERED THAT HE WAS HERE FOR MARY, AND HE AND MARY WERE HERE FOR JESUS. AND JESUS IS THE PERSON WHO IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF BEING FOR OTHERS; HE IS THE ONE WHO EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT AND GIVES HIMSELF AWAY SO THAT THERE IS NOTHING LEFT, EVEN THE LIFELESS BODY ON THE CROSS IS NOT HIS, FOR HE HAS GIVEN THAT TO US AS WELL TO BE OUR SPIRITUAL FOOD AND DRINK.
ON THIS LAST SUNDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THINK ABOUT ST. JOSEPH, AND PICTURE HIM, NOT MEETING AN ANGEL IN HIS DREAMS, NOT DRAMATICALLY FLEEING TO EGYPT – BUT GETTING UP EVERY MORNING, PUTTING IN A HARD DAY BUILDING AND REPAIRING THINGS UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE LIGHT; FALLING INTO BED EXHAUSTED ONLY TO GET UP AGAIN. AND LIVING IN A TOWN WHERE EVEN MANY YEARS LATER, SOME OF THE OLD LADIES AND OLD GENTLEMEN AS WELL TOLD THE STORY ABOUT HOW MARY HAD BEEN QUITE PREGNANT WHEN THE TWO OF THEM HAD GOTTEN MARRIED. AND EVERY DAY, JOSEPH EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT FOR MARY, FOR JESUS.
AND HE LIVED OUT HIS LIFE BEING FOR OTHERS. AND MAYBE THAT'S WERE JESUS LEARNED THE CORE MESSAGE THAT HE TAUGHT AND THAT HE LIVED. AND MAY ST. JOSEPH HELP EACH OF US TO DISCOVER THAT THIS IS OUR VOCATION AS WELL, FOR EACH OF US WAS PUT HERE FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
3rd Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 11:2-11
IT SEEMS TO BE A UNIVERSAL HUMAN CHARACTERISTIC TO WANT A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION, TO HESITATE JUST A LITTLE BIT, BEFORE MAKING A COMMITMENT. THE WORD “DOUBT” COMES TO MIND, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHAT I MEAN. DOUBT IS NEGATIVE, WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IS POSITIVE, OR AT LEAST NEUTRAL. I GUESS ONLY GOD CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE FIRST KIND OF PROCESS AND THE SECOND. THE FIRST WAS WHEN ABRAHAM AND SARAH WERE TOLD THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A SON, AND SARAH LAUGHED, SAYING TO HERSELF THAT SHE WAS WAY PAST CHILD-BEARING YEARS, AND ABRAHAM WAS EVEN OLDER. BUT GOD BLESSED THEM WITH ISAAC. AND THEN WE HAVE MOSES, WHO STRUCK THE ROCK TWICE TO MAKE IT YIELD WATER, AND GOD PUNISHED HIM BY REFUSING TO LET HIM ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. THAT IS THE SECOND KIND OF DOUBT. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, WE HAVE ZACHARY DOUBTING (THE SECOND KIND) THAT HE AND ELIZABETH WOULD HAVE A SON THAT EVEN THOUGH THE ANGEL PROMISED IT,; AND THEN WE HAVE MARY SAYING “HOW CAN THIS BE, FOR I HAVE HAD NO RELATIONS WITH A MAN” BEING REWARDED BY BECOMING THE MOTHER OF GOD – THE FIRST KIND OF DOUBT.
AND TODAY WE HEAR ABOUT HOW JOHN, SITTING IN HIS PRISON CELL, SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE? JOHN HAD BEEN THERE WHEN THE VOICE CAME FROM HEAVEN AT JESUS' BAPTISM; JOHN HAD SAID TO JESUS THAT JESUS SHOULD BE BAPTIZING HIM, NOT HIM BAPTIZING JESUS; AND JOHN HAD POINTED OUT JESUS AS THE “LAMB OF GOD” AND TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT “HE, JESUS, MUST INCREASE, WHILE I JOHN, MUST DECREASE.” BUT NOW, THE LAST VOLUNTARY ACTION THAT JOHN TAKES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS THIS HESITANCY, THIS QUESTIONING. “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN, AS JESUS HIMSELF POINTS OUT, WAS THE GREATEST OF THOSE BORN UP TO THAT TIME; JOHN WAS THE NEW ELIJAH, AND BELIEVE ME, ELIJAH TO THE JEWS WAS ALMOST LEGENDARY-- NOT ONLY WAS HE THE MOST PROLIFIC AND POWERFUL MIRACLE WORKER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, EVEN MORE SO THAN MOSES, BUT HE WAS SAID NOT TO HAVE ACTUALLY DIED – TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A FIERY CHARIOT. AND IN THE YEARS WHEN THE RABBIS COMPOSED THE TALMUD, ELIJAH BECOMES A SUPER HERO IN THE LEGENDS WHICH THEY COLLECTED AND STUDIED. AND JESUS CALLS JOHN THE NEW ELIJAH.
THE PROBLEM, YOU SEE, WAS THAT JOHN, EVEN THOUGH FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD, EVEN THOUGH HAVING THE GIFT OF PROPHECY, WAS A PERSON, LIKE YOU AND I, AND A PRODUCT OF HIS TIMES AND HIS OWN CULTURE. AND THE MESSIAH, THE ONE WHO WAS TO COME, WAS IN THE POPULAR IMAGINATION A GREAT LEADER WHO WOULD CRUSH THE OPPRESSORS OF THE JEWS, RESTORE THEM TO THE GLORY THEY HAD UNDER DAVID AND SOLOMON. THE MESSIAH WOULD CREATE THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM SPOKEN OF BY EZECHIEL AND OTHER PROPHETS, THE CITY MADE UP OF CRYSTAL AND GOLD AND LIFE GIVING WATER, WHERE ALL NATIONS WOULD COME TO HEAR ABOUT AND SUBMIT TO THE KINGSHIP OF GOD. THE MESSIAH WOULD BE PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING, ONCE AND FOR ALL, AND THERE WOULD NEVER NEED TO BE ANOTHER.
AND JESUS, THE ONE WHO GOD HAD REVEALED TO JOHN WAS THE MESSIAH, WAS JUST NOT ACTING LIKE THAT. THERE WERE MIRACLES, BUT LITTLE ONES, MIRACLES OF HEALING MOSTLY. THERE WAS PREACHING, AND LARGE CROWDS WHO HUNG ON EVERY WORD, BUT THAT HAD HAPPENED BEFORE WITH OTHER PREACHERS, NOTHING SPECIAL. AND JESUS HAD RAPIDLY MADE ENEMIES OF THE PHARISEES AND THE PRIESTHOOD, WHEN THEY SHOULD BE ALLIES, AND HE HUNG OUT WITH TAX COLLECTORS AND PROSTITUTES AND ATE WITH SINNERS – VIOLATING IF NOT THE LETTER, AT LEAST THE SPIRIT, OF THE LAW THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO RESTORE. SO JOHN THROUGH HIS DISCIPLES ASKS, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
AND JESUS GAVE AN ANSWER, BUT PROBABLY NOT THE ANSWER JOHN WAS LOOKING FOR. JESUS SAID, “GO AND TELL JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN AND HEARD – THE BLIND SEE, THE LAME WALK, THE POOR HAVE THE GOOD NEW PREACHED TO THEM – THESE, THE PROPHETS HAD PREDICTED, WOULD BE THE SIGNS OF THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH, THE COMING OF GOD'S KINGDOM. IN THE END, JOHN, LIKE ALL THE REST OF US, HAD TO ACCEPT JESUS ON FAITH, NOT BECAUSE OF IRRESISTIBLE PROOF.
AND IT GIVES ME HOPE THAT JOHN, WHO DIDN'T QUITE GET IT, WHO DARED TO VOICE HIS DOUBT, WAS NEVERTHELESS CHAMPIONED BY JESUS. JESUS TURNED TO THE CROWDS WHO FOLLOWED HIM AND MADE IT VERY CLEAR TO THEM THAT JOHN WAS A TRUE PROPHET AND MORE THAN THAT, THE GREATEST OF MEN UP TO THAT TIME.
YOU AND I EACH HAVE AN IMAGE OF JESUS; THE JESUS WE THINK WE KNOW. BUT THAT IMAGE CHANGES WITH TIME, WITH OUR OWN EXPERIENCES, AND WITH OUR OWN STRIVING TO KNOW JESUS BETTER. AND SOMETIMES WHEN THINGS AREN'T GOING WELL, AND WE FEEL LET DOWN BY JESUS, WE MIGHT SAY, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL I LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” BECAUSE THE JESUS WE THINK WE KNOW WOULD CERTAINLY NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO ME. AND WE PICK OURSELVES UP AND STRUGGLE ON AND LEARN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT JESUS, BUT NEVER ENOUGH, NEVER ENOUGH TO ERASE ALL THE QUESTIONS. AND IN THE END, THERE IS FAITH, THERE IS THAT MOMENT WHEN WE SAY, “LORD, I BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF”.
AND JESUS CHAMPIONS US AS WELL. WITH OUR IMPERFECT FAITH, WITH OUR DOUBT WHICH COMES SO NATURALLY TO US, WITH THE SEEMINGLY UNBRIDGEABLE GAP BETWEEN WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD BE, JESUS TELLS HIS FATHER THAT HE LOVES US, THAT WE ARE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS; THAT WE ARE THE REASON FOR THE HOLES IN HIS HANDS AND FEET, AND THE WOUND IN HIS SIDE, WHICH HE WILL BEAR FOR ALL ETERNITY; AND HE PLEADS FOR US, HE BEGS THE FATHER TO GIVE US EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING WE NEED SO THAT WE CAN SOMEDAY JOIN HIM.
WE WEAR ROSE COLORED VESTMENTS TODAY, BECAUSE THIS IS A DAY OF REJOICING. LET US REJOICE THAT JESUS OVERLOOKS THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE HESITATE, WHEN WE WANT MORE INFORMATION BEFORE WE COMMIT, AND DESPITE OUR IMPERFECTIONS, IS RIGHT NOW, TELLING HIS FATHER, OUR FATHER, THAT WE ARE GREAT, EVEN GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST, BECAUSE WE ARE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
IT SEEMS TO BE A UNIVERSAL HUMAN CHARACTERISTIC TO WANT A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION, TO HESITATE JUST A LITTLE BIT, BEFORE MAKING A COMMITMENT. THE WORD “DOUBT” COMES TO MIND, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHAT I MEAN. DOUBT IS NEGATIVE, WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IS POSITIVE, OR AT LEAST NEUTRAL. I GUESS ONLY GOD CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE FIRST KIND OF PROCESS AND THE SECOND. THE FIRST WAS WHEN ABRAHAM AND SARAH WERE TOLD THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A SON, AND SARAH LAUGHED, SAYING TO HERSELF THAT SHE WAS WAY PAST CHILD-BEARING YEARS, AND ABRAHAM WAS EVEN OLDER. BUT GOD BLESSED THEM WITH ISAAC. AND THEN WE HAVE MOSES, WHO STRUCK THE ROCK TWICE TO MAKE IT YIELD WATER, AND GOD PUNISHED HIM BY REFUSING TO LET HIM ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. THAT IS THE SECOND KIND OF DOUBT. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, WE HAVE ZACHARY DOUBTING (THE SECOND KIND) THAT HE AND ELIZABETH WOULD HAVE A SON THAT EVEN THOUGH THE ANGEL PROMISED IT,; AND THEN WE HAVE MARY SAYING “HOW CAN THIS BE, FOR I HAVE HAD NO RELATIONS WITH A MAN” BEING REWARDED BY BECOMING THE MOTHER OF GOD – THE FIRST KIND OF DOUBT.
AND TODAY WE HEAR ABOUT HOW JOHN, SITTING IN HIS PRISON CELL, SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE? JOHN HAD BEEN THERE WHEN THE VOICE CAME FROM HEAVEN AT JESUS' BAPTISM; JOHN HAD SAID TO JESUS THAT JESUS SHOULD BE BAPTIZING HIM, NOT HIM BAPTIZING JESUS; AND JOHN HAD POINTED OUT JESUS AS THE “LAMB OF GOD” AND TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT “HE, JESUS, MUST INCREASE, WHILE I JOHN, MUST DECREASE.” BUT NOW, THE LAST VOLUNTARY ACTION THAT JOHN TAKES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS THIS HESITANCY, THIS QUESTIONING. “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN, AS JESUS HIMSELF POINTS OUT, WAS THE GREATEST OF THOSE BORN UP TO THAT TIME; JOHN WAS THE NEW ELIJAH, AND BELIEVE ME, ELIJAH TO THE JEWS WAS ALMOST LEGENDARY-- NOT ONLY WAS HE THE MOST PROLIFIC AND POWERFUL MIRACLE WORKER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, EVEN MORE SO THAN MOSES, BUT HE WAS SAID NOT TO HAVE ACTUALLY DIED – TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A FIERY CHARIOT. AND IN THE YEARS WHEN THE RABBIS COMPOSED THE TALMUD, ELIJAH BECOMES A SUPER HERO IN THE LEGENDS WHICH THEY COLLECTED AND STUDIED. AND JESUS CALLS JOHN THE NEW ELIJAH.
THE PROBLEM, YOU SEE, WAS THAT JOHN, EVEN THOUGH FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD, EVEN THOUGH HAVING THE GIFT OF PROPHECY, WAS A PERSON, LIKE YOU AND I, AND A PRODUCT OF HIS TIMES AND HIS OWN CULTURE. AND THE MESSIAH, THE ONE WHO WAS TO COME, WAS IN THE POPULAR IMAGINATION A GREAT LEADER WHO WOULD CRUSH THE OPPRESSORS OF THE JEWS, RESTORE THEM TO THE GLORY THEY HAD UNDER DAVID AND SOLOMON. THE MESSIAH WOULD CREATE THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM SPOKEN OF BY EZECHIEL AND OTHER PROPHETS, THE CITY MADE UP OF CRYSTAL AND GOLD AND LIFE GIVING WATER, WHERE ALL NATIONS WOULD COME TO HEAR ABOUT AND SUBMIT TO THE KINGSHIP OF GOD. THE MESSIAH WOULD BE PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING, ONCE AND FOR ALL, AND THERE WOULD NEVER NEED TO BE ANOTHER.
AND JESUS, THE ONE WHO GOD HAD REVEALED TO JOHN WAS THE MESSIAH, WAS JUST NOT ACTING LIKE THAT. THERE WERE MIRACLES, BUT LITTLE ONES, MIRACLES OF HEALING MOSTLY. THERE WAS PREACHING, AND LARGE CROWDS WHO HUNG ON EVERY WORD, BUT THAT HAD HAPPENED BEFORE WITH OTHER PREACHERS, NOTHING SPECIAL. AND JESUS HAD RAPIDLY MADE ENEMIES OF THE PHARISEES AND THE PRIESTHOOD, WHEN THEY SHOULD BE ALLIES, AND HE HUNG OUT WITH TAX COLLECTORS AND PROSTITUTES AND ATE WITH SINNERS – VIOLATING IF NOT THE LETTER, AT LEAST THE SPIRIT, OF THE LAW THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO RESTORE. SO JOHN THROUGH HIS DISCIPLES ASKS, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
AND JESUS GAVE AN ANSWER, BUT PROBABLY NOT THE ANSWER JOHN WAS LOOKING FOR. JESUS SAID, “GO AND TELL JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN AND HEARD – THE BLIND SEE, THE LAME WALK, THE POOR HAVE THE GOOD NEW PREACHED TO THEM – THESE, THE PROPHETS HAD PREDICTED, WOULD BE THE SIGNS OF THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH, THE COMING OF GOD'S KINGDOM. IN THE END, JOHN, LIKE ALL THE REST OF US, HAD TO ACCEPT JESUS ON FAITH, NOT BECAUSE OF IRRESISTIBLE PROOF.
AND IT GIVES ME HOPE THAT JOHN, WHO DIDN'T QUITE GET IT, WHO DARED TO VOICE HIS DOUBT, WAS NEVERTHELESS CHAMPIONED BY JESUS. JESUS TURNED TO THE CROWDS WHO FOLLOWED HIM AND MADE IT VERY CLEAR TO THEM THAT JOHN WAS A TRUE PROPHET AND MORE THAN THAT, THE GREATEST OF MEN UP TO THAT TIME.
YOU AND I EACH HAVE AN IMAGE OF JESUS; THE JESUS WE THINK WE KNOW. BUT THAT IMAGE CHANGES WITH TIME, WITH OUR OWN EXPERIENCES, AND WITH OUR OWN STRIVING TO KNOW JESUS BETTER. AND SOMETIMES WHEN THINGS AREN'T GOING WELL, AND WE FEEL LET DOWN BY JESUS, WE MIGHT SAY, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL I LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” BECAUSE THE JESUS WE THINK WE KNOW WOULD CERTAINLY NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO ME. AND WE PICK OURSELVES UP AND STRUGGLE ON AND LEARN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT JESUS, BUT NEVER ENOUGH, NEVER ENOUGH TO ERASE ALL THE QUESTIONS. AND IN THE END, THERE IS FAITH, THERE IS THAT MOMENT WHEN WE SAY, “LORD, I BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF”.
AND JESUS CHAMPIONS US AS WELL. WITH OUR IMPERFECT FAITH, WITH OUR DOUBT WHICH COMES SO NATURALLY TO US, WITH THE SEEMINGLY UNBRIDGEABLE GAP BETWEEN WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD BE, JESUS TELLS HIS FATHER THAT HE LOVES US, THAT WE ARE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS; THAT WE ARE THE REASON FOR THE HOLES IN HIS HANDS AND FEET, AND THE WOUND IN HIS SIDE, WHICH HE WILL BEAR FOR ALL ETERNITY; AND HE PLEADS FOR US, HE BEGS THE FATHER TO GIVE US EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING WE NEED SO THAT WE CAN SOMEDAY JOIN HIM.
WE WEAR ROSE COLORED VESTMENTS TODAY, BECAUSE THIS IS A DAY OF REJOICING. LET US REJOICE THAT JESUS OVERLOOKS THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE HESITATE, WHEN WE WANT MORE INFORMATION BEFORE WE COMMIT, AND DESPITE OUR IMPERFECTIONS, IS RIGHT NOW, TELLING HIS FATHER, OUR FATHER, THAT WE ARE GREAT, EVEN GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST, BECAUSE WE ARE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
2nd Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 3:1-12
REPENTANCE IS A POOR TRANSLATION OF THE WORD THAT JOHN USED; TO US, TO US IT MEANS TO BE SORRY FOR OUR SINS. THE GREEK WORD IS “METANOIA” WHICH MEANS “TO CHANGE THE MIND”. THERE IS AN ARAMAIC WORD, A WORD THAT JOHN MIGHT HAVE USED HIMSELF, WHICH IS “TOB” AND MEANS “TO FLOW BACK” AND WAS A WORD USED TO DESCRIBE WATER THAT WOULD OVERFLOW THE BANKS OF A RIVER AND THEN FLOW BACK INTO THE RIVER. IT CAME TO MEAN ABOUT THE SAME THING THAT METANOIA MEANS. SO WHY THE LANGUAGE LESSON?
WHEN I AM STUDYING THE SUNDAY GOSPEL, I ALWAYS STOP WHEN I HAVE QUESTIONS AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE ANSWER. AND MY QUESTION ABOUT THIS GOSPEL WAS WHY DID JOHN GET SO MAD AT THOSE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES? WHY DID HE CALL THEM SNAKES? WHY DID HE INSULT THEM BY COMPARING THEM WITH ROCKS? AFTER ALL, THEY WERE STANDING IN LINE WAITING TO BE BAPTIZED, JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD COME TO THE BANKS OF THE JORDAN.
CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT. JOHN WAS NOT BAPTIZING PEOPLE WITH THE IDEA OF REMOVING THEIR SINS. I KNOW THE GOSPEL TRANSLATION SEEMS TO SAY THAT, BUT AGAIN, WE ARE LOOKING AT A TRANSLATION OF A TRANSLATION, AND THE ORIGINAL IDEA WAS THAT BEFORE YOU COULD CHANGE YOUR MIND, OR FLOW BACK TO GOD, YOU HAD TO FACE WHAT YOU WERE DOING THAT WAS STANDING IN THE WAY. JOHN SAYS TO THE PEOPLE, “LOOK AT YOUR LIFE AND SEE WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM GOD AND CLOSING YOU OFF FROM LOVE. LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE ASHAMED OF – YOUR SELFISHNESS, YOUR LACK OF WILLPOWER, THE FACT THAT YOU CONSTANTLY KEEP MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES. AND THEN TURN AWAY FROM ALL THAT, TURN TOWARDS WHAT IS BEYOND YOURSELF, TURN TOWARDS GOD.”
THE PHARISEES WERE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY WANTED TO BE PURE, AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY FOLLOWED EVERY LITTLE RULE IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS, ALL 630 OF THEM. AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE. THAT MEANT THAT THEY WERE ALWAYS WASHING AND PURIFYING AND AVOIDING THOSE WHO WEREN'T. AND THEY WOULD GET TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANT TO HONOR THE SABBATH DAY, FOR EXAMPLE. AND ONE WOULD SAY YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 100 STEPS AND ANOTHER WOULD SAY, NO, YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 50 STEPS. AND THE PHARISEES WERE SO DIVIDED AMONG THEMSELVES THAT THEY FORMED GROUPS AROUND DIFFERENT LEADERS; AND VERY MUCH LIKE THE ORTHODOX JEWS TODAY, THEY SPENT ALL THEIR TIME TRYING TO BE HOLY AND NO TIME TRYING TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD AND THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS.
THE SADDUCEES WERE LIKEWISE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY LOOKED AT THEIR TRADITIONS AND ANCESTRY AND SAID TO EACH OTHER, THERE IS A LOT OF STUFF THERE THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING ANYMORE. AND THEY LOOKED AT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE SOPHISTICATED GREEK CIVILIZATION SURROUNDING THEM AND SAID, “THERE IS A LOT ABOUT THAT THAT IS GOOD”. AND MANY OF THEM SAID THAT BEING JEWISH WAS JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR PEOPLE TO BE, LIKE BEING ROMAN OR EGYPTIAN OR PERSIAN; AND THEIR RELIGION WAS JUST ANOTHER RELIGION. AND THEY DRESSED LIKE GREEKS AND THEY WENT TO THE GYMNASIUM AND COMMISSIONED STATUES TO BE BUILT AND EVEN ATE PORK AND SHRIMP, ALL IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO THEIR RELIGION'S RULES. AND THE RESULT WAS THAT THE SADDUCEES WERE SO MUCH LIKE THE WORLD AROUND THEM THAT THEY COULD NO LONGER INFLUENCE THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER.
IF YOU READ THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THERE IS A RECURRING THEME – GOD'S PEOPLE ARE TO BE A BEACON IN THE WORLD. THEY ARE TO BE THE SHINING CITY, TO WHICH ALL PEOPLE COME TO WORSHIP GOD. GOD CHOSE THEM AS HIS SPECIAL PEOPLE PRECISELY SO THAT THROUGH THEM, THE WORLD WOULD BE CONVERTED. AND THE PHARISEES, WHO WERE CONSIDERED REALLY GOOD JEWS BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, WERE CLEARLY FAILING; AND THE SADDUCEES, WHO WERE LOOKED AT WITH A LITTLE BIT OF ENVY BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, BECAUSE THEY HAD BROKEN FREE OF THE RESTRICTIONS THAT SEEMED TO HOLD DOWN ORDINARY PEOPLE, THEY WERE CLEARLY FAILING AS WELL.
AND THAT IS WHY JOHN SCOLDS THEM, AND TELLS THEM TO TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, AND COMPLETELY CHANGE THE WAY THEY THINK AND ACT – OR THEY NEVER COULD FIND THEIR WAY TO GOD.
AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO HAVE GIVEN UP ON THE WORLD, AND LIVE IN OUR COCOONS, FIGURING THAT IF WE DON'T SIN AND IF WE PARTICIPATE IN THE SACRAMENTS AND HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THAT DIRTY, SINFUL WORLD OUT THERE, WE WILL MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO DON'T REALLY BELIEVE THAT ABORTION IS THAT WRONG OR THAT THE EUCHARIST IS REALLY THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, OR THAT WE NEED GOD'S FORGIVENESS THROUGH THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE, OR THAT IT ACTUALLY MATTERS WHAT YOU BELIEVE AS LONG AS YOU ARE SINCERE; AND BEING CATHOLIC ISN'T MUCH DIFFERENT THAN BEING A DEMOCRAT OR A PATRIOT'S FAN OR ITALIAN OR IRISH.
AND JOHN SAYS TO THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES OF HIS TIME, AND THE PHARISEE AND SADDUCEE IN EACH ONE OF US, PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT AS EVIDENCE OF YOUR REPENTANCE, OR, TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE ONLY WAY TO SHED YOUR PAST AND TURN BACK TO GOD IS TO ACT; WANTING TO DO IT ISN'T ENOUGH. AND MAKE IT YOUR GOAL TO SHOW THE WORLD BY YOUR DEEDS, BY HOW YOU LIVE, BY HOW YOU CARE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR, BY HOW YOU LIVE A PRINCIPLED LIFE FOUNDED ON YOUR FAITH, THAT BEING A CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN IS SOMETHING SPECIAL, SOMETHING ATTRACTIVE, SOMETHING THAT WILL FORCE OTHER PEOPLE TO EXAMINE THEIR OWN LIVES. BECAUSE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE INFLUENCED BY YOUR EXAMPLE, BY YOUR ACTION, SOME WILL REPENT, SOME WILL CHANGE THEIR MINDS, SOME WILL DRAW CLOSER TO JESUS; AND MAYBE ONE WILL EVEN BECOME A GREAT SAINT.
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO CHANGE YOUR MIND? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO FLOW BACK TO GOD? BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW ADVANCED WE ARE IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, THERE IS STILL MORE TO DO, STILL MORE TO CHANGE AS LONG AS WE ARE ALIVE. MAKE A RESOLUTION TODAY TO FIND SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE TO GET RID OF, AND ASK GOD TO FILL THAT EMPTY SPACE WITH SOMETHING WONDERFUL.
REPENTANCE IS A POOR TRANSLATION OF THE WORD THAT JOHN USED; TO US, TO US IT MEANS TO BE SORRY FOR OUR SINS. THE GREEK WORD IS “METANOIA” WHICH MEANS “TO CHANGE THE MIND”. THERE IS AN ARAMAIC WORD, A WORD THAT JOHN MIGHT HAVE USED HIMSELF, WHICH IS “TOB” AND MEANS “TO FLOW BACK” AND WAS A WORD USED TO DESCRIBE WATER THAT WOULD OVERFLOW THE BANKS OF A RIVER AND THEN FLOW BACK INTO THE RIVER. IT CAME TO MEAN ABOUT THE SAME THING THAT METANOIA MEANS. SO WHY THE LANGUAGE LESSON?
WHEN I AM STUDYING THE SUNDAY GOSPEL, I ALWAYS STOP WHEN I HAVE QUESTIONS AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE ANSWER. AND MY QUESTION ABOUT THIS GOSPEL WAS WHY DID JOHN GET SO MAD AT THOSE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES? WHY DID HE CALL THEM SNAKES? WHY DID HE INSULT THEM BY COMPARING THEM WITH ROCKS? AFTER ALL, THEY WERE STANDING IN LINE WAITING TO BE BAPTIZED, JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD COME TO THE BANKS OF THE JORDAN.
CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT. JOHN WAS NOT BAPTIZING PEOPLE WITH THE IDEA OF REMOVING THEIR SINS. I KNOW THE GOSPEL TRANSLATION SEEMS TO SAY THAT, BUT AGAIN, WE ARE LOOKING AT A TRANSLATION OF A TRANSLATION, AND THE ORIGINAL IDEA WAS THAT BEFORE YOU COULD CHANGE YOUR MIND, OR FLOW BACK TO GOD, YOU HAD TO FACE WHAT YOU WERE DOING THAT WAS STANDING IN THE WAY. JOHN SAYS TO THE PEOPLE, “LOOK AT YOUR LIFE AND SEE WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM GOD AND CLOSING YOU OFF FROM LOVE. LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE ASHAMED OF – YOUR SELFISHNESS, YOUR LACK OF WILLPOWER, THE FACT THAT YOU CONSTANTLY KEEP MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES. AND THEN TURN AWAY FROM ALL THAT, TURN TOWARDS WHAT IS BEYOND YOURSELF, TURN TOWARDS GOD.”
THE PHARISEES WERE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY WANTED TO BE PURE, AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY FOLLOWED EVERY LITTLE RULE IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS, ALL 630 OF THEM. AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE. THAT MEANT THAT THEY WERE ALWAYS WASHING AND PURIFYING AND AVOIDING THOSE WHO WEREN'T. AND THEY WOULD GET TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANT TO HONOR THE SABBATH DAY, FOR EXAMPLE. AND ONE WOULD SAY YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 100 STEPS AND ANOTHER WOULD SAY, NO, YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 50 STEPS. AND THE PHARISEES WERE SO DIVIDED AMONG THEMSELVES THAT THEY FORMED GROUPS AROUND DIFFERENT LEADERS; AND VERY MUCH LIKE THE ORTHODOX JEWS TODAY, THEY SPENT ALL THEIR TIME TRYING TO BE HOLY AND NO TIME TRYING TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD AND THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS.
THE SADDUCEES WERE LIKEWISE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY LOOKED AT THEIR TRADITIONS AND ANCESTRY AND SAID TO EACH OTHER, THERE IS A LOT OF STUFF THERE THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING ANYMORE. AND THEY LOOKED AT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE SOPHISTICATED GREEK CIVILIZATION SURROUNDING THEM AND SAID, “THERE IS A LOT ABOUT THAT THAT IS GOOD”. AND MANY OF THEM SAID THAT BEING JEWISH WAS JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR PEOPLE TO BE, LIKE BEING ROMAN OR EGYPTIAN OR PERSIAN; AND THEIR RELIGION WAS JUST ANOTHER RELIGION. AND THEY DRESSED LIKE GREEKS AND THEY WENT TO THE GYMNASIUM AND COMMISSIONED STATUES TO BE BUILT AND EVEN ATE PORK AND SHRIMP, ALL IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO THEIR RELIGION'S RULES. AND THE RESULT WAS THAT THE SADDUCEES WERE SO MUCH LIKE THE WORLD AROUND THEM THAT THEY COULD NO LONGER INFLUENCE THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER.
IF YOU READ THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THERE IS A RECURRING THEME – GOD'S PEOPLE ARE TO BE A BEACON IN THE WORLD. THEY ARE TO BE THE SHINING CITY, TO WHICH ALL PEOPLE COME TO WORSHIP GOD. GOD CHOSE THEM AS HIS SPECIAL PEOPLE PRECISELY SO THAT THROUGH THEM, THE WORLD WOULD BE CONVERTED. AND THE PHARISEES, WHO WERE CONSIDERED REALLY GOOD JEWS BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, WERE CLEARLY FAILING; AND THE SADDUCEES, WHO WERE LOOKED AT WITH A LITTLE BIT OF ENVY BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, BECAUSE THEY HAD BROKEN FREE OF THE RESTRICTIONS THAT SEEMED TO HOLD DOWN ORDINARY PEOPLE, THEY WERE CLEARLY FAILING AS WELL.
AND THAT IS WHY JOHN SCOLDS THEM, AND TELLS THEM TO TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, AND COMPLETELY CHANGE THE WAY THEY THINK AND ACT – OR THEY NEVER COULD FIND THEIR WAY TO GOD.
AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO HAVE GIVEN UP ON THE WORLD, AND LIVE IN OUR COCOONS, FIGURING THAT IF WE DON'T SIN AND IF WE PARTICIPATE IN THE SACRAMENTS AND HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THAT DIRTY, SINFUL WORLD OUT THERE, WE WILL MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO DON'T REALLY BELIEVE THAT ABORTION IS THAT WRONG OR THAT THE EUCHARIST IS REALLY THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, OR THAT WE NEED GOD'S FORGIVENESS THROUGH THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE, OR THAT IT ACTUALLY MATTERS WHAT YOU BELIEVE AS LONG AS YOU ARE SINCERE; AND BEING CATHOLIC ISN'T MUCH DIFFERENT THAN BEING A DEMOCRAT OR A PATRIOT'S FAN OR ITALIAN OR IRISH.
AND JOHN SAYS TO THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES OF HIS TIME, AND THE PHARISEE AND SADDUCEE IN EACH ONE OF US, PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT AS EVIDENCE OF YOUR REPENTANCE, OR, TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE ONLY WAY TO SHED YOUR PAST AND TURN BACK TO GOD IS TO ACT; WANTING TO DO IT ISN'T ENOUGH. AND MAKE IT YOUR GOAL TO SHOW THE WORLD BY YOUR DEEDS, BY HOW YOU LIVE, BY HOW YOU CARE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR, BY HOW YOU LIVE A PRINCIPLED LIFE FOUNDED ON YOUR FAITH, THAT BEING A CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN IS SOMETHING SPECIAL, SOMETHING ATTRACTIVE, SOMETHING THAT WILL FORCE OTHER PEOPLE TO EXAMINE THEIR OWN LIVES. BECAUSE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE INFLUENCED BY YOUR EXAMPLE, BY YOUR ACTION, SOME WILL REPENT, SOME WILL CHANGE THEIR MINDS, SOME WILL DRAW CLOSER TO JESUS; AND MAYBE ONE WILL EVEN BECOME A GREAT SAINT.
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO CHANGE YOUR MIND? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO FLOW BACK TO GOD? BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW ADVANCED WE ARE IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, THERE IS STILL MORE TO DO, STILL MORE TO CHANGE AS LONG AS WE ARE ALIVE. MAKE A RESOLUTION TODAY TO FIND SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE TO GET RID OF, AND ASK GOD TO FILL THAT EMPTY SPACE WITH SOMETHING WONDERFUL.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
First Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 24:37-44
WHEN I WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL I WAS PROBABLY A BIT SLEEP DEPRIVED MOST OF THE TIME. WHEN I STARTED, THE COURSE WORK WAS MORE COMPRESSED, CERTAINLY MORE COMPLICATED, AND I HAD TO STUDY MORE THAN I EVER DID IN COLLEGE. AFTER I GOT USED TO THE PACE, I GOT MARRIED, AND SOON WE WERE EXPECTING A BABY, AND I WAS TRYING TO WORK A LITTLE ON THE SIDE. IT IS NO WONDER THAT I HAD SOME DISTURBING DREAMS. ONE OF THE RECURRENT DREAMS WAS THAT I WOULD GO TO A CLASS AND DISCOVER THAT I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN TO STUDY FOR THE TEST ABOUT TO BE GIVEN. OR, I WOULD COME TO THE END OF THE SEMESTER AND DISCOVER THAT I HAD NEVER ACTUALLY ATTENDED ONE OF THE CLASSES I HAD SIGNED UP FOR. I WOULD HAVE ONE OF THESE DREAMS AND WAKE UP IN A PANIC, AND USUALLY WOULD ALSO WAKE UP MY SOUNDLY SLEEPING WIFE, WHO FOR JUST A MOMENT REGRETTED THAT SHE HAD NOT BECOME A CARMELITE.
THAT FEELING THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETELY MISSED OUT, THAT SOMETHING IS GOING TO END IN TRAGEDY WHEN IT COULD HAVE ENDED IN JOY AND A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT – THAT, IN MY EXPERIENCE WITH MY DREAMS, IS A TERRIBLE FEELING.
THE GOSPEL READING REFERS TO THE PEOPLE OF NOAH'S TIME. THE BOOK OF GENESIS DOESN'T PUT THAT MUCH TIME BETWEEN ADAM AND EVE AND NOAH. IN THE IMAGINATION OF THE HEBREWS AND BY THE RECKONING OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS, NOAH WAS ONLY ABOUT 9 GENERATIONS FROM ADAM. SO THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME WERE MUCH CLOSER TO THE CATASTROPHIC EXPULSION FROM PARADISE THAN WE ARE. BUT YET, THEY HAD BECOME COMPLACENT; THEY WENT ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS AS THOUGH THERE WERE INFINITE TOMORROWS. AND ONE DAY WHEN NO ONE EXPECTED IT, THERE WERE SUDDENLY NO TOMORROWS.
WE HAVEN'T CHANGED MUCH. AFTER 9/11, WE AMERICANS ALL PUT PARTISAN POLITICS ASIDE; WE ALL RESOLVED TO QUIT QUARRELING AND WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD. WE DUTIFULLY PAID ATTENTION TO THE TERRORISM ALERTS THAT WERE ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT – DO YOU REMEMBER THE “COLOR CODE” THAT SEEMED TO BE ON THE NEWS EVERY NIGHT? GUESS WHAT – THE GOVERNMENT STILL ISSUES A DAILY ESTIMATE OF THE LIKELIHOOD OF A TERRORIST ATTACK – BUT WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT OR WONDERED WHETHER TODAY WAS YELLOW, PINK, OR RED?
ONE WILL BE TAKEN, AND ONE WILL BE LEFT. WE HAD A PROFESSOR OF BIBLE STUDIES IN COLLEGE WHO SAID THAT MAYBE THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING – MAYBE GOD TAKES THOSE WHO ARE PREPARED FOR HIS COMING AND LEAVES THE REST OF US BEHIND. AFTER ALL, HE COULD CERTAINLY ERASE THE MEMORY OF SOMEONE FROM THE MINDS OF ALL WHO KNEW HER.
JESUS SAYS “YOU CANNOT KNOW THE DAY YOUR LORD IS COMING.” THEREFORE, HE TELLS US, WE MUST BE PREPARED.
WE MUST BE PREPARED BY SAYING “I LOVE YOU” TO THOSE WE LOVE. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY PUTTING DOWN THE NEWSPAPER OR TURNING OFF THE TELEVISION SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH A CHILD, A PARENT, A SPOUSE, A FRIEND. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY GIVING A LITTLE OF WHAT WE HAVE SAVED TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NOTHING WITH WHICH TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY FORGIVING SOMEONE WHO OFFENDED US PERHAPS A LONG TIME AGO. SOME OF US, AND I AM PREACHING TO MYSELF, MUST BE PREPARED BY SETTING ASIDE SOME TIME FOR RECREATION, FOR GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL, FOR RECHARGING BATTERIES.
AND IN ADDITION TO MAKING THINGS RIGHT FOR OURSELVES AND WITH THOSE AROUND US, WE NEED TO BE PREPARED BY DEVELOPING A SERIOUS PRAYER LIFE. BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY WE WILL BECOME CLOSE TO GOD IS THROUGH CONVERSATION WITH HIM. AND WE MUST BE PREPARED BY PARTICIPATING IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE – BECAUSE IF WE ARE TO DRAW CLOSE TO GOD, WE NEED TO GET RID OF THE SPIRITUAL BARRIERS BETWEEN US, AND NOTHING DOES THAT AS WELL AS THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE.
JESUS IS COMING. HE PROMISED, OUR CHURCH TEACHES THIS. AND HE IS COMING TOMORROW. IF WE MAKE IT A POINT, WHEN WE GO TO SLEEP EACH NIGHT, TO SAY TO OURSELVES, HE IS COMING TOMORROW, WE WILL NOT BE WRONG. HE COMES IN SOME WAY EVERY TOMORROW, AND IF WE LIVE OUR LIVES PREPARED FOR HIS ENTERING INTO OUR LIFE, AT THAT TIME WE LEAST EXPECT, WHEN THE SON OF MAN PUTS AN END TO ALL THE TOMORROWS, WE WILL BE READY.
BUT IF WE ARE NOT READY, IF WE HAVE LIVED LIKE THE PEOPLE OF NOAH'S TIME, IF WE HAVE FALLEN BACK INTO THE COMPLACENCY THAT BELIEVES THAT THERE ARE ENDLESS TOMORROWS, AND WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO BECOME CONVERTED, TO REFORM OUR LIVES, TO MAKE PROGRESS IN OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH, THEN WE RUN THE RISK OF WAKING UP FROM OUR DREAM REALIZING THAT WE HAVE NOT PREPARED FOR THE TEST, WE HAVE NOT EVEN GONE TO CLASS, AND THERE IS NO WAY TO MAKE IT UP. AND THAT AWFUL FEELING OF LOSS AND FAILURE THAT I EXPERIENCED WHEN I WOKE OUT OF MY NIGHTMARES IN MEDICAL SCHOOL WILL NO LONGER LAST A MOMENT, BUT FOREVER.
HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE ADVENT? HOW WILL YOU PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF OUR LORD? WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL IF WE MADE A RESOLUTION TODAY TO TAKE SOME CONCRETE STEP DURING THIS SEASON SO THAT WHEN WE CELEBRATE THE LORD'S BIRTH, WE WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO BRING TO THE MANGER, TO LAY AT HIS FEET. IT MAY BE THE LAST CHANCE WE WILL HAVE. BE READY, BE AWAKE.
WHEN I WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL I WAS PROBABLY A BIT SLEEP DEPRIVED MOST OF THE TIME. WHEN I STARTED, THE COURSE WORK WAS MORE COMPRESSED, CERTAINLY MORE COMPLICATED, AND I HAD TO STUDY MORE THAN I EVER DID IN COLLEGE. AFTER I GOT USED TO THE PACE, I GOT MARRIED, AND SOON WE WERE EXPECTING A BABY, AND I WAS TRYING TO WORK A LITTLE ON THE SIDE. IT IS NO WONDER THAT I HAD SOME DISTURBING DREAMS. ONE OF THE RECURRENT DREAMS WAS THAT I WOULD GO TO A CLASS AND DISCOVER THAT I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN TO STUDY FOR THE TEST ABOUT TO BE GIVEN. OR, I WOULD COME TO THE END OF THE SEMESTER AND DISCOVER THAT I HAD NEVER ACTUALLY ATTENDED ONE OF THE CLASSES I HAD SIGNED UP FOR. I WOULD HAVE ONE OF THESE DREAMS AND WAKE UP IN A PANIC, AND USUALLY WOULD ALSO WAKE UP MY SOUNDLY SLEEPING WIFE, WHO FOR JUST A MOMENT REGRETTED THAT SHE HAD NOT BECOME A CARMELITE.
THAT FEELING THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETELY MISSED OUT, THAT SOMETHING IS GOING TO END IN TRAGEDY WHEN IT COULD HAVE ENDED IN JOY AND A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT – THAT, IN MY EXPERIENCE WITH MY DREAMS, IS A TERRIBLE FEELING.
THE GOSPEL READING REFERS TO THE PEOPLE OF NOAH'S TIME. THE BOOK OF GENESIS DOESN'T PUT THAT MUCH TIME BETWEEN ADAM AND EVE AND NOAH. IN THE IMAGINATION OF THE HEBREWS AND BY THE RECKONING OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS, NOAH WAS ONLY ABOUT 9 GENERATIONS FROM ADAM. SO THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME WERE MUCH CLOSER TO THE CATASTROPHIC EXPULSION FROM PARADISE THAN WE ARE. BUT YET, THEY HAD BECOME COMPLACENT; THEY WENT ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS AS THOUGH THERE WERE INFINITE TOMORROWS. AND ONE DAY WHEN NO ONE EXPECTED IT, THERE WERE SUDDENLY NO TOMORROWS.
WE HAVEN'T CHANGED MUCH. AFTER 9/11, WE AMERICANS ALL PUT PARTISAN POLITICS ASIDE; WE ALL RESOLVED TO QUIT QUARRELING AND WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD. WE DUTIFULLY PAID ATTENTION TO THE TERRORISM ALERTS THAT WERE ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT – DO YOU REMEMBER THE “COLOR CODE” THAT SEEMED TO BE ON THE NEWS EVERY NIGHT? GUESS WHAT – THE GOVERNMENT STILL ISSUES A DAILY ESTIMATE OF THE LIKELIHOOD OF A TERRORIST ATTACK – BUT WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT OR WONDERED WHETHER TODAY WAS YELLOW, PINK, OR RED?
ONE WILL BE TAKEN, AND ONE WILL BE LEFT. WE HAD A PROFESSOR OF BIBLE STUDIES IN COLLEGE WHO SAID THAT MAYBE THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING – MAYBE GOD TAKES THOSE WHO ARE PREPARED FOR HIS COMING AND LEAVES THE REST OF US BEHIND. AFTER ALL, HE COULD CERTAINLY ERASE THE MEMORY OF SOMEONE FROM THE MINDS OF ALL WHO KNEW HER.
JESUS SAYS “YOU CANNOT KNOW THE DAY YOUR LORD IS COMING.” THEREFORE, HE TELLS US, WE MUST BE PREPARED.
WE MUST BE PREPARED BY SAYING “I LOVE YOU” TO THOSE WE LOVE. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY PUTTING DOWN THE NEWSPAPER OR TURNING OFF THE TELEVISION SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH A CHILD, A PARENT, A SPOUSE, A FRIEND. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY GIVING A LITTLE OF WHAT WE HAVE SAVED TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NOTHING WITH WHICH TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY FORGIVING SOMEONE WHO OFFENDED US PERHAPS A LONG TIME AGO. SOME OF US, AND I AM PREACHING TO MYSELF, MUST BE PREPARED BY SETTING ASIDE SOME TIME FOR RECREATION, FOR GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL, FOR RECHARGING BATTERIES.
AND IN ADDITION TO MAKING THINGS RIGHT FOR OURSELVES AND WITH THOSE AROUND US, WE NEED TO BE PREPARED BY DEVELOPING A SERIOUS PRAYER LIFE. BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY WE WILL BECOME CLOSE TO GOD IS THROUGH CONVERSATION WITH HIM. AND WE MUST BE PREPARED BY PARTICIPATING IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE – BECAUSE IF WE ARE TO DRAW CLOSE TO GOD, WE NEED TO GET RID OF THE SPIRITUAL BARRIERS BETWEEN US, AND NOTHING DOES THAT AS WELL AS THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE.
JESUS IS COMING. HE PROMISED, OUR CHURCH TEACHES THIS. AND HE IS COMING TOMORROW. IF WE MAKE IT A POINT, WHEN WE GO TO SLEEP EACH NIGHT, TO SAY TO OURSELVES, HE IS COMING TOMORROW, WE WILL NOT BE WRONG. HE COMES IN SOME WAY EVERY TOMORROW, AND IF WE LIVE OUR LIVES PREPARED FOR HIS ENTERING INTO OUR LIFE, AT THAT TIME WE LEAST EXPECT, WHEN THE SON OF MAN PUTS AN END TO ALL THE TOMORROWS, WE WILL BE READY.
BUT IF WE ARE NOT READY, IF WE HAVE LIVED LIKE THE PEOPLE OF NOAH'S TIME, IF WE HAVE FALLEN BACK INTO THE COMPLACENCY THAT BELIEVES THAT THERE ARE ENDLESS TOMORROWS, AND WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO BECOME CONVERTED, TO REFORM OUR LIVES, TO MAKE PROGRESS IN OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH, THEN WE RUN THE RISK OF WAKING UP FROM OUR DREAM REALIZING THAT WE HAVE NOT PREPARED FOR THE TEST, WE HAVE NOT EVEN GONE TO CLASS, AND THERE IS NO WAY TO MAKE IT UP. AND THAT AWFUL FEELING OF LOSS AND FAILURE THAT I EXPERIENCED WHEN I WOKE OUT OF MY NIGHTMARES IN MEDICAL SCHOOL WILL NO LONGER LAST A MOMENT, BUT FOREVER.
HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE ADVENT? HOW WILL YOU PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF OUR LORD? WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL IF WE MADE A RESOLUTION TODAY TO TAKE SOME CONCRETE STEP DURING THIS SEASON SO THAT WHEN WE CELEBRATE THE LORD'S BIRTH, WE WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO BRING TO THE MANGER, TO LAY AT HIS FEET. IT MAY BE THE LAST CHANCE WE WILL HAVE. BE READY, BE AWAKE.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Christ the King, cycle C
LUKE 23:35-43
THERE IS A MOTHER WHO SEES HER SON, THE ONE SHE NURSED AND RAISED AND ONE DAY SAID GOODBYE TO HIM AS HE WENT OUT INTO THE WORLD.
ONE OF HIS BEST FRIENDS SEES HIS HERO, HIS TEACHER, HIS COMPANION FOR THREE YEARS OF WALKING THE DUSTY ROADS OF PALESTINE.
A ROMAN SOLDIER NODS IN SATISFACTION; HE SEES A CRIMINAL, A THREAT TO THE STATE, GETTING WHAT HE DESERVES AND SERVING AS AN EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE PEOPLE.
SOME TOURISTS PASS AND SEE THE MAN THE HIGH PRIEST AND THE PHARISEES CALLED A HERETIC, A BLASPHEMER, AND SOMEONE IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL; AND THEY NOD AND THINK THEY MUST HAVE BEEN RIGHT, LOOK AT HIM NOW.
AND THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE, TAX COLLECTORS, SHEPHERDS, SAMARITANS, WIDOWS, ORPHANS, WHO SEE SOMEONE WHO SEEMED TO BE THEIR HOPE – BUT LIKE ALWAYS, THEIR HOPE SEEMED TO BE IN VAIN, AND THEY SADLY FACE THE TASK OF LOOKING FOR ANOTHER ONE IN WHICH TO PLACE THEIR HOPES. .
THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN WHO SEES THE TRUTH – A MAN WHO HAS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE EXCEPT AN HOUR OR TWO OF INCREASINGLY PAINFUL LIFE, A MAN WHO HAS HAD ALL HIS ILLUSIONS STRIPPED AWAY-- AND IN DESPERATION, HE SEES THAT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM IS A KING – AND HE CRIES OUT, “LORD, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM.”
THE GOOD THIEF IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A KING – HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A SAVIOR. HIS LIFE HAS COME DOWN TO THIS – NAKED AND IMPRISONED ON A CROSS, EVERYTHING TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM, INCLUDING HIS LIFE.
WHAT IS A KING? WE DON'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA OF THE IDEAL KING – IT'S AN ALIEN CONCEPT TO US IN THE UNITED STATES, AND EVEN IN COUNTRIES THAT STILL HAVE KINGS AND QUEENS, THEY ARE EITHER FIGUREHEADS, OR THEY ARE DESPOTS, AND PERHAPS THERE REALLY HASN'T BEEN AN IDEAL KING IN HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
BUT THE JEWS HAD LEGENDS OF NEARLY IDEAL KINGS – DAVID, SOLOMON – AND THEY KNEW ABOUT KINGS. AN IDEAL KING WAS FIRST OF ALL, A PROTECTOR. HE SAW TO IT THAT HIS PEOPLE WERE SAFE. HE SAW THAT HIS ARMY WAS WELL ARMED AND WELL TRAINED; HE SAW THAT THE WALLS AROUND HIS CITIES WERE WELL MAINTAINED. HE SAW THAT JUSTICE WAS FAIR, AND THAT THE LAWS WERE ENFORCED, SO THAT THE RICH COULD NOT PREY UPON THE POOR, OR THE STRONG ON THE WEAK.
AN IDEAL KING WORKED TO MAKE HIS PEOPLE PROSPEROUS; HE WANTED THEM TO BE FULFILLED AND RICH. HE DEVELOPED TRADE WITH OTHER KINGDOMS; HE ENCOURAGED FARMERS AND ARTISANS AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THINGS AND SOLD THINGS. HE MADE PROVISION FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT WORK, FOR THE POOR AND THE SICK AND THE MENTALLY ILL.
A KING LEAD HIS PEOPLE BY TEACHING THEM THROUGH WORD AND EXAMPLE. HE TRIES TO FORM THEM INTO A NATION, A PEOPLE, SO THAT THEY WOULD BE PROUD OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR COUNTRY; SO THAT THEY WOULD CARRY OUT HIS IDEALS, AND PROTECT AND SERVE EACH OTHER. THIS WAS THE REASON FOR THE POMP AND CEREMONY, THE ROYAL VISITATIONS, THE PATRIOTIC HOLIDAYS, THE FLAG.
AND AN IDEAL KING WOULD DIE FOR HIS PEOPLE IF IT CAME TO THAT.
THE GOOD THIEF WHO HAS LOST EVERYTHING, AND WOULD SOON LOSE EVEN HIS LIFE, SEES THAT JESUS ON THE CROSS IS THE IDEAL KING HE HAS WAITED FOR ALL HIS LIFE.
AND YOU AND I NEED TO LOOK INTO OUR OWN HEARTS AND SEE THAT WE AREN'T THAT DIFFERENT FROM THE GOOD THIEF. WE THINK WE ARE DIFFERENT; AFTER ALL, WE AREN'T BEING PUT TO DEATH. BUT WE ARE ALL LIKE THE GOOD THIEF. WE ONLY HAVE A FEW MORE WEEKS OR MONTHS OR YEARS TO LIVE. WE REALLY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING; WE COULD LOSE ALL OUR STUFF IN A FIRE OR AN ACT OF ROBBERY, OR A BANKRUPTCY, OR A MAJOR DEPRESSION. BUT EVEN IF WE DON'T, WE WILL LOSE ALL OUR STUFF WHEN WE DIE.
YES, DEATH IS OUR BIG ENEMY, BUT JESUS CONQUERED DEATH, AND DID IT FOR US. DYING, HE DESTROYED OUR DEATH, AND RISING HE RESTORED US TO LIFE, ST. PAUL SAYS.
AND YOU AND I ARE POOR, WE HAVE NOTHING. BUT JESUS GIVES US A SHARE IN HIS DIVINITY – AND THAT MEANS THAT THROUGH HIM WE HAVE EVERYTHING; WE CELEBRATE THIS IN THE HUMBLE CEREMONY WHERE WE ADD A DROP OF WATER TO THE WINE. WE, THE WATER, BECOME PART OF THE WINE WHICH BECOMES TRANSFORMED INTO JESUS. IN HIM, ST PAUL SAYS, WE HAVE EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENS.
AND YOU AND I LONG TO BE A PEOPLE, IN SOLIDARITY WITH EACH OTHER. WE ARE ALL FUNDAMENTALLY ALONE, EVEN THOSE OF US WHO LIVE IN FAMILIES. WE CAN FORGET WE ARE ALONE FOR A WHILE, BUT IF WE THINK ABOUT IT, NO ONE ELSE REALLY KNOWS WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND; NO ONE ELSE CAN REALLY SHARE IN MY SUFFERING. BUT JESUS OUR KING FEEDS US HIS BODY AND BLOOD, AND SINCE HIS BODY AND BLOOD CANNOT BE SEPARATED, BROKEN DOWN, SPLIT UP, WHEN WE EAT THIS BREAD AND DRINK THIS BLOOD, WE BECOME ONE WITH EACH OTHER, WITH THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN AND THE SOULS IN PURGATORY. IT IS LEFT FOR US TO COOPERATE WITH THIS GRACE AND MAKE THIS ONENESS A VISIBLE REALITY. JESUS MAKES US A PEOPLE SET APART.
AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT JESUS DIED FOR US HIS PEOPLE. HE MET THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE OF THE GOOD KING; HE EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT, HE GAVE HIMSELF UP.
THE GOOD THIEF LOOKED AT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM. HIS EYES SAW A MAN COVERED WITH BLOOD, WRITHING IN PAIN, HIS ARMS AND LEGS NAILED TO THE WOOD, A CROWN OF THORNS SADISTICALLY DRIVEN INTO HIS HEAD, WELTS ON HIS BODY FROM THE TORTURE THAT HE ENDURED BEFORE HIS CRUCIFIXION. BUT HIS MIND SAW A KING, THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER.
AND LET US LOOK UPON THE CROSS AND PRAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL REVEAL TO US HOW MUCH WE NEED A KING, AND ALSO HOW, THROUGH THE WONDERFUL FAVOR THE FATHER HAS SHOWN US, WE HAVE THAT KING.
THERE IS A MOTHER WHO SEES HER SON, THE ONE SHE NURSED AND RAISED AND ONE DAY SAID GOODBYE TO HIM AS HE WENT OUT INTO THE WORLD.
ONE OF HIS BEST FRIENDS SEES HIS HERO, HIS TEACHER, HIS COMPANION FOR THREE YEARS OF WALKING THE DUSTY ROADS OF PALESTINE.
A ROMAN SOLDIER NODS IN SATISFACTION; HE SEES A CRIMINAL, A THREAT TO THE STATE, GETTING WHAT HE DESERVES AND SERVING AS AN EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE PEOPLE.
SOME TOURISTS PASS AND SEE THE MAN THE HIGH PRIEST AND THE PHARISEES CALLED A HERETIC, A BLASPHEMER, AND SOMEONE IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL; AND THEY NOD AND THINK THEY MUST HAVE BEEN RIGHT, LOOK AT HIM NOW.
AND THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE, TAX COLLECTORS, SHEPHERDS, SAMARITANS, WIDOWS, ORPHANS, WHO SEE SOMEONE WHO SEEMED TO BE THEIR HOPE – BUT LIKE ALWAYS, THEIR HOPE SEEMED TO BE IN VAIN, AND THEY SADLY FACE THE TASK OF LOOKING FOR ANOTHER ONE IN WHICH TO PLACE THEIR HOPES. .
THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN WHO SEES THE TRUTH – A MAN WHO HAS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE EXCEPT AN HOUR OR TWO OF INCREASINGLY PAINFUL LIFE, A MAN WHO HAS HAD ALL HIS ILLUSIONS STRIPPED AWAY-- AND IN DESPERATION, HE SEES THAT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM IS A KING – AND HE CRIES OUT, “LORD, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM.”
THE GOOD THIEF IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A KING – HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A SAVIOR. HIS LIFE HAS COME DOWN TO THIS – NAKED AND IMPRISONED ON A CROSS, EVERYTHING TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM, INCLUDING HIS LIFE.
WHAT IS A KING? WE DON'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA OF THE IDEAL KING – IT'S AN ALIEN CONCEPT TO US IN THE UNITED STATES, AND EVEN IN COUNTRIES THAT STILL HAVE KINGS AND QUEENS, THEY ARE EITHER FIGUREHEADS, OR THEY ARE DESPOTS, AND PERHAPS THERE REALLY HASN'T BEEN AN IDEAL KING IN HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
BUT THE JEWS HAD LEGENDS OF NEARLY IDEAL KINGS – DAVID, SOLOMON – AND THEY KNEW ABOUT KINGS. AN IDEAL KING WAS FIRST OF ALL, A PROTECTOR. HE SAW TO IT THAT HIS PEOPLE WERE SAFE. HE SAW THAT HIS ARMY WAS WELL ARMED AND WELL TRAINED; HE SAW THAT THE WALLS AROUND HIS CITIES WERE WELL MAINTAINED. HE SAW THAT JUSTICE WAS FAIR, AND THAT THE LAWS WERE ENFORCED, SO THAT THE RICH COULD NOT PREY UPON THE POOR, OR THE STRONG ON THE WEAK.
AN IDEAL KING WORKED TO MAKE HIS PEOPLE PROSPEROUS; HE WANTED THEM TO BE FULFILLED AND RICH. HE DEVELOPED TRADE WITH OTHER KINGDOMS; HE ENCOURAGED FARMERS AND ARTISANS AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THINGS AND SOLD THINGS. HE MADE PROVISION FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT WORK, FOR THE POOR AND THE SICK AND THE MENTALLY ILL.
A KING LEAD HIS PEOPLE BY TEACHING THEM THROUGH WORD AND EXAMPLE. HE TRIES TO FORM THEM INTO A NATION, A PEOPLE, SO THAT THEY WOULD BE PROUD OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR COUNTRY; SO THAT THEY WOULD CARRY OUT HIS IDEALS, AND PROTECT AND SERVE EACH OTHER. THIS WAS THE REASON FOR THE POMP AND CEREMONY, THE ROYAL VISITATIONS, THE PATRIOTIC HOLIDAYS, THE FLAG.
AND AN IDEAL KING WOULD DIE FOR HIS PEOPLE IF IT CAME TO THAT.
THE GOOD THIEF WHO HAS LOST EVERYTHING, AND WOULD SOON LOSE EVEN HIS LIFE, SEES THAT JESUS ON THE CROSS IS THE IDEAL KING HE HAS WAITED FOR ALL HIS LIFE.
AND YOU AND I NEED TO LOOK INTO OUR OWN HEARTS AND SEE THAT WE AREN'T THAT DIFFERENT FROM THE GOOD THIEF. WE THINK WE ARE DIFFERENT; AFTER ALL, WE AREN'T BEING PUT TO DEATH. BUT WE ARE ALL LIKE THE GOOD THIEF. WE ONLY HAVE A FEW MORE WEEKS OR MONTHS OR YEARS TO LIVE. WE REALLY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING; WE COULD LOSE ALL OUR STUFF IN A FIRE OR AN ACT OF ROBBERY, OR A BANKRUPTCY, OR A MAJOR DEPRESSION. BUT EVEN IF WE DON'T, WE WILL LOSE ALL OUR STUFF WHEN WE DIE.
YES, DEATH IS OUR BIG ENEMY, BUT JESUS CONQUERED DEATH, AND DID IT FOR US. DYING, HE DESTROYED OUR DEATH, AND RISING HE RESTORED US TO LIFE, ST. PAUL SAYS.
AND YOU AND I ARE POOR, WE HAVE NOTHING. BUT JESUS GIVES US A SHARE IN HIS DIVINITY – AND THAT MEANS THAT THROUGH HIM WE HAVE EVERYTHING; WE CELEBRATE THIS IN THE HUMBLE CEREMONY WHERE WE ADD A DROP OF WATER TO THE WINE. WE, THE WATER, BECOME PART OF THE WINE WHICH BECOMES TRANSFORMED INTO JESUS. IN HIM, ST PAUL SAYS, WE HAVE EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENS.
AND YOU AND I LONG TO BE A PEOPLE, IN SOLIDARITY WITH EACH OTHER. WE ARE ALL FUNDAMENTALLY ALONE, EVEN THOSE OF US WHO LIVE IN FAMILIES. WE CAN FORGET WE ARE ALONE FOR A WHILE, BUT IF WE THINK ABOUT IT, NO ONE ELSE REALLY KNOWS WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND; NO ONE ELSE CAN REALLY SHARE IN MY SUFFERING. BUT JESUS OUR KING FEEDS US HIS BODY AND BLOOD, AND SINCE HIS BODY AND BLOOD CANNOT BE SEPARATED, BROKEN DOWN, SPLIT UP, WHEN WE EAT THIS BREAD AND DRINK THIS BLOOD, WE BECOME ONE WITH EACH OTHER, WITH THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN AND THE SOULS IN PURGATORY. IT IS LEFT FOR US TO COOPERATE WITH THIS GRACE AND MAKE THIS ONENESS A VISIBLE REALITY. JESUS MAKES US A PEOPLE SET APART.
AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT JESUS DIED FOR US HIS PEOPLE. HE MET THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE OF THE GOOD KING; HE EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT, HE GAVE HIMSELF UP.
THE GOOD THIEF LOOKED AT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM. HIS EYES SAW A MAN COVERED WITH BLOOD, WRITHING IN PAIN, HIS ARMS AND LEGS NAILED TO THE WOOD, A CROWN OF THORNS SADISTICALLY DRIVEN INTO HIS HEAD, WELTS ON HIS BODY FROM THE TORTURE THAT HE ENDURED BEFORE HIS CRUCIFIXION. BUT HIS MIND SAW A KING, THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER.
AND LET US LOOK UPON THE CROSS AND PRAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL REVEAL TO US HOW MUCH WE NEED A KING, AND ALSO HOW, THROUGH THE WONDERFUL FAVOR THE FATHER HAS SHOWN US, WE HAVE THAT KING.
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