JOHN 13:1-15
LITURGY. WE CATHOLICS USE THAT WORD, BUT I DON'T THINK WE OFTEN CONSIDER WHAT IT MEANS. IN ANCIENT GREECE, LEITURGICOS HAPPENED WHEN A WEALTHY MAN BUILT A SHRINE TO ONE OF THE GODS, OR PUT UP THE MONEY FOR A WARSHIP TO HELP DEFEND THE CITY. IT MEANT SOMETHING LIKE “PUBLIC DUTY”, OR “A WORK FOR THE PEOPLE.” OF COURSE WE USE THE WORD TO REFER TO PUBLIC ACTS OF WORSHIP, AND SOMETIMES, MORE SPECIFICALLY, TO OUR MASS.
THE LITURGY ON HOLY THURSDAY IS SPECIAL. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH WE ATTACH THE RITE OF FOOT WASHING TO OUR MASS, BUT IN REALITY, THIS IS THE ONLY TIME OF THE YEAR WHEN WE RE-ENACT THE WHOLE LAST SUPPER. BECAUSE AT THAT LAST SUPPER, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MEAL, THE MEAL IN WHICH JESUS WOULD SAY THOSE WORDS FOR THE FIRST TIME, “TAKE AND EAT, THIS IS MY BODY” AND “THIS IS MY BLOOD,” JESUS GOT UP FROM THE SUPPER AND BEGAN TO WASH HIS DISCIPLE'S FEET.
WE CHRISTIANS ARE A WANDERING PEOPLE. WE ARE DESCENDED FROM ABRAHAM, WHO SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE WANDERING; WE TRACE OUR HERITAGE TO THOSE SLAVES OF EGYPT WHO BECAME A PEOPLE AS THEY WANDERED IN THE DESERT. AFTER ONLY A SHORT PERIOD OF SETTLING DOWN IN THE PROMISED LAND, THEY WERE UPROOTED ONCE AGAIN, AND SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE CIVILIZED WORLD; AND ONLY A FEW CAME BACK TO LIVE IN A LAND WHICH BELONGED TO THE PERSIAN KING, THEN THE GREEKS, AND FINALLY, CAESAR. THEY WERE STILL WANDERERS, IN A SENSE, THEY IN FACT HAD NO HOME THEY COULD REALLY CALL THEIR OWN.
EACH OF US IS A WANDERER; I HAVE A HOME, A HOME THAT I LOVE, BUT I CAME FROM A HOME THAT I LOVED AS WELL, A HOME THAT WILL NEVER BE AGAIN, AND WHICH IN A SENSE DEFINES “HOME” TO ME. AND YOU ALL ARE THE SAME, EVEN IF YOU LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE IN WHICH YOU WERE BORN. SOMEWHERE IN THE PAST YOU REMEMBER BEING A CHILD, HAVING A LOVING MOTHER WHO HELD YOU AND COMFORTED YOU AND FED YOU, AND A STRONG FATHER WHO SEEMED CAPABLE OF ANYTHING. AND THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF HOME IN YOUR MIND, AND TRY AS WE MIGHT, WE CAN'T QUITE RECREATE THAT. A HOME, AT LEAST TO ME, IS NOT NECESSARILY A PLACE; WHEN I WAS LITTLE, WE WOULD GO TO GRANDMA'S, BECAUSE WHERE GRANDMA WAS, THERE WAS HER HOME. A HOME FOR ME IS A PLACE WHERE I CAN PUT DOWN THE BURDENS THAT I CARRY, AT LEAST FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
I ONCE WAS INVITED TO THE HOME OF SOMEONE I KNEW ONLY A LITTLE BIT, WHO RUNS A MASSIVE ORGANIZATION, AND ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE A REMOTE AND INTIMIDATING FIGURE. I KNOW HE MAKES ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY AND SELL ME, AND I EXPECTED THAT THE MEAL WOULD BE PREPARED BY HIS COOK, AND WE WOULD ALL SIT IN THE LIVING ROOM OVER DRINKS WHILE WE LISTENED RESPECTFULLY TO HIS WISDOM. BUT HE GREETED US AT THE DOOR, WEARING AN APRON; HE PERSONALLY REMOVED MY COAT AND HUNG IT IN THE CLOSET; HE INVITED US INTO THE KITCHEN WHERE WE CONVERSED AS HE PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON THE SUPPER. AND DURING THE MEAL HE KEPT GETTING UP TO WAIT ON US. I FELT AT HOME; HE CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT FOR US IN WHICH EVERYTHING WAS TAKEN CARE OF; IT WAS A LITTLE OASIS OF PEACE IN OUR LIVES WHERE WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING.
THAT'S WHAT WE CELEBRATE TONIGHT, THAT IS THE GIFT THAT JESUS GIVES US. HOLY THURSDAY IS AN ANTICIPATION OF OUR TRUE HOME. WE READ THAT THE APOSTLES HAD BEEN ARGUING ABOUT WHO WAS GREATER IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; WE KNOW THAT ONE OF THE APOSTLES WOULD BETRAY JESUS, AND THE OTHERS WOULD DESERT HIM. BUT JESUS WASHES ALL OF THEIR FEET, HE DOES NOT DISTINGUISH THE GOOD FROM THE BAD, THE SINFUL FROM THE HOLY. IN WASHING THEIR FEET, HE WASHES AWAY THEIR SINS AS WELL. AND THEN, ALTHOUGH JOHN'S GOSPEL DOES NOT TELL US THIS, BUT THE OTHERS DO, HE PREPARES THE FOOD WITH HIS OWN HANDS, CHANGING BREAD INTO HIS BODY AND WINE INTO HIS BLOOD, AND FEEDS HIS DISCIPLES NOT JUST ANY FOOD, BUT HIMSELF. AND WHEN WE THINK ABOUT IT, THE DISCIPLES MUST HAVE FELT THAT THEY HAD COME HOME.
LITURGY IS A PUBLIC WORK. OUR WORK TONIGHT IS TO CREATE HERE IN THIS CHURCH, A MEMORY, A MEMORY OF OUR TRUE HOME, WHICH DOES NOT LIE IN THE DISTANT PAST, BUT IN THE GLORIOUS FUTURE. IT WILL BE A HOME THAT WE WILL INSTANTLY RECOGNIZE, A HOME WHERE WE ARE GREETED AT THE DOOR BY OUR HOST, AND FED THE BREAD OF HEAVEN AND THE WINE OF SALVATION, FOR ALL ETERNITY. AND WE WILL FINALLY REST; OUR WANDERING WILL BE OVER, OUR BURDENS PERMANENTLY RELIEVED.
AND AS WE LEAVE HERE TONIGHT, WE ALL HAVE BEEN GIVEN A COMMISSION. WE ARE TO GO OUT AND DO TO OTHERS AS JESUS HAS DONE TO US. WE ARE TO REMIND OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT THEY ARE WANDERERS, AND THAT THERE IS NO TRUE HOME ON THIS EARTH. WE ARE TO WASH THEIR FEET, TEND TO THEIR NEEDS, SEE THAT THEY ARE FED AND CLOTHED AND MADE COMFORTABLE. WE COULD CERTAINLY JUST GO OUT AND TELL THEM ABOUT THE HOME TO WHICH WE ARE CALLED, THE HOME WE REMEMBER TONIGHT; BUT HOW MUCH MORE IT WILL MEAN IF WE SHOW THEM WHAT THAT HOME IS GOING TO BE LIKE?
LITURGY IS A WORK, A WORK OF THE PEOPLE. OUR LITURGY MERELY BEGINS HERE, AND WE MUST CONTINUE IT WHEN WE LEAVE THE CHURCH TONIGHT.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Palm Sunday,cycle b
MARK 14:1-15:47 (THE PASSION OF OUR LORD)
WE'VE JUST TAKEN PART IN AN ANCIENT TRADITION – THE READING OF THE PASSION. OUR CELEBRANT READS THE PARTS WHERE JESUS SPEAKS, AND WE HAVE A NARRATOR, AND WE HAVE SOMEONE ELSE WHO DOES ALL THE OTHER PARTS. AND THEN WE HAVE THE CHORUS – THAT IS YOU AND I. WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR PART, IT ISN'T MUCH, BUT IT DOES SERVE AS KIND OF AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.
IN OUR FIRST PART, WE SPEAK FOR THE PRIESTS AND SCRIBES, WHO SEEK TO ARREST JESUS – BUT WE SAY, “NOT DURING THE FESTIVAL, FOR FEAR THAT THERE MAY BE A RIOT AMONG THE PEOPLE.” HOW OFTEN DO WE FAIL TO DO SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BECAUSE WE FEAR SOME REACTION FROM THOSE AROUND US?
“WHY HAS THERE BEEN THIS WASTE OF PERFUMED OIL? IT COULD HAVE BEEN SOLD FOR MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED DAYS WAGES AND THE MONEY GIVEN TO THE POOR.” WHEN WE SEE SOMEONE ELSE DOING GOOD, DO WE THANK GOD FOR THAT? OR PERHAPS, OUT OF ENVY, WE CRITICIZE, WE FIND FAULT.
“WHERE DO YOU WANT US TO GO AND PREPARE FOR YOU TO EAT THE PASSOVER?” THE APOSTLES SAID THIS TO JESUS. I IMAGINE JESUS MIGHT HAVE SAID TO HIMSELF, “DO I HAVE TO THINK OF EVERYTHING?” ARE THERE TIMES WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRES US TO STEP OUT AND TAKE INITIATIVE, BUT WE HOLD BACK, WAITING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO LEAD?
THE NEXT TIME WE IN THE CHORUS SPEAK, WE ARE SOME OF THE FALSE WITNESSES AGAINST JESUS. “WE HEARD HIM SAY, “I WILL DESTROY THIS TEMPLE MADE WITH HANDS AND WITHIN THREE DAYS I WILL BUILD ANOTHER NOT MADE WITH HANDS.” WHEN JESUS MADE THIS STATEMENT, THOSE WHO HEARD HIM KNEW HE WAS SPEAKING FIGURATIVELY. NO ONE WHO WAS THERE REALLY BELIEVED THAT JESUS WAS GOING TO TEAR DOWN THE TEMPLE AND BUILD ANOTHER, NOT IN THREE DAYS, NOT WITHOUT HUMAN LABOR. BUT THE WORDS JESUS SPOKE ARE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT AND USED AGAINST HIM. DO WE DO THIS? DO WE ISOLATE THINGS SOMEONE MAY HAVE SAID AND USE THOSE WORDS TO CHARACTERIZE HIM? DO WE SNEER AT THE POPE FOR SAYING THAT CONDOMS PROMOTE AIDS BUT NEVER GO TO THE TROUBLE TO ACTUALLY READ WHAT THE POPE ACTUALLY SAID?
“PROPHECY” WE SAY, WITH THE SOLDIERS WHO TORTURE JESUS. DO WE STOP UP OUR EARS WHEN SOMEONE WHO IS NOT ONE OF US SPEAKS THE TRUTH TO US? DO WE THINK THAT WE HAVE NOTHING TO LEARN FROM OTHER RELIGIONS, OTHER RACES, OTHER SOCIAL CLASSES?
“YOU TOO WERE WITH THE NAZARENE, JESUS”, AND “SURELY YOU ARE ONE OF THEM, FOR YOU TOO ARE A GALILEAN.” HAVE WE EVER JUDGED SOMEONE BECAUSE OF THE COMPANY HE OR SHE KEEPS? DO WE LABEL PEOPLE, MAKING THEM “THINGS” IN OUR OWN EYES, SO THAT WE LOSE SIGHT OF THEIR UNIQUENESS, THEIR INDIVIDUALITY, THE FACT THAT THEY ARE LOVED WITH A DIVINE LOVE?
“CRUCIFY HIM!” IS THERE ANYONE, A BOSS, A POLITICAL LEADER, A RELIGIOUS LEADER, -- ANYONE WHO IS A THORN IN MY SIDE – THAT I REALLY WISH WOULD GET WHAT IS COMING TO HIM OR HER; THAT I WOULD NOT SHED A TEAR OVER IF I HEARD THAT THAT PERSON HAD BEEN IN A CAR ACCIDENT?
“HAIL, KING OF THE JEWS.” THESE WORDS MOCKED JESUS. MOCKERY IS A GOOD WAY TO AVOID TAKING SOMEONE SERIOUSLY, OR TO KEEP FROM ENGAGING IN HONEST DIALOG WITH SOMEONE.
“YOU WHO WOULD DESTROY THE TEMPLE AND REBUILD IT IN THREE DAYS, SAVE YOURSELF BY COMING DOWN FROM THE CROSS!” HAVE YOU AND I EVER STOOD BY AND WATCHED AS SOMEONE ELSE SUFFERED? IF WE HAVEN'T BEEN GENEROUS TO THE POOR AND MARGINALIZED, WE HAVE.
“HE SAVED OTHERS, HE CANNOT SAVE HIMSELF. LET CHRIST, THE KING OF ISRAEL, COME DOWN NOW FROM THE CROSS, THAT WE MAY SEE AND BELIEVE.” WHAT DO WE NEED BEFORE WE COMMIT OURSELVES? STILL ANOTHER MIRACLE?
“LOOK, HE IS CALLING ELIJAH!” JESUS IN HIS DYING AGONY CALLED OUT TO GOD. THOSE LISTENING CHOSE TO HEAR HIM CALL ON ELIJAH, THE PROPHET, TO RESCUE HIM. DO WE DELIBERATELY MISINTERPRET WHAT WE HEAR SO THAT WE WON'T HAVE TO FACE WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON?
THESE AREN'T ALL THE THINGS WE HUMANS ARE GUILTY OF. BUT ITS A START. THANK GOD THAT JESUS HAS GUARANTEED OUR FORGIVENESS.
WE'VE JUST TAKEN PART IN AN ANCIENT TRADITION – THE READING OF THE PASSION. OUR CELEBRANT READS THE PARTS WHERE JESUS SPEAKS, AND WE HAVE A NARRATOR, AND WE HAVE SOMEONE ELSE WHO DOES ALL THE OTHER PARTS. AND THEN WE HAVE THE CHORUS – THAT IS YOU AND I. WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR PART, IT ISN'T MUCH, BUT IT DOES SERVE AS KIND OF AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.
IN OUR FIRST PART, WE SPEAK FOR THE PRIESTS AND SCRIBES, WHO SEEK TO ARREST JESUS – BUT WE SAY, “NOT DURING THE FESTIVAL, FOR FEAR THAT THERE MAY BE A RIOT AMONG THE PEOPLE.” HOW OFTEN DO WE FAIL TO DO SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BECAUSE WE FEAR SOME REACTION FROM THOSE AROUND US?
“WHY HAS THERE BEEN THIS WASTE OF PERFUMED OIL? IT COULD HAVE BEEN SOLD FOR MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED DAYS WAGES AND THE MONEY GIVEN TO THE POOR.” WHEN WE SEE SOMEONE ELSE DOING GOOD, DO WE THANK GOD FOR THAT? OR PERHAPS, OUT OF ENVY, WE CRITICIZE, WE FIND FAULT.
“WHERE DO YOU WANT US TO GO AND PREPARE FOR YOU TO EAT THE PASSOVER?” THE APOSTLES SAID THIS TO JESUS. I IMAGINE JESUS MIGHT HAVE SAID TO HIMSELF, “DO I HAVE TO THINK OF EVERYTHING?” ARE THERE TIMES WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRES US TO STEP OUT AND TAKE INITIATIVE, BUT WE HOLD BACK, WAITING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO LEAD?
THE NEXT TIME WE IN THE CHORUS SPEAK, WE ARE SOME OF THE FALSE WITNESSES AGAINST JESUS. “WE HEARD HIM SAY, “I WILL DESTROY THIS TEMPLE MADE WITH HANDS AND WITHIN THREE DAYS I WILL BUILD ANOTHER NOT MADE WITH HANDS.” WHEN JESUS MADE THIS STATEMENT, THOSE WHO HEARD HIM KNEW HE WAS SPEAKING FIGURATIVELY. NO ONE WHO WAS THERE REALLY BELIEVED THAT JESUS WAS GOING TO TEAR DOWN THE TEMPLE AND BUILD ANOTHER, NOT IN THREE DAYS, NOT WITHOUT HUMAN LABOR. BUT THE WORDS JESUS SPOKE ARE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT AND USED AGAINST HIM. DO WE DO THIS? DO WE ISOLATE THINGS SOMEONE MAY HAVE SAID AND USE THOSE WORDS TO CHARACTERIZE HIM? DO WE SNEER AT THE POPE FOR SAYING THAT CONDOMS PROMOTE AIDS BUT NEVER GO TO THE TROUBLE TO ACTUALLY READ WHAT THE POPE ACTUALLY SAID?
“PROPHECY” WE SAY, WITH THE SOLDIERS WHO TORTURE JESUS. DO WE STOP UP OUR EARS WHEN SOMEONE WHO IS NOT ONE OF US SPEAKS THE TRUTH TO US? DO WE THINK THAT WE HAVE NOTHING TO LEARN FROM OTHER RELIGIONS, OTHER RACES, OTHER SOCIAL CLASSES?
“YOU TOO WERE WITH THE NAZARENE, JESUS”, AND “SURELY YOU ARE ONE OF THEM, FOR YOU TOO ARE A GALILEAN.” HAVE WE EVER JUDGED SOMEONE BECAUSE OF THE COMPANY HE OR SHE KEEPS? DO WE LABEL PEOPLE, MAKING THEM “THINGS” IN OUR OWN EYES, SO THAT WE LOSE SIGHT OF THEIR UNIQUENESS, THEIR INDIVIDUALITY, THE FACT THAT THEY ARE LOVED WITH A DIVINE LOVE?
“CRUCIFY HIM!” IS THERE ANYONE, A BOSS, A POLITICAL LEADER, A RELIGIOUS LEADER, -- ANYONE WHO IS A THORN IN MY SIDE – THAT I REALLY WISH WOULD GET WHAT IS COMING TO HIM OR HER; THAT I WOULD NOT SHED A TEAR OVER IF I HEARD THAT THAT PERSON HAD BEEN IN A CAR ACCIDENT?
“HAIL, KING OF THE JEWS.” THESE WORDS MOCKED JESUS. MOCKERY IS A GOOD WAY TO AVOID TAKING SOMEONE SERIOUSLY, OR TO KEEP FROM ENGAGING IN HONEST DIALOG WITH SOMEONE.
“YOU WHO WOULD DESTROY THE TEMPLE AND REBUILD IT IN THREE DAYS, SAVE YOURSELF BY COMING DOWN FROM THE CROSS!” HAVE YOU AND I EVER STOOD BY AND WATCHED AS SOMEONE ELSE SUFFERED? IF WE HAVEN'T BEEN GENEROUS TO THE POOR AND MARGINALIZED, WE HAVE.
“HE SAVED OTHERS, HE CANNOT SAVE HIMSELF. LET CHRIST, THE KING OF ISRAEL, COME DOWN NOW FROM THE CROSS, THAT WE MAY SEE AND BELIEVE.” WHAT DO WE NEED BEFORE WE COMMIT OURSELVES? STILL ANOTHER MIRACLE?
“LOOK, HE IS CALLING ELIJAH!” JESUS IN HIS DYING AGONY CALLED OUT TO GOD. THOSE LISTENING CHOSE TO HEAR HIM CALL ON ELIJAH, THE PROPHET, TO RESCUE HIM. DO WE DELIBERATELY MISINTERPRET WHAT WE HEAR SO THAT WE WON'T HAVE TO FACE WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON?
THESE AREN'T ALL THE THINGS WE HUMANS ARE GUILTY OF. BUT ITS A START. THANK GOD THAT JESUS HAS GUARANTEED OUR FORGIVENESS.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Fifth Sunday of Easter, cycle B
JOHN 12:20-33
SIR, WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE JESUS. WERE THE GREEKS IN THIS STORY CURIOUS, JUST TAKING A TOUR OF THE HOLY LAND, MEANING TO TAKE IN ALL THE SIGHTS AND MEET THE LOCAL CHARACTERS? OR IS THERE SOMETHING MORE GOING ON? JOHN IS THE ONLY ONE WHO TELLS THIS STORY, AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE REMEMBER THAT JOHN IS WRITING HIS GOSPEL FOR A GENTILE COMMUNITY, A “GREEK” COMMUNITY. AND JOHN MAKES SURE WE REALIZE THAT THESE GREEKS ARE FOREIGNERS, GENTILES, BECAUSE HE HAS THEM APPROACHING PHILIP, AN APOSTLE WITH A GREEK NAME, WHO CAME FROM BETHSAIDA, A TOWN IN NORTHERN ISRAEL WHERE THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO SPOKE GREEK. JOHN HIGHLIGHTS THIS MOMENT, BECAUSE IN HIS GOSPEL, WHEN JESUS ENCOUNTERS GENTILES WHO WISH TO HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY, ACCORDING TO THE PROPHETS THIS IS THE SIGNAL FOR JESUS THAT HIS PASSION IS ABOUT TO START. AND THAT IS THE REASON THAT JESUS BEGINS TO TALK ABOUT HIS PASSION.
WHEN YOU READ THIS WHOLE PASSAGE, IT ALMOST SEEMS THAT THE FIRST PART, THE PART ABOUT THE GREEKS, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SECOND PART. BUT THE TWO PARTS ARE RELATED.
JESUS NOT ONLY TALKS ABOUT HIS FORTHCOMING PASSION, BUT IN TALKING ABOUT IT, HE MAKES SURE THAT HIS HEARERS KNOW THAT WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO UNDERGO, HIS FOLLOWERS MUST AS WELL. WHERE I AM, HE SAYS, THERE MY SERVANT MUST BE.
JESUS SPEAKS ABOUT A GRAIN OF WHEAT FALLING TO THE GROUND AND DYING, AND ONLY THEN CAN IT BEAR MUCH FRUIT; HE SAYS THAT ONLY IF WE HATE OUR LIVES WILL WE SAVE THEM. JESUS IS REFERRING TO HIS OWN PASSION AND DEATH; BUT HE IS ALSO REFERRING TO HIS FOLLOWERS, AND WANTS TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO DO, WE MUST DO AS WELL.
WHEN I WAS IN MY TEENS, I GOT MY HANDS ON A PLAYBOY MAGAZINE. PLAYBOY USED TO BE A MUCH MORE WIDELY CIRCULATED MAGAZINE THAN IT IS NOW, AND IT WAS ALMOST RESPECTABLE. BEING A NERD, I SKIPPED OVER THE CENTERFOLD AND DISCOVERED THAT THE PUBLISHER OF THE MAGAZINE HAD A SECTION CALLED “THE PLAYBOY PHILOSOPHY”. I READ THIS, READ ANOTHER SECTION FROM ANOTHER MAGAZINE, AND DISCOVERED, AFTER A WHILE, THAT IT WAS GETTING REPETITIVE, SO I NEVER ACTUALLY READ THE WHOLE THING. BUT IT WAS A CONSISTENT PHILOSOPHY. MR. HEFNER'S VERY WINDY AND VERBOSE TREATISE COULD BE BOILED DOWN TO THE IDEA THAT SATISFYING YOUR PLEASURES SHOULD BE YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY. OF COURSE YOU SHOULDN'T HURT OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS PURSUIT, AND YOU SHOULD PAY ENOUGH ATTENTION TO POLITICS TO MAKE SURE EXTERNAL FORCES WOULD NOT GET IN YOUR WAY. AND LEST YOU THINK THAT MR. HEFNER WAS PROMOTING MASSIVE EXCESS, HE WAS NOT; HE IN FACT FELT THAT IF YOU WERE GOING TO EXPERIENCE AS MUCH PLEASURE AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR LIFE, THAN YOU HAD TO SEE TO IT THAT YOU KEPT YOUR BODY IN REASONABLY GOOD SHAPE AND GOOD HEALTH. BUT PERSONAL PLEASURE WAS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED.
I SAW A PICTURE OF HIM THE OTHER DAY. HE'S IN HIS MID-EIGHTIES. HE STILL LIVES IN HIS MANSION, SURROUNDED BY PRETTY GIRLS, PARTYING FROM MORNING TO NIGHT, OR AS MUCH AS HE CAN AT THIS AGE. BUT HIS EYES ARE EMPTY AND HIS FACE LOOKS RAVAGED. HE IS FACING HIS DEATH, AND HE KNOWS IT. AND A LIFE DEVOTED TO PLEASURE HAS PRECIOUS LITTLE TO SHOW FOR IT AT THE END.
WHERE I AM, THERE MY SERVANT SHALL BE. WE ALL HAVE AT LEAST A LITTLE OF THE PLAYBOY PHILOSOPHY IN US. IT IS THE PULL OF ORIGINAL SIN, THE VOICE IN US THAT SAYS, “I DON'T CARE WHAT GOD SAYS, THAT FRUIT ON THAT TREE LOOKS MIGHTY TASTY.” BUT IF WE ARE TO BE SERVANTS OF JESUS, THEN WE MUST BE THAT GRAIN OF WHEAT; WE MUST LEARN TO LOVE SOMETHING MORE THAN WE LOVE OUR OWN LIVES. IF WE DON'T, WE WILL END UP FACING THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD THAT JESUS TALKS ABOUT.
DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM LAST WEEK WHEN A NURSE I WORK WITH SAT WITH A PATIENT DYING OF CANCER, HOLDING HER HAND AS SHE STRUGGLED FOR BREATH. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I MET HIM WHEN I SAW MY DAUGHTER COMFORTING HER CHILD WHO HAD JUST FALLEN AND SCRAPED HIS KNEE. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM WHEN I JOINED A SMALL GROUP OF OUR FELLOW PARISHIONERS, WHO KEEP JESUS COMPANY ON TUESDAY AFTERNOONS WHEN HE IS EXPOSED IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM WHEN I WATCHED AN ELDERLY MAN STRUGGLING TO OPERATE A BODY THAT NO LONGER COOPERATED, SO THAT HE COULD GET TO HIS FEET AND GREET ME AT THE DOOR.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, JESUS IS ALL AROUND US IF WE KNOW WHERE TO LOOK. WHEREVER SOMEONE GIVES HIMSELF AWAY, EVEN A LITTLE BIT, THERE JESUS IS. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IS ALL ABOUT. JESUS GAVE HIMSELF AWAY, EVERY BIT OF HIMSELF, EVERY LAST DROP OF BLOOD, EVERY LAST BREATH, FOR YOU AND I. AND WHERE I AM, HE SAYS, THERE ALSO WILL MY SERVANT BE.
ON THIS FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, WE SHOULD ASK WHAT WE WILL SEE WHEN WE LOOK IN A MIRROR. WILL WE SEE A PERSON LOOKING BACK WITH EMPTY EYES, EYES THAT LOOK FORWARD TO A MEANINGLESS DEATH AFTER A MEANINGLESS LIFE? THE RULER OF THIS WORLD WILL BE DRIVEN OUT, AS JESUS SAYS, AND ALONG WITH HIM, THOSE WHO LIVED ONLY FOR WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER.
OR WILL WE LOOK INTO THAT MIRROR AND SEE IN OUR OWN EYES A PERSON WHO HAS SPENT A LIFETIME GIVING HIMSELF AWAY, A LITTLE AT A TIME, SO THAT AT THE END, THERE IS NOTHING LEFT. HOW WONDERFUL THAT WOULD BE. BECAUSE IF WE HAVE GIVEN OURSELVES AWAY, AND THERE IS NOTHING OF US LEFT, THEN IN THE MIRROR WE WILL SEE ONLY JESUS. FOR WHERE I AM, THERE ALSO MY SERVANT WILL BE.
SIR, WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE JESUS. WERE THE GREEKS IN THIS STORY CURIOUS, JUST TAKING A TOUR OF THE HOLY LAND, MEANING TO TAKE IN ALL THE SIGHTS AND MEET THE LOCAL CHARACTERS? OR IS THERE SOMETHING MORE GOING ON? JOHN IS THE ONLY ONE WHO TELLS THIS STORY, AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE REMEMBER THAT JOHN IS WRITING HIS GOSPEL FOR A GENTILE COMMUNITY, A “GREEK” COMMUNITY. AND JOHN MAKES SURE WE REALIZE THAT THESE GREEKS ARE FOREIGNERS, GENTILES, BECAUSE HE HAS THEM APPROACHING PHILIP, AN APOSTLE WITH A GREEK NAME, WHO CAME FROM BETHSAIDA, A TOWN IN NORTHERN ISRAEL WHERE THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO SPOKE GREEK. JOHN HIGHLIGHTS THIS MOMENT, BECAUSE IN HIS GOSPEL, WHEN JESUS ENCOUNTERS GENTILES WHO WISH TO HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY, ACCORDING TO THE PROPHETS THIS IS THE SIGNAL FOR JESUS THAT HIS PASSION IS ABOUT TO START. AND THAT IS THE REASON THAT JESUS BEGINS TO TALK ABOUT HIS PASSION.
WHEN YOU READ THIS WHOLE PASSAGE, IT ALMOST SEEMS THAT THE FIRST PART, THE PART ABOUT THE GREEKS, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SECOND PART. BUT THE TWO PARTS ARE RELATED.
JESUS NOT ONLY TALKS ABOUT HIS FORTHCOMING PASSION, BUT IN TALKING ABOUT IT, HE MAKES SURE THAT HIS HEARERS KNOW THAT WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO UNDERGO, HIS FOLLOWERS MUST AS WELL. WHERE I AM, HE SAYS, THERE MY SERVANT MUST BE.
JESUS SPEAKS ABOUT A GRAIN OF WHEAT FALLING TO THE GROUND AND DYING, AND ONLY THEN CAN IT BEAR MUCH FRUIT; HE SAYS THAT ONLY IF WE HATE OUR LIVES WILL WE SAVE THEM. JESUS IS REFERRING TO HIS OWN PASSION AND DEATH; BUT HE IS ALSO REFERRING TO HIS FOLLOWERS, AND WANTS TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO DO, WE MUST DO AS WELL.
WHEN I WAS IN MY TEENS, I GOT MY HANDS ON A PLAYBOY MAGAZINE. PLAYBOY USED TO BE A MUCH MORE WIDELY CIRCULATED MAGAZINE THAN IT IS NOW, AND IT WAS ALMOST RESPECTABLE. BEING A NERD, I SKIPPED OVER THE CENTERFOLD AND DISCOVERED THAT THE PUBLISHER OF THE MAGAZINE HAD A SECTION CALLED “THE PLAYBOY PHILOSOPHY”. I READ THIS, READ ANOTHER SECTION FROM ANOTHER MAGAZINE, AND DISCOVERED, AFTER A WHILE, THAT IT WAS GETTING REPETITIVE, SO I NEVER ACTUALLY READ THE WHOLE THING. BUT IT WAS A CONSISTENT PHILOSOPHY. MR. HEFNER'S VERY WINDY AND VERBOSE TREATISE COULD BE BOILED DOWN TO THE IDEA THAT SATISFYING YOUR PLEASURES SHOULD BE YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY. OF COURSE YOU SHOULDN'T HURT OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS PURSUIT, AND YOU SHOULD PAY ENOUGH ATTENTION TO POLITICS TO MAKE SURE EXTERNAL FORCES WOULD NOT GET IN YOUR WAY. AND LEST YOU THINK THAT MR. HEFNER WAS PROMOTING MASSIVE EXCESS, HE WAS NOT; HE IN FACT FELT THAT IF YOU WERE GOING TO EXPERIENCE AS MUCH PLEASURE AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR LIFE, THAN YOU HAD TO SEE TO IT THAT YOU KEPT YOUR BODY IN REASONABLY GOOD SHAPE AND GOOD HEALTH. BUT PERSONAL PLEASURE WAS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED.
I SAW A PICTURE OF HIM THE OTHER DAY. HE'S IN HIS MID-EIGHTIES. HE STILL LIVES IN HIS MANSION, SURROUNDED BY PRETTY GIRLS, PARTYING FROM MORNING TO NIGHT, OR AS MUCH AS HE CAN AT THIS AGE. BUT HIS EYES ARE EMPTY AND HIS FACE LOOKS RAVAGED. HE IS FACING HIS DEATH, AND HE KNOWS IT. AND A LIFE DEVOTED TO PLEASURE HAS PRECIOUS LITTLE TO SHOW FOR IT AT THE END.
WHERE I AM, THERE MY SERVANT SHALL BE. WE ALL HAVE AT LEAST A LITTLE OF THE PLAYBOY PHILOSOPHY IN US. IT IS THE PULL OF ORIGINAL SIN, THE VOICE IN US THAT SAYS, “I DON'T CARE WHAT GOD SAYS, THAT FRUIT ON THAT TREE LOOKS MIGHTY TASTY.” BUT IF WE ARE TO BE SERVANTS OF JESUS, THEN WE MUST BE THAT GRAIN OF WHEAT; WE MUST LEARN TO LOVE SOMETHING MORE THAN WE LOVE OUR OWN LIVES. IF WE DON'T, WE WILL END UP FACING THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD THAT JESUS TALKS ABOUT.
DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM LAST WEEK WHEN A NURSE I WORK WITH SAT WITH A PATIENT DYING OF CANCER, HOLDING HER HAND AS SHE STRUGGLED FOR BREATH. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I MET HIM WHEN I SAW MY DAUGHTER COMFORTING HER CHILD WHO HAD JUST FALLEN AND SCRAPED HIS KNEE. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM WHEN I JOINED A SMALL GROUP OF OUR FELLOW PARISHIONERS, WHO KEEP JESUS COMPANY ON TUESDAY AFTERNOONS WHEN HE IS EXPOSED IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM WHEN I WATCHED AN ELDERLY MAN STRUGGLING TO OPERATE A BODY THAT NO LONGER COOPERATED, SO THAT HE COULD GET TO HIS FEET AND GREET ME AT THE DOOR.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, JESUS IS ALL AROUND US IF WE KNOW WHERE TO LOOK. WHEREVER SOMEONE GIVES HIMSELF AWAY, EVEN A LITTLE BIT, THERE JESUS IS. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IS ALL ABOUT. JESUS GAVE HIMSELF AWAY, EVERY BIT OF HIMSELF, EVERY LAST DROP OF BLOOD, EVERY LAST BREATH, FOR YOU AND I. AND WHERE I AM, HE SAYS, THERE ALSO WILL MY SERVANT BE.
ON THIS FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, WE SHOULD ASK WHAT WE WILL SEE WHEN WE LOOK IN A MIRROR. WILL WE SEE A PERSON LOOKING BACK WITH EMPTY EYES, EYES THAT LOOK FORWARD TO A MEANINGLESS DEATH AFTER A MEANINGLESS LIFE? THE RULER OF THIS WORLD WILL BE DRIVEN OUT, AS JESUS SAYS, AND ALONG WITH HIM, THOSE WHO LIVED ONLY FOR WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER.
OR WILL WE LOOK INTO THAT MIRROR AND SEE IN OUR OWN EYES A PERSON WHO HAS SPENT A LIFETIME GIVING HIMSELF AWAY, A LITTLE AT A TIME, SO THAT AT THE END, THERE IS NOTHING LEFT. HOW WONDERFUL THAT WOULD BE. BECAUSE IF WE HAVE GIVEN OURSELVES AWAY, AND THERE IS NOTHING OF US LEFT, THEN IN THE MIRROR WE WILL SEE ONLY JESUS. FOR WHERE I AM, THERE ALSO MY SERVANT WILL BE.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Third Sunday of Lent, cycle B
JOHN 2:13-25
ALL FOUR GOSPELS TELL THE STORY OF JESUS CLEANSING THE TEMPLE, IN ALMOST THE SAME WORDS. MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE PUT THE EVENT NEAR THE END OF JESUS' LIFE, AND THERE IS THE HINT THAT THIS WAS THE LAST STRAW, THE THING THAT FINALLY GOT THE AUTHORITIES TO ARREST HIM AND PUT HIM TO DEATH. IN JOHN, HOWEVER, THE STORY STANDS AT THE BEGINNING OF JESUS' MINISTRY. IF YOU'VE DONE ANY READING OR STUDYING ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE BIBLE, THE FACT THAT ONE AUTHOR USES A STORY DIFFERENTLY THAN ANOTHER ISN'T A BIG SURPRISE. NONE OF THE GOSPEL WRITERS WERE WRITING HISTORY, AFTER ALL.
BUT THE STORY MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY FAMILIAR ONE TO CHRISTIANS THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE OF ROME, JUST LIKE THE STORY OF THE PASSION. AND PEOPLE THEN, AS NOW, WONDERED WHAT DID IT ALL MEAN?
JESUS WAS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, A PROPHET, AND PROPHETS OFTEN ACTED OUT THE MESSAGE GOD HAD FOR HIS PEOPLE. YOU MIGHT REMEMBER HOW JEREMIAH, FOR EXAMPLE, TOOK A POT AND BROKE IT IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE TO SYMBOLIZE WHAT GOD WAS GOING TO DO TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL. AND THE PEOPLE AROUND JESUS RECOGNIZED WHAT HE DID AS A PROPHETIC ACT; THEY DIDN'T CALL THE POLICE, THEY ASKED FOR A SIGN THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS A MESSAGE FROM GOD.
TO OUR MODERN SENSIBILITIES, JESUS' ACTION MEANS THAT HE PERCEIVED CORRUPTION IN WHAT WAS GOING ON AND WANTED TO PUT A STOP TO IT. BUT HE MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT HIS VIOLENT ACTION WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING; AS SOON AS HE LEFT, THE MERCHANTS AND MONEY CHANGERS WOULD BE BACK. AFTER ALL, THEY WERE PERFORMING AN IMPORTANT AND ESSENTIAL SERVICE. IF YOU WANTED TO SACRIFICE AN ANIMAL OR BIRD TO GOD, IT HAD TO BE A PERFECT ANIMAL, NO BRUISES, SCRATCHES, LUMPS; AND THE MERCHANTS HAD SELECTED EXACTLY SUCH CREATURES SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO. AND EVERYONE KNEW THAT IF YOU CARRIED MONEY INTO THE TEMPLE TO PAY YOUR TAX, OR BUY AN ANIMAL, IT COULD NOT BE MONEY WITH A PORTRAIT OF THE EMPEROR ON IT, OR A ROMAN GOD, OR IN FACT ANY SORT OF IMAGE; SO THE MONEY CHANGERS WERE IMPORTANT IN KEEPING THE TEMPLE ITSELF RITUALLY PURE AND UNCONTAMINATED.
SO WHY THIS SUDDEN, VIOLENT EXPLOSION OF ANGER ON THE PART OF JESUS? DID THE APOSTLES WONDER WHO TOOK THE JESUS THEY KNEW AND SUBSTITUTED THIS MADMAN?
THINK ABOUT THE TEMPLE. THE FIRST TEMPLE HAD BEEN BUILT BY SOLOMON; IT'S MAIN PURPOSE WAS TO HOUSE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, WHICH HAD BEEN PUT TOGETHER IN THE DESERT BY THE WANDERING HEBREWS BEFORE THEY ENTERED THE COUNTRY GOD HAD PREPARED FOR THEM. BUT THAT TEMPLE HAD BEEN DESTROYED, AND THE ARK HAD BEEN CARRIED AWAY. WHEN THE PEOPLE CAME BACK FROM THE EXILE, THE BUILT THE SECOND TEMPLE, AND NOW, HEROD WAS IN THE PROCESS OF RENOVATING IT. BUT EVERY JEW KNEW THAT IN THE EXACT CENTER OF THE TEMPLE, IN A ROOM THAT WAS HEAVILY GUARDED, THERE WAS THE SPECIAL PRESENCE OF GOD. ONCE A YEAR THE HIGH PRIEST WOULD ENTER THE TEMPLE, PRONOUNCE THE NAME OF GOD, AND OFFER THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE. THE REST OF THE TIME, OTHER PRIESTS COULD GO IN THERE ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE; BUT THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES COULD ONLY STAND OUTSIDE. THE TEMPLE WAS THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. BUT IF YOU LOOKED AT THE DESIGN OF THE TEMPLE, THERE WAS A PLACE RESERVED FOR THE LEVITES AND PRIESTS; ANOTHER FOR JEWISH MEN, A THIRD FOR JEWISH WOMEN AND CHILDREN; AND A FOURTH FOR GENTILES WHO BELIEVED IN THE JEWISH GOD BUT DID NOT WANT TO BECOME JEWS. AND FURTHERMORE, THE TEMPLE WAS SET APART FROM THE WORLD BY THE MERCHANTS AND MONEY CHANGERS; THEY SET UP THEIR STALLS ON THE TEMPLE GROUNDS, AND IF YOU WANTED TO GO INTO THE TEMPLE PROPER, YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH THEM. THE TEMPLE, IN OTHER WORDS, HAD BEEN MEANT TO BE A “HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE” ACCORDING TO ISAIAH, BUT HAD BECOME A SYMBOL OF DIVISION; GOD FROM MAN, CLERGY FROM LAITY, JEWS FROM GENTILES, MEN FROM WOMEN. IT DID THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO, WHAT HAD BEEN ENVISIONED BY ALL THE PROPHETS.
AND MAYBE WHAT JESUS WAS DOING WAS ACTING OUT THE DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLE; BY DRIVING AWAY THE ANIMAL SACRIFICES AND THE MONEY CHANGERS, THE TEMPLE NO LONGER COULD FUNCTION; AND JESUS THEN SAID ABOUT HIMSELF, “DESTROY THIS TEMPLE, AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP. JESUS IS THE NEW TEMPLE, THE NEW MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, THE TEMPLE THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED, NO LONGER A TEMPLE THAT DIVIDES, BUT IN JESUS, UNITES.
LATER WE WILL HEAR JESUS PRAY, “THAT ALL MAY BE ONE, AS I, FATHER IN YOU, AND YOU IN ME, THAT ALL MAY BE ONE IN US.” AND AS WE FOLLOW JESUS THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, WE SEE HIM UNITING THE BLIND WITH THE SEEING, THE LEPERS WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT DISEASED; EVEN THE DEAD WITH THE LIVING, BECAUSE IF YOU LOVE ENOUGH, ANY DIVISION HURTS YOU. EVERY INJUSTICE, EVERY SIN, BEGINS WITH DIVISION; AND HEALING THE EVILS OF THE WORLD MUST BEGIN WITH OVERCOMING DIVISION.
TODAY, WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS OUR TEMPLE, JESUS IS THE PLACE WHERE GOD AND HUMANITY MEET, NOT ONLY MEET, BUT BECOME ONE. AND WE ASK, WHAT KINDS OF DIVISION AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR? HOW CAN I HELP TO OVERCOME DIVISION? HOW CAN I TAKE THE ONENESS WHICH IS PRESENT IN THE HUMANITY AND DIVINITY OF JESUS, THE UNION WHICH IS PRESENT IN THE FATHER AND THE SON, AND EXTEND IT TO ME, TO THOSE I LOVE, TO THOSE I DON'T EVEN KNOW, PERHAPS. HOW CAN I HELP ANSWER THE PRAYER OF JESUS, THAT ALL MAY BE ONE.
ALL FOUR GOSPELS TELL THE STORY OF JESUS CLEANSING THE TEMPLE, IN ALMOST THE SAME WORDS. MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE PUT THE EVENT NEAR THE END OF JESUS' LIFE, AND THERE IS THE HINT THAT THIS WAS THE LAST STRAW, THE THING THAT FINALLY GOT THE AUTHORITIES TO ARREST HIM AND PUT HIM TO DEATH. IN JOHN, HOWEVER, THE STORY STANDS AT THE BEGINNING OF JESUS' MINISTRY. IF YOU'VE DONE ANY READING OR STUDYING ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE BIBLE, THE FACT THAT ONE AUTHOR USES A STORY DIFFERENTLY THAN ANOTHER ISN'T A BIG SURPRISE. NONE OF THE GOSPEL WRITERS WERE WRITING HISTORY, AFTER ALL.
BUT THE STORY MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY FAMILIAR ONE TO CHRISTIANS THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE OF ROME, JUST LIKE THE STORY OF THE PASSION. AND PEOPLE THEN, AS NOW, WONDERED WHAT DID IT ALL MEAN?
JESUS WAS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, A PROPHET, AND PROPHETS OFTEN ACTED OUT THE MESSAGE GOD HAD FOR HIS PEOPLE. YOU MIGHT REMEMBER HOW JEREMIAH, FOR EXAMPLE, TOOK A POT AND BROKE IT IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE TO SYMBOLIZE WHAT GOD WAS GOING TO DO TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL. AND THE PEOPLE AROUND JESUS RECOGNIZED WHAT HE DID AS A PROPHETIC ACT; THEY DIDN'T CALL THE POLICE, THEY ASKED FOR A SIGN THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS A MESSAGE FROM GOD.
TO OUR MODERN SENSIBILITIES, JESUS' ACTION MEANS THAT HE PERCEIVED CORRUPTION IN WHAT WAS GOING ON AND WANTED TO PUT A STOP TO IT. BUT HE MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT HIS VIOLENT ACTION WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING; AS SOON AS HE LEFT, THE MERCHANTS AND MONEY CHANGERS WOULD BE BACK. AFTER ALL, THEY WERE PERFORMING AN IMPORTANT AND ESSENTIAL SERVICE. IF YOU WANTED TO SACRIFICE AN ANIMAL OR BIRD TO GOD, IT HAD TO BE A PERFECT ANIMAL, NO BRUISES, SCRATCHES, LUMPS; AND THE MERCHANTS HAD SELECTED EXACTLY SUCH CREATURES SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO. AND EVERYONE KNEW THAT IF YOU CARRIED MONEY INTO THE TEMPLE TO PAY YOUR TAX, OR BUY AN ANIMAL, IT COULD NOT BE MONEY WITH A PORTRAIT OF THE EMPEROR ON IT, OR A ROMAN GOD, OR IN FACT ANY SORT OF IMAGE; SO THE MONEY CHANGERS WERE IMPORTANT IN KEEPING THE TEMPLE ITSELF RITUALLY PURE AND UNCONTAMINATED.
SO WHY THIS SUDDEN, VIOLENT EXPLOSION OF ANGER ON THE PART OF JESUS? DID THE APOSTLES WONDER WHO TOOK THE JESUS THEY KNEW AND SUBSTITUTED THIS MADMAN?
THINK ABOUT THE TEMPLE. THE FIRST TEMPLE HAD BEEN BUILT BY SOLOMON; IT'S MAIN PURPOSE WAS TO HOUSE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, WHICH HAD BEEN PUT TOGETHER IN THE DESERT BY THE WANDERING HEBREWS BEFORE THEY ENTERED THE COUNTRY GOD HAD PREPARED FOR THEM. BUT THAT TEMPLE HAD BEEN DESTROYED, AND THE ARK HAD BEEN CARRIED AWAY. WHEN THE PEOPLE CAME BACK FROM THE EXILE, THE BUILT THE SECOND TEMPLE, AND NOW, HEROD WAS IN THE PROCESS OF RENOVATING IT. BUT EVERY JEW KNEW THAT IN THE EXACT CENTER OF THE TEMPLE, IN A ROOM THAT WAS HEAVILY GUARDED, THERE WAS THE SPECIAL PRESENCE OF GOD. ONCE A YEAR THE HIGH PRIEST WOULD ENTER THE TEMPLE, PRONOUNCE THE NAME OF GOD, AND OFFER THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE. THE REST OF THE TIME, OTHER PRIESTS COULD GO IN THERE ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE; BUT THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES COULD ONLY STAND OUTSIDE. THE TEMPLE WAS THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. BUT IF YOU LOOKED AT THE DESIGN OF THE TEMPLE, THERE WAS A PLACE RESERVED FOR THE LEVITES AND PRIESTS; ANOTHER FOR JEWISH MEN, A THIRD FOR JEWISH WOMEN AND CHILDREN; AND A FOURTH FOR GENTILES WHO BELIEVED IN THE JEWISH GOD BUT DID NOT WANT TO BECOME JEWS. AND FURTHERMORE, THE TEMPLE WAS SET APART FROM THE WORLD BY THE MERCHANTS AND MONEY CHANGERS; THEY SET UP THEIR STALLS ON THE TEMPLE GROUNDS, AND IF YOU WANTED TO GO INTO THE TEMPLE PROPER, YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH THEM. THE TEMPLE, IN OTHER WORDS, HAD BEEN MEANT TO BE A “HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE” ACCORDING TO ISAIAH, BUT HAD BECOME A SYMBOL OF DIVISION; GOD FROM MAN, CLERGY FROM LAITY, JEWS FROM GENTILES, MEN FROM WOMEN. IT DID THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO, WHAT HAD BEEN ENVISIONED BY ALL THE PROPHETS.
AND MAYBE WHAT JESUS WAS DOING WAS ACTING OUT THE DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLE; BY DRIVING AWAY THE ANIMAL SACRIFICES AND THE MONEY CHANGERS, THE TEMPLE NO LONGER COULD FUNCTION; AND JESUS THEN SAID ABOUT HIMSELF, “DESTROY THIS TEMPLE, AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP. JESUS IS THE NEW TEMPLE, THE NEW MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, THE TEMPLE THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED, NO LONGER A TEMPLE THAT DIVIDES, BUT IN JESUS, UNITES.
LATER WE WILL HEAR JESUS PRAY, “THAT ALL MAY BE ONE, AS I, FATHER IN YOU, AND YOU IN ME, THAT ALL MAY BE ONE IN US.” AND AS WE FOLLOW JESUS THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, WE SEE HIM UNITING THE BLIND WITH THE SEEING, THE LEPERS WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT DISEASED; EVEN THE DEAD WITH THE LIVING, BECAUSE IF YOU LOVE ENOUGH, ANY DIVISION HURTS YOU. EVERY INJUSTICE, EVERY SIN, BEGINS WITH DIVISION; AND HEALING THE EVILS OF THE WORLD MUST BEGIN WITH OVERCOMING DIVISION.
TODAY, WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS OUR TEMPLE, JESUS IS THE PLACE WHERE GOD AND HUMANITY MEET, NOT ONLY MEET, BUT BECOME ONE. AND WE ASK, WHAT KINDS OF DIVISION AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR? HOW CAN I HELP TO OVERCOME DIVISION? HOW CAN I TAKE THE ONENESS WHICH IS PRESENT IN THE HUMANITY AND DIVINITY OF JESUS, THE UNION WHICH IS PRESENT IN THE FATHER AND THE SON, AND EXTEND IT TO ME, TO THOSE I LOVE, TO THOSE I DON'T EVEN KNOW, PERHAPS. HOW CAN I HELP ANSWER THE PRAYER OF JESUS, THAT ALL MAY BE ONE.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Second Sunday of Lent, cycle B
MARK 9:2-10
WHO IS YOUR GOD? IF YOU LOOK INTO YOUR OWN IMAGINATION, YOU PROBABLY ARE LIKE ME; YOU HAVE A CERTAIN DOMINANT PICTURE OF GOD THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN PUT INTO YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU WERE SMALL. THE FACT THAT YOU COME TO CHURCH MEANS THAT YOU TAKE GOD SERIOUSLY – BUT AGAIN, WHICH GOD?
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT TELLS US THAT WE ARE NOT TO HAVE FALSE GODS, WHICH MEANS TO US MODERNS THAT WE ARE TO STRIVE TO UNDERSTAND GOD AS HE TRULY IS, EVEN THOUGH WE WON'T REALLY REACH THAT POINT IN THIS LIFE.
IS YOUR GOD ONE WHO IS COUNTING ALL YOUR MISSTEPS AND ALL YOUR GOOD DEEDS, AND LIKE A COSMIC COMPUTER, THE BALANCE WILL DETERMINE YOUR FATE IN THE NEXT LIFE? IT'S NOT AN UNCOMMON VIEW OF GOD, CERTAINLY HELD BY MANY OLDER CATHOLICS, AND BY MANY FUNDAMENTALISTS. BUT IT'S ALSO THE DOMINANT IDEA IN HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM, WHERE INDEED WHAT YOU DO IN THIS LIFE ADDS UP TO A BALANCE, AND PRECISELY DETERMINES YOUR FATE IN THE NEXT. BUT THAT ISN'T REALLY THE CHRISTIAN GOD.
IS YOUR GOD ONE WHO DEMANDS THAT YOU BELONG TO A PARTICULAR PEOPLE, A PARTICULAR RELIGION, THAT YOU FOLLOW PARTICULAR CUSTOMS? THERE ARE CHRISTIAN GROUPS THAT BELIEVE THIS, AND CERTAINLY IT WAS A POPULAR BELIEF WHEN I WAS GROWING UP; WE CATHOLICS, BY VIRTUE OF BEING CATHOLICS, HAD A DEFINITE ADVANTAGE OVER OUR NEIGHBORS. THIS WAS NOT REALLY WHAT THE CHURCH TAUGHT, BUT IT WAS CERTAINLY WHAT A LOT OF US BELIEVED. THIS KIND OF GOD IS CERTAINLY THE GOD OF MUSLIMS, WHO OFFICIALLY BELIEVE THAT ANYONE WHO ISN'T A MUSLIM IS GOING TO HELL – IT'S IN THE KORAN.
OR IS YOUR GOD ONE WHOSE GREATEST CONCERNS HAVE TO DO WITH PEOPLE BEING POLITICALLY CORRECT; WITH THE CONQUEST OF GLOBAL WARMING; WITH UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION; A GOD WHO IS PRO CHOICE, A GOD WHO IS FOR GAY MARRIAGE, A GOD WHO WANTS AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. AND FOR OTHERS, THAT GOD REWARDS THOSE WHO WORK HARD AND PUNISHES THOSE WHO DON'T; AND LOVES THE UNITED STATES AND DOESN'T REALLY THINK TOO MUCH OF ALL THOSE OTHER COUNTRIES; AND WHOSE IDEA OF CHARITY IS TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE STARVES OR FREEZES TO DEATH, BUT AFTER THAT, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHOSE GOD IS MERELY A REFLECTION OF THEIR OWN BELIEFS, THEIR OWN DEEPLY HELD OPINIONS. THE GOD IN THE MIRROR.
AND THEN THERE ARE THOSE FOR WHOM GOD IS AN INDULGENT GRANDFATHER, WHO DISMISSES ALL OUR FAULTS AND FAILURES, WHO CONDONES OUR BAD BEHAVIOR, WHO IS ALWAYS THERE FOR US BUT DOESN'T CARE IF WE GO OFF ON OUR OWN, BECAUSE WHEN WE COME BACK, HE IS THERE WITH WIDE OPEN ARMS. AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO A THING ABOUT IT.
TODAY OUR READINGS GIVE US A PICTURE OF HOW GOD REALLY IS. IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM, WE KNOW THAT THE SACRIFICE OF ONE'S CHILD WAS CONDONED; RECORDS FROM THIS TIME SHOW THAT KINGS UNDER THREAT OF MILITARY DEFEAT WOULD DO THIS. THE GOD OF ABRAHAM DEMANDS THAT HE SACRIFICE HIS ONLY SON, AND ABRAHAM, NOT SURPRISED BY THIS, SETS OUT TO OBEY. BUT GOD CHANGES THE WHOLE EQUATION; IT WASN'T THE SACRIFICE HE WANTED, IT WAS ABRAHAM'S WILLINGNESS, HIS FAITH, THAT GOD WANTED. AND GOD REWARDS HIM WITH ASTONISHING, OVERWHELMING GENEROSITY. ABRAHAM WILL HAVE DESCENDANTS AS COUNTLESS AS THE STARS IN THE SKY OR THE SANDS ON THE SEASHORE. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE FOR AN OLD MAN WHO HAS ONE SON. WELL, WE ALL KNOW GOD IS GENEROUS, BUT AS ST. PAUL TELLS US WHEN HE WRITES ABOUT ABRAHAM, GOD IS GENEROUS TO THOSE WHO PUT HIM FIRST, WHICH IS THE REAL MEANING OF THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC.
IN THE RESPONSORIAL PSALM, WE HEAR, “PRECIOUS IN THE EYES OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS FAITHFUL ONES.” PRECIOUS. WHY WOULD DEATH BE PRECIOUS UNLESS GOD MEANT FOR SOMETHING GREATER THAN LIFE TO COME OUT OF DEATH? THAT'S THE POINT. GOD WILL NEVER ABANDON THOSE WHO ARE FAITHFUL, EVEN IN DEATH AND BEYOND. WE HAVE NOTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT. NOT ONLY ARE WE PRECIOUS, BUT OUR DEATHS ARE PRECIOUS.
IN THE EPISTLE, PAUL TELLS US THAT IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? AND IF GOD ACQUITS US, WHO CAN CONDEMN US? GOD HANDED HIS ONLY SON OVER FOR US, SO HOW CAN HE POSSIBLY NOT GIVE US EVERYTHING ELSE? GOD DOES NOT SIT IN HEAVEN AND COUNT OUR FAULTS, HE HAS ALREADY JUDGED US, AND THANKS TO JESUS, HE HAS PRONOUNCED US NOT GUILTY, WE ARE SET FREE.
AND FINALLY, WE SEE THE AMAZING MIRACLE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION. JESUS IS REVEALED AS GOD'S BELOVED; BUT AFTER JESUS DIES AND RISES FROM THE DEAD, AND AFTER HE ESTABLISHES HIS CHURCH ON PENTECOST, YOU AND I BECOME PART OF HIS BODY, WE BECOME IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS; WE ARE WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, AND OUR GARMENTS ALSO BECOME WHITE AS SNOW, AS WE ARE TOLD IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. AND IF WE HEAR GOD WHISPERING IN OUR EAR, “YOU ARE MY BELOVED,” WE CAN BE SURE THAT IT IS AUTHENTIC, THAT IT IS NO ILLUSION.
GOD ASKS VERY LITTLE OF YOU AND I IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS OVERWHELMING GENEROSITY. ALL HE WANTS FROM US IS OUR LOVE. ALL HE EXPECTS IS THAT THE MORE HE LOVES US, THE MORE WE WILL LOVE EACH OTHER – THAT, AFTER ALL, IS THE MEANING OF “WHATSOEVER YOU DO FOR THE LEAST OF MY BROTHERS, THAT YOU DO FOR ME.” AND IF WE SIN, HE FORGIVES US WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT – IF WE SEEK FORGIVENESS. AND IF WE DEMONSTRATE OUR LOVE IN LITTLE WAYS, HE POURS OUT HIS BLESSINGS ON US, AS HE DID ON ABRAHAM.
SURE, GOD CARES ABOUT THE WORLD, ABOUT POLLUTION, ABOUT HOW WE TAKE CARE OF OUR INHERITANCE. HE CARES ABOUT THE FACT THAT A HUGE NUMBER OF OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS LIVE IN CONDITIONS WHICH DESTROY THEIR HUMANITY, WHICH REDUCE THEIR POTENTIAL. HE CARES ABOUT THE THINGS WE CARE ABOUT.
BUT WHAT HE CARES ABOUT PRIMARILY WHETHER WE LOVE ENOUGH SO THAT HIS LOVE FOR US CAN SHOWER US WITH BLESSINGS. BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT IF WE TRULY LOVE, ALL THOSE OTHER GOOD THINGS WE LONG FOR WILL COME ABOUT.
WHO IS YOUR GOD? IF IT IS NOT THE GOD DESCRIBED IN THESE HOLY WRITINGS, IT IS A FALSE GOD.
WHO IS YOUR GOD? IF YOU LOOK INTO YOUR OWN IMAGINATION, YOU PROBABLY ARE LIKE ME; YOU HAVE A CERTAIN DOMINANT PICTURE OF GOD THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN PUT INTO YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU WERE SMALL. THE FACT THAT YOU COME TO CHURCH MEANS THAT YOU TAKE GOD SERIOUSLY – BUT AGAIN, WHICH GOD?
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT TELLS US THAT WE ARE NOT TO HAVE FALSE GODS, WHICH MEANS TO US MODERNS THAT WE ARE TO STRIVE TO UNDERSTAND GOD AS HE TRULY IS, EVEN THOUGH WE WON'T REALLY REACH THAT POINT IN THIS LIFE.
IS YOUR GOD ONE WHO IS COUNTING ALL YOUR MISSTEPS AND ALL YOUR GOOD DEEDS, AND LIKE A COSMIC COMPUTER, THE BALANCE WILL DETERMINE YOUR FATE IN THE NEXT LIFE? IT'S NOT AN UNCOMMON VIEW OF GOD, CERTAINLY HELD BY MANY OLDER CATHOLICS, AND BY MANY FUNDAMENTALISTS. BUT IT'S ALSO THE DOMINANT IDEA IN HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM, WHERE INDEED WHAT YOU DO IN THIS LIFE ADDS UP TO A BALANCE, AND PRECISELY DETERMINES YOUR FATE IN THE NEXT. BUT THAT ISN'T REALLY THE CHRISTIAN GOD.
IS YOUR GOD ONE WHO DEMANDS THAT YOU BELONG TO A PARTICULAR PEOPLE, A PARTICULAR RELIGION, THAT YOU FOLLOW PARTICULAR CUSTOMS? THERE ARE CHRISTIAN GROUPS THAT BELIEVE THIS, AND CERTAINLY IT WAS A POPULAR BELIEF WHEN I WAS GROWING UP; WE CATHOLICS, BY VIRTUE OF BEING CATHOLICS, HAD A DEFINITE ADVANTAGE OVER OUR NEIGHBORS. THIS WAS NOT REALLY WHAT THE CHURCH TAUGHT, BUT IT WAS CERTAINLY WHAT A LOT OF US BELIEVED. THIS KIND OF GOD IS CERTAINLY THE GOD OF MUSLIMS, WHO OFFICIALLY BELIEVE THAT ANYONE WHO ISN'T A MUSLIM IS GOING TO HELL – IT'S IN THE KORAN.
OR IS YOUR GOD ONE WHOSE GREATEST CONCERNS HAVE TO DO WITH PEOPLE BEING POLITICALLY CORRECT; WITH THE CONQUEST OF GLOBAL WARMING; WITH UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION; A GOD WHO IS PRO CHOICE, A GOD WHO IS FOR GAY MARRIAGE, A GOD WHO WANTS AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. AND FOR OTHERS, THAT GOD REWARDS THOSE WHO WORK HARD AND PUNISHES THOSE WHO DON'T; AND LOVES THE UNITED STATES AND DOESN'T REALLY THINK TOO MUCH OF ALL THOSE OTHER COUNTRIES; AND WHOSE IDEA OF CHARITY IS TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE STARVES OR FREEZES TO DEATH, BUT AFTER THAT, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHOSE GOD IS MERELY A REFLECTION OF THEIR OWN BELIEFS, THEIR OWN DEEPLY HELD OPINIONS. THE GOD IN THE MIRROR.
AND THEN THERE ARE THOSE FOR WHOM GOD IS AN INDULGENT GRANDFATHER, WHO DISMISSES ALL OUR FAULTS AND FAILURES, WHO CONDONES OUR BAD BEHAVIOR, WHO IS ALWAYS THERE FOR US BUT DOESN'T CARE IF WE GO OFF ON OUR OWN, BECAUSE WHEN WE COME BACK, HE IS THERE WITH WIDE OPEN ARMS. AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO A THING ABOUT IT.
TODAY OUR READINGS GIVE US A PICTURE OF HOW GOD REALLY IS. IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM, WE KNOW THAT THE SACRIFICE OF ONE'S CHILD WAS CONDONED; RECORDS FROM THIS TIME SHOW THAT KINGS UNDER THREAT OF MILITARY DEFEAT WOULD DO THIS. THE GOD OF ABRAHAM DEMANDS THAT HE SACRIFICE HIS ONLY SON, AND ABRAHAM, NOT SURPRISED BY THIS, SETS OUT TO OBEY. BUT GOD CHANGES THE WHOLE EQUATION; IT WASN'T THE SACRIFICE HE WANTED, IT WAS ABRAHAM'S WILLINGNESS, HIS FAITH, THAT GOD WANTED. AND GOD REWARDS HIM WITH ASTONISHING, OVERWHELMING GENEROSITY. ABRAHAM WILL HAVE DESCENDANTS AS COUNTLESS AS THE STARS IN THE SKY OR THE SANDS ON THE SEASHORE. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE FOR AN OLD MAN WHO HAS ONE SON. WELL, WE ALL KNOW GOD IS GENEROUS, BUT AS ST. PAUL TELLS US WHEN HE WRITES ABOUT ABRAHAM, GOD IS GENEROUS TO THOSE WHO PUT HIM FIRST, WHICH IS THE REAL MEANING OF THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC.
IN THE RESPONSORIAL PSALM, WE HEAR, “PRECIOUS IN THE EYES OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS FAITHFUL ONES.” PRECIOUS. WHY WOULD DEATH BE PRECIOUS UNLESS GOD MEANT FOR SOMETHING GREATER THAN LIFE TO COME OUT OF DEATH? THAT'S THE POINT. GOD WILL NEVER ABANDON THOSE WHO ARE FAITHFUL, EVEN IN DEATH AND BEYOND. WE HAVE NOTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT. NOT ONLY ARE WE PRECIOUS, BUT OUR DEATHS ARE PRECIOUS.
IN THE EPISTLE, PAUL TELLS US THAT IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? AND IF GOD ACQUITS US, WHO CAN CONDEMN US? GOD HANDED HIS ONLY SON OVER FOR US, SO HOW CAN HE POSSIBLY NOT GIVE US EVERYTHING ELSE? GOD DOES NOT SIT IN HEAVEN AND COUNT OUR FAULTS, HE HAS ALREADY JUDGED US, AND THANKS TO JESUS, HE HAS PRONOUNCED US NOT GUILTY, WE ARE SET FREE.
AND FINALLY, WE SEE THE AMAZING MIRACLE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION. JESUS IS REVEALED AS GOD'S BELOVED; BUT AFTER JESUS DIES AND RISES FROM THE DEAD, AND AFTER HE ESTABLISHES HIS CHURCH ON PENTECOST, YOU AND I BECOME PART OF HIS BODY, WE BECOME IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS; WE ARE WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, AND OUR GARMENTS ALSO BECOME WHITE AS SNOW, AS WE ARE TOLD IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. AND IF WE HEAR GOD WHISPERING IN OUR EAR, “YOU ARE MY BELOVED,” WE CAN BE SURE THAT IT IS AUTHENTIC, THAT IT IS NO ILLUSION.
GOD ASKS VERY LITTLE OF YOU AND I IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS OVERWHELMING GENEROSITY. ALL HE WANTS FROM US IS OUR LOVE. ALL HE EXPECTS IS THAT THE MORE HE LOVES US, THE MORE WE WILL LOVE EACH OTHER – THAT, AFTER ALL, IS THE MEANING OF “WHATSOEVER YOU DO FOR THE LEAST OF MY BROTHERS, THAT YOU DO FOR ME.” AND IF WE SIN, HE FORGIVES US WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT – IF WE SEEK FORGIVENESS. AND IF WE DEMONSTRATE OUR LOVE IN LITTLE WAYS, HE POURS OUT HIS BLESSINGS ON US, AS HE DID ON ABRAHAM.
SURE, GOD CARES ABOUT THE WORLD, ABOUT POLLUTION, ABOUT HOW WE TAKE CARE OF OUR INHERITANCE. HE CARES ABOUT THE FACT THAT A HUGE NUMBER OF OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS LIVE IN CONDITIONS WHICH DESTROY THEIR HUMANITY, WHICH REDUCE THEIR POTENTIAL. HE CARES ABOUT THE THINGS WE CARE ABOUT.
BUT WHAT HE CARES ABOUT PRIMARILY WHETHER WE LOVE ENOUGH SO THAT HIS LOVE FOR US CAN SHOWER US WITH BLESSINGS. BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT IF WE TRULY LOVE, ALL THOSE OTHER GOOD THINGS WE LONG FOR WILL COME ABOUT.
WHO IS YOUR GOD? IF IT IS NOT THE GOD DESCRIBED IN THESE HOLY WRITINGS, IT IS A FALSE GOD.
Monday, March 2, 2009
First Sunday in Lent, cycle B
MARK 1:12-15
TODAY WE HEAR MARK'S VERSION OF THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS AFTER HIS BAPTISM. YOU REMEMBER HOW MATTHEW AND LUKE BOTH TALKED ABOUT THE DEVIL OFFERING VARIOUS TEMPTATIONS TO JESUS, AND HOW JESUS ANSWERED EACH ONE. MARK DOESN'T MENTION ANY OF THAT. HE JUST SAYS THAT THE SPIRIT SENT JESUS INTO THE DESERT, WHERE HE WAS TEMPTED BY SATAN, LIVED AMONG WILD BEASTS, AND WAS MINISTERED TO BY ANGELS. AFTER THIS, HE COMES BACK TO CIVILIZATION AND BEGINS PREACHING THE CALL TO REPENTANCE AND THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. SO WHY DIDN'T MARK MENTION ALL THOSE DIFFERENT TEMPTATIONS – MAKING STONES INTO BREAD, JUMPING OFF THE TOWER OF THE TEMPLE, BOWING DOWN TO WORSHIP SATAN SO THAT HE WOULD MAKE JESUS THE RULER OF THE EARTH?
PERHAPS MARK WANTS HIS READERS TO CONTRAST JESUS WITH ADAM. AFTER ALL, ADAM WAS WITH WILD BEASTS, AND SUCCUMBED TO THE TEMPTATION OF SATAN, AND WAS DRIVEN OUT OF THE GARDEN BY AN ANGEL. HE WENT FROM A SITUATION WHERE HE WAS THE RULER OF NATURE, THE ONE WHO NAMED THE BEASTS, THE ONE WHO TENDED THE GARDEN OF EDEN, TO A SITUATION WHERE HE WOULD EARN HIS BREAD BY HIS LABOR, WHERE THE BEASTS NO LONGER OBEYED HIM, AND WHERE HE WAS CUT OFF FROM CONTACT WITH THE HEAVENLY POWERS. JESUS TRAVELS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION – HE REJECTS SATAN'S TEMPTATIONS, HE IS NOT HARMED BY THE WILD BEASTS, AND HE IS MINISTERED TO BY ANGELS. JUST AS ADAM WENT OUT OF THE GARDEN TO BRING SIN AND DEATH TO HIS DESCENDANTS, JESUS LEAVES THE DESERT TO BRING THE GOOD NEWS OF SALVATION AND THE CALL TO REPENTANCE TO THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM.
WELL, THAT'S INTERESTING, BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU AND I? MARK WAS WRITING TO THE CHRISTIANS OF ROME. THEY WERE A MIXTURE OF JEWISH AND PAGAN CONVERTS. THEY WERE PERSECUTED BY THE ROMANS, AND DESPISED BY THE JEWS. THEY WERE SHUNNED BY FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, THEY WERE DENIED GOOD JOBS, AND EVERY NOW AND THEN THE EMPEROR WOULD LAUNCH A PERSECUTION AND ROUND UP A FEW CHRISTIANS TO FEED TO THE LIONS. IN OTHER WORDS, IT WAS NOT SURPRISING THAT MANY OF THESE CHRISTIANS RELAPSED. THAT WAS THE TEMPTATION THEY FACED EVERY DAY, AND SOME OF THEM GAVE IN.
GIVING IN TO TEMPTATION IS NATURAL TO US HUMAN BEINGS. IT IS SO NATURAL THAT THE BOOK OF GENESIS SAYS THAT IT IS PART OF BEING HUMAN; ADAM AND EVE GAVE IN TO TEMPTATION EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE SINLESS, EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD MUCH BETTER BRAINS THAN WE DO; AND EVEN THOUGH THEY WALKED AND TALKED WITH GOD HIMSELF. AND YET JESUS OVERCAME TEMPTATION, SO WE KNOW THAT IT IS POSSIBLE. JESUS WAS DRIVEN INTO THE DESERT BY THE SPIRIT TO UNDERGO TEMPTATION, AND HE RESISTED. HOW WAS THIS POSSIBLE? IF WE READ THE STORY MATTHEW WRITES ABOUT JESUS TEMPTATION, THE DEVIL TEMPTED HIM AFTER HE HAD FASTED FOR FORTY DAYS. AND THAT IS THE SECRET FOR RESISTING TEMPTATION.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FAST? IT ISN'T JUST GIVING UP FOOD OR EATING LESS. IT ISN'T JUST SAYING MORE PRAYERS OR DOING MORE SPIRITUAL READING. IT ISN'T JUST GIVING MONEY TO THOSE WHO NEED IT MORE THAN WE DO. FUNDAMENTALLY FASTING IS FINDING SOMETHING IN OUR LIVES TO WHICH WE ARE ATTRACTED, AND GIVING IT UP FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. THIS MAY BE FOOD, OR TOBACCO, OR ALCOHOL. IT MAY BE READING THE BIBLE INSTEAD OF WATCHING SPORTS ON TELEVISION. BUT WHATEVER IT IS, THE POINT IS THAT WE ENTER INTO A BATTLE; WE CHOOSE DELIBERATELY TO NOT DO WHAT COMES NATURALLY. AND THERE ARE TREMENDOUS BENEFITS THAT COME FROM THIS SORT OF BATTLE.
FIRST, WE STRENGTHEN OUR ABILITY TO CONTROL OUR OWN BEHAVIOR. SECOND, WE INCREASE OUR ABILITY TO CONTROL OUR OWN DESTINY. THIRD, WE LOOSEN THE TIES WHICH KEEP US FROM GIVING OURSELVES TO GOD; OR TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, WE MAKE SPACE FOR GOD TO ENTER OUR LIVES. AND FINALLY WE HAVE LESS TROUBLE DEALING WITH TEMPTATION IN THE FUTURE, BECAUSE WE HAVE BECOME STRONGER. ADAM AND EVE, TWO INDIVIDUALS WHO HAD TREMENDOUS ADVANTAGES OVER YOU AND I, DID NOT FAST, AND THEY FELL. JESUS FASTED, AND HE TRIUMPHED.
AND THOSE ARE ADVANTAGES TO US. WHEN JESUS FASTED, AND OVERCAME TEMPTATION, THE FATHER USED HIM TO BRING THE GOOD NEWS TO THE WORLD. AND WHEN WE FAST, THE SAME THING CAN HAPPEN; GOD CHOOSES TO USE THOSE WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS SPIRITUAL BOOT CAMP TO BUILD UP HIS KINGDOM.
SO HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FAST THIS LENT? LET ME GIVE YOU A POSSIBILITY. IF YOU DON'T SAY THE ROSARY, WHY DON'T YOU MAKE IT A POINT TO SAY IT EVERY DAY DURING LENT? THE POSITIVE SIDE IS THAT YOU WILL MAKE A TIME EVERY DAY TO PRAY FOR WHATEVER YOU WANT – YOUR FAMILY, HEALING FOR YOU OR A FRIEND OR RELATIVE; OUR COUNTRY, WHICH REALLY NEEDS PRAYERS. YOU WILL MEDITATE ON THE LIFE OF JESUS EVERY DAY – IT WILL BE LIKE READING THE GOSPEL, AND MAYBE IT WILL LEAD YOU TO READ THE GOSPELS. YOU WILL DISCIPLINE YOUR WILL, BECAUSE IT IS NOT EASY, EVEN FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN SAYING THE ROSARY FOR YEARS, TO BE STILL AND CONCENTRATE. RIGHT AWAY YOU BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT THINGS YOU WOULD RATHER BE DOING. THEN YOU PUT THOSE THINGS OUT OF YOUR MIND, AND OTHER DISTRACTIONS COME. BUT YOU DO THIS OVER AND OVER, AND GRADUALLY YOU BEGIN TO DEVELOP SPIRITUAL MUSCLES. AND WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED, YOU REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE SAYING THE ROSARY LATER, AND YOU HAVE MORE STRENGTH TO RESIST THE TEMPTATION.
WE COULD TALK ABOUT MANY ACTIVITIES THAT WOULD ACCOMPLISH THE FAST TO WHICH WE ARE CALLED. THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE CHOOSE SOMETHING THAT SHAKES US UP, SOMETHING THAT HELPS US DETACH OURSELVES FROM THINGS THAT HOLD US DOWN; SOMETHING THAT MAKES US STRONGER. AND THEN, AS WITH JESUS, GOD WILL GIVE US A GREATER ROLE IN PROCLAIMING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN THROUGH OUR LIVES AND OUR WORKS.
TODAY WE HEAR MARK'S VERSION OF THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS AFTER HIS BAPTISM. YOU REMEMBER HOW MATTHEW AND LUKE BOTH TALKED ABOUT THE DEVIL OFFERING VARIOUS TEMPTATIONS TO JESUS, AND HOW JESUS ANSWERED EACH ONE. MARK DOESN'T MENTION ANY OF THAT. HE JUST SAYS THAT THE SPIRIT SENT JESUS INTO THE DESERT, WHERE HE WAS TEMPTED BY SATAN, LIVED AMONG WILD BEASTS, AND WAS MINISTERED TO BY ANGELS. AFTER THIS, HE COMES BACK TO CIVILIZATION AND BEGINS PREACHING THE CALL TO REPENTANCE AND THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. SO WHY DIDN'T MARK MENTION ALL THOSE DIFFERENT TEMPTATIONS – MAKING STONES INTO BREAD, JUMPING OFF THE TOWER OF THE TEMPLE, BOWING DOWN TO WORSHIP SATAN SO THAT HE WOULD MAKE JESUS THE RULER OF THE EARTH?
PERHAPS MARK WANTS HIS READERS TO CONTRAST JESUS WITH ADAM. AFTER ALL, ADAM WAS WITH WILD BEASTS, AND SUCCUMBED TO THE TEMPTATION OF SATAN, AND WAS DRIVEN OUT OF THE GARDEN BY AN ANGEL. HE WENT FROM A SITUATION WHERE HE WAS THE RULER OF NATURE, THE ONE WHO NAMED THE BEASTS, THE ONE WHO TENDED THE GARDEN OF EDEN, TO A SITUATION WHERE HE WOULD EARN HIS BREAD BY HIS LABOR, WHERE THE BEASTS NO LONGER OBEYED HIM, AND WHERE HE WAS CUT OFF FROM CONTACT WITH THE HEAVENLY POWERS. JESUS TRAVELS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION – HE REJECTS SATAN'S TEMPTATIONS, HE IS NOT HARMED BY THE WILD BEASTS, AND HE IS MINISTERED TO BY ANGELS. JUST AS ADAM WENT OUT OF THE GARDEN TO BRING SIN AND DEATH TO HIS DESCENDANTS, JESUS LEAVES THE DESERT TO BRING THE GOOD NEWS OF SALVATION AND THE CALL TO REPENTANCE TO THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM.
WELL, THAT'S INTERESTING, BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU AND I? MARK WAS WRITING TO THE CHRISTIANS OF ROME. THEY WERE A MIXTURE OF JEWISH AND PAGAN CONVERTS. THEY WERE PERSECUTED BY THE ROMANS, AND DESPISED BY THE JEWS. THEY WERE SHUNNED BY FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, THEY WERE DENIED GOOD JOBS, AND EVERY NOW AND THEN THE EMPEROR WOULD LAUNCH A PERSECUTION AND ROUND UP A FEW CHRISTIANS TO FEED TO THE LIONS. IN OTHER WORDS, IT WAS NOT SURPRISING THAT MANY OF THESE CHRISTIANS RELAPSED. THAT WAS THE TEMPTATION THEY FACED EVERY DAY, AND SOME OF THEM GAVE IN.
GIVING IN TO TEMPTATION IS NATURAL TO US HUMAN BEINGS. IT IS SO NATURAL THAT THE BOOK OF GENESIS SAYS THAT IT IS PART OF BEING HUMAN; ADAM AND EVE GAVE IN TO TEMPTATION EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE SINLESS, EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD MUCH BETTER BRAINS THAN WE DO; AND EVEN THOUGH THEY WALKED AND TALKED WITH GOD HIMSELF. AND YET JESUS OVERCAME TEMPTATION, SO WE KNOW THAT IT IS POSSIBLE. JESUS WAS DRIVEN INTO THE DESERT BY THE SPIRIT TO UNDERGO TEMPTATION, AND HE RESISTED. HOW WAS THIS POSSIBLE? IF WE READ THE STORY MATTHEW WRITES ABOUT JESUS TEMPTATION, THE DEVIL TEMPTED HIM AFTER HE HAD FASTED FOR FORTY DAYS. AND THAT IS THE SECRET FOR RESISTING TEMPTATION.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FAST? IT ISN'T JUST GIVING UP FOOD OR EATING LESS. IT ISN'T JUST SAYING MORE PRAYERS OR DOING MORE SPIRITUAL READING. IT ISN'T JUST GIVING MONEY TO THOSE WHO NEED IT MORE THAN WE DO. FUNDAMENTALLY FASTING IS FINDING SOMETHING IN OUR LIVES TO WHICH WE ARE ATTRACTED, AND GIVING IT UP FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. THIS MAY BE FOOD, OR TOBACCO, OR ALCOHOL. IT MAY BE READING THE BIBLE INSTEAD OF WATCHING SPORTS ON TELEVISION. BUT WHATEVER IT IS, THE POINT IS THAT WE ENTER INTO A BATTLE; WE CHOOSE DELIBERATELY TO NOT DO WHAT COMES NATURALLY. AND THERE ARE TREMENDOUS BENEFITS THAT COME FROM THIS SORT OF BATTLE.
FIRST, WE STRENGTHEN OUR ABILITY TO CONTROL OUR OWN BEHAVIOR. SECOND, WE INCREASE OUR ABILITY TO CONTROL OUR OWN DESTINY. THIRD, WE LOOSEN THE TIES WHICH KEEP US FROM GIVING OURSELVES TO GOD; OR TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, WE MAKE SPACE FOR GOD TO ENTER OUR LIVES. AND FINALLY WE HAVE LESS TROUBLE DEALING WITH TEMPTATION IN THE FUTURE, BECAUSE WE HAVE BECOME STRONGER. ADAM AND EVE, TWO INDIVIDUALS WHO HAD TREMENDOUS ADVANTAGES OVER YOU AND I, DID NOT FAST, AND THEY FELL. JESUS FASTED, AND HE TRIUMPHED.
AND THOSE ARE ADVANTAGES TO US. WHEN JESUS FASTED, AND OVERCAME TEMPTATION, THE FATHER USED HIM TO BRING THE GOOD NEWS TO THE WORLD. AND WHEN WE FAST, THE SAME THING CAN HAPPEN; GOD CHOOSES TO USE THOSE WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS SPIRITUAL BOOT CAMP TO BUILD UP HIS KINGDOM.
SO HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FAST THIS LENT? LET ME GIVE YOU A POSSIBILITY. IF YOU DON'T SAY THE ROSARY, WHY DON'T YOU MAKE IT A POINT TO SAY IT EVERY DAY DURING LENT? THE POSITIVE SIDE IS THAT YOU WILL MAKE A TIME EVERY DAY TO PRAY FOR WHATEVER YOU WANT – YOUR FAMILY, HEALING FOR YOU OR A FRIEND OR RELATIVE; OUR COUNTRY, WHICH REALLY NEEDS PRAYERS. YOU WILL MEDITATE ON THE LIFE OF JESUS EVERY DAY – IT WILL BE LIKE READING THE GOSPEL, AND MAYBE IT WILL LEAD YOU TO READ THE GOSPELS. YOU WILL DISCIPLINE YOUR WILL, BECAUSE IT IS NOT EASY, EVEN FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN SAYING THE ROSARY FOR YEARS, TO BE STILL AND CONCENTRATE. RIGHT AWAY YOU BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT THINGS YOU WOULD RATHER BE DOING. THEN YOU PUT THOSE THINGS OUT OF YOUR MIND, AND OTHER DISTRACTIONS COME. BUT YOU DO THIS OVER AND OVER, AND GRADUALLY YOU BEGIN TO DEVELOP SPIRITUAL MUSCLES. AND WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED, YOU REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE SAYING THE ROSARY LATER, AND YOU HAVE MORE STRENGTH TO RESIST THE TEMPTATION.
WE COULD TALK ABOUT MANY ACTIVITIES THAT WOULD ACCOMPLISH THE FAST TO WHICH WE ARE CALLED. THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE CHOOSE SOMETHING THAT SHAKES US UP, SOMETHING THAT HELPS US DETACH OURSELVES FROM THINGS THAT HOLD US DOWN; SOMETHING THAT MAKES US STRONGER. AND THEN, AS WITH JESUS, GOD WILL GIVE US A GREATER ROLE IN PROCLAIMING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN THROUGH OUR LIVES AND OUR WORKS.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B
MARK 1:40-45
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN MONTANA, WE HAD AN ABUNDANCE OF DIOCESAN PRIESTS, AND WE HAD A CATHOLIC COLLEGE THAT WAS THE BISHOP'S PRIDE AND JOY. HE HAD SENT SEVERAL OF THE DIOCESAN PRIESTS OFF TO GET ADVANCED DEGREES IN EVERYTHING FROM BIOLOGY TO LIBRARY SCIENCE, AND THEY MADE UP THE BULK OF THE FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE. I REMEMBER HOW THEY LIVED IN A BUILDING WHERE EACH HAD HIS SET OF ROOMS AND IN THE BASEMENT THERE WAS A CHAPEL WITH SIXTEEN ALTARS, SO THAT THEY COULD ALL SAY THEIR MORNING MASSES IN LATIN AND GET ON WITH THEIR TEACHING WORK.
AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, MOST OF THESE PRIESTS DID NOT DO MUCH PASTORAL WORK. SOME OF THEM SPENT THEIR ENTIRE CAREERS AS PROFESSORS.
THERE WAS ONE PRIEST, THOUGH, THAT HAD THE HEART OF A PASTOR. FATHER RYAN WAS A PROFESSOR OF HISTORY DURING THE DAY, BUT ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK, HE WOULD PUT ON AN OLD GREEN SWEATER AND GO DOWN TO THE SOUTH END OF TOWN WHERE THERE WERE A LOT OF CHEAP BARS AND HOMELESS PEOPLE (WE USED TO CALL THEM BUMS IN THOSE DAYS). HE WOULD FIND SOMEONE WHO WAS REALLY DOWN AND OUT, AND INVITE THAT PERSON INTO ONE OF THE BARS, AND TRY TO GET A MEAL INTO HIM. HE WOULD TALK WITH THE PERSON, NOT TRYING TO CONVERT HIM OR PREACH TO HIM, BUT EXPRESSING A GENUINE INTEREST IN THE MAN AND HIS STORY. HE WOULD USUALLY SLIP THE MAN A FEW DOLLARS AND DISAPPEAR INTO THE NIGHT, BACK TO THE COLLEGE. A FEW PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT HIS HOBBY AND GAVE HIM A FEW DOLLARS TO REPLACE THOSE HE GAVE AWAY. ONE WAS A BAR OWNER WHO WAS MY FATHER'S BOYHOOD FRIEND. THAT'S HOW I KNEW. BUT EVERYONE CAME TO KNOW ABOUT THIS AT HIS FUNERAL EULOGY, WHEN IN ADDITION TO THE CLERGY AND LAITY, RELATIVES AND FORMER STUDENTS, SEVERAL UNKEMPT, DIRTY, AND ROUGH LOOKING MEN IN THE BACK OF THE CHURCH LISTENED AS HIS STORY WAS FINALLY MADE PUBLIC.
IN THE GOSPEL STORY TODAY, WE SEE TWO MIRACLES. ONE IS OBVIOUS, THE HEALING OF THE LEPER. THE SECOND IS LESS OBVIOUS – THE ACTION OF JESUS WHICH BRINGS THE LEPER BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY. IN OUR FIRST READING, WE HEARD JUST A LITTLE OF THE LEPROSY LAWS OF THE JEWS. THERE WERE MANY OTHERS, INCLUDING THE LAW THAT ALLOWED YOU TO DRIVE A LEPER OUT OF YOUR TOWN IF HE CAME IN, AS THIS MAN HAD DONE. THERE WERE LAWS ABOUT WHAT YOU HAD TO DO IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY TOUCHED, OR WERE TOUCHED, BY A LEPER. AT THE VERY LEAST, YOU BECAME RITUALLY UNCLEAN, AND COULD NOT GO INTO THE TEMPLE AND OFFER SACRIFICE UNTIL YOU HAD BECOME CLEAN AGAIN, USUALLY AFTER A SUFFICIENT PASSAGE OF TIME AND A SACRIFICE. THERE WAS NO WELFARE, AND LEPERS COULD NOT WORK, AND IT WAS EVEN HARD FOR THEM TO BE BEGGARS SINCE THEY COULD NOT GO INTO TOWNS. THEY TRULY LIVED LIKE ANIMALS, MANY OF THEM LIVING OFF OF INSECTS AND LEAVES, AND OCCASIONALLY A FAMILY MEMBER MIGHT HAVE LEFT SOMETHING FOR THEM – BUT THEY COULD NOT COME CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH. THERE WAS A REASON THEY WERE CALLED “UNTOUCHABLES” AND THE LEPERS, BEING DEEPLY CONDITIONED BY THE SOCIETY THEY GREW UP IN, DIDN'T DARE TOUCH EACH OTHER, EITHER.
CAN YOU IMAGINE? BEING DEPRIVED OF TOUCHING OTHER HUMAN BEINGS IS A BIG DEPRIVATION INDEED. BABIES WHO AREN'T TOUCHED CAN WITHER AWAY AND DIE. CHILDREN WHO AREN'T TOUCHED DEVELOP SERIOUS PERSONALITY DISORDERS. MARRIED PEOPLE WHO ARE MAD AT EACH OTHER SAY “DON'T TOUCH ME!” BECAUSE TOUCHING AND BEING TOUCHED IS PART OF THE JOY OF MARRIAGE.
WHEN THE LEPER APPROACHES JESUS, HE SAYS, HESITANTLY, HOPING, “LORD, IF YOU WISH, YOU CAN HEAL ME.” THE LEPER HAS BEEN LIVING A DEATH, WORSE THAN REAL DEATH, PERHAPS; AND HE NO LONGER CARED WHAT HAPPENED; IF HE WERE TO BE STONED AND DRIVEN OUT OF TOWN FOR APPROACHING JESUS, SO BE IT. AND IF JESUS REFUSED TO HEAL HIM, WELL, HE HAD TRIED. BUT JESUS TOUCHED HIM! AND IN THAT SIMPLE MOVEMENT, THE LEPER BECAME PART OF THE COMMUNITY AGAIN, THE LEPER RE-ENTERED THE HUMAN RACE. JESUS VIOLATED THE LAWS OF LEVITICUS, TOOK ON THE UNCLEANNESS OF THE MAN, AND ENTERED HIS WORLD. SO JESUS WORKED TWO MIRACLES THAT DAY; HE CURED THE LEPROSY, WHICH HE COULD HAVE DONE WITH A WORD, FROM AFAR; BUT HE ALSO TOUCHED THE MAN, RESCUING HIM FROM THE LIVING DEATH OF HIS ISOLATION.
FATHER RYAN UNDERSTOOD WHAT JESUS TAUGHT US THAT DAY. CURING A DISEASE OF THE BODY OR THE MIND IS A WONDERFUL THING, I KNOW, HAVING CURED A FEW AND HAVING HAD ONE OR TWO OF MY OWN CURED. BUT ALL OF US CAN WORK THE MIRACLE JESUS WORKED, THE MIRACLE THAT FATHER RYAN WORKED OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN THOSE EVENINGS AT THE SOUTH END OF HELENA, MONTANA.
IF YOU READ THE GOSPELS, YOU HAVE TO AGREE THAT JESUS WENT OUT OF HIS WAY FOR THE PEOPLE ON THE MARGINS. BEGGARS, LEPERS, BLIND, LAME, PROSTITUTES, TAX COLLECTORS, EVEN A WOMAN WITH A BLEEDING DISORDER, AND THERE WAS NO ONE IN JEWISH SOCIETY THAT COULD BE LOWER THAN THAT). AND SO OFTEN, HE WOULD BEGIN HIS INTERACTION WITH THEM BY TOUCHING THEM. AND YOU KNOW, THE GOSPELS ONLY HINT AT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. I IMAGINE JESUS STOPPING AND SPOKE TO THESE PEOPLE, JUST SMALL TALK, JUST SHOWING THEM THAT HE WAS INTERESTED IN WHO THEY REALLY WERE, WHAT THEY THOUGHT. AND THE GOSPEL WRITERS COULDN'T RECORD EVERYTHING, SO WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT THOSE KIND OF MOMENTS. BUT JESUS IS THE KIND OF GUY WHO WOULD GO INTO A BAR, AND SIT DOWN NEXT TO THE DIRTIEST, LONELIEST DRUNK THERE, AND TALK TO HIM.
JESUS LIVES IN YOU AND I. EVERY ONE OF US WILL MEET A LEPER THIS WEEK WHO NEEDS TO BE TOUCHED, WHO NEEDS TO BE INVITED BACK INTO THE HUMAN COMMUNITY. WE WILL FEEL JESUS TRYING TO USE OUR HANDS TO TOUCH THAT PERSON, OUR WORDS TO SHOW THAT PERSON HE OR SHE IS NOT ALONE, AND OUR EARS TO LISTEN TO THAT PERSON'S STORY. WILL WE RESIST AND GO ON OUR WAY, OR WILL WE ALLOW JESUS TO ACT IN US AND PERFORM ANOTHER MIRACLE?
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN MONTANA, WE HAD AN ABUNDANCE OF DIOCESAN PRIESTS, AND WE HAD A CATHOLIC COLLEGE THAT WAS THE BISHOP'S PRIDE AND JOY. HE HAD SENT SEVERAL OF THE DIOCESAN PRIESTS OFF TO GET ADVANCED DEGREES IN EVERYTHING FROM BIOLOGY TO LIBRARY SCIENCE, AND THEY MADE UP THE BULK OF THE FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE. I REMEMBER HOW THEY LIVED IN A BUILDING WHERE EACH HAD HIS SET OF ROOMS AND IN THE BASEMENT THERE WAS A CHAPEL WITH SIXTEEN ALTARS, SO THAT THEY COULD ALL SAY THEIR MORNING MASSES IN LATIN AND GET ON WITH THEIR TEACHING WORK.
AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, MOST OF THESE PRIESTS DID NOT DO MUCH PASTORAL WORK. SOME OF THEM SPENT THEIR ENTIRE CAREERS AS PROFESSORS.
THERE WAS ONE PRIEST, THOUGH, THAT HAD THE HEART OF A PASTOR. FATHER RYAN WAS A PROFESSOR OF HISTORY DURING THE DAY, BUT ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK, HE WOULD PUT ON AN OLD GREEN SWEATER AND GO DOWN TO THE SOUTH END OF TOWN WHERE THERE WERE A LOT OF CHEAP BARS AND HOMELESS PEOPLE (WE USED TO CALL THEM BUMS IN THOSE DAYS). HE WOULD FIND SOMEONE WHO WAS REALLY DOWN AND OUT, AND INVITE THAT PERSON INTO ONE OF THE BARS, AND TRY TO GET A MEAL INTO HIM. HE WOULD TALK WITH THE PERSON, NOT TRYING TO CONVERT HIM OR PREACH TO HIM, BUT EXPRESSING A GENUINE INTEREST IN THE MAN AND HIS STORY. HE WOULD USUALLY SLIP THE MAN A FEW DOLLARS AND DISAPPEAR INTO THE NIGHT, BACK TO THE COLLEGE. A FEW PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT HIS HOBBY AND GAVE HIM A FEW DOLLARS TO REPLACE THOSE HE GAVE AWAY. ONE WAS A BAR OWNER WHO WAS MY FATHER'S BOYHOOD FRIEND. THAT'S HOW I KNEW. BUT EVERYONE CAME TO KNOW ABOUT THIS AT HIS FUNERAL EULOGY, WHEN IN ADDITION TO THE CLERGY AND LAITY, RELATIVES AND FORMER STUDENTS, SEVERAL UNKEMPT, DIRTY, AND ROUGH LOOKING MEN IN THE BACK OF THE CHURCH LISTENED AS HIS STORY WAS FINALLY MADE PUBLIC.
IN THE GOSPEL STORY TODAY, WE SEE TWO MIRACLES. ONE IS OBVIOUS, THE HEALING OF THE LEPER. THE SECOND IS LESS OBVIOUS – THE ACTION OF JESUS WHICH BRINGS THE LEPER BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY. IN OUR FIRST READING, WE HEARD JUST A LITTLE OF THE LEPROSY LAWS OF THE JEWS. THERE WERE MANY OTHERS, INCLUDING THE LAW THAT ALLOWED YOU TO DRIVE A LEPER OUT OF YOUR TOWN IF HE CAME IN, AS THIS MAN HAD DONE. THERE WERE LAWS ABOUT WHAT YOU HAD TO DO IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY TOUCHED, OR WERE TOUCHED, BY A LEPER. AT THE VERY LEAST, YOU BECAME RITUALLY UNCLEAN, AND COULD NOT GO INTO THE TEMPLE AND OFFER SACRIFICE UNTIL YOU HAD BECOME CLEAN AGAIN, USUALLY AFTER A SUFFICIENT PASSAGE OF TIME AND A SACRIFICE. THERE WAS NO WELFARE, AND LEPERS COULD NOT WORK, AND IT WAS EVEN HARD FOR THEM TO BE BEGGARS SINCE THEY COULD NOT GO INTO TOWNS. THEY TRULY LIVED LIKE ANIMALS, MANY OF THEM LIVING OFF OF INSECTS AND LEAVES, AND OCCASIONALLY A FAMILY MEMBER MIGHT HAVE LEFT SOMETHING FOR THEM – BUT THEY COULD NOT COME CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH. THERE WAS A REASON THEY WERE CALLED “UNTOUCHABLES” AND THE LEPERS, BEING DEEPLY CONDITIONED BY THE SOCIETY THEY GREW UP IN, DIDN'T DARE TOUCH EACH OTHER, EITHER.
CAN YOU IMAGINE? BEING DEPRIVED OF TOUCHING OTHER HUMAN BEINGS IS A BIG DEPRIVATION INDEED. BABIES WHO AREN'T TOUCHED CAN WITHER AWAY AND DIE. CHILDREN WHO AREN'T TOUCHED DEVELOP SERIOUS PERSONALITY DISORDERS. MARRIED PEOPLE WHO ARE MAD AT EACH OTHER SAY “DON'T TOUCH ME!” BECAUSE TOUCHING AND BEING TOUCHED IS PART OF THE JOY OF MARRIAGE.
WHEN THE LEPER APPROACHES JESUS, HE SAYS, HESITANTLY, HOPING, “LORD, IF YOU WISH, YOU CAN HEAL ME.” THE LEPER HAS BEEN LIVING A DEATH, WORSE THAN REAL DEATH, PERHAPS; AND HE NO LONGER CARED WHAT HAPPENED; IF HE WERE TO BE STONED AND DRIVEN OUT OF TOWN FOR APPROACHING JESUS, SO BE IT. AND IF JESUS REFUSED TO HEAL HIM, WELL, HE HAD TRIED. BUT JESUS TOUCHED HIM! AND IN THAT SIMPLE MOVEMENT, THE LEPER BECAME PART OF THE COMMUNITY AGAIN, THE LEPER RE-ENTERED THE HUMAN RACE. JESUS VIOLATED THE LAWS OF LEVITICUS, TOOK ON THE UNCLEANNESS OF THE MAN, AND ENTERED HIS WORLD. SO JESUS WORKED TWO MIRACLES THAT DAY; HE CURED THE LEPROSY, WHICH HE COULD HAVE DONE WITH A WORD, FROM AFAR; BUT HE ALSO TOUCHED THE MAN, RESCUING HIM FROM THE LIVING DEATH OF HIS ISOLATION.
FATHER RYAN UNDERSTOOD WHAT JESUS TAUGHT US THAT DAY. CURING A DISEASE OF THE BODY OR THE MIND IS A WONDERFUL THING, I KNOW, HAVING CURED A FEW AND HAVING HAD ONE OR TWO OF MY OWN CURED. BUT ALL OF US CAN WORK THE MIRACLE JESUS WORKED, THE MIRACLE THAT FATHER RYAN WORKED OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN THOSE EVENINGS AT THE SOUTH END OF HELENA, MONTANA.
IF YOU READ THE GOSPELS, YOU HAVE TO AGREE THAT JESUS WENT OUT OF HIS WAY FOR THE PEOPLE ON THE MARGINS. BEGGARS, LEPERS, BLIND, LAME, PROSTITUTES, TAX COLLECTORS, EVEN A WOMAN WITH A BLEEDING DISORDER, AND THERE WAS NO ONE IN JEWISH SOCIETY THAT COULD BE LOWER THAN THAT). AND SO OFTEN, HE WOULD BEGIN HIS INTERACTION WITH THEM BY TOUCHING THEM. AND YOU KNOW, THE GOSPELS ONLY HINT AT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. I IMAGINE JESUS STOPPING AND SPOKE TO THESE PEOPLE, JUST SMALL TALK, JUST SHOWING THEM THAT HE WAS INTERESTED IN WHO THEY REALLY WERE, WHAT THEY THOUGHT. AND THE GOSPEL WRITERS COULDN'T RECORD EVERYTHING, SO WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT THOSE KIND OF MOMENTS. BUT JESUS IS THE KIND OF GUY WHO WOULD GO INTO A BAR, AND SIT DOWN NEXT TO THE DIRTIEST, LONELIEST DRUNK THERE, AND TALK TO HIM.
JESUS LIVES IN YOU AND I. EVERY ONE OF US WILL MEET A LEPER THIS WEEK WHO NEEDS TO BE TOUCHED, WHO NEEDS TO BE INVITED BACK INTO THE HUMAN COMMUNITY. WE WILL FEEL JESUS TRYING TO USE OUR HANDS TO TOUCH THAT PERSON, OUR WORDS TO SHOW THAT PERSON HE OR SHE IS NOT ALONE, AND OUR EARS TO LISTEN TO THAT PERSON'S STORY. WILL WE RESIST AND GO ON OUR WAY, OR WILL WE ALLOW JESUS TO ACT IN US AND PERFORM ANOTHER MIRACLE?
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