MATTHEW 1:18-25
IF YOU READ THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT, JOSEPH IS MENTIONED ONLY IN THE GOSPELS OF MATTHEW AND LUKE. AND IT IS ONLY IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW THAT WE GET JUST A LITTLE HINT INTO WHAT KIND OF PERSON HE WAS. IT SAYS THAT HE IS A RIGHTEOUS MAN. HE IS OBEDIENT TO GOD AND THERE ARE FIVE TIMES GOD SPEAKS TO HIM THROUGH A MESSENGER – WHEN HE IS TOLD TO TAKE MARY INTO HIS HOME, WHEN HE IS COMMANDED TO TAKE MARY AND JESUS TO EGYPT; WHEN HE IS TOLD TO RETURN, AND WHEN HE IS TOLD TO RETURN BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE. AND THESE MESSAGES ALL COME IN DREAMS. WE HEAR ABOUT HIM ONCE MORE, IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, WHEN HE AND MARY GO TO THE TEMPLE TO FIND THEIR 12 YEAR OLD SON WHO DECIDED TO STAY THERE RATHER THAN RETURN HOME WITH THEM. AFTER THAT, HE DROPS OUT OF THE PICTURE COMPLETELY, AND THE OTHER THINGS WE “KNOW” ABOUT JOSEPH, THAT HE WAS AN OLD MAN, THAT HE HAD SONS AND DAUGHTERS BY A PREVIOUS MARRIAGE, THAT HE WORKED AS A CARPENTER, THAT JOSEPH TAUGHT JESUS HIS TRADE, THAT JOSEPH DIED WHILE JESUS WAS STILL LIVING IN NAZARETH, BEFORE HIS MINISTRY – THOSE THINGS AREN'T IN THE BIBLE, BUT YOU CAN MAKE A CASE FOR THEM, I GUESS, FROM THE BIBLE AND FROM THINKING ABOUT THE WAY PEOPLE LIVED AT THAT TIME.
ON THE SURFACE, JOSEPH SEEMS TO BE A BIT PLAYER, AND ALONE AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY, WE DON'T KNOW ANY OF THE WORDS HE MIGHT HAVE SPOKEN.
AND YET, JOSEPH IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON NAME FOR CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM BOYS. AND YET, JOSEPH IS THE PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH. AND YET, THERE ARE CONGREGATIONS OF PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS WHO TAKE JOSEPH AS THEIR SPECIAL PATRON. AND YET AFTER JESUS AND MARY, THE THIRD MOST COMMON NAME GIVEN TO CHURCHES IS JOSEPH.
SO WHY IS THIS OBSCURE, HUMBLE MAN SO CELEBRATED? WHY IS HE A MAN WORTHY OF IMITATION? WHAT CAN JOSEPH TELL US, JOSEPH WHO NEVER SPEAKS?
JOSEPH IS RIGHTEOUS. THAT MIGHT BE TRANSLATED, “JUST”. TO BE RIGHTEOUS OR JUST MEANS THAT WE ARE EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TO WHAT IS RIGHT, AND WE VALUE THIS SO MUCH THAT WE WILL PUT ASIDE OTHER CONCERNS SO THAT JUSTICE IS SATISFIED. JOSEPH WAS RIGHTEOUS WHEN HE DECIDED TO QUIETLY DIVORCE MARY RATHER THAN DENOUNCE HER AND HAVE HER STONED. HE FELT THAT HE HAD BEEN SINNED AGAINST, AND AT THE SAME TIME, KNEW THAT THE PUNISHMENT WAS TOO SEVERE, EVEN THOUGH HE COULD HAVE DEMANDED IT. HE ACTED JUSTLY. WHEN THE ANGEL SPOKE TO JOSEPH, THIS HAD TO DO WITH GOD'S COMMAND. JOSEPH HAD GONE AS FAR AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO SATISFY JUSTICE.
THE TRIP TO BETHLEHEM TO REGISTER IN THE CENSUS WAS ALSO A REFLECTION OF JOSEPH'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. HE WAS WILLING TO GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO OBEY A COMMAND FROM THE EMPEROR; JOSEPH WOULD HAVE NEVER CHEATED ON HIS TAXES, AND PROBABLY WOULD NEVER EVEN HAVE RUN A STOPLIGHT.
JOSEPH RECOGNIZES THAT HE BELONGS TO GOD, THAT GOD HAS A RIGHT TO EVERYTHING HE HAS, AND WHEN GOD ASKS SOMETHING OF HIM, HE DOES NOT HESITATE, HE DOES NOT QUESTION. HE WALKS TO JERUSALEM, HE WALKS TO EGYPT.
JOSEPH LETS GOD LEAD HIM. GOD LEADS HIM IN THE OBVIOUS WAYS I MENTIONED, BUT JOSEPH SPENDS MOST OF HIS LIFE WORKING, KEEPING THE SABBATH HOLY, PUTTING ASIDE WHAT HE WANTS TO DO TO TO SERVE HIS WIFE AND SON. ALL FATHERS IN THIS CHURCH KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE A HUSBAND AND FATHER, AND WE ALL KNOW WE DON'T MEET THE MARK MOST OF THE TIME. JOSEPH DID MEET THE MARK. ALL HE CARED ABOUT, AFTER GOD, WAS THE WELFARE OF MARY AND JESUS. THAT WAS RESPONDING TO GOD'S LEADING; THAT WAS THE VOCATION GIVEN BY GOD.
SO JOSEPH, THE JUST MAN, LIVES A LIFE THAT ALL OF US CAN IMITATE – DOING EVERYTHING AS WELL AS WE CAN, LIVING A LIFE IN CONSTANT GRATITUDE FOR THE GOOD AND THE BAD, THE GREAT AND THE SMALL, KNOWING THAT WHATEVER WE HAVE IS GIVEN TO US BY GOD FOR HIS GOOD PURPOSES, AND KNOWING THAT WHAT GOOD THINGS WE ARE GIVEN FROM GOD ARE MAGNIFIED WHEN THEY ARE SHARED; AND BEING LED BY GOD IN THE ORDINARY AS WELL AS THE EXTRAORDINARY. AND JOSEPH SPENDS HIS LIFE GIVING HIMSELF AWAY.
WE HAVE NOTHING LEFT OF JOSEPH EXCEPT A FEW PASSAGES IN MATTHEW AND LUKE. AND IN THE CRÈCHE, OUR EYES ARE FIXED ON THE CHILD AND HIS MOTHER; JOSEPH STANDS IN THE BACKGROUND.
SO JOSEPH TEACHES US WITH HIS LIFE. BUT THERE IS MORE.
THERE ARE GREAT SAINTS LIKE THOMAS AQUINAS AND AUGUSTINE AND ALPHONSUS LIGOURI, WHO WROTE TIMELESS VOLUMES OF THEOLOGY, WHICH CONTINUE TO DEEPLY INFLUENCE OUR CATHOLIC FAITH EVEN TODAY. BUT JOSEPH TEACHES US INDIRECTLY, BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONE WHO TAUGHT JESUS TO READ. HE SHOWED JESUS HOW HE UNDERSTOOD THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES. HE TAUGHT JESUS THAT EVERYONE WAS VALUABLE, EVEN THE ROMANS AND THE SAMARITANS. HE PROBABLY TAUGHT JESUS HIS COUNTER-CULTURAL APPROACH TO WOMEN, CONVERSING WITH THEM IN PUBLIC, SEEING THEM AS REAL PERSONS AND NOT PETS OR SLAVES. HOW COULD HE NOT, LIVING WITH MARY? HE TAUGHT JESUS TO TAKE PRIDE IN HIS WORK AND TO DO IT AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, NO MATTER HOW HUMBLE. AND HE WAS THE ONE WHO HELPED JESUS SEE GOD REFLECTED IN FIG TREES AND STORMS AT SEA AND SMALL BIRDS AND FIELDS OF FLOWERS. AND BECAUSE HE WAS SUCH A GOOD, LOVING, WISE AND GENEROUS FATHER, JESUS HAD EXPERIENCED FATHERHOOD AT IT'S BEST, AND COULD COMFORTABLY REFER TO HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WITH THE SAME NAME HE CALLED JOSEPH – ABBA, DADDY. AND HE TAUGHT HIS FOLLOWERS A NEW WAY TO THINK ABOUT GOD – AS FATHER.
AND JESUS PASSES ON MUCH OF WHAT JOSEPH TAUGHT HIM, AND JESUS EVEN SPEAKS WITH THE SAME ACCENTS AND RHYTHMS THAT YOU COULD HEAR IN JOSEPH'S VOICE. SONS IMITATE THEIR FATHERS.
SO JOSEPH TEACHES BY HIS LIFE, AND HE TEACHES BY WORDS, WORDS WE HEAR THROUGH JESUS' VOICE. AND JUST AS HE PROTECTS AND INSTRUCTS JESUS, HE CONTINUES BE OUR PROTECTOR AND TEACHER, BECAUSE WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST.
SO LET US RESOLVE THIS CHRISTMAS EVE TO LISTEN TO JOSEPH. AND LET US MOVE HIM FROM THE BACK OF THE MANGER SCENE TO A MORE PROMINENT POSITION IN OUR HEARTS.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Fourth Sunday of Advent, cycle C
LUKE 1:39-45
THE KORAN IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IN OUR BIBLE. DID YOU KNOW THAT MARY IS MENTIONED 35 TIMES IN THE KORAN? IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SHE IS MENTIONED 19 TIMES. BISHOP FULTON SHEEN WROTE AN ARTICLE ABOUT MARY AND THE MOSLEMS, AND SAID THAT BECAUSE CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM BOTH REVERE HER, SHE WILL SOMEDAY BE THE BRIDGE THAT BRINGS THESE TWO RELIGIONS TOGETHER, AND WE SHOULD PRAY TO HER FOR THAT INTENTION. THERE WAS A 12TH CENTURY MOSLEM POET AND MYSTIC, KNOWN AS RUMI, WHO WAS DEEPLY DEVOTED TO JESUS AND MARY,WHO WROTE THIS POEM, WHICH WAS RECENTLY TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN LANGUAGE.
LISTEN:
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY AND EACH OF US HAS A JESUS INSIDE. WHO IS NOT IN HOLY LABOR? EVERY PERSON IS.
SEE THE VALUE OF TRUE ART WHEN A SOUL IS IN THE MOOD TO CREATE BEAUTY,
FOR THE WITNESS MIGHT THEN KNOW BEYOND ANY DOUBT, GOD IS REALLY THERE WITHIN,
SEEMING TO DRAW LIFE FROM US THROUGH HIS UNIVERSE,
THOUGH ALSO NEEDING TO BE BORN, YES GOD ALSO NEEDS TO BE BORN,
BIRTH FROM A HAND'S LOVING TOUCH, BIRTH FROM A SONG BREATHING LIFE INTO THIS WORLD.
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY. EACH OF US HAS A JESUS WITHIN, BUT SO LONG AS NO PAIN APPEARS, OUR JESUS IS NOT BORN.
TODAY THE GOSPEL SHOWS US THE PREGNANT MARY, WHO REJOICES WITH ELIZABETH, FOR THE WORK THAT GOD HAS BEGUN IN THEM. MARY CANNOT KNOW WHAT LIES AHEAD, THE PAIN THAT SHE WILL GO THROUGH, NOT ONLY THE PHYSICAL PAIN OF GIVING BIRTH, BUT THE MOMENTS OF SUFFERING, PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL, THAT WILL COME BECAUSE SHE CHOSE TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS.
ALL OF US REMEMBER THE TIME WHEN SOMEONE TOLD JESUS THAT HIS MOTHER WAS OUTSIDE AND WANTED TO TALK TO HIM. HIS REPLY SEEMS SHOCKING. “WHO IS MY MOTHER AND WHO ARE MY BROTHERS?” AND POINTING TO HIS DISCIPLES, HE SAID, “HERE ARE MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS. FOR WHOEVER DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN IS MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHER AND MY SISTER.” AND THERE IS THE PASSAGE IN WHICH A WOMAN CRIES OUT, “BLESSED IS THE WOMB THAT BORE YOU, AND THE BREASTS THAT NURSED YOU!” AND JESUS REPLIES, “NO, RATHER, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT.” DOES IT SEEM AS THOUGH JESUS IS DISTANCING HIMSELF FROM HIS MOTHER? PROBABLY NOT. PROBABLY HE IS SAYING, “ANYONE CAN GIVE BIRTH, BUT THE REAL CONNECTION TO ME IS THROUGH FAITH, THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO GOD. AND MARY SHOULD NOT BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE PHYSICALLY GAVE BIRTH TO JESUS. RATHER, SHE SHOULD BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE HEARD THE WORD OF GOD AND KEPT IT, BETTER THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING BEFORE OR AFTER. AND YOU AND I SHOULD RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE ALL CALLED TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS IN THIS BROADER SENSE, IN IMITATION OF MARY.
FIRST, JESUS MUST BE CONCEIVED IN US BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE FIRST THING THAT THE SPIRIT DOES IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD IS TO CREATE A LONGING FOR GOD. ONE CAN RESPOND BY IGNORING THAT LONGING, OR NURTURING IT. TO NURTURE IT REQUIRES A RESPONSE, AND THAT RESPONSE IS TO LEARN WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE WANTS FROM ME. IT MUST BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE, AND A PART THAT WILL NEVER CEASE. IT REQUIRES DEVELOPING A HABIT OF PRAYER SO THAT YOU TRAIN YOUR SPIRITUAL SENSES TO BE MORE SENSITIVE. AND AT SOME POINT, GOD WILL MAKE A REQUEST OF YOU. YOU CAN TELL WHEN THIS HAPPENS, AND IT HAPPENS MORE THAN ONCE IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS AND THE LIVES OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE GIVING BIRTH TO JESUS. IT IS A TIME WHEN YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING, AND YOU REALIZE THAT IF YOU DO IT, YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMETHING THAT IS PRECIOUS TO YOU. AND YOU ARE NOT COMPELLED, YOUR FREE WILL IS HONORED. GIVING BIRTH PHYSICALLY IS UNCOMFORTABLE EVEN IN OUR DAY AND AGE, BUT WAS EXCRUCIATING IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS NO ANESTHESIA, AND WHEN WE TAKE THE ROAD THAT SEPARATES US FROM SOMETHING OR SOMEONE WE LOVE IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL, THAT IS PAINFUL.
AND WHEN WE GIVE BIRTH, IT IS NOT OVER. BECAUSE LIKE MARY, WHEN WE FOLLOW GOD'S PATH FOR US, WE CAN EXPECT MORE PAIN, MORE STRUGGLE. MOTHER THERESA, IN MUCH OF HER LIFE, WAS IN GREAT EMOTIONAL PAIN, BECAUSE SHE FELT THAT GOD HAD ABANDONED HER. ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS HAD SIMILAR FEELINGS, AND DESCRIBED THEM IN HIS MYSTICAL POEM “THE DARK NIGHT OF THE CROSS”. AND WHEN WE TURN OUR LIVES OVER TO GOD WE CAN EXPECT THAT HE WILL DO THIS TO US AS WELL, BECAUSE HE WANTS TO FORM US INTO JESUS CHRIST, HE WANTS TO MAKE US FULLY HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS. AND TO BE CHRIST IS TO GO THROUGH A PASSION. MARY STRUGGLED TO KEEP JESUS CLEAN AND WELL FED, TO FORM HIS CHARACTER AND TEACH HIM ABOUT GOD AND HOW GOD WORKED WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. AND MARY SUFFERED WHEN SHE HAD TO ESCAPE TO EGYPT AND LIVE AS A STRANGER IN THAT STRANGE LAND. WHEN SHE HEARD THE PROPHECIES OF SIMEON, WHEN JESUS REMAINED BEHIND IN THE TEMPLE, AND WHEN JOSEPH DIED, AND WHEN JESUS LEFT HER TO BEGIN HIS MINISTRY. AND SHE MUST HAVE SUFFERED AS THE YEARS WENT BY AND SHE WAS NEVER AGAIN ADDRESSED BY THE ANGEL WHO SET HER UPON HER PATH OF LIFE, AS JESUS WENT OUT TO PREACH, ONLY TO BE CRUCIFIED, AND AS THE SON SHE LOVED ROSE FROM THE DEAD BUT SHORTLY AFTER, DISAPPEARED FROM HER LIFE IN PHYSICAL FORM ALTOGETHER. AND SOMETIMES THE ONLY THING MARY HAD LEFT WAS FAITH, AND HER DETERMINATION TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT. AND IF WE TRULY IMITATE MARY, IF WE TRULY NURTURE THE CHRIST TO WHOM WE ARE GIVING BIRTH, WE WILL OFTEN SAY WITH ST THERESA OF AVILA, “GOD, IF THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT YOUR FRIENDS, IT IS NO WONDER YOU HAVE SO FEW OF THEM.”
SO TODAY, LET US REJOICE THAT GOD CALLS US TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT ALWAYS PLEASANT, AND SOMETIMES DOWNRIGHT PAINFUL. AND LET US HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT, SO THAT WE WILL BE BLESSED. AND LET US REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE MUSLIMS, WHO ALSO HONOR OUR MOTHER MARY.
THE KORAN IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IN OUR BIBLE. DID YOU KNOW THAT MARY IS MENTIONED 35 TIMES IN THE KORAN? IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SHE IS MENTIONED 19 TIMES. BISHOP FULTON SHEEN WROTE AN ARTICLE ABOUT MARY AND THE MOSLEMS, AND SAID THAT BECAUSE CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM BOTH REVERE HER, SHE WILL SOMEDAY BE THE BRIDGE THAT BRINGS THESE TWO RELIGIONS TOGETHER, AND WE SHOULD PRAY TO HER FOR THAT INTENTION. THERE WAS A 12TH CENTURY MOSLEM POET AND MYSTIC, KNOWN AS RUMI, WHO WAS DEEPLY DEVOTED TO JESUS AND MARY,WHO WROTE THIS POEM, WHICH WAS RECENTLY TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN LANGUAGE.
LISTEN:
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY AND EACH OF US HAS A JESUS INSIDE. WHO IS NOT IN HOLY LABOR? EVERY PERSON IS.
SEE THE VALUE OF TRUE ART WHEN A SOUL IS IN THE MOOD TO CREATE BEAUTY,
FOR THE WITNESS MIGHT THEN KNOW BEYOND ANY DOUBT, GOD IS REALLY THERE WITHIN,
SEEMING TO DRAW LIFE FROM US THROUGH HIS UNIVERSE,
THOUGH ALSO NEEDING TO BE BORN, YES GOD ALSO NEEDS TO BE BORN,
BIRTH FROM A HAND'S LOVING TOUCH, BIRTH FROM A SONG BREATHING LIFE INTO THIS WORLD.
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY. EACH OF US HAS A JESUS WITHIN, BUT SO LONG AS NO PAIN APPEARS, OUR JESUS IS NOT BORN.
TODAY THE GOSPEL SHOWS US THE PREGNANT MARY, WHO REJOICES WITH ELIZABETH, FOR THE WORK THAT GOD HAS BEGUN IN THEM. MARY CANNOT KNOW WHAT LIES AHEAD, THE PAIN THAT SHE WILL GO THROUGH, NOT ONLY THE PHYSICAL PAIN OF GIVING BIRTH, BUT THE MOMENTS OF SUFFERING, PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL, THAT WILL COME BECAUSE SHE CHOSE TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS.
ALL OF US REMEMBER THE TIME WHEN SOMEONE TOLD JESUS THAT HIS MOTHER WAS OUTSIDE AND WANTED TO TALK TO HIM. HIS REPLY SEEMS SHOCKING. “WHO IS MY MOTHER AND WHO ARE MY BROTHERS?” AND POINTING TO HIS DISCIPLES, HE SAID, “HERE ARE MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS. FOR WHOEVER DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN IS MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHER AND MY SISTER.” AND THERE IS THE PASSAGE IN WHICH A WOMAN CRIES OUT, “BLESSED IS THE WOMB THAT BORE YOU, AND THE BREASTS THAT NURSED YOU!” AND JESUS REPLIES, “NO, RATHER, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT.” DOES IT SEEM AS THOUGH JESUS IS DISTANCING HIMSELF FROM HIS MOTHER? PROBABLY NOT. PROBABLY HE IS SAYING, “ANYONE CAN GIVE BIRTH, BUT THE REAL CONNECTION TO ME IS THROUGH FAITH, THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO GOD. AND MARY SHOULD NOT BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE PHYSICALLY GAVE BIRTH TO JESUS. RATHER, SHE SHOULD BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE HEARD THE WORD OF GOD AND KEPT IT, BETTER THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING BEFORE OR AFTER. AND YOU AND I SHOULD RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE ALL CALLED TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS IN THIS BROADER SENSE, IN IMITATION OF MARY.
FIRST, JESUS MUST BE CONCEIVED IN US BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE FIRST THING THAT THE SPIRIT DOES IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD IS TO CREATE A LONGING FOR GOD. ONE CAN RESPOND BY IGNORING THAT LONGING, OR NURTURING IT. TO NURTURE IT REQUIRES A RESPONSE, AND THAT RESPONSE IS TO LEARN WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE WANTS FROM ME. IT MUST BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE, AND A PART THAT WILL NEVER CEASE. IT REQUIRES DEVELOPING A HABIT OF PRAYER SO THAT YOU TRAIN YOUR SPIRITUAL SENSES TO BE MORE SENSITIVE. AND AT SOME POINT, GOD WILL MAKE A REQUEST OF YOU. YOU CAN TELL WHEN THIS HAPPENS, AND IT HAPPENS MORE THAN ONCE IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS AND THE LIVES OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE GIVING BIRTH TO JESUS. IT IS A TIME WHEN YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING, AND YOU REALIZE THAT IF YOU DO IT, YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMETHING THAT IS PRECIOUS TO YOU. AND YOU ARE NOT COMPELLED, YOUR FREE WILL IS HONORED. GIVING BIRTH PHYSICALLY IS UNCOMFORTABLE EVEN IN OUR DAY AND AGE, BUT WAS EXCRUCIATING IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS NO ANESTHESIA, AND WHEN WE TAKE THE ROAD THAT SEPARATES US FROM SOMETHING OR SOMEONE WE LOVE IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL, THAT IS PAINFUL.
AND WHEN WE GIVE BIRTH, IT IS NOT OVER. BECAUSE LIKE MARY, WHEN WE FOLLOW GOD'S PATH FOR US, WE CAN EXPECT MORE PAIN, MORE STRUGGLE. MOTHER THERESA, IN MUCH OF HER LIFE, WAS IN GREAT EMOTIONAL PAIN, BECAUSE SHE FELT THAT GOD HAD ABANDONED HER. ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS HAD SIMILAR FEELINGS, AND DESCRIBED THEM IN HIS MYSTICAL POEM “THE DARK NIGHT OF THE CROSS”. AND WHEN WE TURN OUR LIVES OVER TO GOD WE CAN EXPECT THAT HE WILL DO THIS TO US AS WELL, BECAUSE HE WANTS TO FORM US INTO JESUS CHRIST, HE WANTS TO MAKE US FULLY HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS. AND TO BE CHRIST IS TO GO THROUGH A PASSION. MARY STRUGGLED TO KEEP JESUS CLEAN AND WELL FED, TO FORM HIS CHARACTER AND TEACH HIM ABOUT GOD AND HOW GOD WORKED WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. AND MARY SUFFERED WHEN SHE HAD TO ESCAPE TO EGYPT AND LIVE AS A STRANGER IN THAT STRANGE LAND. WHEN SHE HEARD THE PROPHECIES OF SIMEON, WHEN JESUS REMAINED BEHIND IN THE TEMPLE, AND WHEN JOSEPH DIED, AND WHEN JESUS LEFT HER TO BEGIN HIS MINISTRY. AND SHE MUST HAVE SUFFERED AS THE YEARS WENT BY AND SHE WAS NEVER AGAIN ADDRESSED BY THE ANGEL WHO SET HER UPON HER PATH OF LIFE, AS JESUS WENT OUT TO PREACH, ONLY TO BE CRUCIFIED, AND AS THE SON SHE LOVED ROSE FROM THE DEAD BUT SHORTLY AFTER, DISAPPEARED FROM HER LIFE IN PHYSICAL FORM ALTOGETHER. AND SOMETIMES THE ONLY THING MARY HAD LEFT WAS FAITH, AND HER DETERMINATION TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT. AND IF WE TRULY IMITATE MARY, IF WE TRULY NURTURE THE CHRIST TO WHOM WE ARE GIVING BIRTH, WE WILL OFTEN SAY WITH ST THERESA OF AVILA, “GOD, IF THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT YOUR FRIENDS, IT IS NO WONDER YOU HAVE SO FEW OF THEM.”
SO TODAY, LET US REJOICE THAT GOD CALLS US TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT ALWAYS PLEASANT, AND SOMETIMES DOWNRIGHT PAINFUL. AND LET US HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT, SO THAT WE WILL BE BLESSED. AND LET US REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE MUSLIMS, WHO ALSO HONOR OUR MOTHER MARY.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Third Sunday in Advent, cycle C
LUKE 3:10-18
SOME STORIES IN THE BIBLE MIGHT BE TERMED “MYTHS”. I DON'T MEAN THEY NEVER HAPPENED. BUT WE DON'T KNOW QUITE WHEN IT HAPPENED, IN SOME CASES WE DON'T KNOW IF IT HAPPENED, AND IN SOME CASES WE KNOW THAT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN, LIKE THE STORY OF JONAH. MANY OF THE STORIES IN THE BIBLE STARTED OUT AS LEGENDS WHOSE ROOTS WERE IN THE REMEMBERED HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE, AND ONLY LATER WERE WRITTEN DOWN AFTER MUCH TELLING AND RETELLING WITH A DETAIL ADDED HERE, AND ANOTHER SUBTRACTED THERE. AND THAT IS ALRIGHT. WE CATHOLICS KNOW THAT THE BIBLE TELLS US THEOLOGICAL TRUTH, AND WHILE THERE ARE SOME FACTUAL THINGS WE BELIEVE AS CATHOLICS – THAT THE HUMAN RACE DESCENDED FROM A FIRST COUPLE; THAT THERE REALLY WAS AN ABRAHAM AND A MOSES; THAT MARY REALLY WAS A VIRGIN AT THE TIME OF JESUS' CONCEPTION, THESE FACTS HAVE TO BE TRUE, BECAUSE THEY ARE ORGANIC PARTS OF WHAT WE BELIEVE AND TOUCH UPON THE VALIDITY OF OUR WHOLE RELIGION. FACTS MATTER SOMETIMES. AND LUKE WANTS US TO BE SURE TO KNOW THAT HIS STORY IS FACTUAL.
THERE WAS A PARTICULAR TIME AND PLACE, PINPOINTED BY RELATING IT TO WHEN CERTAIN KINGS AND HIGH PRIESTS WERE ALIVE, WHEN A STRANGE MAN CAME OUT OF THE DESERT. HE CALLED THE PEOPLE A BROOD OF VIPERS; HE PREDICTED THAT THE FUTURE FOR THEM WOULD BE A CATASTROPHE, UNLESS THEY CHANGED. THE WORD HE USED WAS REPENT, BUT THE WORD IN GREEK MEANT CHANGE, OR TURN AROUND, OR TURN BACK. WE PROBABLY DON'T QUITE KNOW WHAT THE ARAMAIC WORD MEANT TO THOSE WHO HEARD HIM, AND TO HIM. BUT I THINK AN INTERESTING TRANSLATION OF THAT WORD MIGHT BE SOMETHING MY MOTHER USED TO SAY TO ME WHEN SHE WAS UPSET WITH MY BEHAVIOR: PULL UP YOUR SOCKS! OR “SHAPE UP”.
AND HE ATTRACTED CROWDS, AND THEY DID NOT SEEM TO GET UPSET WITH WHAT HE CALLED THEM, WHAT HE THREATENED THEM WITH, OR TELLING THEM THAT BEING DESCENDENTS OF GOD'S FRIEND ABRAHAM REALLY DIDN'T MATTER. WHY THEY DIDN'T TURN AROUND AND GO HOME, OR PERHAPS PICK UP ROCKS AND STONE HIM, WE'LL NEVER KNOW. MAYBE THEY SAW THAT HE WAS ON TO SOMETHING.
SO THEY ASKED HIM, “WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”
AND HIS ANSWERS WERE SIMPLE: “IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN YOU NEED, SHARE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS LESS THAN THEY NEED. AND IF YOU COLLECT TAXES FOR THE ROMANS, DON'T OVERCHARGE, DON'T CHEAT. AND IF YOU ARE A SOLDIER, DON'T USE YOUR POWER TO STEAL FROM PEOPLE.” NOTICE, HE DID NOT SAY TO THE PEOPLE, GO OUT INTO THE DESERT AND PRAY AND FAST. HE DID NOT SAY, QUIT BEING A TAX COLLECTOR; YOU ARE COLLABORATING WITH THE ENEMY OF THE JEWS; HE DID NOT SAY TO THE SOLDIERS, QUIT WORKING FOR ROMANS, QUIT MAKING YOUR LIVING BY FIGHTING ON BEHALF OF THE ROMANS.
SOME HEARD HIM, I'M SURE, WITH A SENSE OF RELIEF; SOME WITH DISAPPOINTMENT – “IS THAT ALL? AND YOU CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR GOD?” AND MANY HEARD HIM AND THOUGHT, WOW, THOSE ARE GOOD POINTS. AND THEN WENT BACK TO THE LIVES THEY HAD LED, AND MADE NO CHANGES AT ALL.
JOHN'S CHARGE TO US IS THE SAME. REPENTANCE, TURNING BACK, PULLING UP OUR SOCKS, DOESN'T REQUIRE A TOTAL LIFE MAKE OVER. IT DOES REQUIRE SELF AWARENESS, IT DOES REQUIRE LOOKING AT OUR ORDINARY LIVES AND ASKING, WHAT SHOULD I DO?
IF YOU GO TO A ZOO, YOU MAY SEE LIONS. THEY DON'T MOVE AROUND MUCH, AND WHEN THEY DO, IT IS IN CIRCLES. THEY DON'T HAVE A REASON TO CHANGE, TO IMPROVE, TO LOOK BEYOND THEMSELVES. EVERY NEED IS TAKEN CARE OF, AND EVERY NEED OF THEIR MATE AND THEIR OFFSPRING AS WELL. WE HUMANS ARE LIKE THAT. WHEN WE LIVE FOR OURSELVES, WHEN WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR UNIVERSE, THEN THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO REACH A POINT WHERE WE CAN BE LIKE A LION IN A ZOO. UNTIL WE GET THERE EVERY MOMENT IS TAKEN UP WITH GETTING THERE, AND THEN WE CAN REST AND COUNT OUR MONEY AND OUR THINGS.
BUT JOHN IS SAYING THAT THIS IS NO WAY FOR A HUMAN BEING TO LIVE. IF WE LIVE THIS WAY, WE WILL NEVER ACHIEVE OUR POTENTIAL, WE WILL NEVER BECOME HOLY. BUT IF WE LIVE A LIFE OF REPENTANCE, AND IT IS A LIFETIME PROJECT, WE WILL ALWAYS BE LOOKING AT WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO, AND RECOGNIZING THAT WE NEED TO STRUGGLE TO PURGE WHAT WE DO OF SELF-CENTEREDNESS, OF MEDIOCRITY, OF DOING ENOUGH TO JUST GET BY, OF PETTY THINGS, LIKE MAKING PERSONAL CALLS OR USING THE INTERNET FOR PERSONAL REASONS WHILE AT WORK; LIKE VEGGING OUT IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION SET; LIKE NOT VOTING BECAUSE I'VE GOT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO; LIKE MAKING NO EFFORT TO DISCERN GOD'S WILL FOR US THROUGH THE DIALOGUE WITH GOD WE CALL PRAYER, THROUGH STUDY OF GOD'S REVELATION.
PART OF THIS PROJECT OF REMAKING OURSELVES RIGHT WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO, IS THE REMAKING OF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US. IF WE BELIEVE IT BELONGS TO ME, I'LL HANG ON TO IT. BUT IF I BELIEVE IT IS GOD'S, ON LOAN, THEN I AM MORE LIKELY TO SHARE WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NONE. OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE TAUGHT THAT TO BE CHARITABLE IS A GOOD DEED, BUT THERE ISN'T A DOWNSIDE; ON THE OTHER HAND, AN APPEAL TO JUSTICE IS MORE LIKELY TO RESULT IN A RESPONSE. AFTER ALL, THE PATRIARCHS WERE KNOWN FOR THEIR JUSTICE, AND GOD IS JUST, AND THE DOWNSIDE IS THAT JUSTICE NOT DONE IS TO RISK INJUSTICE TO YOURSELF. AND JUSTICE REQUIRES THAT NO ONE BE DENIED FOOD AND CLOTHING AND THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE, IF WE CAN HELP IT.
SO GOD DOES NOT REQUIRE THE SPECTACULAR; HE ONLY ASKS A VERY LITTLE EFFORT FROM YOU AND I, NAMELY, TO STRIVE TO DO EVERYTHING AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, TO BE SENSITIVE TO THOSE ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES THAT ARE LESS THAN PERFECT, AND, KNOWING THAT WE WILL NEVER QUITE BE PERFECT AS OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN IS PERFECT, AT LEAST TRY TO REACH FOR PERFECTION; AND HE REQUIRES THAT WE TREAT ALL THE GOOD THINGS HE HAS GIVEN US, JUST AS HE TREATS THEM; THEY ARE THERE TO BE GIVEN AWAY. AND LIVING THIS WAY MAKES US BETTER AND HAPPIER, AND MORE CAPABLE OF LOVE.
IT MAY BE A LITTLE EFFORT, BUT IT REALLY IS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE, A CONSTANT SELF-EXAMINATION, AND IT LASTS A LIFETIME. AND THE HARDEST PART IS GETTING STARTED.
AND IN A FEW DAYS WE WILL CELEBRATE GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO US; MAY THIS CHRISTMAS SEE US FINDING THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHAT SHALL WE DO?
SOME STORIES IN THE BIBLE MIGHT BE TERMED “MYTHS”. I DON'T MEAN THEY NEVER HAPPENED. BUT WE DON'T KNOW QUITE WHEN IT HAPPENED, IN SOME CASES WE DON'T KNOW IF IT HAPPENED, AND IN SOME CASES WE KNOW THAT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN, LIKE THE STORY OF JONAH. MANY OF THE STORIES IN THE BIBLE STARTED OUT AS LEGENDS WHOSE ROOTS WERE IN THE REMEMBERED HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE, AND ONLY LATER WERE WRITTEN DOWN AFTER MUCH TELLING AND RETELLING WITH A DETAIL ADDED HERE, AND ANOTHER SUBTRACTED THERE. AND THAT IS ALRIGHT. WE CATHOLICS KNOW THAT THE BIBLE TELLS US THEOLOGICAL TRUTH, AND WHILE THERE ARE SOME FACTUAL THINGS WE BELIEVE AS CATHOLICS – THAT THE HUMAN RACE DESCENDED FROM A FIRST COUPLE; THAT THERE REALLY WAS AN ABRAHAM AND A MOSES; THAT MARY REALLY WAS A VIRGIN AT THE TIME OF JESUS' CONCEPTION, THESE FACTS HAVE TO BE TRUE, BECAUSE THEY ARE ORGANIC PARTS OF WHAT WE BELIEVE AND TOUCH UPON THE VALIDITY OF OUR WHOLE RELIGION. FACTS MATTER SOMETIMES. AND LUKE WANTS US TO BE SURE TO KNOW THAT HIS STORY IS FACTUAL.
THERE WAS A PARTICULAR TIME AND PLACE, PINPOINTED BY RELATING IT TO WHEN CERTAIN KINGS AND HIGH PRIESTS WERE ALIVE, WHEN A STRANGE MAN CAME OUT OF THE DESERT. HE CALLED THE PEOPLE A BROOD OF VIPERS; HE PREDICTED THAT THE FUTURE FOR THEM WOULD BE A CATASTROPHE, UNLESS THEY CHANGED. THE WORD HE USED WAS REPENT, BUT THE WORD IN GREEK MEANT CHANGE, OR TURN AROUND, OR TURN BACK. WE PROBABLY DON'T QUITE KNOW WHAT THE ARAMAIC WORD MEANT TO THOSE WHO HEARD HIM, AND TO HIM. BUT I THINK AN INTERESTING TRANSLATION OF THAT WORD MIGHT BE SOMETHING MY MOTHER USED TO SAY TO ME WHEN SHE WAS UPSET WITH MY BEHAVIOR: PULL UP YOUR SOCKS! OR “SHAPE UP”.
AND HE ATTRACTED CROWDS, AND THEY DID NOT SEEM TO GET UPSET WITH WHAT HE CALLED THEM, WHAT HE THREATENED THEM WITH, OR TELLING THEM THAT BEING DESCENDENTS OF GOD'S FRIEND ABRAHAM REALLY DIDN'T MATTER. WHY THEY DIDN'T TURN AROUND AND GO HOME, OR PERHAPS PICK UP ROCKS AND STONE HIM, WE'LL NEVER KNOW. MAYBE THEY SAW THAT HE WAS ON TO SOMETHING.
SO THEY ASKED HIM, “WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”
AND HIS ANSWERS WERE SIMPLE: “IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN YOU NEED, SHARE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS LESS THAN THEY NEED. AND IF YOU COLLECT TAXES FOR THE ROMANS, DON'T OVERCHARGE, DON'T CHEAT. AND IF YOU ARE A SOLDIER, DON'T USE YOUR POWER TO STEAL FROM PEOPLE.” NOTICE, HE DID NOT SAY TO THE PEOPLE, GO OUT INTO THE DESERT AND PRAY AND FAST. HE DID NOT SAY, QUIT BEING A TAX COLLECTOR; YOU ARE COLLABORATING WITH THE ENEMY OF THE JEWS; HE DID NOT SAY TO THE SOLDIERS, QUIT WORKING FOR ROMANS, QUIT MAKING YOUR LIVING BY FIGHTING ON BEHALF OF THE ROMANS.
SOME HEARD HIM, I'M SURE, WITH A SENSE OF RELIEF; SOME WITH DISAPPOINTMENT – “IS THAT ALL? AND YOU CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR GOD?” AND MANY HEARD HIM AND THOUGHT, WOW, THOSE ARE GOOD POINTS. AND THEN WENT BACK TO THE LIVES THEY HAD LED, AND MADE NO CHANGES AT ALL.
JOHN'S CHARGE TO US IS THE SAME. REPENTANCE, TURNING BACK, PULLING UP OUR SOCKS, DOESN'T REQUIRE A TOTAL LIFE MAKE OVER. IT DOES REQUIRE SELF AWARENESS, IT DOES REQUIRE LOOKING AT OUR ORDINARY LIVES AND ASKING, WHAT SHOULD I DO?
IF YOU GO TO A ZOO, YOU MAY SEE LIONS. THEY DON'T MOVE AROUND MUCH, AND WHEN THEY DO, IT IS IN CIRCLES. THEY DON'T HAVE A REASON TO CHANGE, TO IMPROVE, TO LOOK BEYOND THEMSELVES. EVERY NEED IS TAKEN CARE OF, AND EVERY NEED OF THEIR MATE AND THEIR OFFSPRING AS WELL. WE HUMANS ARE LIKE THAT. WHEN WE LIVE FOR OURSELVES, WHEN WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR UNIVERSE, THEN THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO REACH A POINT WHERE WE CAN BE LIKE A LION IN A ZOO. UNTIL WE GET THERE EVERY MOMENT IS TAKEN UP WITH GETTING THERE, AND THEN WE CAN REST AND COUNT OUR MONEY AND OUR THINGS.
BUT JOHN IS SAYING THAT THIS IS NO WAY FOR A HUMAN BEING TO LIVE. IF WE LIVE THIS WAY, WE WILL NEVER ACHIEVE OUR POTENTIAL, WE WILL NEVER BECOME HOLY. BUT IF WE LIVE A LIFE OF REPENTANCE, AND IT IS A LIFETIME PROJECT, WE WILL ALWAYS BE LOOKING AT WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO, AND RECOGNIZING THAT WE NEED TO STRUGGLE TO PURGE WHAT WE DO OF SELF-CENTEREDNESS, OF MEDIOCRITY, OF DOING ENOUGH TO JUST GET BY, OF PETTY THINGS, LIKE MAKING PERSONAL CALLS OR USING THE INTERNET FOR PERSONAL REASONS WHILE AT WORK; LIKE VEGGING OUT IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION SET; LIKE NOT VOTING BECAUSE I'VE GOT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO; LIKE MAKING NO EFFORT TO DISCERN GOD'S WILL FOR US THROUGH THE DIALOGUE WITH GOD WE CALL PRAYER, THROUGH STUDY OF GOD'S REVELATION.
PART OF THIS PROJECT OF REMAKING OURSELVES RIGHT WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO, IS THE REMAKING OF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US. IF WE BELIEVE IT BELONGS TO ME, I'LL HANG ON TO IT. BUT IF I BELIEVE IT IS GOD'S, ON LOAN, THEN I AM MORE LIKELY TO SHARE WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NONE. OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE TAUGHT THAT TO BE CHARITABLE IS A GOOD DEED, BUT THERE ISN'T A DOWNSIDE; ON THE OTHER HAND, AN APPEAL TO JUSTICE IS MORE LIKELY TO RESULT IN A RESPONSE. AFTER ALL, THE PATRIARCHS WERE KNOWN FOR THEIR JUSTICE, AND GOD IS JUST, AND THE DOWNSIDE IS THAT JUSTICE NOT DONE IS TO RISK INJUSTICE TO YOURSELF. AND JUSTICE REQUIRES THAT NO ONE BE DENIED FOOD AND CLOTHING AND THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE, IF WE CAN HELP IT.
SO GOD DOES NOT REQUIRE THE SPECTACULAR; HE ONLY ASKS A VERY LITTLE EFFORT FROM YOU AND I, NAMELY, TO STRIVE TO DO EVERYTHING AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, TO BE SENSITIVE TO THOSE ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES THAT ARE LESS THAN PERFECT, AND, KNOWING THAT WE WILL NEVER QUITE BE PERFECT AS OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN IS PERFECT, AT LEAST TRY TO REACH FOR PERFECTION; AND HE REQUIRES THAT WE TREAT ALL THE GOOD THINGS HE HAS GIVEN US, JUST AS HE TREATS THEM; THEY ARE THERE TO BE GIVEN AWAY. AND LIVING THIS WAY MAKES US BETTER AND HAPPIER, AND MORE CAPABLE OF LOVE.
IT MAY BE A LITTLE EFFORT, BUT IT REALLY IS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE, A CONSTANT SELF-EXAMINATION, AND IT LASTS A LIFETIME. AND THE HARDEST PART IS GETTING STARTED.
AND IN A FEW DAYS WE WILL CELEBRATE GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO US; MAY THIS CHRISTMAS SEE US FINDING THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHAT SHALL WE DO?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Second Sunday of Advent, cycle C
LUKE 3:1-6
MY WIFE SAYS I HAVE A LOUSY SENSE OF DIRECTION. BUT IT ISN'T THAT SO MUCH AS THE FACT THAT WHEN WE ARE OUT DRIVING, I GET DISTRACTED. I PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD, BUT I FORGET THE EXIT I WAS SUPPOSED TO TAKE. I DON'T HAVE NEARLY AS MUCH TROUBLE WHEN I'M DRIVING ALONE, FOR SOME REASON. I GUESS WHEN I AM WITH MY WIFE I EXPECT HER TO TELL ME WHEN TO TURN. THAT'S ONE KIND OF BEING LOST. YOU LOSE A LITTLE TIME, YOU GET A LITTLE FRUSTRATED. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF BEING LOST THAT I'VE ONLY EXPERIENCED ONCE. I WAS LOST ONE TIME IN A FOREST IN MONTANA. I WAS OUT HIKING BY MYSELF AND HAD NO PARTICULAR DESTINATION IN MIND. I FOLLOWED WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A TRAIL. WHEN I DECIDED TO TURN BACK, EVERYTHING LOOKED UNFAMILIAR. I COULDN'T TELL WHERE I HAD BEEN. AS TIME WENT ON, PANIC SET IN. I KNEW THAT THERE WAS ONLY ONE DIRECTION WHERE I COULD EXPECT TO FIND MY CAR, AND ALL THE OTHERS LAD DEEPER INTO THE FOREST. I TRIED TO FIND HIGH GROUND, BUT STILL DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE. FORTUNATELY AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR OF STUMBLING AROUND, I RAN ACROSS A STREAM AND FOLLOWED IT UNTIL I CAME TO A ROAD.
BEING LOST IN A FOREST OR A DESERT IS FRIGHTENING BECAUSE YOU GET DISORIENTED. THINGS START TO LOOK THE SAME, WHATEVER DIRECTION YOU GO. AND ALL THE WHILE, IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS HOW PEOPLE DIE – BEING LOST.
OUR GOSPEL TODAY USES IMAGES WHICH ARE STRANGE TO US. THE GOSPEL QUOTES FROM ISAIAH THE PROPHET, AND TALKS ABOUT KNOCKING DOWN MOUNTAINS AND FILLING UP VALLEYS, MAKING CROOKED ROADS STRAIGHT AND ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH. AND NOT JUST DOING THIS TO MAKE A PATH, BUT EVERY MOUNTAIN, EVERY VALLEY, EVERY ROAD. IT IS LIKE THE WHOLE WORLD IS TURNED INTO A GIANT MARBLE, SMOOTH AND THE SAME IN EVERY DIRECTION. WHEN THE PASSAGE STARTS, THE IDEA IS TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD. BUT WHEN IT ENDS, IT IS US WHO ARE BEING PREPARED, PREPARED TO SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.
ADVENT IS AN INTERESTING SEASON. IT IS A TIME WHEN WE ARE SUPPOSED TO FOCUS ON THE SALVATION OF GOD, THE MOMENT WHEN GOD ENTERS OUR WORLD, WHEN HE TAKES ON OUR FLESH, WHEN HE BEGINS TO LIVE WITH US AND FOR US, AND ULTIMATELY DIE SO THAT WE CAN HAVE HIS LIFE. BUT THERE ARE SO MANY DISTRACTIONS, MORE SO THAN ANY OTHER TIME OF YEAR. CHRISTMAS MUSIC IS HEARD ON EVERY RADIO, IN EVERY STORE; THE NEWSPAPERS ARE FILLED WITH INSERTS REMINDING US ITS TIME TO BUY PRESENTS. TELEVISION IS SATURATED WITH CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, VARIOUS MUSICAL SPECIALS WHERE PEOPLE WHO FLAUNT MORALITY DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR SING SILENT NIGHT. CHRIST WILL COME INTO THE MIDDLE OF A TRULY PAGAN WORLD, BUT HE ALWAYS DOES.
ANOTHER THING THAT HAPPENS, AT LEAST TO ME, DURING THIS SEASON IS PRESSURE. IN ADDITION TO MY REGULAR DUTIES, I'VE GOT TO SHOP, WRAP, MAIL, GET OUT CHRISTMAS CARDS, ATTEND A PARTY OR THREE, AND WITH MY WIFE PLAN WHAT WE ARE GOING TO FEED EVERYONE WHEN THEY GET HERE. AND I LOSE SIGHT OF MY PRAYER LIFE, MY PEACE IS DISTURBED, AND SOMETIMES I LET OUT MY TENSION ON THOSE AROUND ME. AND OTHER PEOPLE ARE UNDER THE SAME PRESSURE, AND SOMETIMES WHEN THINGS ARE JUST RIGHT, SPARKS WILL FLY, THINGS WILL BE SAID THAT SHOULDN'T BE, AND RELATIONSHIPS WILL BE HARMED, DURING A TIME WHEN RELATIONSHIPS SHOULD BE HEALED.
AND LASTLY, THIS IS A SEASON OF NEGLECT. THERE IS SOMEONE WHO WILL FEEL THAT I SHOULD HAVE REMEMBERED TO SEND THEM A CARD, OR GIVE THEM A GIFT. SOMEONE WILL EXPECT ME TO ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR GIFT TO ME, AND I'LL FORGET. AND THERE WILL BE PEOPLE, SOME WHOM I KNOW WELL AND SOME WHOM I DON'T KNOW, WHO ARE ALWAYS LONELY, BUT WILL FEEL EVEN MORE LONELY THIS SEASON, AND I COULD MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE FOR ONE OF THEM WITH JUST A LITTLE OF MY TIME AND INTEREST. THE ADVENT SEASON TENDS TO SHARPEN AND FOCUS LONELINESS.
ADVENT IS FULL OF MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS AND CROOKED ROADS AND ROUGH ROADS THAT KEEP US FROM SEEING THE SALVATION OF GOD, THAT GET IN THE WAY OF THE GREAT KING WHO SEEKS TO COME TO US.
HOW ARE YOU AND I GOING TO TEAR DOWN OUR MOUNTAINS, FILL IN OUR VALLEYS, MAKE OUR CROOKED ROADS STRAIGHT? I THINK YOU AND I KNOW WHAT TO DO.
DO WE HAVE SOMETHING IN THIS SEASON THAT CALLS US BACK TO ITS TRUE MEANING? A LITTLE CEREMONY AROUND AN ADVENT WREATH IN OUR HOMES HELPS. TAKING TIME TO BREAK OUR ROUTINE AND SAY THE ROSARY HELPS. WE SHOULD PUT SOME SPACE IN EACH DAY TO DRAW CLOSER TO GOD WHO COMES TO US IN THE DIVINE CHILD. AFTER WE'VE KNOCKED DOWN THE MOUNTAIN THAT KEEPS US FROM OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, WE NEED TO TURN TOWARDS OUR NEIGHBOR. WHAT ARE WE DOING DIFFERENTLY IN THIS ADVENT SEASON? ARE WE MAKING AN EFFORT TO VISIT THE LONELY, THE SHUT IN? ARE THERE PEOPLE FROM WHOM WE ARE ESTRANGED? ISN'T IT TIME TO MAKE THAT EFFORT TO HEAL THE RELATIONSHIP? HOW ARE WE GOING TO FILL IN THE VALLEYS THAT SEPARATE US FROM OUR NEIGHBOR? AND WHAT ABOUT OURSELVES? IF THE SEASON IS MAKING US CRAZY, IF WE ARE ANXIOUS AND BOUND UP IN ALL THE SO-CALLED SPECIAL OBLIGATIONS WE HAVE DURING THIS TIME, WELL, THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. GOD OFFERS US PEACE AND JOY, AND IF WE AREN'T TAKING IT, THEN OUR ROADS ARE TOO CROOKED, OUR PATHS TOO ROUGH.
IN ADVENT WE RISK BEING LOST, BEING UNABLE TO PROCEED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BECAUSE OF ALL THE OBSTACLES THAT CONFRONT US. ALL OF OUR MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS AND CROOKED AND ROUGH ROADS ARE THERE ALL YEAR LONG, BUT THEY ARE GREATLY MAGNIFIED IN THIS SEASON. IF WE CAN LEARN TO REMOVE THESE OBSTACLES NOW, SO THAT WE CAN SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD WHICH BEGAN THAT MOMENT LONG AGO WHEN JESUS CHRIST CAME INTO THE WORLD, WE WILL BE ABLE TO DEAL WITH THOSE DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR.
SO TODAY ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT IT IS GOOD TO LOOK AT HOW WE ARE REALLY PREPARING FOR THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST.
MY WIFE SAYS I HAVE A LOUSY SENSE OF DIRECTION. BUT IT ISN'T THAT SO MUCH AS THE FACT THAT WHEN WE ARE OUT DRIVING, I GET DISTRACTED. I PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD, BUT I FORGET THE EXIT I WAS SUPPOSED TO TAKE. I DON'T HAVE NEARLY AS MUCH TROUBLE WHEN I'M DRIVING ALONE, FOR SOME REASON. I GUESS WHEN I AM WITH MY WIFE I EXPECT HER TO TELL ME WHEN TO TURN. THAT'S ONE KIND OF BEING LOST. YOU LOSE A LITTLE TIME, YOU GET A LITTLE FRUSTRATED. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF BEING LOST THAT I'VE ONLY EXPERIENCED ONCE. I WAS LOST ONE TIME IN A FOREST IN MONTANA. I WAS OUT HIKING BY MYSELF AND HAD NO PARTICULAR DESTINATION IN MIND. I FOLLOWED WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A TRAIL. WHEN I DECIDED TO TURN BACK, EVERYTHING LOOKED UNFAMILIAR. I COULDN'T TELL WHERE I HAD BEEN. AS TIME WENT ON, PANIC SET IN. I KNEW THAT THERE WAS ONLY ONE DIRECTION WHERE I COULD EXPECT TO FIND MY CAR, AND ALL THE OTHERS LAD DEEPER INTO THE FOREST. I TRIED TO FIND HIGH GROUND, BUT STILL DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE. FORTUNATELY AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR OF STUMBLING AROUND, I RAN ACROSS A STREAM AND FOLLOWED IT UNTIL I CAME TO A ROAD.
BEING LOST IN A FOREST OR A DESERT IS FRIGHTENING BECAUSE YOU GET DISORIENTED. THINGS START TO LOOK THE SAME, WHATEVER DIRECTION YOU GO. AND ALL THE WHILE, IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS HOW PEOPLE DIE – BEING LOST.
OUR GOSPEL TODAY USES IMAGES WHICH ARE STRANGE TO US. THE GOSPEL QUOTES FROM ISAIAH THE PROPHET, AND TALKS ABOUT KNOCKING DOWN MOUNTAINS AND FILLING UP VALLEYS, MAKING CROOKED ROADS STRAIGHT AND ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH. AND NOT JUST DOING THIS TO MAKE A PATH, BUT EVERY MOUNTAIN, EVERY VALLEY, EVERY ROAD. IT IS LIKE THE WHOLE WORLD IS TURNED INTO A GIANT MARBLE, SMOOTH AND THE SAME IN EVERY DIRECTION. WHEN THE PASSAGE STARTS, THE IDEA IS TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD. BUT WHEN IT ENDS, IT IS US WHO ARE BEING PREPARED, PREPARED TO SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.
ADVENT IS AN INTERESTING SEASON. IT IS A TIME WHEN WE ARE SUPPOSED TO FOCUS ON THE SALVATION OF GOD, THE MOMENT WHEN GOD ENTERS OUR WORLD, WHEN HE TAKES ON OUR FLESH, WHEN HE BEGINS TO LIVE WITH US AND FOR US, AND ULTIMATELY DIE SO THAT WE CAN HAVE HIS LIFE. BUT THERE ARE SO MANY DISTRACTIONS, MORE SO THAN ANY OTHER TIME OF YEAR. CHRISTMAS MUSIC IS HEARD ON EVERY RADIO, IN EVERY STORE; THE NEWSPAPERS ARE FILLED WITH INSERTS REMINDING US ITS TIME TO BUY PRESENTS. TELEVISION IS SATURATED WITH CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, VARIOUS MUSICAL SPECIALS WHERE PEOPLE WHO FLAUNT MORALITY DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR SING SILENT NIGHT. CHRIST WILL COME INTO THE MIDDLE OF A TRULY PAGAN WORLD, BUT HE ALWAYS DOES.
ANOTHER THING THAT HAPPENS, AT LEAST TO ME, DURING THIS SEASON IS PRESSURE. IN ADDITION TO MY REGULAR DUTIES, I'VE GOT TO SHOP, WRAP, MAIL, GET OUT CHRISTMAS CARDS, ATTEND A PARTY OR THREE, AND WITH MY WIFE PLAN WHAT WE ARE GOING TO FEED EVERYONE WHEN THEY GET HERE. AND I LOSE SIGHT OF MY PRAYER LIFE, MY PEACE IS DISTURBED, AND SOMETIMES I LET OUT MY TENSION ON THOSE AROUND ME. AND OTHER PEOPLE ARE UNDER THE SAME PRESSURE, AND SOMETIMES WHEN THINGS ARE JUST RIGHT, SPARKS WILL FLY, THINGS WILL BE SAID THAT SHOULDN'T BE, AND RELATIONSHIPS WILL BE HARMED, DURING A TIME WHEN RELATIONSHIPS SHOULD BE HEALED.
AND LASTLY, THIS IS A SEASON OF NEGLECT. THERE IS SOMEONE WHO WILL FEEL THAT I SHOULD HAVE REMEMBERED TO SEND THEM A CARD, OR GIVE THEM A GIFT. SOMEONE WILL EXPECT ME TO ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR GIFT TO ME, AND I'LL FORGET. AND THERE WILL BE PEOPLE, SOME WHOM I KNOW WELL AND SOME WHOM I DON'T KNOW, WHO ARE ALWAYS LONELY, BUT WILL FEEL EVEN MORE LONELY THIS SEASON, AND I COULD MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE FOR ONE OF THEM WITH JUST A LITTLE OF MY TIME AND INTEREST. THE ADVENT SEASON TENDS TO SHARPEN AND FOCUS LONELINESS.
ADVENT IS FULL OF MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS AND CROOKED ROADS AND ROUGH ROADS THAT KEEP US FROM SEEING THE SALVATION OF GOD, THAT GET IN THE WAY OF THE GREAT KING WHO SEEKS TO COME TO US.
HOW ARE YOU AND I GOING TO TEAR DOWN OUR MOUNTAINS, FILL IN OUR VALLEYS, MAKE OUR CROOKED ROADS STRAIGHT? I THINK YOU AND I KNOW WHAT TO DO.
DO WE HAVE SOMETHING IN THIS SEASON THAT CALLS US BACK TO ITS TRUE MEANING? A LITTLE CEREMONY AROUND AN ADVENT WREATH IN OUR HOMES HELPS. TAKING TIME TO BREAK OUR ROUTINE AND SAY THE ROSARY HELPS. WE SHOULD PUT SOME SPACE IN EACH DAY TO DRAW CLOSER TO GOD WHO COMES TO US IN THE DIVINE CHILD. AFTER WE'VE KNOCKED DOWN THE MOUNTAIN THAT KEEPS US FROM OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, WE NEED TO TURN TOWARDS OUR NEIGHBOR. WHAT ARE WE DOING DIFFERENTLY IN THIS ADVENT SEASON? ARE WE MAKING AN EFFORT TO VISIT THE LONELY, THE SHUT IN? ARE THERE PEOPLE FROM WHOM WE ARE ESTRANGED? ISN'T IT TIME TO MAKE THAT EFFORT TO HEAL THE RELATIONSHIP? HOW ARE WE GOING TO FILL IN THE VALLEYS THAT SEPARATE US FROM OUR NEIGHBOR? AND WHAT ABOUT OURSELVES? IF THE SEASON IS MAKING US CRAZY, IF WE ARE ANXIOUS AND BOUND UP IN ALL THE SO-CALLED SPECIAL OBLIGATIONS WE HAVE DURING THIS TIME, WELL, THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. GOD OFFERS US PEACE AND JOY, AND IF WE AREN'T TAKING IT, THEN OUR ROADS ARE TOO CROOKED, OUR PATHS TOO ROUGH.
IN ADVENT WE RISK BEING LOST, BEING UNABLE TO PROCEED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BECAUSE OF ALL THE OBSTACLES THAT CONFRONT US. ALL OF OUR MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS AND CROOKED AND ROUGH ROADS ARE THERE ALL YEAR LONG, BUT THEY ARE GREATLY MAGNIFIED IN THIS SEASON. IF WE CAN LEARN TO REMOVE THESE OBSTACLES NOW, SO THAT WE CAN SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD WHICH BEGAN THAT MOMENT LONG AGO WHEN JESUS CHRIST CAME INTO THE WORLD, WE WILL BE ABLE TO DEAL WITH THOSE DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR.
SO TODAY ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT IT IS GOOD TO LOOK AT HOW WE ARE REALLY PREPARING FOR THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
First Sunday of Advent, cycle C
LUKE 21:25-28, 34-36
AS A CANCER SPECIALIST, I AM FORTUNATE TO WITNESS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, THE WONDERS OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT. THE OTHER DAY I SAW IN FOLLOW UP A WOMAN THAT I'D FIRST MET MANY YEARS AGO. WHEN SHE CAME TO ME SHE WAS IN TEARS, HAVING JUST LEARNED THAT SHE HAD BREAST CANCER. SHE HAD THE KIND OF DISEASE THAT REQUIRED THE REMOVAL OF THE WHOLE BREAST. AFTERWARDS, SHE WOULD NEED CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION, AND THEN FIVE YEARS OF A PILL THAT WOULD CAUSE HER TO HAVE HOT FLASHES, MOOD SWINGS, AND SOMETIMES A TENDENCY TO DEPRESSION AND WEIGHT GAIN. THIS WAS A SERIOUS BURDEN FOR A 39 YEAR OLD MOTHER AND WIFE. WELL, SHE GOT THROUGH IT. THERE WERE A LOT OF TEARS, AND SHE AND HER HUSBAND HAD TO GO THROUGH SOME COUNSELING, AND I'M SURE HER TEENAGERS WERE A LITTLE SCARRED BY THE WHOLE AFFAIR. AND YOU WOULD THINK THAT AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE, SHE WOULDN'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT BREAST CANCER EVER AGAIN. BUT LIKE MANY WOMEN WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS, SHE IS A VOLUNTEER. SHE WILL DROP EVERYTHING TO MEET WITH NEWLY DIAGNOSED WOMEN. AND SHE CAN SAY, “I'VE BEEN WHERE YOU ARE, AND I MADE IT THROUGH, AND IT WAS HARD, BUT I DID IT AND SO CAN YOU.” AND SHE SAYS THIS BY HER PRESENCE AS WELL AS HER WORDS.
I BET YOU WONDER HOW I AM GOING TO CONNECT THAT STORY TO THE GOSPEL, DON'T YOU?
TODAY ON THIS FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, WE HAVE ANOTHER “APOCALYPSE”. YOU REMEMBER THAT FOR THE LAST TWO SUNDAYS THE READINGS HAVE HAD APOCALYPTIC ELEMENTS IN THEM. APOCALYPSE MEANS “TO TAKE THE COVER OFF”. JESUS IS NOT PREDICTING THE END OF THE WORLD, NOR DO ANY OF THE APOCALYPTIC WRITINGS DO THAT. TODAY SOMEONE READS THESE TEXTS AND RUNS OFF TO MAKE A MOVIE LIKE “2012” ABOUT HOW THE WORLD WILL END. AND SOME OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST SPEND A LOT OF TIME COMPARING WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW WITH WHAT IS PUT FORTH IN THESE KINDS OF PASSAGES, IN THE HOPES OF BEING ABLE TO TELL WHEN THE WORLD WILL END, OR AT LEAST GO THROUGH PROFOUND CHANGE. AND LIKE AS NOT, ALL OF THIS IS DONE SO THAT PEOPLE WILL DROP THEIR SINFUL WAYS AND COME TO THE LORD. THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND THE SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS OWE THEIR ORIGINS TO HOW THEIR FOUNDERS READ THE APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE IN THE BIBLE.
BUT THE REASON APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE WAS WRITTEN WAS NOT TO SCARE PEOPLE INTO CHANGING THEIR LIVES, NOR WAS IT MEANT TO GIVE A DETAILED OUTLINE OF THE END OF TIME. THE REAL PURPOSE WAS TO GIVE HOPE. BECAUSE THE PEOPLE TO WHOM JESUS SPOKE, AND THOSE TO WHOM THE WRITERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ADDRESSED, WERE A TINY COMMUNITY, ON THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY, SUBJECT TO MARTYRDOM, TO RANDOM VIOLENCE, TO PREJUDICE AND PERSECUTION. HUMAN BEINGS LIKE TO BE IN CONTROL; THEY HAD NO CONTROL OVER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT. WHEN YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOU CAN'T CONTROL THINGS, YOU CAN REACT IN DIFFERENT WAYS; YOU CAN QUAKE IN FEAR, LETTING YOURSELF BE OVERWHELMED BY DEPRESSION AND DESPAIR; OR YOU CAN LOSE YOURSELF IN DRUNKENNESS, OR IN FACT IN ANY VICE THAT DISTRACTS YOU – SOMETIMES JUST THE ANXIETIES OF DAILY LIFE CAN DO THAT, AS JESUS RECOGNIZES; OR YOU CAN HAVE AN ESCHATOLOGY.
SO NOW I AM THROWING ANOTHER GREEK WORD AT YOU. IT MEANS “THE KNOWING OF FINAL THINGS” AND IN THIS CASE, FINAL REFERS TO THAT TIME WHEN THE EVENTS OF HISTORY ARE COMPLETED. AN ESCHATOLOGY IS AN ELEMENT OF FAITH. IT IS OUR VISION OF HOW THINGS COULD BE, HOW THINGS WILL BE, EVEN THOUGH THERE ISN'T ANYTHING IN OUR EXPERIENCE THAT SAYS THIS WILL HAPPEN. MY PATIENT, HAVING GONE THROUGH SURGERY, RADIATION, CHEMOTHERAPY AND HORMONE THERAPY, CAME OUT AT THE OTHER END INTACT, AND SHE IS A WITNESS TO NEW PATIENTS THAT THERE IS A FUTURE, THAT TRIBULATION WILL SOMEDAY END; SHE GIVES THEM AN ESCHATOLOGY ABOUT HOW IT IS TO HAVE BREAST CANCER.
AND THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. IT IS TO REMIND US THAT JESUS CHRIST, WHO HAS ALREADY CONQUERED DEATH, WILL COME AGAIN TO CONQUER DEATH FOR US, TO USHER IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, WHERE GOD'S PLAN WILL FINALLY TRIUMPH, AND THOSE WHO ARE JESUS' BROTHERS AND SISTERS WILL REIGN IN THAT KINGDOM AS WELL.
JESUS TELLS HIS FOLLOWERS, HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, YOU AND I, THAT WHEN THOSE TIMES COME, WHEN EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE GOING WRONG, WHEN OUR CURRENCY IS BEING DEVALUED, WHEN BANKS ARE FAILING, WHEN WE HAVE SCANDALS IN THE PRIESTHOOD, WHEN STATE BY STATE, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS BEING LEGALIZED, WHEN WE ARE CLOSING CHURCHES BECAUSE FEWER AND FEWER CATHOLICS BOTHER TO GO TO MASS, AND WHEN IT IS NO LONGER UNTHINKABLE THAT SOMEONE MIGHT FLY AN AIRPLANE INTO THE BUILDING WHERE WE WORK OR KILL US WITH RANDOM GUNFIRE, WHEN GLOBAL WARMING THREATENS OUR VERY EXISTENCE -- WHEN ALL THESE SIGNS OF THE TIMES TELL US THAT THE END OF OUR WORLD IS NEAR, JESUS TELLS US TO HOLD UP OUR HEADS BECAUSE OUR REDEMPTION IS AT HAND. WE WILL NOT BE ABANDONED. IT IS UP TO US HOW WE HANDLE OURSELVES – A LIFE OF REACTION, WHERE FEAR AND PANIC ARE OUR MAJOR EMOTIONS, AND WE SEEK SECURITY, WE SEEK TO HIDE. OR A LIFE OF DISTRACTION, LIVING FOR THE MOMENT, SPENDING AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE IN SPORTS, ON THE INTERNET, WATCHING TELEVISION, JUST FILLING OUR TIME WITH ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER. OR, WE COULD CHOOSE A LIFE OF SATISFACTION, WHERE WE KEEP THE BIG PICTURE BEFORE OUR EYES, WHERE WE LET OUR LIVES BE GUIDED BY AN ESCHATOLOGY. “WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?” WILL THIS MATTER IN THE LONG RUN?” IS WHAT I AM ABOUT TO DO BRINGING ME CLOSER TO GOD, OR DRIVING ME FURTHER AWAY?” “EVEN THOUGH THINGS LOOK TERRIBLE RIGHT NOW, I AM AN ADOPTED CHILD OF GOD, THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND BROTHER OR SISTER TO JESUS CHRIST.” I MAY BE IN PAIN RIGHT NOW, BUT I KNOW GOD HAS PROMISED TO WIPE AWAY ALL MY TEARS, TO PREPARE AN EVERLASTING PLACE IN WHICH I WILL DWELL”. THESE ARE ALL THOUGHTS WHICH COME OUT OF OUR CATHOLIC ESCHATOLOGY.
THE PURPOSE OF THE GOSPEL, OF APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, IS TO REMIND US THAT THERE IS A REALITY BEHIND THE WORLD WE EXPERIENCE, A REALITY WHICH WE BECOME A PART OF IF WE ARE TRULY PART OF JESUS CHRIST. AND IT IS A WONDERFUL THING TO BEGIN OUR ADVENT CELEBRATION THINKING ABOUT THIS, BECAUSE WHEN CHRISTMAS COMES, WE WILL CELEBRATE THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS WHICH STILL GOES ON, THE MOMENT WHEN GOD TAKES ON A BODY, AND LIVES WITH US, AND LIVES IN US AND THROUGH US, AND LEADS US AND THE WHOLE UNIVERSE BACK TO HIMSELF.
AS A CANCER SPECIALIST, I AM FORTUNATE TO WITNESS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, THE WONDERS OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT. THE OTHER DAY I SAW IN FOLLOW UP A WOMAN THAT I'D FIRST MET MANY YEARS AGO. WHEN SHE CAME TO ME SHE WAS IN TEARS, HAVING JUST LEARNED THAT SHE HAD BREAST CANCER. SHE HAD THE KIND OF DISEASE THAT REQUIRED THE REMOVAL OF THE WHOLE BREAST. AFTERWARDS, SHE WOULD NEED CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION, AND THEN FIVE YEARS OF A PILL THAT WOULD CAUSE HER TO HAVE HOT FLASHES, MOOD SWINGS, AND SOMETIMES A TENDENCY TO DEPRESSION AND WEIGHT GAIN. THIS WAS A SERIOUS BURDEN FOR A 39 YEAR OLD MOTHER AND WIFE. WELL, SHE GOT THROUGH IT. THERE WERE A LOT OF TEARS, AND SHE AND HER HUSBAND HAD TO GO THROUGH SOME COUNSELING, AND I'M SURE HER TEENAGERS WERE A LITTLE SCARRED BY THE WHOLE AFFAIR. AND YOU WOULD THINK THAT AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE, SHE WOULDN'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT BREAST CANCER EVER AGAIN. BUT LIKE MANY WOMEN WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS, SHE IS A VOLUNTEER. SHE WILL DROP EVERYTHING TO MEET WITH NEWLY DIAGNOSED WOMEN. AND SHE CAN SAY, “I'VE BEEN WHERE YOU ARE, AND I MADE IT THROUGH, AND IT WAS HARD, BUT I DID IT AND SO CAN YOU.” AND SHE SAYS THIS BY HER PRESENCE AS WELL AS HER WORDS.
I BET YOU WONDER HOW I AM GOING TO CONNECT THAT STORY TO THE GOSPEL, DON'T YOU?
TODAY ON THIS FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, WE HAVE ANOTHER “APOCALYPSE”. YOU REMEMBER THAT FOR THE LAST TWO SUNDAYS THE READINGS HAVE HAD APOCALYPTIC ELEMENTS IN THEM. APOCALYPSE MEANS “TO TAKE THE COVER OFF”. JESUS IS NOT PREDICTING THE END OF THE WORLD, NOR DO ANY OF THE APOCALYPTIC WRITINGS DO THAT. TODAY SOMEONE READS THESE TEXTS AND RUNS OFF TO MAKE A MOVIE LIKE “2012” ABOUT HOW THE WORLD WILL END. AND SOME OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST SPEND A LOT OF TIME COMPARING WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW WITH WHAT IS PUT FORTH IN THESE KINDS OF PASSAGES, IN THE HOPES OF BEING ABLE TO TELL WHEN THE WORLD WILL END, OR AT LEAST GO THROUGH PROFOUND CHANGE. AND LIKE AS NOT, ALL OF THIS IS DONE SO THAT PEOPLE WILL DROP THEIR SINFUL WAYS AND COME TO THE LORD. THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND THE SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS OWE THEIR ORIGINS TO HOW THEIR FOUNDERS READ THE APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE IN THE BIBLE.
BUT THE REASON APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE WAS WRITTEN WAS NOT TO SCARE PEOPLE INTO CHANGING THEIR LIVES, NOR WAS IT MEANT TO GIVE A DETAILED OUTLINE OF THE END OF TIME. THE REAL PURPOSE WAS TO GIVE HOPE. BECAUSE THE PEOPLE TO WHOM JESUS SPOKE, AND THOSE TO WHOM THE WRITERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ADDRESSED, WERE A TINY COMMUNITY, ON THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY, SUBJECT TO MARTYRDOM, TO RANDOM VIOLENCE, TO PREJUDICE AND PERSECUTION. HUMAN BEINGS LIKE TO BE IN CONTROL; THEY HAD NO CONTROL OVER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT. WHEN YOU FEEL AS THOUGH YOU CAN'T CONTROL THINGS, YOU CAN REACT IN DIFFERENT WAYS; YOU CAN QUAKE IN FEAR, LETTING YOURSELF BE OVERWHELMED BY DEPRESSION AND DESPAIR; OR YOU CAN LOSE YOURSELF IN DRUNKENNESS, OR IN FACT IN ANY VICE THAT DISTRACTS YOU – SOMETIMES JUST THE ANXIETIES OF DAILY LIFE CAN DO THAT, AS JESUS RECOGNIZES; OR YOU CAN HAVE AN ESCHATOLOGY.
SO NOW I AM THROWING ANOTHER GREEK WORD AT YOU. IT MEANS “THE KNOWING OF FINAL THINGS” AND IN THIS CASE, FINAL REFERS TO THAT TIME WHEN THE EVENTS OF HISTORY ARE COMPLETED. AN ESCHATOLOGY IS AN ELEMENT OF FAITH. IT IS OUR VISION OF HOW THINGS COULD BE, HOW THINGS WILL BE, EVEN THOUGH THERE ISN'T ANYTHING IN OUR EXPERIENCE THAT SAYS THIS WILL HAPPEN. MY PATIENT, HAVING GONE THROUGH SURGERY, RADIATION, CHEMOTHERAPY AND HORMONE THERAPY, CAME OUT AT THE OTHER END INTACT, AND SHE IS A WITNESS TO NEW PATIENTS THAT THERE IS A FUTURE, THAT TRIBULATION WILL SOMEDAY END; SHE GIVES THEM AN ESCHATOLOGY ABOUT HOW IT IS TO HAVE BREAST CANCER.
AND THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. IT IS TO REMIND US THAT JESUS CHRIST, WHO HAS ALREADY CONQUERED DEATH, WILL COME AGAIN TO CONQUER DEATH FOR US, TO USHER IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, WHERE GOD'S PLAN WILL FINALLY TRIUMPH, AND THOSE WHO ARE JESUS' BROTHERS AND SISTERS WILL REIGN IN THAT KINGDOM AS WELL.
JESUS TELLS HIS FOLLOWERS, HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, YOU AND I, THAT WHEN THOSE TIMES COME, WHEN EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE GOING WRONG, WHEN OUR CURRENCY IS BEING DEVALUED, WHEN BANKS ARE FAILING, WHEN WE HAVE SCANDALS IN THE PRIESTHOOD, WHEN STATE BY STATE, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS BEING LEGALIZED, WHEN WE ARE CLOSING CHURCHES BECAUSE FEWER AND FEWER CATHOLICS BOTHER TO GO TO MASS, AND WHEN IT IS NO LONGER UNTHINKABLE THAT SOMEONE MIGHT FLY AN AIRPLANE INTO THE BUILDING WHERE WE WORK OR KILL US WITH RANDOM GUNFIRE, WHEN GLOBAL WARMING THREATENS OUR VERY EXISTENCE -- WHEN ALL THESE SIGNS OF THE TIMES TELL US THAT THE END OF OUR WORLD IS NEAR, JESUS TELLS US TO HOLD UP OUR HEADS BECAUSE OUR REDEMPTION IS AT HAND. WE WILL NOT BE ABANDONED. IT IS UP TO US HOW WE HANDLE OURSELVES – A LIFE OF REACTION, WHERE FEAR AND PANIC ARE OUR MAJOR EMOTIONS, AND WE SEEK SECURITY, WE SEEK TO HIDE. OR A LIFE OF DISTRACTION, LIVING FOR THE MOMENT, SPENDING AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE IN SPORTS, ON THE INTERNET, WATCHING TELEVISION, JUST FILLING OUR TIME WITH ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER. OR, WE COULD CHOOSE A LIFE OF SATISFACTION, WHERE WE KEEP THE BIG PICTURE BEFORE OUR EYES, WHERE WE LET OUR LIVES BE GUIDED BY AN ESCHATOLOGY. “WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?” WILL THIS MATTER IN THE LONG RUN?” IS WHAT I AM ABOUT TO DO BRINGING ME CLOSER TO GOD, OR DRIVING ME FURTHER AWAY?” “EVEN THOUGH THINGS LOOK TERRIBLE RIGHT NOW, I AM AN ADOPTED CHILD OF GOD, THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND BROTHER OR SISTER TO JESUS CHRIST.” I MAY BE IN PAIN RIGHT NOW, BUT I KNOW GOD HAS PROMISED TO WIPE AWAY ALL MY TEARS, TO PREPARE AN EVERLASTING PLACE IN WHICH I WILL DWELL”. THESE ARE ALL THOUGHTS WHICH COME OUT OF OUR CATHOLIC ESCHATOLOGY.
THE PURPOSE OF THE GOSPEL, OF APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, IS TO REMIND US THAT THERE IS A REALITY BEHIND THE WORLD WE EXPERIENCE, A REALITY WHICH WE BECOME A PART OF IF WE ARE TRULY PART OF JESUS CHRIST. AND IT IS A WONDERFUL THING TO BEGIN OUR ADVENT CELEBRATION THINKING ABOUT THIS, BECAUSE WHEN CHRISTMAS COMES, WE WILL CELEBRATE THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS WHICH STILL GOES ON, THE MOMENT WHEN GOD TAKES ON A BODY, AND LIVES WITH US, AND LIVES IN US AND THROUGH US, AND LEADS US AND THE WHOLE UNIVERSE BACK TO HIMSELF.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Feast of Christ the King, 2009
JOHN 18:33B-37
DO YOU NOTICE THE STRIKING CONTRAST BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND READINGS AND THE PSALM, WHICH REFER TO A TRIUMPHANT, POWERFUL, EVERLASTING KING; AND THE GOSPEL, IN WHICH JESUS STANDS BEFORE PILATE, UNDERGOING THE TRIAL WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO HIS CONDEMNATION AND DEATH. LAST WEEK WE HEARD JESUS HIMSELF REFER TO HIS SECOND COMING; YOU WOULD THINK THAT THIS KIND OF GOSPEL READING WOULD BE MORE APPROPRIATE HERE.
BUT THERE WE HAVE IT, A PRISONER, DRESSED IN RAGS, COVERED IN BLOOD FROM BEING LASHED, STANDING BEFORE THE POWER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE REPRESENTED BY PONTIUS PILATE – CERTAINLY NOT A KINGLY FIGURE.
IF JESUS CAME AS A KING, RIDING OUT OF THE SKY SURROUNDED BY ANGELS, YOU CAN BET THAT WE WOULD ALL BE FLOCKING TO THE NEAREST CONFESSIONAL AND SUDDENLY LEARNING TO PRAY AGAIN. WE WOULD SUDDENLY REMEMBER ALL THE COMPROMISES, ALL THE TIMES WE FAILED TO ACT, ALL THE SINS WE'VE COMMITTED – AND WE WOULD BE ON OUR KNEES BEGGING FOR FORGIVENESS. IF JESUS CAME SLOWLY, OVER THE COURSE OF A FEW DAYS, WHAT HUNGRY PERSON WOULD NOT BE FED, WHAT SICK PERSON WOULD NOT BE COMFORTED, WHAT LONELY PERSON WOULD NOT BE BEFRIENDED? WE AND THE REST OF MANKIND WOULD BE DESPERATELY TRYING TO REMEMBER WHAT JESUS COMMANDED, AND THEN WE WOULD BE OUT THERE TRYING TO DO IT. KNOWING THE END OF THE WORLD IS COMING WOULD DEFINITELY GET OUR ATTENTION AND FOCUS OUR MINDS.
BUT I THINK JESUS COMES TO US MORE LIKE HE COMES TO PILATE. HE COMES, ALLOWING US TO HAVE COMPLETE FREEDOM TO ACCEPT OR REJECT; BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY WE HAVE A CHANCE TO BE GODLY IS TO HAVE THAT GODLY FREEDOM, THE FREEDOM WHICH CANNOT BE COERCED, THE FREEDOM WHICH ALLOWS US TO BE IN CONTROL. EVEN IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE THE BODY IS THREATENED, THE REAL ME, THE GODLY ME, CAN ALWAYS CHOOSE, EVEN DEATH. IF JESUS CAME OUT OF THE SKY WITH TRUMPETS BLARING AND ANGELS RUNNING INTERFERENCE, OUR FREEDOM WOULD BE COMPROMISED; HOW WE REACTED TO HIS COMING WOULD BE A SIDE EFFECT OF FEAR, A CONSEQUENCE OF THE DESIRE TO PLEASE; IT WOULD NOT FLOW FROM LOVE.
SO LISTEN TO PILATE. HE ASKS THREE QUESTIONS. THE FIRST IS “ARE YOU THE KING OF THE JEWS?” NOW PILATE IS BEING SARCASTIC. HE KNOWS THAT THE JEWS HAVE NO KING. PILATE KNEW THAT THE MAJORITY OF JEWS LIVED ELSEWHERE, ESPECIALLY IN NORTHERN ISRAEL, BUT INDEED, SCATTERED ALL THROUGH THE EMPIRE. AND PILATE KNEW THAT THERE HAD BEEN REBELLIONS IN THE PAST, AND THE ROMAN LEGIONS HAD MADE SHORT WORK OF THEM. AND HE KNEW THAT IF JESUS ANSWERED “YES” PILATE WOULD SIMPLY ORDER HIM TO BE CRUCIFIED; AND IF HE ANSWERED “NO”, JESUS WOULD LOSE WHATEVER POPULARITY HE HAD WITH THE PEOPLE, WHO HOPED HE WOULD LEAD THEM TO A NEW ISRAEL.
BUT JESUS DOES NOT REALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION. HE SAYS, “IS THAT YOUR QUESTION, OR DID SOMEONE TELL YOU TO ASK IT?” IF PILATE SAYS IT IS HIS QUESTION, HE WILL BE ADMITTING TO THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOMEONE MIGHT BE IN COMPETITION WITH THE EMPEROR. AND IF HE SAYS IT IS THE QUESTION SOMEONE ELSE TOLD HIM TO ASK, HE WILL BE UNDERMINING HIS OWN POWER.
THEN PILATE SAYS, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” AND JESUS REPLIES THAT IF HIS KINGDOM BELONGED TO THE WORLD, HIS FOLLOWERS WOULD BE FIGHTING FOR HIM, BUT SINCE THEY OBVIOUSLY WEREN'T, HIS KINGDOM COULD NOT BE OF THE WORLD. AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT IF HIS FOLLOWERS WOULD BE FIGHTING TO KEEP HIM FROM BEING HANDED OVER TO THE JEWS, HE COULD NOT VERY WELL BE KING OF THE JEWS, COULD HE?
AND PILATE IS DESPERATE. “BUT YOU ARE A KING, RIGHT?” BECAUSE IF JESUS SAYS YES, PILATE CAN GET RID OF THIS WHOLE PROBLEM – HE SAID HE WAS A KING, AND THAT IS AN ACT PUNISHABLE BY DEATH, AND I JUST FOLLOWED THE LAW. BUT JESUS SAYS, “YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS CALLED ME A KING HERE. I'M NOT ABOUT BEING A KING. I CAME INTO THE WORLD TO TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH. AND IF YOU, OR ANYONE, HAS ANY RESPECT FOR THE TRUTH, YOU WOULD HEAR MY VOICE.”
UNFORTUNATELY, WE DON'T HEAR THE NEXT QUESTION OF PILATE, “WHAT IS TRUTH?”
JESUS COMES TO US, LIKE HE COMES TO PILATE. HE STANDS BEFORE US, WAITING FOR US TO SPEAK. “WHO ARE YOU, WE SAY.” SOME SAY YOU ARE A GREAT PROPHET, SOME SAY YOU ARE GOD'S SON, THE THIRD PERSON IN THE TRINITY. SOME SAY YOU WERE A GREAT MAN AMONG GREAT MEN. SOME SAY YOU WERE A FOOL, A REBEL, A FANATIC.” TELL ME WHO YOU ARE, SO THAT I CAN PUT YOU INTO A CATEGORY, SO THAT I CAN DEAL WITH YOU, SO THAT AFTER I DEAL WITH YOU I CA N GET ON WITH MY LIFE.
AND JESUS REPLIES, “YOU TELL ME. TELL ME WHO YOU THINK I AM, NOT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAY.” AND YOU AND I STRUGGLE. IF WE SAY “YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD, THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR WHOLE LIVES, AND KEEP CHANGING THEM. IT MEANS THAT WE BETTER LISTEN TO WHAT HE IS SAYING. IT MEANS THAT WE HAVE TO RE-FOCUS OUR WHOLE LIVES AROUND THIS ASTOUNDING FACT, THAT GOD HAS TAKEN ON FLESH AND LIVES.
BUT IF I SAY THAT YOU ARE KING OF THE JEWS, I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY; I'M NOT A JEW. IF I SAY YOU ARE JUST A REVOLUTIONARY, OR A HOLY MAN, OR A PROPHET, OR A GREAT TEACHER LIKE THE BUDDHA, I CAN TAKE YOU OR LEAVE YOU.
AND THEN WE ASK, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” DID YOU REALLY WORK MIRACLES? DID YOU RAISE LAZARUS AND A LITTLE GIRL FROM THE DEAD? DID YOU DRIVE OUT DEMONS AND HEAL THE BLIND AND PARALYZED AND DEAF AND THOSE WHO WERE CRIPPLED? DID YOU RAISE YOURSELF FROM THE DEAD? BECAUSE IF YOU DID, YOU ARE GOD, AND I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO SPEND MY LIFE LISTENING TO YOU, LEARNING FROM YOU, TRYING TO ALIGN MY LIFE WITH YOU. BUT IF I SAY THESE STORIES ARE JUST LEGENDS, I DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE. IT'S EASIER FOR ME NOT TO CHANGE.
AND THEN WE ASK, “BUT YOU ARE A KING, RIGHT?” BECAUSE WE KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT THE MAN JESUS, THERE IS SOMETHING THAT ATTRACTS US. IF HE IS A KING, THAT'S TOLERABLE. WHEN YOU HAVE A KING, YOU GIVE OVER SOME OF YOUR FREEDOM TO THE KING. THE KING CAN TAX, RAISE ARMIES, PASS LAWS, BUT MOST OF THE TIME YOU CAN GIVE LIP SERVICE, AND YOUR LIFE CAN GO ON WHETHER IT IS THIS KING OR THAT ONE, WHETHER IT IS A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN. A KING IS A LONG WAY AWAY, AND MAYBE IF THIS JESUS IS A KING, I CAN THINK ABOUT HIM ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR. BUT HE REPLIES, I CAME INTO THE WORLD TO TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH. MY WORDS, MY LIFE, MY DEEDS ARE THERE FOR YOU TO LOOK AT. IF YOU SEE THEM WITH AN OPEN MIND, AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE AS A RESULT, YOU WILL BE HAPPY FOR ALL ETERNITY. BUT IF YOU IGNORE WHAT YOU SEE, WHAT YOU HEAR, YOU WILL NEVER RECEIVE WHAT I AM OFFERING TO YOU. YOU CAN LISTEN TO ME, OR YOU CAN BELONG TO A WORLD OF ILLUSION, A WORLD OF LIES.
JESUS SAID THAT IF YOU BELONG TO THE TRUTH, YOU LISTEN TO MY VOICE.. CAN WE HONESTLY SAY WE ARE LISTENING AND HEEDING HIS VOICE? OR WILL WE RESORT TO THAT LAST QUESTION OF PILATE, “WHAT IS TRUTH?” AND TURN AWAY?
DO YOU NOTICE THE STRIKING CONTRAST BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND READINGS AND THE PSALM, WHICH REFER TO A TRIUMPHANT, POWERFUL, EVERLASTING KING; AND THE GOSPEL, IN WHICH JESUS STANDS BEFORE PILATE, UNDERGOING THE TRIAL WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO HIS CONDEMNATION AND DEATH. LAST WEEK WE HEARD JESUS HIMSELF REFER TO HIS SECOND COMING; YOU WOULD THINK THAT THIS KIND OF GOSPEL READING WOULD BE MORE APPROPRIATE HERE.
BUT THERE WE HAVE IT, A PRISONER, DRESSED IN RAGS, COVERED IN BLOOD FROM BEING LASHED, STANDING BEFORE THE POWER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE REPRESENTED BY PONTIUS PILATE – CERTAINLY NOT A KINGLY FIGURE.
IF JESUS CAME AS A KING, RIDING OUT OF THE SKY SURROUNDED BY ANGELS, YOU CAN BET THAT WE WOULD ALL BE FLOCKING TO THE NEAREST CONFESSIONAL AND SUDDENLY LEARNING TO PRAY AGAIN. WE WOULD SUDDENLY REMEMBER ALL THE COMPROMISES, ALL THE TIMES WE FAILED TO ACT, ALL THE SINS WE'VE COMMITTED – AND WE WOULD BE ON OUR KNEES BEGGING FOR FORGIVENESS. IF JESUS CAME SLOWLY, OVER THE COURSE OF A FEW DAYS, WHAT HUNGRY PERSON WOULD NOT BE FED, WHAT SICK PERSON WOULD NOT BE COMFORTED, WHAT LONELY PERSON WOULD NOT BE BEFRIENDED? WE AND THE REST OF MANKIND WOULD BE DESPERATELY TRYING TO REMEMBER WHAT JESUS COMMANDED, AND THEN WE WOULD BE OUT THERE TRYING TO DO IT. KNOWING THE END OF THE WORLD IS COMING WOULD DEFINITELY GET OUR ATTENTION AND FOCUS OUR MINDS.
BUT I THINK JESUS COMES TO US MORE LIKE HE COMES TO PILATE. HE COMES, ALLOWING US TO HAVE COMPLETE FREEDOM TO ACCEPT OR REJECT; BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY WE HAVE A CHANCE TO BE GODLY IS TO HAVE THAT GODLY FREEDOM, THE FREEDOM WHICH CANNOT BE COERCED, THE FREEDOM WHICH ALLOWS US TO BE IN CONTROL. EVEN IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE THE BODY IS THREATENED, THE REAL ME, THE GODLY ME, CAN ALWAYS CHOOSE, EVEN DEATH. IF JESUS CAME OUT OF THE SKY WITH TRUMPETS BLARING AND ANGELS RUNNING INTERFERENCE, OUR FREEDOM WOULD BE COMPROMISED; HOW WE REACTED TO HIS COMING WOULD BE A SIDE EFFECT OF FEAR, A CONSEQUENCE OF THE DESIRE TO PLEASE; IT WOULD NOT FLOW FROM LOVE.
SO LISTEN TO PILATE. HE ASKS THREE QUESTIONS. THE FIRST IS “ARE YOU THE KING OF THE JEWS?” NOW PILATE IS BEING SARCASTIC. HE KNOWS THAT THE JEWS HAVE NO KING. PILATE KNEW THAT THE MAJORITY OF JEWS LIVED ELSEWHERE, ESPECIALLY IN NORTHERN ISRAEL, BUT INDEED, SCATTERED ALL THROUGH THE EMPIRE. AND PILATE KNEW THAT THERE HAD BEEN REBELLIONS IN THE PAST, AND THE ROMAN LEGIONS HAD MADE SHORT WORK OF THEM. AND HE KNEW THAT IF JESUS ANSWERED “YES” PILATE WOULD SIMPLY ORDER HIM TO BE CRUCIFIED; AND IF HE ANSWERED “NO”, JESUS WOULD LOSE WHATEVER POPULARITY HE HAD WITH THE PEOPLE, WHO HOPED HE WOULD LEAD THEM TO A NEW ISRAEL.
BUT JESUS DOES NOT REALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION. HE SAYS, “IS THAT YOUR QUESTION, OR DID SOMEONE TELL YOU TO ASK IT?” IF PILATE SAYS IT IS HIS QUESTION, HE WILL BE ADMITTING TO THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOMEONE MIGHT BE IN COMPETITION WITH THE EMPEROR. AND IF HE SAYS IT IS THE QUESTION SOMEONE ELSE TOLD HIM TO ASK, HE WILL BE UNDERMINING HIS OWN POWER.
THEN PILATE SAYS, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” AND JESUS REPLIES THAT IF HIS KINGDOM BELONGED TO THE WORLD, HIS FOLLOWERS WOULD BE FIGHTING FOR HIM, BUT SINCE THEY OBVIOUSLY WEREN'T, HIS KINGDOM COULD NOT BE OF THE WORLD. AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT IF HIS FOLLOWERS WOULD BE FIGHTING TO KEEP HIM FROM BEING HANDED OVER TO THE JEWS, HE COULD NOT VERY WELL BE KING OF THE JEWS, COULD HE?
AND PILATE IS DESPERATE. “BUT YOU ARE A KING, RIGHT?” BECAUSE IF JESUS SAYS YES, PILATE CAN GET RID OF THIS WHOLE PROBLEM – HE SAID HE WAS A KING, AND THAT IS AN ACT PUNISHABLE BY DEATH, AND I JUST FOLLOWED THE LAW. BUT JESUS SAYS, “YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS CALLED ME A KING HERE. I'M NOT ABOUT BEING A KING. I CAME INTO THE WORLD TO TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH. AND IF YOU, OR ANYONE, HAS ANY RESPECT FOR THE TRUTH, YOU WOULD HEAR MY VOICE.”
UNFORTUNATELY, WE DON'T HEAR THE NEXT QUESTION OF PILATE, “WHAT IS TRUTH?”
JESUS COMES TO US, LIKE HE COMES TO PILATE. HE STANDS BEFORE US, WAITING FOR US TO SPEAK. “WHO ARE YOU, WE SAY.” SOME SAY YOU ARE A GREAT PROPHET, SOME SAY YOU ARE GOD'S SON, THE THIRD PERSON IN THE TRINITY. SOME SAY YOU WERE A GREAT MAN AMONG GREAT MEN. SOME SAY YOU WERE A FOOL, A REBEL, A FANATIC.” TELL ME WHO YOU ARE, SO THAT I CAN PUT YOU INTO A CATEGORY, SO THAT I CAN DEAL WITH YOU, SO THAT AFTER I DEAL WITH YOU I CA N GET ON WITH MY LIFE.
AND JESUS REPLIES, “YOU TELL ME. TELL ME WHO YOU THINK I AM, NOT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAY.” AND YOU AND I STRUGGLE. IF WE SAY “YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD, THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR WHOLE LIVES, AND KEEP CHANGING THEM. IT MEANS THAT WE BETTER LISTEN TO WHAT HE IS SAYING. IT MEANS THAT WE HAVE TO RE-FOCUS OUR WHOLE LIVES AROUND THIS ASTOUNDING FACT, THAT GOD HAS TAKEN ON FLESH AND LIVES.
BUT IF I SAY THAT YOU ARE KING OF THE JEWS, I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY; I'M NOT A JEW. IF I SAY YOU ARE JUST A REVOLUTIONARY, OR A HOLY MAN, OR A PROPHET, OR A GREAT TEACHER LIKE THE BUDDHA, I CAN TAKE YOU OR LEAVE YOU.
AND THEN WE ASK, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” DID YOU REALLY WORK MIRACLES? DID YOU RAISE LAZARUS AND A LITTLE GIRL FROM THE DEAD? DID YOU DRIVE OUT DEMONS AND HEAL THE BLIND AND PARALYZED AND DEAF AND THOSE WHO WERE CRIPPLED? DID YOU RAISE YOURSELF FROM THE DEAD? BECAUSE IF YOU DID, YOU ARE GOD, AND I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO SPEND MY LIFE LISTENING TO YOU, LEARNING FROM YOU, TRYING TO ALIGN MY LIFE WITH YOU. BUT IF I SAY THESE STORIES ARE JUST LEGENDS, I DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE. IT'S EASIER FOR ME NOT TO CHANGE.
AND THEN WE ASK, “BUT YOU ARE A KING, RIGHT?” BECAUSE WE KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT THE MAN JESUS, THERE IS SOMETHING THAT ATTRACTS US. IF HE IS A KING, THAT'S TOLERABLE. WHEN YOU HAVE A KING, YOU GIVE OVER SOME OF YOUR FREEDOM TO THE KING. THE KING CAN TAX, RAISE ARMIES, PASS LAWS, BUT MOST OF THE TIME YOU CAN GIVE LIP SERVICE, AND YOUR LIFE CAN GO ON WHETHER IT IS THIS KING OR THAT ONE, WHETHER IT IS A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN. A KING IS A LONG WAY AWAY, AND MAYBE IF THIS JESUS IS A KING, I CAN THINK ABOUT HIM ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR. BUT HE REPLIES, I CAME INTO THE WORLD TO TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH. MY WORDS, MY LIFE, MY DEEDS ARE THERE FOR YOU TO LOOK AT. IF YOU SEE THEM WITH AN OPEN MIND, AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE AS A RESULT, YOU WILL BE HAPPY FOR ALL ETERNITY. BUT IF YOU IGNORE WHAT YOU SEE, WHAT YOU HEAR, YOU WILL NEVER RECEIVE WHAT I AM OFFERING TO YOU. YOU CAN LISTEN TO ME, OR YOU CAN BELONG TO A WORLD OF ILLUSION, A WORLD OF LIES.
JESUS SAID THAT IF YOU BELONG TO THE TRUTH, YOU LISTEN TO MY VOICE.. CAN WE HONESTLY SAY WE ARE LISTENING AND HEEDING HIS VOICE? OR WILL WE RESORT TO THAT LAST QUESTION OF PILATE, “WHAT IS TRUTH?” AND TURN AWAY?
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B
MARK 13:24-32
THIS IS THE LAST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME. NEXT WEEK WE CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING, AND THEN WE ARE OFF TO A NEW CHURCH YEAR. TIME FLIES. TODAY OUR FIRST READING AND OUR GOSPEL BELONG TO THE CATEGORY OF RELIGIOUS WRITING WE CALL “APOCALYPTIC”, AND IT IS CERTAINLY APPROPRIATE THAT OUR ATTENTION AT THE END OF THE YEAR TURNS TO LAST THINGS. IF YOU WERE HEARING THESE READINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME, THEY SOUND FRIGHTENING; BUT WE ARE NOT HEARING THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME; WE CHRISTIANS HAVE BEEN HEARING THEM FOR 2000 YEARS, AND OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS HAVE BEEN HEARING DANIEL'S PROPHECY FOR AN ADDITIONAL 200 YEARS OR SO. AND WE CAN BE EXCUSED, I THINK, FOR STIFLING A YAWN. IT AIN'T HAPPENED YET! AND GIVEN THE TRACK RECORD, WE CAN SAFELY COUNT ON IT NOT HAPPENING THIS COMING YEAR EITHER. THE JEWS STILL AWAIT THEIR DELIVERANCE, AND WE CHRISTIANS HAVE LONG AGO BURIED THE GENERATION THAT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO PASS AWAY UNTIL THESE THINGS CAME TO PASS.
THE WORD, “APOCALYPSE” COMES FROM TWO GREEK WORDS WHICH MEAN “REMOVE THE COVER”. YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME LIVED IN A CONSTANT STATE OF TURMOIL. YOU NEVER KNEW WHETHER THAT NAGGING COUGH COULD TURN INTO PNEUMONIA AND KILL YOU, OR THAT CUT YOU GOT AT WORK WOULD FESTER AND RESULT IN THE LOSS OF AN ARM OR A LEG. YOU WERE RULED BY AN AUTHORITY WHO HAD NO CHECKS AND BALANCES, AND YOUR LIFE AND FORTUNE LITERALLY BELONGED TO HIM. AND SOMETIMES JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU AND YOUR NEIGHBORS UNDERSTOOD THIS, HE WOULD SEND HIS TROOPS INTO TOWN TO TAKE EVERYTHING YOU HAD TO LIVE ON. AND IF YOU WERE A LABORER, YOUR LIFE DEPENDED DAY TO DAY ON WHETHER YOU COULD FIND WORK; AND AFTER A BACKBREAKING DAY OF WORK, YOU WOULD GET ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY YOUR EVENING MEAL, SO YOU COULD START AGAIN IN THE MORNING. THERE WERE A FEW PEOPLE AROUND WHO WERE BETTER OFF -- THE RICH MERCHANTS, THE WELL CONNECTED POLITICALLY, THOSE WHO WERE PROFESSIONAL RELIGIOUS PEOPLE – BUT LIFE FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON WAS HAND TO MOUTH, AND VERY UNPREDICTABLE. WE SEE THIS RIGHT THERE IN THE SCRIPTURES – THE BEGGARS, THE LAME, THE BLIND, THE DEAF, THE “POSSESSED”, THE LEPERS. WE SEE THE WORKMEN STANDING AROUND WAITING TO BE HIRED, BECAUSE IF THEY CAN'T FIND WORK, THEY WON'T EAT. WE SEE THE LITTLE GIRL WHOSE FATHER APPROACHES JESUS TO BEG HIM TO SAVE HER; BECAUSE WHEN LITTLE GIRLS GOT SICK, ABOUT HALF THE TIME THEY DIED. AND IF YOU READ THE GOSPELS WITH AN EYE TO HISTORY, YOU CAN ALMOST FEEL THE UNSPOKEN PRESENCE OF THE SOLDIERS, THE CENTURIONS, THE TAX COLLECTORS, WHO ARE AN EVER PRESENT REMINDER THAT THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND ARE THERE NOT BY RIGHT, BUT BECAUSE THE EMPEROR IN A FAR DISTANT CITY ALLOWS THEM TO BE, FOR NOW, IF THEY BEHAVE.
WE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN 21STCENTURY LONGMEADOW, MASSACHUSETTS, ARE NOT A LOT LIKE THOSE PEOPLE OF JESUS TIME. WE ARE SECURE, OR AT LEAST WE THINK WE ARE. EVEN GREAT FINANCIAL CRISES, EVEN AIRPLANES KNOCKING DOWN SKYSCRAPERS, DON'T PHASE US FOR VERY LONG. WE HAVE AN UNSHAKABLE FAITH THAT THE STAGE ON WHICH OUR LIVES PLAY OUT WILL BE THE SAME TOMORROW AS IT IS TODAY. OH, THINGS CHANGE. WE DIDN'T HAVE THE INTERNET A FEW YEARS AGO. I WAS EVEN BORN BEFORE WE HAD TELEVISION. BUT YOU COULD ALWAYS FIND FOOD IN A GROCERY STORE; THERE WAS ALWAYS A SOURCE OF HEAT TO KEEP YOU WARM IN THE WINTER; THERE WAS ALWAYS A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD. WE ALL KNOW WE ARE GOING TO DIE SOMEDAY, BUT WE DO OUR BEST TO IGNORE THAT FACT.
BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO LOOK FAR TO SEE THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE EVEN IN OUR OWN TIME WHO HAVE A QUITE DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE OF LIFE. THINK OF THE IRAQI CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE BEEN PERSECUTED OUT OF THEIR ANCESTRAL HOMES AND HAVE LOST EVERYTHING. FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES THEY WILL BE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS, REFUGEES, PEOPLE WHO IMPERFECTLY UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE AND THE CULTURES OF THEIR HOST COUNTRY. AND THINK ABOUT THE INDONESIANS WHO LOST EVERYTHING IN THE TYPHOON A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. OUR SECURITY, OUR PREDICTABLE AND ORDERLY LIVES, ARE FRAGILE INDEED, MUCH MORE SO THAN WE THINK.
AND THAT IS WHAT APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE IS REALLY ABOUT. DANIEL AND JESUS ADDRESS THE PEOPLE WHOSE WORLD HAS BEEN COMPLETELY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. DANIEL SPEAKS TO THE JEWISH EXILES; THEY ONLY REMEMBER A TIME WHEN THEY WERE A PROUD PEOPLE LIVING IN A COUNTRY THEY COULD CALL THEIR OWN. JESUS SPEAKS TO A PEOPLE WHO ARE AT THE MERCY OF THEIR ROMAN RULERS. THEY LIVE IN A SHAM COUNTRY, WITH A KING WHO IS A FIGUREHEAD, AND THEY ARE REMINDED EVERY DAY BY THE MARCHING SOLDIERS OF ROME, BY THE BODIES HANGING ON CROSSES, THAT THEY LIVE IN A PRISON, THAT THEY ARE NOT IN CHARGE OF THEIR OWN FUTURES. AND DANIEL AND JESUS REMIND THEIR HEARERS OF TWO THINGS; IF WE THINK WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR LIVES, IF WE THINK WE ARE GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS LIFE WITHOUT SOME MAJOR, WORLD-SHATTERING PROBLEM, WE ARE JUST PLAIN WRONG. AND THE SECOND POINT IS THAT THERE IS ONE THING WE CAN BE CERTAIN OF; THAT GOD IS IN CHARGE, THAT HE WILL MAKE ALL THE WRONGS RIGHT, THAT IN THE END HE WILL TRIUMPH – THAT IS MORE CERTAIN THAN THAT THE SUN WILL COME UP TOMORROW.
AND JESUS AND DANIEL UNCOVER THIS REALITY FOR US, AS FOR THEIR OWN TIMES. AND ON THIS LAST DAY OF ORDINARY TIME, WE ARE INVITED TO TAKE OFF OUR BLINDFOLDS AND SEE WHAT IS REALLY REAL. AND WHEN WE LEAVE CHURCH TODAY, WE WILL HAVE A CHOICE. WE CAN GO BACK TO OUR ILLUSION, THAT LIFE IS COMFORTABLE, PREDICTABLE; THAT TOMORROW WILL BE LIKE YESTERDAY, THAT WE ARE IN CHARGE. OF COURSE IF WE CHOOSE THIS, WE WILL BE SURPRISED; A DAY WILL COME WHEN OUR WORLD WILL BE TORN APART. AND WE WILL NOT BE READY. OR WE CAN LISTEN TO JESUS, LISTEN TO THE PROPHETS, AND BEGIN LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD, THE WORLD WHERE NOTHING IS CERTAIN, WHERE WE CANNOT REALLY DEPEND ON ANYTHING THAT IS CREATED. AND THEN WE CAN BUILD OUR LIVES AROUND THE ONE CERTAINTY, THAT CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN, THAT IN GOD'S TIME EVERYTHING WILL MAKE SENSE, EVEN OUR SUFFERING, EVEN OUR PAIN. AND IN GOD'S TIME, AND ONLY IN THAT TIME, CAN WE HAVE THE CERTAINTY AND STABILITY AND EVERLASTING PEACE THAT WE ALL DESIRE.
THIS IS THE LAST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME. NEXT WEEK WE CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING, AND THEN WE ARE OFF TO A NEW CHURCH YEAR. TIME FLIES. TODAY OUR FIRST READING AND OUR GOSPEL BELONG TO THE CATEGORY OF RELIGIOUS WRITING WE CALL “APOCALYPTIC”, AND IT IS CERTAINLY APPROPRIATE THAT OUR ATTENTION AT THE END OF THE YEAR TURNS TO LAST THINGS. IF YOU WERE HEARING THESE READINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME, THEY SOUND FRIGHTENING; BUT WE ARE NOT HEARING THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME; WE CHRISTIANS HAVE BEEN HEARING THEM FOR 2000 YEARS, AND OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS HAVE BEEN HEARING DANIEL'S PROPHECY FOR AN ADDITIONAL 200 YEARS OR SO. AND WE CAN BE EXCUSED, I THINK, FOR STIFLING A YAWN. IT AIN'T HAPPENED YET! AND GIVEN THE TRACK RECORD, WE CAN SAFELY COUNT ON IT NOT HAPPENING THIS COMING YEAR EITHER. THE JEWS STILL AWAIT THEIR DELIVERANCE, AND WE CHRISTIANS HAVE LONG AGO BURIED THE GENERATION THAT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO PASS AWAY UNTIL THESE THINGS CAME TO PASS.
THE WORD, “APOCALYPSE” COMES FROM TWO GREEK WORDS WHICH MEAN “REMOVE THE COVER”. YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME LIVED IN A CONSTANT STATE OF TURMOIL. YOU NEVER KNEW WHETHER THAT NAGGING COUGH COULD TURN INTO PNEUMONIA AND KILL YOU, OR THAT CUT YOU GOT AT WORK WOULD FESTER AND RESULT IN THE LOSS OF AN ARM OR A LEG. YOU WERE RULED BY AN AUTHORITY WHO HAD NO CHECKS AND BALANCES, AND YOUR LIFE AND FORTUNE LITERALLY BELONGED TO HIM. AND SOMETIMES JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU AND YOUR NEIGHBORS UNDERSTOOD THIS, HE WOULD SEND HIS TROOPS INTO TOWN TO TAKE EVERYTHING YOU HAD TO LIVE ON. AND IF YOU WERE A LABORER, YOUR LIFE DEPENDED DAY TO DAY ON WHETHER YOU COULD FIND WORK; AND AFTER A BACKBREAKING DAY OF WORK, YOU WOULD GET ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY YOUR EVENING MEAL, SO YOU COULD START AGAIN IN THE MORNING. THERE WERE A FEW PEOPLE AROUND WHO WERE BETTER OFF -- THE RICH MERCHANTS, THE WELL CONNECTED POLITICALLY, THOSE WHO WERE PROFESSIONAL RELIGIOUS PEOPLE – BUT LIFE FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON WAS HAND TO MOUTH, AND VERY UNPREDICTABLE. WE SEE THIS RIGHT THERE IN THE SCRIPTURES – THE BEGGARS, THE LAME, THE BLIND, THE DEAF, THE “POSSESSED”, THE LEPERS. WE SEE THE WORKMEN STANDING AROUND WAITING TO BE HIRED, BECAUSE IF THEY CAN'T FIND WORK, THEY WON'T EAT. WE SEE THE LITTLE GIRL WHOSE FATHER APPROACHES JESUS TO BEG HIM TO SAVE HER; BECAUSE WHEN LITTLE GIRLS GOT SICK, ABOUT HALF THE TIME THEY DIED. AND IF YOU READ THE GOSPELS WITH AN EYE TO HISTORY, YOU CAN ALMOST FEEL THE UNSPOKEN PRESENCE OF THE SOLDIERS, THE CENTURIONS, THE TAX COLLECTORS, WHO ARE AN EVER PRESENT REMINDER THAT THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND ARE THERE NOT BY RIGHT, BUT BECAUSE THE EMPEROR IN A FAR DISTANT CITY ALLOWS THEM TO BE, FOR NOW, IF THEY BEHAVE.
WE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN 21STCENTURY LONGMEADOW, MASSACHUSETTS, ARE NOT A LOT LIKE THOSE PEOPLE OF JESUS TIME. WE ARE SECURE, OR AT LEAST WE THINK WE ARE. EVEN GREAT FINANCIAL CRISES, EVEN AIRPLANES KNOCKING DOWN SKYSCRAPERS, DON'T PHASE US FOR VERY LONG. WE HAVE AN UNSHAKABLE FAITH THAT THE STAGE ON WHICH OUR LIVES PLAY OUT WILL BE THE SAME TOMORROW AS IT IS TODAY. OH, THINGS CHANGE. WE DIDN'T HAVE THE INTERNET A FEW YEARS AGO. I WAS EVEN BORN BEFORE WE HAD TELEVISION. BUT YOU COULD ALWAYS FIND FOOD IN A GROCERY STORE; THERE WAS ALWAYS A SOURCE OF HEAT TO KEEP YOU WARM IN THE WINTER; THERE WAS ALWAYS A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD. WE ALL KNOW WE ARE GOING TO DIE SOMEDAY, BUT WE DO OUR BEST TO IGNORE THAT FACT.
BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO LOOK FAR TO SEE THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE EVEN IN OUR OWN TIME WHO HAVE A QUITE DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE OF LIFE. THINK OF THE IRAQI CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE BEEN PERSECUTED OUT OF THEIR ANCESTRAL HOMES AND HAVE LOST EVERYTHING. FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES THEY WILL BE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS, REFUGEES, PEOPLE WHO IMPERFECTLY UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE AND THE CULTURES OF THEIR HOST COUNTRY. AND THINK ABOUT THE INDONESIANS WHO LOST EVERYTHING IN THE TYPHOON A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. OUR SECURITY, OUR PREDICTABLE AND ORDERLY LIVES, ARE FRAGILE INDEED, MUCH MORE SO THAN WE THINK.
AND THAT IS WHAT APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE IS REALLY ABOUT. DANIEL AND JESUS ADDRESS THE PEOPLE WHOSE WORLD HAS BEEN COMPLETELY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. DANIEL SPEAKS TO THE JEWISH EXILES; THEY ONLY REMEMBER A TIME WHEN THEY WERE A PROUD PEOPLE LIVING IN A COUNTRY THEY COULD CALL THEIR OWN. JESUS SPEAKS TO A PEOPLE WHO ARE AT THE MERCY OF THEIR ROMAN RULERS. THEY LIVE IN A SHAM COUNTRY, WITH A KING WHO IS A FIGUREHEAD, AND THEY ARE REMINDED EVERY DAY BY THE MARCHING SOLDIERS OF ROME, BY THE BODIES HANGING ON CROSSES, THAT THEY LIVE IN A PRISON, THAT THEY ARE NOT IN CHARGE OF THEIR OWN FUTURES. AND DANIEL AND JESUS REMIND THEIR HEARERS OF TWO THINGS; IF WE THINK WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR LIVES, IF WE THINK WE ARE GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS LIFE WITHOUT SOME MAJOR, WORLD-SHATTERING PROBLEM, WE ARE JUST PLAIN WRONG. AND THE SECOND POINT IS THAT THERE IS ONE THING WE CAN BE CERTAIN OF; THAT GOD IS IN CHARGE, THAT HE WILL MAKE ALL THE WRONGS RIGHT, THAT IN THE END HE WILL TRIUMPH – THAT IS MORE CERTAIN THAN THAT THE SUN WILL COME UP TOMORROW.
AND JESUS AND DANIEL UNCOVER THIS REALITY FOR US, AS FOR THEIR OWN TIMES. AND ON THIS LAST DAY OF ORDINARY TIME, WE ARE INVITED TO TAKE OFF OUR BLINDFOLDS AND SEE WHAT IS REALLY REAL. AND WHEN WE LEAVE CHURCH TODAY, WE WILL HAVE A CHOICE. WE CAN GO BACK TO OUR ILLUSION, THAT LIFE IS COMFORTABLE, PREDICTABLE; THAT TOMORROW WILL BE LIKE YESTERDAY, THAT WE ARE IN CHARGE. OF COURSE IF WE CHOOSE THIS, WE WILL BE SURPRISED; A DAY WILL COME WHEN OUR WORLD WILL BE TORN APART. AND WE WILL NOT BE READY. OR WE CAN LISTEN TO JESUS, LISTEN TO THE PROPHETS, AND BEGIN LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD, THE WORLD WHERE NOTHING IS CERTAIN, WHERE WE CANNOT REALLY DEPEND ON ANYTHING THAT IS CREATED. AND THEN WE CAN BUILD OUR LIVES AROUND THE ONE CERTAINTY, THAT CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN, THAT IN GOD'S TIME EVERYTHING WILL MAKE SENSE, EVEN OUR SUFFERING, EVEN OUR PAIN. AND IN GOD'S TIME, AND ONLY IN THAT TIME, CAN WE HAVE THE CERTAINTY AND STABILITY AND EVERLASTING PEACE THAT WE ALL DESIRE.
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