MATTHEW 6:24-34
WE MOVED TO THIS AREA IN 1984, WHEN MY SON WAS ABOUT FOUR. ONE SUNDAY MORNING AS WE PILED INTO THE CAR TO GET THE FAMILY TO MASS, WE PULLED INTO THE PARKING LOT AND REALIZED THAT DONALD WAS NOT WITH US. LEAVING THE FIVE GIRLS WITH THEIR MOTHER, I RACED BACK TO THE HOUSE, TO FIND DONALD CALMLY PLAYING WITH HIS TOYS, AND WE GOT BACK JUST AS MASS WAS STARTING. THE PEOPLE IN THE PEWS MUST HAVE WONDERED WHY WE WERE SO AMUSED WHEN WE HEARD THE FIRST READING: “CAN A MOTHER FORGET HER INFANT?”
ON ONE LEVEL, THE READINGS REMIND US THAT GOD IS IN CHARGE, AND THAT HE REALLY DOES CARE FOR US. BUT THEN WE HAVE JESUS GOING ON LIKE HE DID LAST WEEK – REMEMBER? IF SOMEONE STRIKES YOU, OFFER THEM THE OTHER CHEEK; IF SOMEONE DEMANDS YOUR COAT, GIVE HIM YOUR SHIRT AS WELL. NO WAY, JESUS! AND NOW HE TELLS US TO QUIT WORRYING ABOUT TOMORROW – ABOUT WHAT OR IF WE ARE GOING TO EAT; ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL HAVE A ROOF OVER OUR HEADS; ABOUT WHETHER WE'LL HAVE CLOTHING TO WEAR. BECAUSE GOD CARES FOR US, AND HE WILL SEE TO IT THAT OUR NEEDS ARE TAKEN CARE OF IF WE JUST PUT HIM FIRST.
I WOULD DARE SAY THAT MOST OF US HAVEN'T ACTUALLY TESTED THIS IDEA. INTELLECTUALLY WE RECOGNIZE IT AS A FINE SENTIMENT, BUT WHEN WE IMAGINE LETTING GOD TAKE CARE OF THE SMALL STUFF SO WE CAN CONCENTRATE ON THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, WE TURN AWAY, WE MOVE ON TO SOMETHING ELSE. THE WORDS OF JESUS, AFTER ALL, ARE HARD TO MISINTERPRET, AND SEEM TO GO ENTIRELY CONTRARY TO HAVING A DECENT BANK ACCOUNT, A NICE HOME, A GOOD JOB – ALL THOSE THINGS THAT WE SEE AS DESIRABLE AND GOOD. IN FACT, IF IT WEREN'T FOR A BUNCH OF US TRYING VERY HARD TO ACCUMULATE A LITTLE WEALTH, WE COULDN'T HAVE REMODELED THE CHURCH, OR BUILT THAT PARISH CENTER. WE DUG DEEP, WE DIDN'T EXPECT GOD WOULD TAKE CARE OF IT.
I DON'T THINK JESUS ADVISES US TO DO THINGS THAT WE CAN'T DO, OR WON'T DO. EVEN PEOPLE IN MONASTIC ORDERS, EVEN FRANCISCANS VOWED TO POVERTY, DON'T GET THEIR NEEDS MET OUT OF THIN AIR; SOMEONE DONATES, SOMEONE NEEDS TO ACCUMULATE SURPLUS SO THAT THE FRANCISCAN CAN HAVE BREAD AND SHELTER AND A NICE BROWN ROBE. SO WHAT IS IT ABOUT BIRDS OF THE AIR, OR LILIES OF THE FIELD, AS THE OLD TRANSLATION PUT IT, THAT JESUS WANTS US TO ADMIRE AND IMITATE?
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE FACT THAT EVERY LIVING CREATURE, FROM THE TINIEST VIRUS TO THE BLUE WHALE, IS DOING EXACTLY WHAT GOD WANTS IT TO DO, EVERY MOMENT OF IT'S LIFE? EXCEPT FOR HUMANS. A MOSQUITO TASTING YOUR BLOOD IS IN COMPLETE CONFORMITY TO GOD'S WILL, DOING WHAT GOD MADE IT TO DO. A BEAUTIFUL FLOWER IN THE FIELD, A BIRD IN THE AIR – ALL ARE CARRYING OUT GOD'S PLAN. ONLY MAN HAS FALLEN, ONLY MAN IS CAPABLE OF DEFYING GOD, OF TURNING AWAY FROM HIS WILL. SCRIPTURE TELLS US THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE BEGINNING, LOST IN PREHISTORY, SOMETHING HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN RACE, SOMETHING THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN GOD AND OURSELVES. THE SQUIRRELS WHO GOT INTO MY GARAGE LAST WEEK AND STOLE MY BIRDSEED WERE DOING WHAT GOD WANTED THEM TO DO; A SQUIRREL CANNOT CHOOSE BETWEEN GOD AND ITSELF. WHEN I LET MY MIND WANDER WHEN I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PRAYING, WHEN I LET MY TEMPER GET THE UPPER HAND WHEN I'M TRYING TO DISCIPLINE A GRANDCHILD, WHEN I TELL A LITTLE UNTRUTH RATHER THAN A PAINFUL TRUTH – WELL, I'M NOT DOING WHAT GOD WANTS. I AM FALLEN, EVEN THOUGH THROUGH BAPTISM GOD IS WORKING ON THAT.
SO WHAT IS JESUS TELLING US? WELL, “SEEKING THE KINGDOM OF GOD” IS WHAT WE WERE DESIGNED TO DO, JUST AS A MOSQUITO IS DESIGNED TO DRAW BLOOD, A SQUIRREL IS DESIGNED TO FIND FOOD FOR ITSELF. AND SEEKING THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS TO DO WITH ALL THOSE “BEATITUDES” THAT JESUS SPOKE TO US ABOUT LAST MONTH. THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS IN US, JUST WAITING TO BE ACTUALIZED. IT HAS TO DO WITH TRUSTING GOD AND BELIEVING THE MESSAGE OF JESUS. IT HAS TO DO WITH IMITATING JESUS – HOW OFTEN DO WE FIND HIM ENCOUNTERING SOMEONE WHO CRIES OUT TO HIM, AND JUST AS OFTEN WE SEE HIM DROPPING EVERYTHING TO MEET THAT PERSON'S NEEDS. AND IT HAS TO DO WITH COOPERATING WITH ALL OF THE GRACES WITH WHICH OUR FATHER CONSTANTLY RAINS DOWN ON US. THERE ARE GRACES FOR INNER CONVERSION, OF COURSE. BUT THERE ARE ALSO MANY OTHER GRACES. IF YOU HAVE A TALENT THAT YOU'VE BURIED, WELL, THERE GOES A GRACE GOD GAVE YOU. IF YOU CAN DO SOMETHING TO MAKE YOURSELF A BETTER SERVANT, AND YOU CHOOSE NOT TO, WELL, YOU'VE LOST ANOTHER GRACE. JUST AS JESUS GIVES US GRACE THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS, HE IS ALWAYS GRACING US THROUGH OUR CIRCUMSTANCES; HE IS HOLDING OUT OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES SO THAT WE WILL CHANGE, SO THAT THOSE CHANGES CAN INCREASINGLY BRING ABOUT THE KINGDOM.
SO AS WE WORK FOR OUR FOOD AND SHELTER, AS WE SAVE AGAINST AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE, AS WE CREATE A STABLE HOME LIFE, IT'S IMPORTANT CONSTANTLY REMIND OURSELVES THAT WE DO ALL THESE THINGS SO THAT WE CAN BE BETTER SERVANTS, SO THAT WE CAN SERVE OUR NEIGHBOR MORE EFFECTIVELY, SO THAT WE CAN LISTEN TO GOD'S WORD MORE FRUITFULLY. THEN OUR EFFORTS ARE TRANSFORMED. WE ARE NO LONGER SEEKING FOOD AND CLOTHING AND SHELTER FOR THEIR OWN SAKE. WE ARE NO LONGER OBSESSED WITH THE THOUGHT THAT EVERYTHING COULD FALL APART TOMORROW, AND WE BETTER GET READY.
YOU CAN HAVE TWO HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE WHO TO OUTWARD APPEARANCES ARE HARD TO TELL APART. BOTH WORK HARD, BOTH HAVE GOOD THINGS, BOTH HAVE HEALTHY BANK ACCOUNTS, BOTH ARE AMBITIOUS IN A GOOD WAY. BUT IF SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS – SICKNESS, ACCIDENT, THE CRASH OF THE STOCK MARKET – YOU WILL SEE WHICH ONE HAS BEEN STRIVING TO ACCUMULATE, TO GATHER WEALTH, AND WHICH HAS BEEN KEEPING THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN MIND. BECAUSE WHAT JESUS IS REALLY TALKING ABOUT IS WHAT WE LET DEFINE US. IF OUR IDENTITY IS TIED TO SOMETHING THAT CAN BE LOST OR DESTROYED, THEN WE ARE REALLY LOST AND YOU COULD SAY WE ARE FOOLS AS WELL. BUT IF OUR IDENTITY IS TIED TO TRUST IN GOD, IF AT OUR VERY CENTER WE ARE CONVINCED THAT GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF WHAT MATTERS, THEN WE ARE NOT SHAKEN BY THOSE BAD THINGS THAT WILL HAPPEN SOONER OR LATER TO EACH OF US. AND THAT SEEMS TO ME TO BE WHAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT WHEN HE SAYS, “SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND EVERYTHING ELSE WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU.”
LONG BEFORE JESUS THERE WAS A STORY ABOUT A MAN NAMED JOB WHO HAD GREAT WEALTH. SATAN, WITH GOD'S PERMISSION, TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY, EVEN HIS HEALTH. BUT JOB TRUSTED; HE HAD LOST NOT ONLY ALL HIS POSSESSIONS, BUT HIS OWN CHILDREN. IN HIS GREAT MISERY, JOB CRIED OUT, “SHOULD I ONLY ACCEPT GOOD THINGS FROM GOD, AND NOT BAD THINGS?” JOB SHOWED BY HIS WORDS WHERE HIS CENTER LAY, AND GOD RESTORED ALL THAT HE HAD LOST AND MORE.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
MATTHEW 5:38-48
ARE THERE EVER TIMES WHEN SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN AND YOU WILL FEEL RAGE OR EMBARRASSMENT OR FEAR, OR SOME UNWANTED EMOTION, WELLING UP INSIDE YOU? IT HAPPENS. I REMEMBER A TIME IN COLLEGE WHEN SOMEONE WAS DESPERATE FOR MONEY, AND PROMISED THAT IF I LOANED HIM FIVE DOLLARS HE WOULD PROMPTLY PAY IT BACK. FIVE DOLLARS, BY THE WAY, WAS A LOT OF MONEY IN THE 1960'S. I ALLOWED MYSELF $20.00 SPENDING MONEY EACH MONTH IN THOSE DAYS. SO AFTER A FEW WEEKS, I ASKED FOR THE RETURN OF MY LOAN. HE STATED THAT THE MONEY HE WAS EXPECTING FROM HIS PARENTS HAD NOT YET COME IN, BUT AS SOON AS IT DID, I WOULD BE FIRST ON THE LIST. SUMMER BREAK CAME ALONG. IN THE FALL, I RAISED THE ISSUE AGAIN. HE DENIED KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT MY LOANING HIM MONEY. AND I HAD NO PROOF. I FELT LIKE AN IDIOT, I FELT DISRESPECTED, AND I FELT LIKE BEATING HIM TO A PULP, ALL IN ONE FLASH. I LOST MY COOL. I NEVER DID SEE THAT FIVE DOLLARS, BUT I STILL REMEMBER THE EMOTIONS I FELT.
I RECENTLY READ ABOUT A PALESTINIAN PHYSICIAN WHO LIVES IN THE GAZA STRIP AND PRACTICED IN A HOSPITAL IN ISRAEL, WHERE JEWS AND PALESTINIANS WORKED TOGETHER. WHEN ISRAEL INVADED GAZA IN RESPONSE TO ROCKET ATTACKS THAT HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, THREE OF HIS DAUGHTERS WERE KILLED. DR. IZELDEEN ABUIELISH WROTE A BOOK CALLED “I SHALL NOT HATE”. HE TOLD A REPORTER, "THE WOUND AND THE PAIN HAVE NOT DISAPPEARED, BUT SUFFERING IS PART OF THE PROCESS OF FORGIVENESS. NOT FORGIVENESS FOR ISRAELIS, BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR MYSELF, IN ORDER TO SHAKE OFF THE HATRED AND THE RAGE AND HOPE FOR A BETTER PATH.” HE WENT ON TO SAY, "IN LIFE, DON'T COUNT ON THINGS THAT CAN CHANGE. POWER CAN CHANGE. TODAY, YOU ARE STRONG LIKE ISRAEL, TOMORROW YOU ARE WEAK. RELY ONLY ON WHAT IS BASIC AND PERMANENT. IN OTHER WORDS, THE HUMANITY IN ALL OF US. THE TOLERANCE, THE CAPACITY FOR FORGIVENESS AND THE DESIRE FOR A BETTER LIFE.”
JESUS TODAY LISTS SEVERAL SCENARIOS WHICH WOULD MAKE ME EXPERIENCE ONE OF THOSE UNWANTED EMOTIONS. IF SOMEONE STRUCK ME, I MIGHT NOT STRIKE BACK, BUT I WOULD PROBABLY INWARDLY BE VERY ANGRY; BUT TO OFFER THE OTHER CHEEK? FAT CHANCE. IF SOMEONE TAKES MY COAT BY FORCE, I WOULD FEEL HELPLESS AND ANGRY; I DOUBT I WOULD GIVE THAT PERSON MY SHIRT. IF I AM FORCED TO DO SOMETHING AGAINST MY WILL, I WILL FEEL LIKE A SLAVE, LIKE AN OBJECT; AND I CAN'T SEE MYSELF VOLUNTEERING TO CONTINUE IN THAT PARTICULAR STATE. I DON'T THINK JESUS IS ACTUALLY GIVING US SPECIFICS ABOUT HOW TO BEHAVE; I THINK HE WANTS US TO PUT OURSELVES INTO THOSE SCENARIOS. WILL WE HAVE THOSE INVOLUNTARY REACTIONS? BECAUSE THEY ARE POINTERS; THEY TELL US THAT WE ARE PUTTING OURSELVES AT THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD. THOSE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS WE FEEL ARE THERE BECAUSE WE SEE OURSELVES AS LOSING OUR INDEPENDENCE, OUR AUTONOMY; IN SHORT, WE SEE OURSELVES AS BEING MADE INTO OBJECTS, CREATURES TO BE USED BY ANOTHER PERSON. AND WE HUMAN BEINGS HAVE A VERY STRONG INSTINCT TO BE SUBJECTS, TO BE IN CONTROL.
JESUS BY HIS WORDS AND HIS LIFE, SHOWED US THAT OUR ATTEMPT TO BE IN CONTROL IS DOOMED TO FAILURE; OUR DESIRE FOR INDEPENDENCE, FOR AUTONOMY, FOR SECURITY – THOSE DESIRES WILL NOT BE FULFILLED, THOSE DESIRES ARISE PRECISELY BECAUSE WE SEE OURSELVES AS THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD – AND WE REALLY AREN'T.
JESUS' ANSWER IS TO PUT GOD FIRST, AND OUR NEIGHBOR SECOND; WE ARE THIRD. THAT IS THE WAY THINGS REALLY ARE, WE MIGHT AS WELL GO ALONG WITH REALITY. GOD IS FIRST, THAT'S NOT HARD TO GRASP INTELLECTUALLY; IT IS HIS WORLD, AND HIS WILL WILL BE DONE. NEIGHBOR IS SECOND. THIS IS HARDER TO GRASP. IT DOES SEEM TO BE BIBLICAL, BUT IS IT NATURAL, DOES IT STEM FROM OUR NATURE? I THINK IT DOES. I THINK PEOPLE ARE HAPPIEST WHEN THEY ARE VOLUNTARILY DOING THINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE – WHETHER FAMILY MEMBERS OR STRANGERS. IF I MAKE A CHILD HAPPY, I'M HAPPY. IF I CAN SEE A SENSE OF RELIEF IN SOMEONE WHO REALLY NEEDED SOMETHING THAT I COULD PROVIDE, I CAN FEEL THAT RELIEF MYSELF. WE ARE DESIGNED, NATURALLY, TO HAVE EMPATHY, TO FEEL WHAT OTHERS FEEL. I'VE LEARNED THAT I CAN'T REALLY MAKE MYSELF HAPPY – I CAN NEVER FIX EVERYTHING I WOULD HAVE TO FIX. BUT I CAN MAKE OTHERS HAPPY AND FEEL THEIR JOY.
SO GOD FIRST, MY BROTHER OR SISTER SECOND, AND ME LAST. AND IF I LIVE THAT WAY, IF SOMEONE SLAPS ME ON THE CHEEK, I CAN TURN THE OTHER CHEEK, BECAUSE IT WON'T REALLY MATTER. I WON'T FEEL RAGE OR ANGER; AFTER ALL, IF GOD IS FIRST, IF GOD IS AT THE CENTER, THEN I AM ASSURED THAT ALL WILL PROCEED ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN, AND I CAN ACCEPT THAT, JUST AS SO MANY MARTYRS WENT JOYFULLY TO THEIR OWN DEATHS.
AN ENEMY IS SOMEONE WHO CONTROLS YOU AGAINST YOUR WILL, OR THREATENS TO DO THIS. THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES MANY PEOPLE IRRATIONAL ABOUT ISLAM – THE IDEA THAT A LEGAL SYSTEM, SHARIA LAW, WOULD BE IMPOSED ON US WITHOUT OUR WILL, IF MUSLIMS HAD THEIR WAY. IT'S ONE OF THE CONSTANT SOURCES OF TENSION IN OUR SOCIETY – SHOULD WE “IMPOSE” MORALITY BY LAW, OR SHOULD WE PUT UP WITH JUST ABOUT ANYTHING BECAUSE WE VALUE FREEDOM AND AUTONOMY MORE? BUT JESUS IS SAYING, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. THAT WILL BE THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS FOLLOWERS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. AND IN ORDER TO REALLY DO THIS, I HAVE TO CHANGE THE WAY I SEE THE WORLD AND MYSELF IN THE WORLD. AND I CAN RECOGNIZE THIS CHANGE AS HAVING TAKEN PLACE IF I NO LONGER FEEL THOSE INVOLUNTARY REACTIONS THAT COME AS A CONSEQUENCE OF PEOPLE THREATENING MY CONTROL, MY AUTONOMY.
ALL OF US ARE BY NATURE DESIGNED TO LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD. BUT THIS WILL ALWAYS LEAD TO UNHAPPINESS; NATURE DOESN'T CARE IF WE ARE HAPPY . JESUS GIVES US THE MEANS TO ALTER OUR WORLD VIEW THROUGH HIS GRACE, THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS, THROUGH HIS WORD. AND IN TODAY'S GOSPEL, WE HAVE A WAY OF TELLING HOW WE ARE DOING. CAN WE REALLY LOVE THOSE WHO TRY TO CONTROL US, WHO THREATEN TO TAKE AWAY OUR INDEPENDENCE, WHO PUSH US AWAY FROM THE CENTER IN WHICH WE SO BADLY WANT TO BE? OR HAVE WE PUT GOD AT THE CENTER, SO THAT WE ARE NO LONGER SLAVES TO HATRED AND RAGE, AND SO THAT WE CAN TRULY LOVE OUR ENEMIES?
ARE THERE EVER TIMES WHEN SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN AND YOU WILL FEEL RAGE OR EMBARRASSMENT OR FEAR, OR SOME UNWANTED EMOTION, WELLING UP INSIDE YOU? IT HAPPENS. I REMEMBER A TIME IN COLLEGE WHEN SOMEONE WAS DESPERATE FOR MONEY, AND PROMISED THAT IF I LOANED HIM FIVE DOLLARS HE WOULD PROMPTLY PAY IT BACK. FIVE DOLLARS, BY THE WAY, WAS A LOT OF MONEY IN THE 1960'S. I ALLOWED MYSELF $20.00 SPENDING MONEY EACH MONTH IN THOSE DAYS. SO AFTER A FEW WEEKS, I ASKED FOR THE RETURN OF MY LOAN. HE STATED THAT THE MONEY HE WAS EXPECTING FROM HIS PARENTS HAD NOT YET COME IN, BUT AS SOON AS IT DID, I WOULD BE FIRST ON THE LIST. SUMMER BREAK CAME ALONG. IN THE FALL, I RAISED THE ISSUE AGAIN. HE DENIED KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT MY LOANING HIM MONEY. AND I HAD NO PROOF. I FELT LIKE AN IDIOT, I FELT DISRESPECTED, AND I FELT LIKE BEATING HIM TO A PULP, ALL IN ONE FLASH. I LOST MY COOL. I NEVER DID SEE THAT FIVE DOLLARS, BUT I STILL REMEMBER THE EMOTIONS I FELT.
I RECENTLY READ ABOUT A PALESTINIAN PHYSICIAN WHO LIVES IN THE GAZA STRIP AND PRACTICED IN A HOSPITAL IN ISRAEL, WHERE JEWS AND PALESTINIANS WORKED TOGETHER. WHEN ISRAEL INVADED GAZA IN RESPONSE TO ROCKET ATTACKS THAT HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, THREE OF HIS DAUGHTERS WERE KILLED. DR. IZELDEEN ABUIELISH WROTE A BOOK CALLED “I SHALL NOT HATE”. HE TOLD A REPORTER, "THE WOUND AND THE PAIN HAVE NOT DISAPPEARED, BUT SUFFERING IS PART OF THE PROCESS OF FORGIVENESS. NOT FORGIVENESS FOR ISRAELIS, BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR MYSELF, IN ORDER TO SHAKE OFF THE HATRED AND THE RAGE AND HOPE FOR A BETTER PATH.” HE WENT ON TO SAY, "IN LIFE, DON'T COUNT ON THINGS THAT CAN CHANGE. POWER CAN CHANGE. TODAY, YOU ARE STRONG LIKE ISRAEL, TOMORROW YOU ARE WEAK. RELY ONLY ON WHAT IS BASIC AND PERMANENT. IN OTHER WORDS, THE HUMANITY IN ALL OF US. THE TOLERANCE, THE CAPACITY FOR FORGIVENESS AND THE DESIRE FOR A BETTER LIFE.”
JESUS TODAY LISTS SEVERAL SCENARIOS WHICH WOULD MAKE ME EXPERIENCE ONE OF THOSE UNWANTED EMOTIONS. IF SOMEONE STRUCK ME, I MIGHT NOT STRIKE BACK, BUT I WOULD PROBABLY INWARDLY BE VERY ANGRY; BUT TO OFFER THE OTHER CHEEK? FAT CHANCE. IF SOMEONE TAKES MY COAT BY FORCE, I WOULD FEEL HELPLESS AND ANGRY; I DOUBT I WOULD GIVE THAT PERSON MY SHIRT. IF I AM FORCED TO DO SOMETHING AGAINST MY WILL, I WILL FEEL LIKE A SLAVE, LIKE AN OBJECT; AND I CAN'T SEE MYSELF VOLUNTEERING TO CONTINUE IN THAT PARTICULAR STATE. I DON'T THINK JESUS IS ACTUALLY GIVING US SPECIFICS ABOUT HOW TO BEHAVE; I THINK HE WANTS US TO PUT OURSELVES INTO THOSE SCENARIOS. WILL WE HAVE THOSE INVOLUNTARY REACTIONS? BECAUSE THEY ARE POINTERS; THEY TELL US THAT WE ARE PUTTING OURSELVES AT THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD. THOSE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS WE FEEL ARE THERE BECAUSE WE SEE OURSELVES AS LOSING OUR INDEPENDENCE, OUR AUTONOMY; IN SHORT, WE SEE OURSELVES AS BEING MADE INTO OBJECTS, CREATURES TO BE USED BY ANOTHER PERSON. AND WE HUMAN BEINGS HAVE A VERY STRONG INSTINCT TO BE SUBJECTS, TO BE IN CONTROL.
JESUS BY HIS WORDS AND HIS LIFE, SHOWED US THAT OUR ATTEMPT TO BE IN CONTROL IS DOOMED TO FAILURE; OUR DESIRE FOR INDEPENDENCE, FOR AUTONOMY, FOR SECURITY – THOSE DESIRES WILL NOT BE FULFILLED, THOSE DESIRES ARISE PRECISELY BECAUSE WE SEE OURSELVES AS THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD – AND WE REALLY AREN'T.
JESUS' ANSWER IS TO PUT GOD FIRST, AND OUR NEIGHBOR SECOND; WE ARE THIRD. THAT IS THE WAY THINGS REALLY ARE, WE MIGHT AS WELL GO ALONG WITH REALITY. GOD IS FIRST, THAT'S NOT HARD TO GRASP INTELLECTUALLY; IT IS HIS WORLD, AND HIS WILL WILL BE DONE. NEIGHBOR IS SECOND. THIS IS HARDER TO GRASP. IT DOES SEEM TO BE BIBLICAL, BUT IS IT NATURAL, DOES IT STEM FROM OUR NATURE? I THINK IT DOES. I THINK PEOPLE ARE HAPPIEST WHEN THEY ARE VOLUNTARILY DOING THINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE – WHETHER FAMILY MEMBERS OR STRANGERS. IF I MAKE A CHILD HAPPY, I'M HAPPY. IF I CAN SEE A SENSE OF RELIEF IN SOMEONE WHO REALLY NEEDED SOMETHING THAT I COULD PROVIDE, I CAN FEEL THAT RELIEF MYSELF. WE ARE DESIGNED, NATURALLY, TO HAVE EMPATHY, TO FEEL WHAT OTHERS FEEL. I'VE LEARNED THAT I CAN'T REALLY MAKE MYSELF HAPPY – I CAN NEVER FIX EVERYTHING I WOULD HAVE TO FIX. BUT I CAN MAKE OTHERS HAPPY AND FEEL THEIR JOY.
SO GOD FIRST, MY BROTHER OR SISTER SECOND, AND ME LAST. AND IF I LIVE THAT WAY, IF SOMEONE SLAPS ME ON THE CHEEK, I CAN TURN THE OTHER CHEEK, BECAUSE IT WON'T REALLY MATTER. I WON'T FEEL RAGE OR ANGER; AFTER ALL, IF GOD IS FIRST, IF GOD IS AT THE CENTER, THEN I AM ASSURED THAT ALL WILL PROCEED ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN, AND I CAN ACCEPT THAT, JUST AS SO MANY MARTYRS WENT JOYFULLY TO THEIR OWN DEATHS.
AN ENEMY IS SOMEONE WHO CONTROLS YOU AGAINST YOUR WILL, OR THREATENS TO DO THIS. THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES MANY PEOPLE IRRATIONAL ABOUT ISLAM – THE IDEA THAT A LEGAL SYSTEM, SHARIA LAW, WOULD BE IMPOSED ON US WITHOUT OUR WILL, IF MUSLIMS HAD THEIR WAY. IT'S ONE OF THE CONSTANT SOURCES OF TENSION IN OUR SOCIETY – SHOULD WE “IMPOSE” MORALITY BY LAW, OR SHOULD WE PUT UP WITH JUST ABOUT ANYTHING BECAUSE WE VALUE FREEDOM AND AUTONOMY MORE? BUT JESUS IS SAYING, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. THAT WILL BE THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS FOLLOWERS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. AND IN ORDER TO REALLY DO THIS, I HAVE TO CHANGE THE WAY I SEE THE WORLD AND MYSELF IN THE WORLD. AND I CAN RECOGNIZE THIS CHANGE AS HAVING TAKEN PLACE IF I NO LONGER FEEL THOSE INVOLUNTARY REACTIONS THAT COME AS A CONSEQUENCE OF PEOPLE THREATENING MY CONTROL, MY AUTONOMY.
ALL OF US ARE BY NATURE DESIGNED TO LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD. BUT THIS WILL ALWAYS LEAD TO UNHAPPINESS; NATURE DOESN'T CARE IF WE ARE HAPPY . JESUS GIVES US THE MEANS TO ALTER OUR WORLD VIEW THROUGH HIS GRACE, THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS, THROUGH HIS WORD. AND IN TODAY'S GOSPEL, WE HAVE A WAY OF TELLING HOW WE ARE DOING. CAN WE REALLY LOVE THOSE WHO TRY TO CONTROL US, WHO THREATEN TO TAKE AWAY OUR INDEPENDENCE, WHO PUSH US AWAY FROM THE CENTER IN WHICH WE SO BADLY WANT TO BE? OR HAVE WE PUT GOD AT THE CENTER, SO THAT WE ARE NO LONGER SLAVES TO HATRED AND RAGE, AND SO THAT WE CAN TRULY LOVE OUR ENEMIES?
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
MATTHEW 5:17-37
ALL THROUGH THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, THERE ARE THE LAWS GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL BY MOSES. THESE AREN'T JUST THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; THEY ARE INSTEAD, LAWS HAVING TO DO WITH OFFERING SACRIFICE, WITH ADMINISTERING JUSTICE, WHICH DIET, WITH HOW TO PURIFY YOURSELF, WITH THINGS LIKE ALLOWING A NEWLY MARRIED MAN TO STAY HOME WITH HIS WIFE FOR A YEAR BEFORE CONSCRIPTING HIM TO GO OFF TO WAR...THERE ARE LAWS DEALING WITH THE PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T JEWS BUT LIVED AMONG THE JEWS – MOSTLY NATIVE PEOPLES WHO HAD BEEN THERE BEFORE THE JEWS ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND.
IT'S INTERESTING THAT SOME OF THESE LAWS WERE QUICKLY IGNORED; THERE IS A LAW THAT TELLS YOU WHEN YOU CAN PUT TO DEATH A DISOBEDIENT SON, FOR EXAMPLE. THERE IS THE LEVIRITE LAW, WHICH SAYS THAT IF YOUR BROTHER DIES, YOU HAVE TO MAKE HIS WIDOW PREGNANT, SO THAT SOMEONE WILL BE AROUND TO BE HIS DESCENDANT. AND THERE IS THE LAW OF JUBILEES, WHICH SAYS THAT EVERY FIFTY YEARS ALL THE LAND THAT HAS BEEN SOLD IS GIVEN BACK TO THOSE WHO HAD IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. BUT SOME JEWS, THE PHARISEES AND THE SCRIBES ESPECIALLY, EVENTUALLY DECIDED THAT GOD WANTED HIS PEOPLE TO OBEY ALL THE LAWS UNLESS OF COURSE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE. BUT SOME OF THESE LAWS ARE A LITTLE VAGUE. ONE SAYS THAT YOU SHALL NOT WORK ON THE SABBATH DAY. SO WHAT IS WORK? SOME RABBIS TAUGHT THAT YOU COULD WALK 100 STEPS FROM YOUR HOUSE WITHOUT BREAKING THE LAW. SOME TAUGHT THAT YOU COULDN'T PREPARE FOOD ON THE SABBATH. EVENTUALLY THE COMMANDMENT WAS BROKEN DOWN INTO ALL KINDS OF SPECIFIC RULES WHICH, IF YOU FOLLOWED THEM, YOU COULD BE SURE YOU WERE NOT BREAKING THE COMMANDMENT. ANOTHER RULE WAS THAT YOU COULDN'T BOIL A KID IN IT'S MOTHER'S MILK. MODERN SCHOLARS THINK THIS WAS BECAUSE THAT WAS A PAGAN PRACTICE; BUT THE PHARISEES AND THE SCRIBES DEVELOPED THAT RULE INTO THE DIETARY LAWS THAT ORTHODOX JEWS STILL FOLLOW; YOU EVEN HAVE TO HAVE TWO SETS OF DISHES SO THAT YOU WILL USE ONE FOR DAIRY AND ONE FOR NON-DAIRY. TO US THIS APPROACH TO LAW IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND, BUT REMEMBER, TO JEWS OBEYING GOD'S LAW WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THEY COULD DO, SO IT HELPED TO HAVE DETAILED RULES. THIS WAS CALLED “PUTTING A FENCE AROUND THE LAW”.
TODAY WE HEAR JESUS COMING UP WITH A RADICALLY DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION. FIRST, HE SAYS THAT HE DID NOT COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW. HE CAME TO FULFILL IT, DOWN TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL. AND THEN INSTEAD OF LISTING WAYS TO AVOID BREAKING A PARTICULAR COMMANDMENT, HE DRILLS DOWN. YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID “YOU SHALL NOT KILL; AND WHOEVER KILLS WILL BE LIABLE TO JUDGMENT.” BUT JESUS RECOGNIZES THAT KILLING STEMS FROM ANGER – NOT THAT MOMENTARY FLASH OF ANGER YOU GET WHEN SOMEONE CUTS YOU OFF IN TRAFFIC – OTHERWISE, I'D BE IN REAL TROUBLE. RATHER, THAT DEEP SEATED ANGER, THAT SIMMERING ANGER THAT COLORS YOUR WHOLE LIFE. IN THE MOVIE “FOR ROSANNA” THERE IS A SCENE IN WHICH A MAN IS RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER SERVING A 20 YEAR SENTENCE. HE BUYS A GUN AND GOES OFF TO KILL HIS WORST ENEMY. WHEN HE LEARNS THAT HIS ENEMY DIED A NATURAL DEATH, HE SHOUTS “YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME IN HELL. I'M COMING TO GET YOU!” AND THEN HE SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE HEAD. LIKEWISE JESUS TALKS ABOUT LUST. IF YOU ARE A NORMAL MALE, YOU CAN'T GET THROUGH A DAY WITHOUT NOTICING ATTRACTIVE WOMEN; IT'S BUILT IN TO YOUR BIOLOGY. IT MAY BE TRUE OF WOMEN AS WELL, BUT I CAN ONLY SPEAK FOR MYSELF. THAT IS NOT LUST. LUST IS THE MAN WHO SITS DOWN IN FRONT OF HIS COMPUTER AND DELIBERATELY GOES TO A PORNOGRAPHY SITE. AFTER A WHILE, HE'S AN ADDICT; THAT'S THE KIND OF LUST JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT.
JESUS TALKS ABOUT DIVORCE. WE HAVE CASUAL DIVORCES IN OUR DAY – JUST OPEN UP PEOPLE MAGAZINE ANY PARTICULAR WEEK – AND THIS WAS THE KIND OF DIVORCE IN JESUS' DAY. A MAN WOULD GET TIRED OF HIS WIFE AND DECIDE HE NEEDED SOMEONE YOUNGER AND PRETTIER, AND ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS WRITE OUT A BILL OF DIVORCE, AND HIS WIFE WAS OUT ON THE STREET. OFTEN THE WOMAN ENDED UP DOING WHATEVER SHE COULD TO SURVIVE, INCLUDING PROSTITUTION. SHE MIGHT EVEN MARRY AGAIN, BUT JESUS MAKES IT CLEAR THAT NEITHER ALTERNATIVE IS ACCEPTABLE. DIVORCE ALWAYS COMES BECAUSE ONE PARTY FEELS THAT THE OTHER IS NOT MEETING HIS OR HER NEEDS, AND THAT ATTITUDE MEANS THAT THE PARTNER IS VIEWED AS AN OBJECT, A POSSESSION, INSTEAD OF AN EQUAL TO WHOM ONE IS COMMITTED.
AND FINALLY JESUS TALKS ABOUT TAKING OATHS. THIS ISN'T THE SAME THING AS PROMISING TO TELL THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. THIS STEMS FROM A SITUATION IN WHICH THERE IS GENERAL DISTRUST, SO THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CASUAL SPEECH AND TELLING THE TRUTH. WHEN PEOPLE TAKE OATHS, THEY ARE SAYING THAT “YOU CAN TRUST ME NOW” BUT ALSO, THAT “YOU CAN'T TRUST ME MOST OF THE TIME.” JESUS IS SAYING THAT IT ISN'T A MATTER OF TRUE OATHS AND FALSE OATHS; IT IS A MATTER OF LIVING SO THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO TAKE OATHS. ALL YOU SAY IS TRUE.
THE PHARISEES BUILT FENCES AROUND THE LAWS OF MOSES. JESUS LOOKED AT THE LAWS AND SAW THEIR ROOTS. WHEN THE ROOTS ARE VISIBLE, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE LAW IS NOT AN EXTERNAL THING BUT HAS TO DO WITH OUR AUTHENTIC SELVES. IF WE GO AROUND CONSTANTLY HOLDING A GRUDGE, WE MIGHT MURDER, WE MIGHT HUT OUR NEIGHBOR, BUT WE WILL DEFINITELY DESTROY OURSELVES, BECAUSE SOMETHING THAT POSSESSES US TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN NO LONGER CONTROL OURSELVES ERASES WHAT IS GOD-LIKE IN US, OUR POWER TO CHOOSE. IF WE LIVE IN A STATE OF LUST, AND LUST ISN'T JUST ABOUT SEX, IT CAN BE ABOUT FOOD, ALCOHOL, POWER, RICHES … ALL OF THESE CAN CAUSE ME TO COMMIT SINFUL ACTS, BUT THEY ALWAYS DISTORT AND DIMINISH MY HUMANITY.
NOW JESUS ALSO DEMONSTRATES SOMETHING THAT EACH OF US CAN DO. IF WE EXAMINE WHAT WE DO, AND RECOGNIZE SINFUL ACTS, WE CAN DIG DOWN TO THEIR ROOTS, AND INVARIABLY, WE WILL FIND SOMETHING THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN – AND WE ARE HUMAN TO THE EXTENT THAT WE ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
BUT WE CAN'T DO THIS BY OURSELVES. FORTUNATELY, JESUS STANDS READY TO HELP US IN THE PERSON OF OUR PRIESTS, IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. WE THINK OVER OUR ACTIONS, WE LAY THEM OUT BEFORE THE PRIEST, AND HOPEFULLY, THERE WILL BE SOME DISCUSSION, LOOKING AT THE ROOTS OF OUR ACTIONS. AND THEN WE RECEIVE GOD'S SACRAMENTAL GRACE THAT CAN HELP US AT OUR ROOTS, THAT CAN LIFT THOSE BARRIERS WHICH KEEP US FROM WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.
ALL THROUGH THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, THERE ARE THE LAWS GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL BY MOSES. THESE AREN'T JUST THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; THEY ARE INSTEAD, LAWS HAVING TO DO WITH OFFERING SACRIFICE, WITH ADMINISTERING JUSTICE, WHICH DIET, WITH HOW TO PURIFY YOURSELF, WITH THINGS LIKE ALLOWING A NEWLY MARRIED MAN TO STAY HOME WITH HIS WIFE FOR A YEAR BEFORE CONSCRIPTING HIM TO GO OFF TO WAR...THERE ARE LAWS DEALING WITH THE PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T JEWS BUT LIVED AMONG THE JEWS – MOSTLY NATIVE PEOPLES WHO HAD BEEN THERE BEFORE THE JEWS ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND.
IT'S INTERESTING THAT SOME OF THESE LAWS WERE QUICKLY IGNORED; THERE IS A LAW THAT TELLS YOU WHEN YOU CAN PUT TO DEATH A DISOBEDIENT SON, FOR EXAMPLE. THERE IS THE LEVIRITE LAW, WHICH SAYS THAT IF YOUR BROTHER DIES, YOU HAVE TO MAKE HIS WIDOW PREGNANT, SO THAT SOMEONE WILL BE AROUND TO BE HIS DESCENDANT. AND THERE IS THE LAW OF JUBILEES, WHICH SAYS THAT EVERY FIFTY YEARS ALL THE LAND THAT HAS BEEN SOLD IS GIVEN BACK TO THOSE WHO HAD IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. BUT SOME JEWS, THE PHARISEES AND THE SCRIBES ESPECIALLY, EVENTUALLY DECIDED THAT GOD WANTED HIS PEOPLE TO OBEY ALL THE LAWS UNLESS OF COURSE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE. BUT SOME OF THESE LAWS ARE A LITTLE VAGUE. ONE SAYS THAT YOU SHALL NOT WORK ON THE SABBATH DAY. SO WHAT IS WORK? SOME RABBIS TAUGHT THAT YOU COULD WALK 100 STEPS FROM YOUR HOUSE WITHOUT BREAKING THE LAW. SOME TAUGHT THAT YOU COULDN'T PREPARE FOOD ON THE SABBATH. EVENTUALLY THE COMMANDMENT WAS BROKEN DOWN INTO ALL KINDS OF SPECIFIC RULES WHICH, IF YOU FOLLOWED THEM, YOU COULD BE SURE YOU WERE NOT BREAKING THE COMMANDMENT. ANOTHER RULE WAS THAT YOU COULDN'T BOIL A KID IN IT'S MOTHER'S MILK. MODERN SCHOLARS THINK THIS WAS BECAUSE THAT WAS A PAGAN PRACTICE; BUT THE PHARISEES AND THE SCRIBES DEVELOPED THAT RULE INTO THE DIETARY LAWS THAT ORTHODOX JEWS STILL FOLLOW; YOU EVEN HAVE TO HAVE TWO SETS OF DISHES SO THAT YOU WILL USE ONE FOR DAIRY AND ONE FOR NON-DAIRY. TO US THIS APPROACH TO LAW IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND, BUT REMEMBER, TO JEWS OBEYING GOD'S LAW WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THEY COULD DO, SO IT HELPED TO HAVE DETAILED RULES. THIS WAS CALLED “PUTTING A FENCE AROUND THE LAW”.
TODAY WE HEAR JESUS COMING UP WITH A RADICALLY DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION. FIRST, HE SAYS THAT HE DID NOT COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW. HE CAME TO FULFILL IT, DOWN TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL. AND THEN INSTEAD OF LISTING WAYS TO AVOID BREAKING A PARTICULAR COMMANDMENT, HE DRILLS DOWN. YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID “YOU SHALL NOT KILL; AND WHOEVER KILLS WILL BE LIABLE TO JUDGMENT.” BUT JESUS RECOGNIZES THAT KILLING STEMS FROM ANGER – NOT THAT MOMENTARY FLASH OF ANGER YOU GET WHEN SOMEONE CUTS YOU OFF IN TRAFFIC – OTHERWISE, I'D BE IN REAL TROUBLE. RATHER, THAT DEEP SEATED ANGER, THAT SIMMERING ANGER THAT COLORS YOUR WHOLE LIFE. IN THE MOVIE “FOR ROSANNA” THERE IS A SCENE IN WHICH A MAN IS RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER SERVING A 20 YEAR SENTENCE. HE BUYS A GUN AND GOES OFF TO KILL HIS WORST ENEMY. WHEN HE LEARNS THAT HIS ENEMY DIED A NATURAL DEATH, HE SHOUTS “YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME IN HELL. I'M COMING TO GET YOU!” AND THEN HE SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE HEAD. LIKEWISE JESUS TALKS ABOUT LUST. IF YOU ARE A NORMAL MALE, YOU CAN'T GET THROUGH A DAY WITHOUT NOTICING ATTRACTIVE WOMEN; IT'S BUILT IN TO YOUR BIOLOGY. IT MAY BE TRUE OF WOMEN AS WELL, BUT I CAN ONLY SPEAK FOR MYSELF. THAT IS NOT LUST. LUST IS THE MAN WHO SITS DOWN IN FRONT OF HIS COMPUTER AND DELIBERATELY GOES TO A PORNOGRAPHY SITE. AFTER A WHILE, HE'S AN ADDICT; THAT'S THE KIND OF LUST JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT.
JESUS TALKS ABOUT DIVORCE. WE HAVE CASUAL DIVORCES IN OUR DAY – JUST OPEN UP PEOPLE MAGAZINE ANY PARTICULAR WEEK – AND THIS WAS THE KIND OF DIVORCE IN JESUS' DAY. A MAN WOULD GET TIRED OF HIS WIFE AND DECIDE HE NEEDED SOMEONE YOUNGER AND PRETTIER, AND ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS WRITE OUT A BILL OF DIVORCE, AND HIS WIFE WAS OUT ON THE STREET. OFTEN THE WOMAN ENDED UP DOING WHATEVER SHE COULD TO SURVIVE, INCLUDING PROSTITUTION. SHE MIGHT EVEN MARRY AGAIN, BUT JESUS MAKES IT CLEAR THAT NEITHER ALTERNATIVE IS ACCEPTABLE. DIVORCE ALWAYS COMES BECAUSE ONE PARTY FEELS THAT THE OTHER IS NOT MEETING HIS OR HER NEEDS, AND THAT ATTITUDE MEANS THAT THE PARTNER IS VIEWED AS AN OBJECT, A POSSESSION, INSTEAD OF AN EQUAL TO WHOM ONE IS COMMITTED.
AND FINALLY JESUS TALKS ABOUT TAKING OATHS. THIS ISN'T THE SAME THING AS PROMISING TO TELL THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. THIS STEMS FROM A SITUATION IN WHICH THERE IS GENERAL DISTRUST, SO THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CASUAL SPEECH AND TELLING THE TRUTH. WHEN PEOPLE TAKE OATHS, THEY ARE SAYING THAT “YOU CAN TRUST ME NOW” BUT ALSO, THAT “YOU CAN'T TRUST ME MOST OF THE TIME.” JESUS IS SAYING THAT IT ISN'T A MATTER OF TRUE OATHS AND FALSE OATHS; IT IS A MATTER OF LIVING SO THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO TAKE OATHS. ALL YOU SAY IS TRUE.
THE PHARISEES BUILT FENCES AROUND THE LAWS OF MOSES. JESUS LOOKED AT THE LAWS AND SAW THEIR ROOTS. WHEN THE ROOTS ARE VISIBLE, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE LAW IS NOT AN EXTERNAL THING BUT HAS TO DO WITH OUR AUTHENTIC SELVES. IF WE GO AROUND CONSTANTLY HOLDING A GRUDGE, WE MIGHT MURDER, WE MIGHT HUT OUR NEIGHBOR, BUT WE WILL DEFINITELY DESTROY OURSELVES, BECAUSE SOMETHING THAT POSSESSES US TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN NO LONGER CONTROL OURSELVES ERASES WHAT IS GOD-LIKE IN US, OUR POWER TO CHOOSE. IF WE LIVE IN A STATE OF LUST, AND LUST ISN'T JUST ABOUT SEX, IT CAN BE ABOUT FOOD, ALCOHOL, POWER, RICHES … ALL OF THESE CAN CAUSE ME TO COMMIT SINFUL ACTS, BUT THEY ALWAYS DISTORT AND DIMINISH MY HUMANITY.
NOW JESUS ALSO DEMONSTRATES SOMETHING THAT EACH OF US CAN DO. IF WE EXAMINE WHAT WE DO, AND RECOGNIZE SINFUL ACTS, WE CAN DIG DOWN TO THEIR ROOTS, AND INVARIABLY, WE WILL FIND SOMETHING THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN – AND WE ARE HUMAN TO THE EXTENT THAT WE ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
BUT WE CAN'T DO THIS BY OURSELVES. FORTUNATELY, JESUS STANDS READY TO HELP US IN THE PERSON OF OUR PRIESTS, IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. WE THINK OVER OUR ACTIONS, WE LAY THEM OUT BEFORE THE PRIEST, AND HOPEFULLY, THERE WILL BE SOME DISCUSSION, LOOKING AT THE ROOTS OF OUR ACTIONS. AND THEN WE RECEIVE GOD'S SACRAMENTAL GRACE THAT CAN HELP US AT OUR ROOTS, THAT CAN LIFT THOSE BARRIERS WHICH KEEP US FROM WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
MATTHEW 5:13-16
ONE OF THE THINGS DEACONS AND PRIESTS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO IS WRITE DOWN ALL THE DETAILS FOR THEIR FUNERALS, AND FILE THEM WITH THE DIOCESE. IT SOUNDS A LITTLE MORBID, DOESN'T IT? BUT IT'S NOT SUCH A BAD IDEA. IT TAKES A HUGE BURDEN OFF OF THE PEOPLE YOU'VE LEFT BEHIND, WHO WILL HAVE ENOUGH PROBLEMS WITHOUT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE.
PART OF THE TASK IS TO SELECT THE MUSIC AND THE READINGS FOR THE FUNERAL MASS. I'M NOT MUCH OF A MUSIC PERSON, ALTHOUGH I LIKE TO SING. BUT MY FAVORITE PIECE OF SACRED MUSIC IS SHUBERT'S AVE MARIA, SO I'VE PUT THAT DOWN. ONE OF MY FAVORITE NON-SACRED PIECES IS THE STONE'S “SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL”, WHICH PROBABLY WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR MY FUNERAL, ALTHOUGH I HAVEN'T ASKED MY WIFE WHAT SHE THINKS YET.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GOSPEL, THE FIRST READING, THE SECOND READING? WHAT WOULD REFLECT YOUR LIFE, WHAT READINGS WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR LOVED ONES TO ASSOCIATE WITH YOU?
WOULD ANYONE PICK THE READINGS FROM TODAY? I'D BE ASHAMED TO, BUT I WISH I COULD. BECAUSE THESE VERY SHORT READINGS GIVE US THE ESSENCE OF WHAT GOD WANTS FROM US. AND IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU KNOW YOU FALL WAY SHORT.
JESUS SAYS WE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. IN JESUS TIME THERE WAS SALT WHICH WAS OBTAINED FROM MINES. THIS WAS VERY PURE, AND WAS USED BY THE VERY RICH, AND WEIGHED OUT AND USED TO PAY ROMAN SOLDIERS. SINCE IT WAS IN DEMAND ALL OVER THE EMPIRE, IT MADE A PRETTY GOOD MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE. BUT WHEN JESUS TALKED ABOUT SALT, HE WAS PROBABLY THINKING ABOUT BROWN AND YELLOW CRYSTALS THAT HAD BEEN OBTAINED FROM DRYING SEA WATER. IF YOU WERE A SALT MERCHANT, YOU MIGHT SELL SALT WITH A LOT OF SAND MIXED IN TO INCREASE YOUR PROFIT. POOR PEOPLE DIDN'T SPRINKLE SALT ON FOOD; THEY USED IT TO PRESERVE FOOD, AND WHEN THEY ATE THE MEAT OR FISH THAT HAD BEEN HEAVILY SALTED, THEY WASHED AWAY THE SALT. OBVIOUSLY IF YOUR SALT WAS MIXED WITH SAND, THE FOOD MIGHT NOT BE ADEQUATELY FLAVORED, OR MAYBE EVEN SPOILED. JESUS BRINGS UP THE IMAGE OF LIGHT AS WELL; IF WE HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL BASKET, WHAT GOOD ARE WE? IF WE DECIDE NOT TO BE SALT, IF WE DECIDE TO HIDE OUR LIGHT, WELL, THERE IS NO BACK UP PLAN. GOD HAS TURNED OVER TO US THE CREATION AND REALIZATION OF HIS KINGDOM. IT WILL COME, WE KNOW THAT. BUT GOD GIVES US THE CHANCE TO BE A PART OF IT.
THE FIRST READING FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH SHOWS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE LIGHT; SIMPLE THINGS – FEEDING THE HUNGRY, SHELTERING THE HOMELESS, CLOTHING THE NAKED – NOT ONLY DOES THAT CAUSE MY LIGHT TO SHINE FORTH, IT ENLISTS GOD HIMSELF IN MY ACTIONS, AND JUST AS WE BECOME LIGHT FOR THOSE AROUND US, GOD BECOMES LIGHT FOR US, HE ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS, HE PROTECTS US. BUT THIS PROMISE THAT GOD WILL LOOK AFTER THOSE WHO TAKE SERIOUSLY THAT THEY ARE LIGHT AND SALT, IS NOT UNIQUE TO ISAIAH; IT IS A THEME THAT RUNS THROUGH THE BIBLE. JESUS HIMSELF PROMISED THAT THE MEASURE WITH WHICH WE MEASURE AS WE GIVE TO OUR NEIGHBOR IS THE SAME MEASURE GOD WILL USE TO GIVE TO US; IF YOU OFFER A TEASPOON FULL OF LOVE, EXPECT A TEASPOON OF REWARD FROM GOD. IF YOU OFFER A TRUCKLOAD, A TRUCKLOAD FOR YOU IS PROMISED.
SAINT PAUL ADDS ANOTHER DIMENSION. I IMAGINE SOME OF YOU ARE LIKE ME. I HAVE A CHARACTER TRAIT THAT I WISH I DIDN'T HAVE. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SHAKE IT ALL MY LIFE. I DON'T LIKE TO BEGIN ANYTHING UNLESS I'M REASONABLY SURE OF THE OUTCOME, AND THE EFFORT WHICH I WILL HAVE TO EXERT. SO I THINK OF SOMETHING I HAVE TO DO, AND AFTER I ANALYZE IT FROM ALL SIDES I OFTEN END UP THINKING THAT THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO DO IT, I'M NOT PREPARED, I HAVE TOO MANY OTHER IRONS IN THE FIRE. SO I PUT IT ON THE BACK BURNER UNTIL I AM MORE PREPARED, UNTIL I HAVE MORE TIME. AND IF YOU WERE TO SEE MY BACK BURNER, IT IS PRETTY CROWDED. BUT SAINT PAUL WRITES TO HIS BELOVED CORINTHIANS. HE REMINDS THEM THAT WHEN HE CAME TO THEM, HE BROUGHT NOTHING – HE HADN'T PREPARED ELOQUENT SERMONS, HE DIDN'T BRING LOGICAL ARGUMENTS AND BRILLIANT THOUGHTS, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS EXTREMELY WELL EDUCATED. IN FACT, IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, PAUL TRIED THAT IN ATHENS. HE MET WITH THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE OF THE CITY AND TRIED TO BRING CHRIST TO THEM BY USING PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC. THEY REPLIED THAT IT WAS INTERESTING, AND MAYBE THEY'D HAVE HIM COME AROUND AGAIN SOME TIME. AND HERE, AN OLDER AND WISER PAUL RESOLVES TO STICK TO THE BASIC MESSAGE – THAT CHRIST SUFFERED, DIED, AND ROSE AGAIN, SO THAT WE COULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE – AND THE REST WOULD BE UP TO GOD.
YOU GO OUT, BEGIN TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, A LITTLE AT A TIME; YOU GO OUT AND SHINE A LITTLE OF THE LIGHT OF CHRIST, REFLECTED OFF OF YOU, INTO SOME DARK CORNERS; YOU GO OUT, UNPREPARED, NOT SEEING WHERE YOU WILL END UP, BEING LIKE JESUS WHO GAVE WHAT HE COULD TO THOSE WHO CROSSED HIS PATH. AND YOU GO OUT KNOWING ONLY THAT THE CRUCIFIED LORD GIVES YOU ALL THE POWER YOU NEED TO BE THE LIGHT, TO BE THE SALT. AND THE PROMISE IS THAT IF YOU ARE DOING THE WORK OF GOD, THE WORK LAID OUT BY ISAIAH, GOD HIMSELF WILL BE THERE WITH YOU. AND THAT'S THE RECIPE FOR BEING A SAINT. SIMPLE.
WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL IF AT YOUR FUNERAL, THOSE WHO KNEW YOU GOT TOGETHER AND SAID, “YOU KNOW, HE WAS A LIGHT SHINING IN THE DARKNESS, HER LIFE WAS LIKE THE SALT THAT KEEPS THINGS FRESH, THAT KEEPS CORRUPTION AT BAY. AND THIS GOSPEL IS THE RIGHT GOSPEL TO READ AT THE FUNERAL MASS.
I HOPE I HAVE A FEW MORE YEARS BEFORE MY FUNERAL MASS. AND I HOPE THAT BEFORE I DIE MAYBE I WILL GROW ENOUGH IN MY SPIRITUAL LIFE SO THAT THESE READINGS COULD BE READ AT MY FUNERAL, WITHOUT PEOPLE WONDERING WHAT ON EARTH THEY HAD TO DO WITH MY LIFE.
SO IN THE PLAN FOR MY FUNERAL I'VE GOT SHUBERT'S AVE MARIA, AND I'VE PICKED OUT SOME NICE READINGS. BUT A FUNERAL PLAN IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, AND MAYBE I'LL MAKE SOME CHANGES NOW AND THEN. IT'S GOOD TO LOOK AT THE PLAN ONCE A YEAR OR SO, AND WONDER WHETHER THOSE THINGS I'VE PUT IN THERE ARE STILL WHAT I WANT, OR WHETHER SOMETHING ELSE MIGHT BE APPROPRIATE, AND WHETHER I AM MAKING ANY PROGRESS IN MY SPIRITUAL LIFE, PROGRESS THAT CALLS FOR A DIFFERENT READINGS, DIFFERENT MUSIC.
MAYBE PLANNING ONE'S FUNERAL IS A GOOD THING FOR ALL OF US TO DO.
ONE OF THE THINGS DEACONS AND PRIESTS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO IS WRITE DOWN ALL THE DETAILS FOR THEIR FUNERALS, AND FILE THEM WITH THE DIOCESE. IT SOUNDS A LITTLE MORBID, DOESN'T IT? BUT IT'S NOT SUCH A BAD IDEA. IT TAKES A HUGE BURDEN OFF OF THE PEOPLE YOU'VE LEFT BEHIND, WHO WILL HAVE ENOUGH PROBLEMS WITHOUT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE.
PART OF THE TASK IS TO SELECT THE MUSIC AND THE READINGS FOR THE FUNERAL MASS. I'M NOT MUCH OF A MUSIC PERSON, ALTHOUGH I LIKE TO SING. BUT MY FAVORITE PIECE OF SACRED MUSIC IS SHUBERT'S AVE MARIA, SO I'VE PUT THAT DOWN. ONE OF MY FAVORITE NON-SACRED PIECES IS THE STONE'S “SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL”, WHICH PROBABLY WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR MY FUNERAL, ALTHOUGH I HAVEN'T ASKED MY WIFE WHAT SHE THINKS YET.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GOSPEL, THE FIRST READING, THE SECOND READING? WHAT WOULD REFLECT YOUR LIFE, WHAT READINGS WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR LOVED ONES TO ASSOCIATE WITH YOU?
WOULD ANYONE PICK THE READINGS FROM TODAY? I'D BE ASHAMED TO, BUT I WISH I COULD. BECAUSE THESE VERY SHORT READINGS GIVE US THE ESSENCE OF WHAT GOD WANTS FROM US. AND IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU KNOW YOU FALL WAY SHORT.
JESUS SAYS WE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. IN JESUS TIME THERE WAS SALT WHICH WAS OBTAINED FROM MINES. THIS WAS VERY PURE, AND WAS USED BY THE VERY RICH, AND WEIGHED OUT AND USED TO PAY ROMAN SOLDIERS. SINCE IT WAS IN DEMAND ALL OVER THE EMPIRE, IT MADE A PRETTY GOOD MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE. BUT WHEN JESUS TALKED ABOUT SALT, HE WAS PROBABLY THINKING ABOUT BROWN AND YELLOW CRYSTALS THAT HAD BEEN OBTAINED FROM DRYING SEA WATER. IF YOU WERE A SALT MERCHANT, YOU MIGHT SELL SALT WITH A LOT OF SAND MIXED IN TO INCREASE YOUR PROFIT. POOR PEOPLE DIDN'T SPRINKLE SALT ON FOOD; THEY USED IT TO PRESERVE FOOD, AND WHEN THEY ATE THE MEAT OR FISH THAT HAD BEEN HEAVILY SALTED, THEY WASHED AWAY THE SALT. OBVIOUSLY IF YOUR SALT WAS MIXED WITH SAND, THE FOOD MIGHT NOT BE ADEQUATELY FLAVORED, OR MAYBE EVEN SPOILED. JESUS BRINGS UP THE IMAGE OF LIGHT AS WELL; IF WE HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL BASKET, WHAT GOOD ARE WE? IF WE DECIDE NOT TO BE SALT, IF WE DECIDE TO HIDE OUR LIGHT, WELL, THERE IS NO BACK UP PLAN. GOD HAS TURNED OVER TO US THE CREATION AND REALIZATION OF HIS KINGDOM. IT WILL COME, WE KNOW THAT. BUT GOD GIVES US THE CHANCE TO BE A PART OF IT.
THE FIRST READING FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH SHOWS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE LIGHT; SIMPLE THINGS – FEEDING THE HUNGRY, SHELTERING THE HOMELESS, CLOTHING THE NAKED – NOT ONLY DOES THAT CAUSE MY LIGHT TO SHINE FORTH, IT ENLISTS GOD HIMSELF IN MY ACTIONS, AND JUST AS WE BECOME LIGHT FOR THOSE AROUND US, GOD BECOMES LIGHT FOR US, HE ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS, HE PROTECTS US. BUT THIS PROMISE THAT GOD WILL LOOK AFTER THOSE WHO TAKE SERIOUSLY THAT THEY ARE LIGHT AND SALT, IS NOT UNIQUE TO ISAIAH; IT IS A THEME THAT RUNS THROUGH THE BIBLE. JESUS HIMSELF PROMISED THAT THE MEASURE WITH WHICH WE MEASURE AS WE GIVE TO OUR NEIGHBOR IS THE SAME MEASURE GOD WILL USE TO GIVE TO US; IF YOU OFFER A TEASPOON FULL OF LOVE, EXPECT A TEASPOON OF REWARD FROM GOD. IF YOU OFFER A TRUCKLOAD, A TRUCKLOAD FOR YOU IS PROMISED.
SAINT PAUL ADDS ANOTHER DIMENSION. I IMAGINE SOME OF YOU ARE LIKE ME. I HAVE A CHARACTER TRAIT THAT I WISH I DIDN'T HAVE. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SHAKE IT ALL MY LIFE. I DON'T LIKE TO BEGIN ANYTHING UNLESS I'M REASONABLY SURE OF THE OUTCOME, AND THE EFFORT WHICH I WILL HAVE TO EXERT. SO I THINK OF SOMETHING I HAVE TO DO, AND AFTER I ANALYZE IT FROM ALL SIDES I OFTEN END UP THINKING THAT THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO DO IT, I'M NOT PREPARED, I HAVE TOO MANY OTHER IRONS IN THE FIRE. SO I PUT IT ON THE BACK BURNER UNTIL I AM MORE PREPARED, UNTIL I HAVE MORE TIME. AND IF YOU WERE TO SEE MY BACK BURNER, IT IS PRETTY CROWDED. BUT SAINT PAUL WRITES TO HIS BELOVED CORINTHIANS. HE REMINDS THEM THAT WHEN HE CAME TO THEM, HE BROUGHT NOTHING – HE HADN'T PREPARED ELOQUENT SERMONS, HE DIDN'T BRING LOGICAL ARGUMENTS AND BRILLIANT THOUGHTS, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS EXTREMELY WELL EDUCATED. IN FACT, IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, PAUL TRIED THAT IN ATHENS. HE MET WITH THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE OF THE CITY AND TRIED TO BRING CHRIST TO THEM BY USING PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC. THEY REPLIED THAT IT WAS INTERESTING, AND MAYBE THEY'D HAVE HIM COME AROUND AGAIN SOME TIME. AND HERE, AN OLDER AND WISER PAUL RESOLVES TO STICK TO THE BASIC MESSAGE – THAT CHRIST SUFFERED, DIED, AND ROSE AGAIN, SO THAT WE COULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE – AND THE REST WOULD BE UP TO GOD.
YOU GO OUT, BEGIN TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, A LITTLE AT A TIME; YOU GO OUT AND SHINE A LITTLE OF THE LIGHT OF CHRIST, REFLECTED OFF OF YOU, INTO SOME DARK CORNERS; YOU GO OUT, UNPREPARED, NOT SEEING WHERE YOU WILL END UP, BEING LIKE JESUS WHO GAVE WHAT HE COULD TO THOSE WHO CROSSED HIS PATH. AND YOU GO OUT KNOWING ONLY THAT THE CRUCIFIED LORD GIVES YOU ALL THE POWER YOU NEED TO BE THE LIGHT, TO BE THE SALT. AND THE PROMISE IS THAT IF YOU ARE DOING THE WORK OF GOD, THE WORK LAID OUT BY ISAIAH, GOD HIMSELF WILL BE THERE WITH YOU. AND THAT'S THE RECIPE FOR BEING A SAINT. SIMPLE.
WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL IF AT YOUR FUNERAL, THOSE WHO KNEW YOU GOT TOGETHER AND SAID, “YOU KNOW, HE WAS A LIGHT SHINING IN THE DARKNESS, HER LIFE WAS LIKE THE SALT THAT KEEPS THINGS FRESH, THAT KEEPS CORRUPTION AT BAY. AND THIS GOSPEL IS THE RIGHT GOSPEL TO READ AT THE FUNERAL MASS.
I HOPE I HAVE A FEW MORE YEARS BEFORE MY FUNERAL MASS. AND I HOPE THAT BEFORE I DIE MAYBE I WILL GROW ENOUGH IN MY SPIRITUAL LIFE SO THAT THESE READINGS COULD BE READ AT MY FUNERAL, WITHOUT PEOPLE WONDERING WHAT ON EARTH THEY HAD TO DO WITH MY LIFE.
SO IN THE PLAN FOR MY FUNERAL I'VE GOT SHUBERT'S AVE MARIA, AND I'VE PICKED OUT SOME NICE READINGS. BUT A FUNERAL PLAN IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, AND MAYBE I'LL MAKE SOME CHANGES NOW AND THEN. IT'S GOOD TO LOOK AT THE PLAN ONCE A YEAR OR SO, AND WONDER WHETHER THOSE THINGS I'VE PUT IN THERE ARE STILL WHAT I WANT, OR WHETHER SOMETHING ELSE MIGHT BE APPROPRIATE, AND WHETHER I AM MAKING ANY PROGRESS IN MY SPIRITUAL LIFE, PROGRESS THAT CALLS FOR A DIFFERENT READINGS, DIFFERENT MUSIC.
MAYBE PLANNING ONE'S FUNERAL IS A GOOD THING FOR ALL OF US TO DO.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
MATTHEW 5:1-12
IF YOU COME TO CHURCH REGULARLY, YOU HAVE HEARD THE GOSPEL ABOUT THE BEATITUDES BEFORE. IT IS ALSO THE GOSPEL FOR ALL SAINTS DAY. THE BEATITUDES APPEAR IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FORM IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE. WHEN I HEAR THE BEATITUDES, I ALWAYS FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE. SURE, I WANT TO BE BLESSED, OR BLEST, OR HAPPY, DIFFERENT WORDS THAT YOU WILL RUN ACROSS IN DIFFERENT TRANSLATIONS. BUT THOSE CONDITIONS! FIRST, I DON'T REALLY WANT TO MOURN, OR BE PERSECUTED, OR BE POOR, IN SPIRIT OR IN REALITY. I'M NOT PARTICULARLY MEEK, SO IT LOOKS AS THOUGH I WON'T INHERIT THE EARTH ANY TIME SOON. I LIKE RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT I DON'T HUNGER AND THIRST FOR IT; AND I COULD GO ON.
SO WHAT IS JESUS TALKING ABOUT? ODDLY ENOUGH, DOWN THROUGH THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, MANY GREAT THEOLOGIANS AND PREACHERS HAVE ATTEMPTED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION, AND TWO THOUSAND YEARS HAVE NOT RESULTED IN AGREEMENT.
FOR EXAMPLE: THE BEATITUDES INSPIRED MANY OF THOSE WHO FOUNDED MONASTIC MOVEMENTS, OR BECAME MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS LIKE THE FRANCISCANS. BUT WHILE YOU CAN PRACTICE SOME OF THE BEATITUDES, SOME SEEM ACCIDENTAL – MOURNING, FOR EXAMPLE, REQUIRES SOMETHING TO MOURN ABOUT. AND IF YOU TRY TO CREATE SOMETHING TO MOURN ABOUT, IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU. THE SAME IS TRUE OF PERSECUTION. IF WE GO LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO PERSECUTE US, THAT SEEMS A LITTLE MASOCHISTIC. SO IF WE TAKE THEM ABSOLUTELY LITERALLY, AS IF THEY PRESCRIBE A WAY OF LIFE, THAT DOESN'T WORK.
THE OPPOSITE EXTREME, TAUGHT BY SOME OTHER CHRISTIAN THINKERS, IS THAT THESE ARE ALL SPIRITUAL. LUKE QUOTED JESUS AS SAYING, “BLESSED ARE THE POOR.” BUT MATTHEW CAME ALONG AND SAID, “BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT. MAYBE HE WAS GIVING US A HINT. IT'S A LOT EASIER TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT AND KEEP MY SUV AND FLAT PANEL TV THAN IT IS TO BE REALLY POOR AND WONDER WHERE MY NEXT MEAL IS COMING FROM. AND IF I SPIRITUALIZE EVERYTHING, THAT WORKS WELL. I CAN BE ARROGANT AND DOMINEERING ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT MEEK IN MY HEART; I CAN LAUGH AND PARTY A LOT, BUT IN MY HEART I CAN MOURN THAT THERE IS SIN IN THE WORLD. SEE HOW IT WORKS? WHEN SOME POLITICAL LEADER PROMISES TO MAKE ABORTION EVEN MORE AVAILABLE AND TELLS THE WORLD THAT THOSE WHO OPPOSE ABORTION ARE TRYING TO FORCE EVERYONE TO ACCEPT THEIR PRIVATE CONVICTIONS, WELL, I CAN FEEL PERSECUTED BECAUSE I AM AGAINST ABORTION, AT LEAST ENOUGH SO THAT I WOULDN'T HAVE ONE MYSELF.
KARL BARTH, A PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN WHO POPE BENEDICT CALLED THE GREATEST THEOLOGIAN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, SAID THAT JESUS HIMSELF FULFILLS THE BEATITUDES, SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO. AND CERTAINLY EACH BEATITUDE IS FULFILLED PERFECTLY BY JESUS; HE IS POOR, HUNGERS AND THIRSTS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS; HE IS MEEK; HE MOURNS ESPECIALLY ABOUT THOSE WHO REJECT WHAT HE OFFERS; AND OF COURSE HE IS PERSECUTED. BUT WHILE YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH THAT LOGIC, JESUS IS CLEARLY TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE, NOT A PERSON.
SO WHEN YOU CAN'T FIGURE SOMETHING OUT IT'S TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW THINGS ACTUALLY WERE IN JESUS' DAY; WHAT WAS THE WORLD LIKE IN THEN?
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT IT WAS EASIER FOR A CAMEL TO SQUEEZE THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE THAN IT WAS FOR A RICH MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN? WHAT DID THE DISCIPLES SAY? SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT THAT IF A RICH MAN CAN'T DO IT, HOW CAN ANYONE EXPECT THEM TO DO IT? AFTER ALL, A RICH MAN HAD THE LEISURE TO FOLLOW THE LAW PERFECTLY; HE HAD THE MONEY TO OFFER SACRIFICES; HE HAD THE TIME TO STUDY SCRIPTURE; AND IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT GOD HAD BLESSED HIM, BECAUSE HE WAS RICH! AND THE APOSTLES DEMONSTRATED THIS MIND SET ANOTHER TIME, WHEN THEY ASKED JESUS WHETHER A BLIND MAN WAS BLIND BECAUSE OF HIS OWN SIN, OR THE SIN OF HIS PARENTS? IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE BEING BLIND FROM BIRTH WAS A SIGN THAT GOD DIDN'T LIKE YOU, AND GOD DIDN'T LIKE PEOPLE WHO SINNED, SO LOGICALLY, SOMEONE BLIND WAS AFFECTED BY SIN.
AND IF YOU LOST A LOVED ONE AND WERE MOURNING, OR IF YOU WERE TOO SHY TO STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU DESERVED, OR IF YOU WERE POOR, OR PERSECUTED, WELL, THOSE WERE ALL SIGNS THAT SIN HAD AFFECTED YOUR LIFE.
SO CAN YOU IMAGINE THE EFFECT OF JESUS' WORDS ON PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT LIKE THIS? WHY, IT CHALLENGED EVERYTHING THEY KNEW. AND IN A SOCIETY WHERE THERE WAS ALWAYS CONFLICT BETWEEN JEWS AND ROMANS, PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES, JEWS AND SAMARITANS, AND WHERE EVERYONE ASSUMED THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE, JESUS BLESSED PEACEMAKERS, EVEN THOUGH THEY NEVER SEEMED TO SUCCEED. AND WHERE EVERYONE WAS OUT TO GET WHAT WAS COMING TO THEM, EVEN IF IT MEANT CHEATING A BIT, JESUS BLESSED THE RIGHTEOUS, THOSE WHO WANTED JUSTICE, EVEN WHEN IT MADE REGULAR PEOPLE FEEL GUILTY AND SOMETIMES ANGRY. AND IF GOD IS BLESSING ALL OF THESE PEOPLE, NOT IN THE FUTURE, BUT RIGHT NOW – IT MUST HAVE SLOWLY DAWNED ON JESUS' HEARERS THAT GOD WANTS TO BLESS, INDEED DOES BLESS, EVERYONE. HE DESIRES TO BLESS EVERYONE; HIS JOY IS TO GIVE US WHAT WE NEED TO BE HAPPY.
AND NOW THE BEATITUDES START TO MAKE SENSE. FIRST, JESUS IS SAYING, LOOK AROUND YOU. DO YOU SEE PEOPLE WHO LOOK GOD-FORSAKEN? PEOPLE LIVING IN SIN, PEOPLE LIVING IN POVERTY, STUMBLING ALCOHOLICS, DOPE ADDICTS? DO YOU SEE THAT WOMAN FURTIVELY ENTERING THE ABORTION CLINIC FOR THE FOURTH OR FIFTH TIME? DO YOU SEE THAT OLD MAN WITH ALZHEIMER,S DISEASE, THAT WOMAN WHOSE MENTAL ILLNESS WAXES AND WANES? GOD IS BLESSING ALL OF THEM, HE IS SHOWERING THEM WITH HIS GRACE, HE IS CALLING THEM TO HIMSELF, HE IS LOVING THEM. AND IF HE IS DOING THIS, HE IS BLESSING YOU, AND THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU. AND HE IS MADLY IN LOVE WITH THE PEOPLE HE CREATED, THE PEOPLE HE DIED FOR, THE PEOPLE IN WHOM HE MAKES HIS DWELLING. SAINT PAUL SUMMED IT UP: “NEITHER HEIGHT NOR DEPTH, NOR ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATION, WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD.”
AND THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS, THE GOSPEL. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A HAPPY BABY? I'VE SEEN QUITE A FEW. BABIES ARE HAPPY BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE UNCONDITIONALLY LOVED. THEY CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE THAT ANYTHING THEY DO COULD CHANGE THAT FACT, AND KNOWING THAT ONE ELEMENTARY BIT OF INFORMATION, THEY FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE, TO LEARN TO WALK, TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE, TO GROW INTO BEING THEMSELVES, TO BECOME PERSONS. AND IF I TRULY BELIEVE THAT GOD UNCONDITIONALLY LOVES ME, I CAN DO AMAZING THINGS, AND I CAN BE BLESSED, I CAN BE HAPPY.
ISN'T THIS WONDERFUL NEWS? DON'T YOU WISH EVERYONE KNEW THAT GOD LOVES THEM PASSIONATELY, THAT HE IS RIGHT NOW BLESSING THEM, THAT EVEN WHEN THEY FEEL THAT THEY ARE ABANDONED AND MISERABLE, HE IS THERE, HE IS ALWAYS THERE. AND JESUS TELLS US THAT EVEN IF WE DIE, GOD'S BLESSING IS STILL WITH US, AND IF WE ACCEPT HIS BLESSING, WE WILL LIVE FOREVER IN THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHER. GO OUT AND SHARE THIS GOOD NEWS, AND AS YOU DO, YOU WILL FIND IT BECOMING MORE AND MORE REAL FOR YOU.
IF YOU COME TO CHURCH REGULARLY, YOU HAVE HEARD THE GOSPEL ABOUT THE BEATITUDES BEFORE. IT IS ALSO THE GOSPEL FOR ALL SAINTS DAY. THE BEATITUDES APPEAR IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FORM IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE. WHEN I HEAR THE BEATITUDES, I ALWAYS FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE. SURE, I WANT TO BE BLESSED, OR BLEST, OR HAPPY, DIFFERENT WORDS THAT YOU WILL RUN ACROSS IN DIFFERENT TRANSLATIONS. BUT THOSE CONDITIONS! FIRST, I DON'T REALLY WANT TO MOURN, OR BE PERSECUTED, OR BE POOR, IN SPIRIT OR IN REALITY. I'M NOT PARTICULARLY MEEK, SO IT LOOKS AS THOUGH I WON'T INHERIT THE EARTH ANY TIME SOON. I LIKE RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT I DON'T HUNGER AND THIRST FOR IT; AND I COULD GO ON.
SO WHAT IS JESUS TALKING ABOUT? ODDLY ENOUGH, DOWN THROUGH THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, MANY GREAT THEOLOGIANS AND PREACHERS HAVE ATTEMPTED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION, AND TWO THOUSAND YEARS HAVE NOT RESULTED IN AGREEMENT.
FOR EXAMPLE: THE BEATITUDES INSPIRED MANY OF THOSE WHO FOUNDED MONASTIC MOVEMENTS, OR BECAME MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS LIKE THE FRANCISCANS. BUT WHILE YOU CAN PRACTICE SOME OF THE BEATITUDES, SOME SEEM ACCIDENTAL – MOURNING, FOR EXAMPLE, REQUIRES SOMETHING TO MOURN ABOUT. AND IF YOU TRY TO CREATE SOMETHING TO MOURN ABOUT, IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU. THE SAME IS TRUE OF PERSECUTION. IF WE GO LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO PERSECUTE US, THAT SEEMS A LITTLE MASOCHISTIC. SO IF WE TAKE THEM ABSOLUTELY LITERALLY, AS IF THEY PRESCRIBE A WAY OF LIFE, THAT DOESN'T WORK.
THE OPPOSITE EXTREME, TAUGHT BY SOME OTHER CHRISTIAN THINKERS, IS THAT THESE ARE ALL SPIRITUAL. LUKE QUOTED JESUS AS SAYING, “BLESSED ARE THE POOR.” BUT MATTHEW CAME ALONG AND SAID, “BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT. MAYBE HE WAS GIVING US A HINT. IT'S A LOT EASIER TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT AND KEEP MY SUV AND FLAT PANEL TV THAN IT IS TO BE REALLY POOR AND WONDER WHERE MY NEXT MEAL IS COMING FROM. AND IF I SPIRITUALIZE EVERYTHING, THAT WORKS WELL. I CAN BE ARROGANT AND DOMINEERING ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT MEEK IN MY HEART; I CAN LAUGH AND PARTY A LOT, BUT IN MY HEART I CAN MOURN THAT THERE IS SIN IN THE WORLD. SEE HOW IT WORKS? WHEN SOME POLITICAL LEADER PROMISES TO MAKE ABORTION EVEN MORE AVAILABLE AND TELLS THE WORLD THAT THOSE WHO OPPOSE ABORTION ARE TRYING TO FORCE EVERYONE TO ACCEPT THEIR PRIVATE CONVICTIONS, WELL, I CAN FEEL PERSECUTED BECAUSE I AM AGAINST ABORTION, AT LEAST ENOUGH SO THAT I WOULDN'T HAVE ONE MYSELF.
KARL BARTH, A PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN WHO POPE BENEDICT CALLED THE GREATEST THEOLOGIAN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, SAID THAT JESUS HIMSELF FULFILLS THE BEATITUDES, SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO. AND CERTAINLY EACH BEATITUDE IS FULFILLED PERFECTLY BY JESUS; HE IS POOR, HUNGERS AND THIRSTS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS; HE IS MEEK; HE MOURNS ESPECIALLY ABOUT THOSE WHO REJECT WHAT HE OFFERS; AND OF COURSE HE IS PERSECUTED. BUT WHILE YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH THAT LOGIC, JESUS IS CLEARLY TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE, NOT A PERSON.
SO WHEN YOU CAN'T FIGURE SOMETHING OUT IT'S TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW THINGS ACTUALLY WERE IN JESUS' DAY; WHAT WAS THE WORLD LIKE IN THEN?
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT IT WAS EASIER FOR A CAMEL TO SQUEEZE THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE THAN IT WAS FOR A RICH MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN? WHAT DID THE DISCIPLES SAY? SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT THAT IF A RICH MAN CAN'T DO IT, HOW CAN ANYONE EXPECT THEM TO DO IT? AFTER ALL, A RICH MAN HAD THE LEISURE TO FOLLOW THE LAW PERFECTLY; HE HAD THE MONEY TO OFFER SACRIFICES; HE HAD THE TIME TO STUDY SCRIPTURE; AND IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT GOD HAD BLESSED HIM, BECAUSE HE WAS RICH! AND THE APOSTLES DEMONSTRATED THIS MIND SET ANOTHER TIME, WHEN THEY ASKED JESUS WHETHER A BLIND MAN WAS BLIND BECAUSE OF HIS OWN SIN, OR THE SIN OF HIS PARENTS? IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE BEING BLIND FROM BIRTH WAS A SIGN THAT GOD DIDN'T LIKE YOU, AND GOD DIDN'T LIKE PEOPLE WHO SINNED, SO LOGICALLY, SOMEONE BLIND WAS AFFECTED BY SIN.
AND IF YOU LOST A LOVED ONE AND WERE MOURNING, OR IF YOU WERE TOO SHY TO STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU DESERVED, OR IF YOU WERE POOR, OR PERSECUTED, WELL, THOSE WERE ALL SIGNS THAT SIN HAD AFFECTED YOUR LIFE.
SO CAN YOU IMAGINE THE EFFECT OF JESUS' WORDS ON PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT LIKE THIS? WHY, IT CHALLENGED EVERYTHING THEY KNEW. AND IN A SOCIETY WHERE THERE WAS ALWAYS CONFLICT BETWEEN JEWS AND ROMANS, PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES, JEWS AND SAMARITANS, AND WHERE EVERYONE ASSUMED THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE, JESUS BLESSED PEACEMAKERS, EVEN THOUGH THEY NEVER SEEMED TO SUCCEED. AND WHERE EVERYONE WAS OUT TO GET WHAT WAS COMING TO THEM, EVEN IF IT MEANT CHEATING A BIT, JESUS BLESSED THE RIGHTEOUS, THOSE WHO WANTED JUSTICE, EVEN WHEN IT MADE REGULAR PEOPLE FEEL GUILTY AND SOMETIMES ANGRY. AND IF GOD IS BLESSING ALL OF THESE PEOPLE, NOT IN THE FUTURE, BUT RIGHT NOW – IT MUST HAVE SLOWLY DAWNED ON JESUS' HEARERS THAT GOD WANTS TO BLESS, INDEED DOES BLESS, EVERYONE. HE DESIRES TO BLESS EVERYONE; HIS JOY IS TO GIVE US WHAT WE NEED TO BE HAPPY.
AND NOW THE BEATITUDES START TO MAKE SENSE. FIRST, JESUS IS SAYING, LOOK AROUND YOU. DO YOU SEE PEOPLE WHO LOOK GOD-FORSAKEN? PEOPLE LIVING IN SIN, PEOPLE LIVING IN POVERTY, STUMBLING ALCOHOLICS, DOPE ADDICTS? DO YOU SEE THAT WOMAN FURTIVELY ENTERING THE ABORTION CLINIC FOR THE FOURTH OR FIFTH TIME? DO YOU SEE THAT OLD MAN WITH ALZHEIMER,S DISEASE, THAT WOMAN WHOSE MENTAL ILLNESS WAXES AND WANES? GOD IS BLESSING ALL OF THEM, HE IS SHOWERING THEM WITH HIS GRACE, HE IS CALLING THEM TO HIMSELF, HE IS LOVING THEM. AND IF HE IS DOING THIS, HE IS BLESSING YOU, AND THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU. AND HE IS MADLY IN LOVE WITH THE PEOPLE HE CREATED, THE PEOPLE HE DIED FOR, THE PEOPLE IN WHOM HE MAKES HIS DWELLING. SAINT PAUL SUMMED IT UP: “NEITHER HEIGHT NOR DEPTH, NOR ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATION, WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD.”
AND THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS, THE GOSPEL. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A HAPPY BABY? I'VE SEEN QUITE A FEW. BABIES ARE HAPPY BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE UNCONDITIONALLY LOVED. THEY CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE THAT ANYTHING THEY DO COULD CHANGE THAT FACT, AND KNOWING THAT ONE ELEMENTARY BIT OF INFORMATION, THEY FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE, TO LEARN TO WALK, TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE, TO GROW INTO BEING THEMSELVES, TO BECOME PERSONS. AND IF I TRULY BELIEVE THAT GOD UNCONDITIONALLY LOVES ME, I CAN DO AMAZING THINGS, AND I CAN BE BLESSED, I CAN BE HAPPY.
ISN'T THIS WONDERFUL NEWS? DON'T YOU WISH EVERYONE KNEW THAT GOD LOVES THEM PASSIONATELY, THAT HE IS RIGHT NOW BLESSING THEM, THAT EVEN WHEN THEY FEEL THAT THEY ARE ABANDONED AND MISERABLE, HE IS THERE, HE IS ALWAYS THERE. AND JESUS TELLS US THAT EVEN IF WE DIE, GOD'S BLESSING IS STILL WITH US, AND IF WE ACCEPT HIS BLESSING, WE WILL LIVE FOREVER IN THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHER. GO OUT AND SHARE THIS GOOD NEWS, AND AS YOU DO, YOU WILL FIND IT BECOMING MORE AND MORE REAL FOR YOU.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Third Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 4:12-23
IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, AND YOU ARE, YOU ARE NOT ENTIRELY SURE ABOUT WANTING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AT HAND. YOU DON'T WANT IT OUT OF SIGHT, BUT YOU ALSO DON'T WANT IT KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR, DEMANDING A RESPONSE FROM YOU. IT'S NICE IF IT'S JUST FAR ENOUGH AWAY SO THAT WE CAN GET INVOLVED WITH IT IF WE WANT TO, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IGNORE IT'S DEMANDS AS LONG AS THEY ARE INCONVENIENT TO US.
WE CHRISTIANS LOVE CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE JESUS IS A LITTLE BABY, CUTE AND CUDDLY, AND MAKING NO DEMANDS ON US. REMEMBER THAT LINE FROM THE CHRISTMAS HYMN, “LITTLE LORD JESUS, NO CRYING HE MAKES”.
HOLY SATURDAY IS ANOTHER TIME WHEN THE PRESSURE IS OFF. IT IS THE DAY WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS DEAD AND BURIED. WE DON'T HAVE MASS; IT IS A QUIET DAY WHEN ALL THE TENSION AND DRAMA OF HOLY WEEK TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND RELAXES BEFORE THE CLIMAX OF EASTER – WHEN JESUS RETURNS FROM THE DEAD AND AGAIN ANNOUNCES, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
IF YOU ARE IN TUNE WITH THE LITURGICAL YEAR, MOST OF THE TIME THERE IS THAT NAGGING FEELING – THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS DEMANDING A RESPONSE, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE NEUTRAL.
BUT WE ARE CHRISTIANS, WE ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE FATHER AND JESUS IS OUR BROTHER, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US. WHY DO WE HAVE THESE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, WHICH IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE WAY GOD WANTS THE WORLD TO BE, THE NEW WORLD THAT JESUS PREACHED, THE WORLD WHERE THERE ARE NO POOR PEOPLE, WHERE THERE IS NO PAIN AND SUFFERING, WHERE THERE ARE NO CRAZED YOUNG MEN WHO SHOOT PEOPLE, OR MEN AND WOMEN WHO BECOME SUICIDE BOMBERS BECAUSE THEY THINK THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS OF THEM? AS MOTHER THERESA AND SAINT FRANCIS AND ANY SAINT YOU CAN THINK OF PROVED, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS RIGHT HERE, AND YOU AND I CAN BRING IT INTO BEING, WE CAN MAKE IT REAL, RIGHT NOW, TODAY, IF WE WANT TO. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS TO BE JESUS CHRIST TO THOSE PEOPLE AROUND US – FAMILY MEMBERS, PEOPLE WE WORK WITH. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS OFFER THEM OUR LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT; ALL WE NEED TO DO IS SEE WHAT THEY NEED AND DO WHAT WE CAN TO FULFILL THOSE NEEDS. IF WE DO THAT EVERY DAY WE WILL BRING TO LIFE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
JESUS WALKED ALONG THE SEASHORE, AND TOLD FOUR MEN TO FOLLOW HIM. THEY WEREN'T EDUCATED; THEY COULDN'T EVEN SPEAK GOOD HEBREW LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED DOWN IN JERUSALEM; AND THEY SMELLED LIKE FISH. WE READ HOW THEY DROPPED EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW JESUS. BUT IF WE READ FURTHER IN THE GOSPELS, THEY WOULD GO ALONG WITH JESUS FOR A WHILE, THEN RETURN HOME; THEN GO OUT WITH HIM AGAIN. JESUS SPENT THE FIRST PART OF HIS MINISTRY WANDERING AROUND AN AREA IN NORTHERN ISRAEL ABOUT 30 MILES ACROSS BEFORE HE WENT TO JERUSALEM TO BE CRUCIFIED AND DIE. AND PETER, ANDREW, JAMES AND JOHN, LIKE YOU AND I, HAD TO LEARN TO BRING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN INTO THEIR OWN LIVES, INTO THE MIDST OF THEIR FAMILIES AND OCCUPATIONS – THEY HAD TO LEARN THIS BEFORE THEY COULD BECOME MISSIONARIES AND CO-FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH. BECAUSE THE FIRST DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN IS TO MAKE REAL THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN HIS OR HER OWN LIFE.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN CAME INTO BEING FOR A PHYSICIAN FRIEND OF MINE WHO FELT CALLED TO JOIN A MEDICAL MISSIONARY GROUP THAT DEVOTES MUCH OF THEIR VACATION TIME TO STAFFING A CLINIC IN HAITI. SHE VOLUNTEERED FOR ONE TOUR, AND HAS GONE BACK TEN TIMES, AND GOTTEN A FEW OTHER PEOPLE TO GO WITH HER. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS BEING REALIZED BIT BY BIT BY A GROUP OF LADIES IN HOLYOKE THAT HAVE MADE MORE THAN 100,000 ROSARIES AND SENT THEM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO MISSIONARIES.
YOU WON'T FIND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AT THE MOVIES, OR ON THE INTERNET, OR OUT ON THE GOLF COURSE. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THOSE THINGS, OF COURSE, BUT AS WE USE THE MOMENTS OF EVERY DAY – TIME THAT WE'LL NEVER HAVE AGAIN – WE NEED TO ASK WHETHER THAT IS WHERE WE WILL FIND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. IF NOT, MAYBE WE NEED TO RETHINK OUR ROUTINE, OUR HABITS. JESUS TALKED ABOUT THE MERCHANT WHO SOLD EVERYTHING HE HAD SO THAT HE COULD BUY A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.
SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF SISTER OLGA YAQOB, WHO IS A MYSTIC OF SORTS AND ACTS AS A CAMPUS MINISTER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY. SHE MAKES IT A POINT EACH YEAR TO SELECT A SAINT AND THEN CONSCIOUSLY TRIES TO IMITATE THAT SAINT. NOT A BAD IDEA IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN – FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS FOUND IT, AND IMITATE HIM OR HER.
WE ALL KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, AND YOU ARE, YOU KNOW THAT THE MOMENTS WHEN YOU'VE BEEN THE HAPPIEST HAVE BEEN WHEN YOU ARE GIVING YOURSELF TO SOMEONE ELSE; WHEN YOU SEE YOUR FAMILY APPRECIATING THAT SUPPER YOU'VE PREPARED; WHEN YOU SEE THE LOOK ON A CHILD'S FACE WHEN YOU GIVE HER THAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT SHE'S BEEN LONGING FOR. AND A PERSON WHO WAKES UP ONE DAY AND REALIZES THAT NO ONE NEEDS HIM – THAT IS A SAD PERSON, THAT IS A SURE ROAD TO DEPRESSION. JESUS MAKES IT SO SIMPLE -- “FOLLOW ME. DO WHAT I DO. LEARN FROM ME. THEN YOU WILL BE HAPPY, THEN YOU WILL BEGIN YOUR HEAVEN RIGHT HERE ON EARTH.”
I HAVE TO WARN YOU. HEAVEN IS NOT A PLACE WHERE YOU WILL SIT ON A CLOUD DOING NOTHING. HEAVEN IS A PLACE WHERE THOSE WHO GET THERE WILL CONTINUE WHAT THEY WERE DOING ON EARTH – LIVING OUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. SAINT THERESA PROMISED THAT SHE WOULD SPEND HER HEAVEN DOING GOOD ON EARTH; AND IF THE BLESSED MOTHER HAS APPEARED EVEN A FRACTION OF THE TIMES SHE'S BEEN SAID TO HAVE APPEARED, WE KNOW SHE KEEPS BUSY.
FOUR ORDINARY MEN HEARD JESUS ANNOUNCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AND LEFT EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW HIM. JESUS ANNOUNCES THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN TODAY, HERE IN THIS CHURCH, AND INVITES YOU AND I TO FOLLOW HIM. THOSE FOUR MEN DIDN'T GET IT AT FIRST OR EVEN LATER; BUT THEY DID GET IT EVENTUALLY – BECAUSE THEY BEGAN TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES WHEN THEY HEARD JESUS CALL THEM. WILL YOU AND I DO LIKEWISE?
IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, AND YOU ARE, YOU ARE NOT ENTIRELY SURE ABOUT WANTING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AT HAND. YOU DON'T WANT IT OUT OF SIGHT, BUT YOU ALSO DON'T WANT IT KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR, DEMANDING A RESPONSE FROM YOU. IT'S NICE IF IT'S JUST FAR ENOUGH AWAY SO THAT WE CAN GET INVOLVED WITH IT IF WE WANT TO, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IGNORE IT'S DEMANDS AS LONG AS THEY ARE INCONVENIENT TO US.
WE CHRISTIANS LOVE CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE JESUS IS A LITTLE BABY, CUTE AND CUDDLY, AND MAKING NO DEMANDS ON US. REMEMBER THAT LINE FROM THE CHRISTMAS HYMN, “LITTLE LORD JESUS, NO CRYING HE MAKES”.
HOLY SATURDAY IS ANOTHER TIME WHEN THE PRESSURE IS OFF. IT IS THE DAY WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS DEAD AND BURIED. WE DON'T HAVE MASS; IT IS A QUIET DAY WHEN ALL THE TENSION AND DRAMA OF HOLY WEEK TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND RELAXES BEFORE THE CLIMAX OF EASTER – WHEN JESUS RETURNS FROM THE DEAD AND AGAIN ANNOUNCES, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
IF YOU ARE IN TUNE WITH THE LITURGICAL YEAR, MOST OF THE TIME THERE IS THAT NAGGING FEELING – THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS DEMANDING A RESPONSE, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE NEUTRAL.
BUT WE ARE CHRISTIANS, WE ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE FATHER AND JESUS IS OUR BROTHER, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US. WHY DO WE HAVE THESE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, WHICH IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE WAY GOD WANTS THE WORLD TO BE, THE NEW WORLD THAT JESUS PREACHED, THE WORLD WHERE THERE ARE NO POOR PEOPLE, WHERE THERE IS NO PAIN AND SUFFERING, WHERE THERE ARE NO CRAZED YOUNG MEN WHO SHOOT PEOPLE, OR MEN AND WOMEN WHO BECOME SUICIDE BOMBERS BECAUSE THEY THINK THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS OF THEM? AS MOTHER THERESA AND SAINT FRANCIS AND ANY SAINT YOU CAN THINK OF PROVED, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS RIGHT HERE, AND YOU AND I CAN BRING IT INTO BEING, WE CAN MAKE IT REAL, RIGHT NOW, TODAY, IF WE WANT TO. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS TO BE JESUS CHRIST TO THOSE PEOPLE AROUND US – FAMILY MEMBERS, PEOPLE WE WORK WITH. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS OFFER THEM OUR LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT; ALL WE NEED TO DO IS SEE WHAT THEY NEED AND DO WHAT WE CAN TO FULFILL THOSE NEEDS. IF WE DO THAT EVERY DAY WE WILL BRING TO LIFE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
JESUS WALKED ALONG THE SEASHORE, AND TOLD FOUR MEN TO FOLLOW HIM. THEY WEREN'T EDUCATED; THEY COULDN'T EVEN SPEAK GOOD HEBREW LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED DOWN IN JERUSALEM; AND THEY SMELLED LIKE FISH. WE READ HOW THEY DROPPED EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW JESUS. BUT IF WE READ FURTHER IN THE GOSPELS, THEY WOULD GO ALONG WITH JESUS FOR A WHILE, THEN RETURN HOME; THEN GO OUT WITH HIM AGAIN. JESUS SPENT THE FIRST PART OF HIS MINISTRY WANDERING AROUND AN AREA IN NORTHERN ISRAEL ABOUT 30 MILES ACROSS BEFORE HE WENT TO JERUSALEM TO BE CRUCIFIED AND DIE. AND PETER, ANDREW, JAMES AND JOHN, LIKE YOU AND I, HAD TO LEARN TO BRING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN INTO THEIR OWN LIVES, INTO THE MIDST OF THEIR FAMILIES AND OCCUPATIONS – THEY HAD TO LEARN THIS BEFORE THEY COULD BECOME MISSIONARIES AND CO-FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH. BECAUSE THE FIRST DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN IS TO MAKE REAL THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN HIS OR HER OWN LIFE.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN CAME INTO BEING FOR A PHYSICIAN FRIEND OF MINE WHO FELT CALLED TO JOIN A MEDICAL MISSIONARY GROUP THAT DEVOTES MUCH OF THEIR VACATION TIME TO STAFFING A CLINIC IN HAITI. SHE VOLUNTEERED FOR ONE TOUR, AND HAS GONE BACK TEN TIMES, AND GOTTEN A FEW OTHER PEOPLE TO GO WITH HER. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS BEING REALIZED BIT BY BIT BY A GROUP OF LADIES IN HOLYOKE THAT HAVE MADE MORE THAN 100,000 ROSARIES AND SENT THEM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO MISSIONARIES.
YOU WON'T FIND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AT THE MOVIES, OR ON THE INTERNET, OR OUT ON THE GOLF COURSE. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THOSE THINGS, OF COURSE, BUT AS WE USE THE MOMENTS OF EVERY DAY – TIME THAT WE'LL NEVER HAVE AGAIN – WE NEED TO ASK WHETHER THAT IS WHERE WE WILL FIND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. IF NOT, MAYBE WE NEED TO RETHINK OUR ROUTINE, OUR HABITS. JESUS TALKED ABOUT THE MERCHANT WHO SOLD EVERYTHING HE HAD SO THAT HE COULD BUY A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.
SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF SISTER OLGA YAQOB, WHO IS A MYSTIC OF SORTS AND ACTS AS A CAMPUS MINISTER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY. SHE MAKES IT A POINT EACH YEAR TO SELECT A SAINT AND THEN CONSCIOUSLY TRIES TO IMITATE THAT SAINT. NOT A BAD IDEA IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN – FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS FOUND IT, AND IMITATE HIM OR HER.
WE ALL KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, AND YOU ARE, YOU KNOW THAT THE MOMENTS WHEN YOU'VE BEEN THE HAPPIEST HAVE BEEN WHEN YOU ARE GIVING YOURSELF TO SOMEONE ELSE; WHEN YOU SEE YOUR FAMILY APPRECIATING THAT SUPPER YOU'VE PREPARED; WHEN YOU SEE THE LOOK ON A CHILD'S FACE WHEN YOU GIVE HER THAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT SHE'S BEEN LONGING FOR. AND A PERSON WHO WAKES UP ONE DAY AND REALIZES THAT NO ONE NEEDS HIM – THAT IS A SAD PERSON, THAT IS A SURE ROAD TO DEPRESSION. JESUS MAKES IT SO SIMPLE -- “FOLLOW ME. DO WHAT I DO. LEARN FROM ME. THEN YOU WILL BE HAPPY, THEN YOU WILL BEGIN YOUR HEAVEN RIGHT HERE ON EARTH.”
I HAVE TO WARN YOU. HEAVEN IS NOT A PLACE WHERE YOU WILL SIT ON A CLOUD DOING NOTHING. HEAVEN IS A PLACE WHERE THOSE WHO GET THERE WILL CONTINUE WHAT THEY WERE DOING ON EARTH – LIVING OUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. SAINT THERESA PROMISED THAT SHE WOULD SPEND HER HEAVEN DOING GOOD ON EARTH; AND IF THE BLESSED MOTHER HAS APPEARED EVEN A FRACTION OF THE TIMES SHE'S BEEN SAID TO HAVE APPEARED, WE KNOW SHE KEEPS BUSY.
FOUR ORDINARY MEN HEARD JESUS ANNOUNCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AND LEFT EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW HIM. JESUS ANNOUNCES THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN TODAY, HERE IN THIS CHURCH, AND INVITES YOU AND I TO FOLLOW HIM. THOSE FOUR MEN DIDN'T GET IT AT FIRST OR EVEN LATER; BUT THEY DID GET IT EVENTUALLY – BECAUSE THEY BEGAN TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES WHEN THEY HEARD JESUS CALL THEM. WILL YOU AND I DO LIKEWISE?
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
JOHN 1:29-34
SOMETIMES IT SEEMS AS THOUGH SOME LUCKY INDIVIDUALS HAVE A DESTINY. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IT WAS ALL PREORDAINED. WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL TO BE LIKE THAT – TO ALWAYS SEE WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GO. TO KNOW WITH CERTAINTY WHERE GOD WAS LEADING YOU. THE VATICAN JUST ANNOUNCED THAT POPE JOHN PAUL II WILL BE BEATIFIED THE SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. IT'S VERY EARLY IN THE PROCESS, BUT THE OBLIGATORY MIRACLE HAS BEEN CERTIFIED, AND HIS LIFE HAS BEEN GONE OVER WITH A FINE TOOTHED COMB. AND JOHN PAUL SEEMS TO HAVE HAD ONE OF THOSE LIVES OF DESTINY. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS PREDESTINED, AND THE OUTCOME WAS THAT HE BECAME ONE OF OUR GREATEST POPES, AND INDEED, MANY FEEL THAT HIS LEADERSHIP SAVED THE CHURCH. I DON'T KNOW HOW HIS LIFE LOOKED TO JOHN PAUL II; BUT I THINK WE DO KNOW WHAT HIS LIFE LOOKED LIKE TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.
THINK OF THE THINGS WE KNOW. HE WAS JESUS' COUSIN, AND EVEN BEFORE HIS BIRTH, WE ARE TOLD THAT HE REACTED TO JESUS' PRESENCE. LAST SUNDAY WE HEARD ABOUT HOW, WHEN JESUS CAME TO HIM FOR BAPTISM, JOHN EXCLAIMED THAT HE SHOULD BE BAPTIZED BY JESUS. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH JOHN ALWAYS HAD AN INTUITION THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR SOMEONE; HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS. HE TOLD THOSE WHO HEARD HIM THAT SOMEONE WAS COMING WHO WAS GREATER THAN HIM, SO GREAT THAT HE WASN'T WORTHY TO UNTIE HIS SANDAL STRAP. BUT WHEN YOU READ FURTHER INTO WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT JOHN, THERE IS UNCERTAINTY. TODAY HE ADMITS TWICE THAT HE DID NOT KNOW JESUS, THE ONE FOR WHOM HE WAS TO PREPARE THE WAY. AND IN ANOTHER STORY HE SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO JESUS TO ASK “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN KNEW HE WAS GIVEN A MISSION BY GOD. WE CAN ALMOST IMAGINE THAT BEFORE HE STARTED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY, HE MUST HAVE DONE A LOT OF THINKING AND SEARCHING. HIS FATHER WAS A PRIEST, AFTER ALL, SO JOHN PROBABLY HAD A DECENT EDUCATION. WE KNOW HE SPENT TIME IN THE DESERT, JUST LIKE JESUS DID AFTER HIS BAPTISM. AS HE SEARCHED TO KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR HIMSELF, HE LIVED IN THE DESERT LIKE A HERMIT, AND WHEN HE CAME BACK TO CIVILIZATION, HE LOOKED LIKE A WILD MAN. AND AT EVERY MOMENT, EVEN THOUGH HE ACTED BOLDLY, AND EVEN THOUGH WHEN WE LOOK ACROSS THOSE TWO THOUSAND YEARS IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HIS LIFE WAS SCRIPTED, AND THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS ALMOST PREDESTINED, THE GOSPELS GIVE US A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE – A JOHN WHO DESPITE HIS DEDICATION, HIS COURAGE, HIS HOLINESS, DOESN'T RECOGNIZE JESUS. OF COURSE HE DOES, EVENTUALLY, BUT EVEN IN HIS LAST DAYS IN HEROD'S PRISON, HE'S NOT QUITE SURE. AND I WONDER IF, WHEN JOHN WENT TO HIS EXECUTION, OR WHEN JOHN PAUL II REALIZED THAT HIS DEATH WAS NEAR, THESE GREAT SAINTS MAY HAVE HAD A MOMENT OF UNCERTAINTY, A WISH FOR CLARITY – DID THEIR LIVES REALLY HAVE MEANING? DID THEY REALLY HAVE A DESTINY? I SUSPECT THAT THIS IS A QUESTION THAT EVERYONE HAS AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES – DID I MATTER? DID MY LIFE MAKE A DIFFERENCE? DID I DO WHAT GOD WANTED ME TO DO, OR IS THERE A GOD AT ALL?
IN THE END, JOHN RECOGNIZED THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH. TODAY WE HEAR HIM TELLING THIS TO HIS OWN DISCIPLES. BUT LATER HE'LL ASK AGAIN; LIKE ALL OF US, JOHN GOES FROM MORE CERTAINTY TO LESS CERTAINTY AND BACK AGAIN. IT IS NOT GIVEN TO ANY HUMAN BEING TO KNOW, REALLY KNOW, WHAT HE IS PUT ON THIS EARTH FOR.
BUT JOHN PAUL II AND JOHN THE BAPTIST SEEMED TO SHARE A CHARACTERISTIC; AT EACH JUNCTURE IN THEIR LIVES, WHEN THEY HAD TO MAKE CHOICES, THEY SEEMED TO MAKE “INSPIRED” CHOICES. THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY HEARD VOICES IN THEIR HEADS. IT DOES MEAN THAT WHEN THEY MADE CHOICES, THEY USUALLY STEPPED OUT AND TOOK A CHANCE ON GOD. JOHN PAUL CHOSE TO BECOME A PRIEST IN AN ERA WHEN THAT WAS DANGEROUS AND PUT HIM ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW. JOHN THE BAPTIST COULD HAVE BECOME A MEMBER OF THE HEREDITARY PRIESTHOOD OF ISRAEL, AND LIVED A LIFE OF SERVICE; INSTEAD, HE CHOSE TO LIVE IN THE DESERT AS A HERMIT. JOHN PAUL WASN'T AFRAID, THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, TO SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THE NAZI'S, THE COMMUNISTS, TO AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, TO POWERFUL PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD; JOHN THE BAPTIST NEVER HESITATED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES.
SO BEING A SAINT IS NOT THE SAME AS LIVING A LIFE OF CERTAINTY, A LIFE OF DESTINY. IT IS JUST BEING OPEN TO INSPIRATION EVERY TIME A CHOICE HAS TO BE MADE. LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, WE MAY ONLY HAVE A SMALL PART OF THE TRUTH, AND WE MAY HAVE TO STEP OUT INTO THE DARKNESS WITHOUT GOOD EVIDENCE, WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS GIVEN ALL HE OR SHE NEEDS TO KNOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE THINK WE NEED; IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES, OR THE RESULTS OF OUR ACTIONS. IN FACT, MOST OF THE TIME, WE DON'T GET THAT PRIVILEGE. WE ARE ONLY GIVEN WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE A CHOICE, A CHOICE FOR GOD OR A CHOICE NOT IN LINE WITH GOD'S WILL. AND EVEN IF WE MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, WE WON'T REALLY KNOW THEY WERE RIGHT UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE.
SO WHAT TO DO? IN A WAY, THIS IS VERY LIBERATING. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW OUR LIVES TURN OUT. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING, OR DOING SOME GREAT WORK FOR GOD. WE AREN'T GIVEN THE BIG PICTURE, THE PLAN OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES. BUT WE ARE GIVEN AT EVERY MOMENT, ENOUGH INFORMATION TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE, AND OUR WHOLE LIVES AS CHRISTIANS CONSIST OF LISTENING, OF PRAYING, OF PURIFYING OUR MOTIVES AND OUR INTENTIONS, SO THAT THE NEXT TIME WE MAKE A CHOICE, WE WILL MAKE THE ONE GOD WANTS US TO MAKE. GOD ALWAYS GIVES US A CHOICE, AND HE RESPECTS OUR FREE WILL. BUT HE GIVES US WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE OUR CHOICES. WE MAY NEVER SEE WHAT HE WANTS FOR US, WE MAY, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, HAVE TO ADMIT THAT “WE DID NOT KNOW HIM”. BUT OUR PART IN THE WORLD TO COME IS ASSURED IF WE MAKE OUR CHOICES EACH TIME WITH PRAYER, WITH THOUGHT, AND WITH UNSELFISHNESS; IF WE MAKE THOSE CHOICES BECAUSE WE HAVE WORKED TO UNDERSTAND THE WILL OF GOD. AND WE WON'T HAVE CERTAINTY, EXCEPT THE CERTAINTY OF KNOWING THAT GOD WILL TAKE OUR LIVES AND KNIT THEM INTO HIS GRAND PLAN FOR HIS KINGDOM, AND WE WILL SEE HOW OUR CHOICES REALLY MATTERED SOME DAY. AND WE WILL REALIZE, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, LIKE JOHN PAUL II, THAT GOD WAS WORKING IN OUR LIVES, EVEN THOUGH WE DID NOT KNOW HIM.
SOMETIMES IT SEEMS AS THOUGH SOME LUCKY INDIVIDUALS HAVE A DESTINY. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IT WAS ALL PREORDAINED. WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL TO BE LIKE THAT – TO ALWAYS SEE WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GO. TO KNOW WITH CERTAINTY WHERE GOD WAS LEADING YOU. THE VATICAN JUST ANNOUNCED THAT POPE JOHN PAUL II WILL BE BEATIFIED THE SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. IT'S VERY EARLY IN THE PROCESS, BUT THE OBLIGATORY MIRACLE HAS BEEN CERTIFIED, AND HIS LIFE HAS BEEN GONE OVER WITH A FINE TOOTHED COMB. AND JOHN PAUL SEEMS TO HAVE HAD ONE OF THOSE LIVES OF DESTINY. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS PREDESTINED, AND THE OUTCOME WAS THAT HE BECAME ONE OF OUR GREATEST POPES, AND INDEED, MANY FEEL THAT HIS LEADERSHIP SAVED THE CHURCH. I DON'T KNOW HOW HIS LIFE LOOKED TO JOHN PAUL II; BUT I THINK WE DO KNOW WHAT HIS LIFE LOOKED LIKE TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.
THINK OF THE THINGS WE KNOW. HE WAS JESUS' COUSIN, AND EVEN BEFORE HIS BIRTH, WE ARE TOLD THAT HE REACTED TO JESUS' PRESENCE. LAST SUNDAY WE HEARD ABOUT HOW, WHEN JESUS CAME TO HIM FOR BAPTISM, JOHN EXCLAIMED THAT HE SHOULD BE BAPTIZED BY JESUS. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH JOHN ALWAYS HAD AN INTUITION THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR SOMEONE; HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS. HE TOLD THOSE WHO HEARD HIM THAT SOMEONE WAS COMING WHO WAS GREATER THAN HIM, SO GREAT THAT HE WASN'T WORTHY TO UNTIE HIS SANDAL STRAP. BUT WHEN YOU READ FURTHER INTO WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT JOHN, THERE IS UNCERTAINTY. TODAY HE ADMITS TWICE THAT HE DID NOT KNOW JESUS, THE ONE FOR WHOM HE WAS TO PREPARE THE WAY. AND IN ANOTHER STORY HE SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO JESUS TO ASK “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN KNEW HE WAS GIVEN A MISSION BY GOD. WE CAN ALMOST IMAGINE THAT BEFORE HE STARTED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY, HE MUST HAVE DONE A LOT OF THINKING AND SEARCHING. HIS FATHER WAS A PRIEST, AFTER ALL, SO JOHN PROBABLY HAD A DECENT EDUCATION. WE KNOW HE SPENT TIME IN THE DESERT, JUST LIKE JESUS DID AFTER HIS BAPTISM. AS HE SEARCHED TO KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR HIMSELF, HE LIVED IN THE DESERT LIKE A HERMIT, AND WHEN HE CAME BACK TO CIVILIZATION, HE LOOKED LIKE A WILD MAN. AND AT EVERY MOMENT, EVEN THOUGH HE ACTED BOLDLY, AND EVEN THOUGH WHEN WE LOOK ACROSS THOSE TWO THOUSAND YEARS IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HIS LIFE WAS SCRIPTED, AND THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS ALMOST PREDESTINED, THE GOSPELS GIVE US A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE – A JOHN WHO DESPITE HIS DEDICATION, HIS COURAGE, HIS HOLINESS, DOESN'T RECOGNIZE JESUS. OF COURSE HE DOES, EVENTUALLY, BUT EVEN IN HIS LAST DAYS IN HEROD'S PRISON, HE'S NOT QUITE SURE. AND I WONDER IF, WHEN JOHN WENT TO HIS EXECUTION, OR WHEN JOHN PAUL II REALIZED THAT HIS DEATH WAS NEAR, THESE GREAT SAINTS MAY HAVE HAD A MOMENT OF UNCERTAINTY, A WISH FOR CLARITY – DID THEIR LIVES REALLY HAVE MEANING? DID THEY REALLY HAVE A DESTINY? I SUSPECT THAT THIS IS A QUESTION THAT EVERYONE HAS AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES – DID I MATTER? DID MY LIFE MAKE A DIFFERENCE? DID I DO WHAT GOD WANTED ME TO DO, OR IS THERE A GOD AT ALL?
IN THE END, JOHN RECOGNIZED THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH. TODAY WE HEAR HIM TELLING THIS TO HIS OWN DISCIPLES. BUT LATER HE'LL ASK AGAIN; LIKE ALL OF US, JOHN GOES FROM MORE CERTAINTY TO LESS CERTAINTY AND BACK AGAIN. IT IS NOT GIVEN TO ANY HUMAN BEING TO KNOW, REALLY KNOW, WHAT HE IS PUT ON THIS EARTH FOR.
BUT JOHN PAUL II AND JOHN THE BAPTIST SEEMED TO SHARE A CHARACTERISTIC; AT EACH JUNCTURE IN THEIR LIVES, WHEN THEY HAD TO MAKE CHOICES, THEY SEEMED TO MAKE “INSPIRED” CHOICES. THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY HEARD VOICES IN THEIR HEADS. IT DOES MEAN THAT WHEN THEY MADE CHOICES, THEY USUALLY STEPPED OUT AND TOOK A CHANCE ON GOD. JOHN PAUL CHOSE TO BECOME A PRIEST IN AN ERA WHEN THAT WAS DANGEROUS AND PUT HIM ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW. JOHN THE BAPTIST COULD HAVE BECOME A MEMBER OF THE HEREDITARY PRIESTHOOD OF ISRAEL, AND LIVED A LIFE OF SERVICE; INSTEAD, HE CHOSE TO LIVE IN THE DESERT AS A HERMIT. JOHN PAUL WASN'T AFRAID, THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, TO SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THE NAZI'S, THE COMMUNISTS, TO AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, TO POWERFUL PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD; JOHN THE BAPTIST NEVER HESITATED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES.
SO BEING A SAINT IS NOT THE SAME AS LIVING A LIFE OF CERTAINTY, A LIFE OF DESTINY. IT IS JUST BEING OPEN TO INSPIRATION EVERY TIME A CHOICE HAS TO BE MADE. LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, WE MAY ONLY HAVE A SMALL PART OF THE TRUTH, AND WE MAY HAVE TO STEP OUT INTO THE DARKNESS WITHOUT GOOD EVIDENCE, WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS GIVEN ALL HE OR SHE NEEDS TO KNOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE THINK WE NEED; IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES, OR THE RESULTS OF OUR ACTIONS. IN FACT, MOST OF THE TIME, WE DON'T GET THAT PRIVILEGE. WE ARE ONLY GIVEN WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE A CHOICE, A CHOICE FOR GOD OR A CHOICE NOT IN LINE WITH GOD'S WILL. AND EVEN IF WE MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, WE WON'T REALLY KNOW THEY WERE RIGHT UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE.
SO WHAT TO DO? IN A WAY, THIS IS VERY LIBERATING. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW OUR LIVES TURN OUT. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING, OR DOING SOME GREAT WORK FOR GOD. WE AREN'T GIVEN THE BIG PICTURE, THE PLAN OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES. BUT WE ARE GIVEN AT EVERY MOMENT, ENOUGH INFORMATION TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE, AND OUR WHOLE LIVES AS CHRISTIANS CONSIST OF LISTENING, OF PRAYING, OF PURIFYING OUR MOTIVES AND OUR INTENTIONS, SO THAT THE NEXT TIME WE MAKE A CHOICE, WE WILL MAKE THE ONE GOD WANTS US TO MAKE. GOD ALWAYS GIVES US A CHOICE, AND HE RESPECTS OUR FREE WILL. BUT HE GIVES US WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE OUR CHOICES. WE MAY NEVER SEE WHAT HE WANTS FOR US, WE MAY, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, HAVE TO ADMIT THAT “WE DID NOT KNOW HIM”. BUT OUR PART IN THE WORLD TO COME IS ASSURED IF WE MAKE OUR CHOICES EACH TIME WITH PRAYER, WITH THOUGHT, AND WITH UNSELFISHNESS; IF WE MAKE THOSE CHOICES BECAUSE WE HAVE WORKED TO UNDERSTAND THE WILL OF GOD. AND WE WON'T HAVE CERTAINTY, EXCEPT THE CERTAINTY OF KNOWING THAT GOD WILL TAKE OUR LIVES AND KNIT THEM INTO HIS GRAND PLAN FOR HIS KINGDOM, AND WE WILL SEE HOW OUR CHOICES REALLY MATTERED SOME DAY. AND WE WILL REALIZE, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, LIKE JOHN PAUL II, THAT GOD WAS WORKING IN OUR LIVES, EVEN THOUGH WE DID NOT KNOW HIM.
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