MARK 1:21-28
MARK DOES NOT USE THE WORD FOR DEMON OR DEVIL IN THIS GOSPEL. HE REFERS TO “UNCLEAN SPIRITS”. SOMETIMES WE IMAGINE THAT THESE ARE DEMONS OR DEVILS, AND WE MAY INVOLUNTARILY SMILE AS WE THINK OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE IN DEMONS, OR WE MAY FEEL GRATEFUL THAT THEY AREN'T ALL AROUND US ANY MORE – BUT WHATEVER WE THINK, WE ALL BELIEVE THAT THE DAYS OF BEING POSSESSED BY UNCLEAN SPIRITS ARE OVER. BUT LET'S LOOK AT UNCLEAN SPIRITS FOR A MINUTE. IN MARK'S GOSPEL, THEY POSSESS HUMANS AND ANIMALS – CONSIDER THE PIGS THAT ABSORBED THE SPIRITS WHICH JESUS DROVE OUT. THERE IS A DANGER THAT THEY MIGHT RETURN TO THE PERSON FROM WHOM THEY HAVE BEEN EXPELLED, BRINGING EVEN STRONGER UNCLEAN SPIRITS WITH THEM.
SO TODAY WE MEET AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT, WHO SAYS, WITH THE VOCAL CHORDS AND TONGUE OF THE MAN POSSESSED, “WHAT HAVE YOU TO DO WITH US, JESUS OF NAZARETH? HAVE YOU COME TO DESTROY US?”
DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE THAT UNCLEAN SPIRIT? SOMETIMES I DO. MAYBE I HAVE AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT. MAYBE IT ISN'T SOMETHING WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BECAUSE IT HAPPENED 2000 YEARS AGO.
BECAUSE THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I EXPRESS THE SAME SENTIMENTS. WHAT HAVE YOU TO DO WITH ME, JESUS OF NAZARETH? I KNOW YOU, I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT OF ME, I KNOW YOU CALL ME TO CHANGE MY LIFE, TO SERVE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, TO DEVELOP A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. I KNOW YOU WANT ME TO LAY UP TREASURE IN HEAVEN, WHERE IT REALLY MATTERS. YOU DEMAND A LOT FROM ME, JESUS. YOU EVEN TELL ME THAT IF I FOLLOW YOU THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE FOLLOWED, I WILL BE PERSECUTED, AND MAYBE EVEN PUT TO DEATH.
WHAT HAVE YOU TO DO WITH ME, JESUS OF NAZARETH? WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL, MY UNCLEAN SPIRIT TELLS ME, IF I DID NOT HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS, BUT COULD JUST GO ON ABOUT MY ORDINARY BUSINESS. SOMETIMES I EVEN ENVY THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE, OR THOSE WHO CLAIM TO BELIEVE BUT SOMEHOW THE BELIEFS BASICALLY CONFIRM WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO DO ANYWAY. IF I COULD ONLY CONVINCE MYSELF THAT WHAT I WANT TO DO IS WHAT JESUS WANTS ME TO DO. IF I COULD ONLY REALLY BELIEVE THAT THERE WAS NO NEED TO CHANGE MYSELF, NO NEED TO DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT. I GIVE MONEY AND TIME TO THE CHURCH AND TO CHARITY; I TRY TO BE THE BEST PHYSICIAN I CAN BE, I TRY TO BE KIND AND LOVING TO MY FAMILY AND TO EVERYONE I MEET. BUT JESUS WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE, NO MATTER WHAT I GIVE, HE JUST WANTS MORE. HE WANTS THAT LITTLE CORE THAT I CALL “ME”, THAT BIT OF ME THAT WANTS TO BE LEFT ALONE, TO CURL UP WITH A GOOD BOOK AND A DRINK, THE PART OF ME THAT LOOKS OUT FOR NUMBER ONE; THE PART OF ME THAT WOULD LIKE TO NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MONEY AGAIN, THE PART OF ME THAT NEVER WANTS TO EXPERIENCE ILL HEALTH, NEVER WANTS TO DIE, EVEN IF IT MEANS HEAVEN. JESUS OF NAZARETH, HAVE YOU COME TO DESTROY ME?
BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT JESUS COMES TO DO. HE WANTS TO DESTROY THAT PART THAT RESISTS HIM, THE PART THAT WANTS TO BE LEFT ALONE. HE WANTS TO RIP IT OUT OF US AND FILL IT WITH HIMSELF. AND THAT IS GOING TO BE PAINFUL, I'M SURE, WHICH IS WHY I DREAD IT, WHY I WANT TO PUT IT OFF. WHEN IT HAPPENS, WHEN THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT LEAVES ME, IT WILL HURT!
THERE IS AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT IN ALL OF US, A SPIRIT THAT CRIES OUT, “LEAVE ME ALONE, JESUS! LET ME KEEP WHAT IS MINE; ISN'T IT ENOUGH THAT I GO TO MASS ON SUNDAY, THAT I LIVE A GOOD LIFE, THAT I KEEP THE TEN COMMANDMENTS? BUT JESUS WANTS TO DESTROY THE PART OF YOU, THE PART OF ME, THAT WANTS TO KEEP HIM AWAY, THAT WANTS TO EXCLUDE HIM.
SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER THE EPIC “LORD OF THE RING.” YOU MAY HAVE READ IT, AS I DID, OR YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THE MOVIES BASED ON THE BOOK. IN THE STORY, THERE IS A RING WHICH GIVES ITS WEARER SUPERNATURAL POWERS, INCLUDING THE POWER OF INVISIBILITY. THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT WHEN THE POWER IS USED, THERE ARE CHANGES THAT TAKE PLACE IN THE PERSON, CHANGES FOR THE WORSE. THE WEARER BECOMES SELFISH, VIEWS OTHERS WITH SUSPICION, BEGINS TO PULL AWAY FROM OTHERS. AND WHILE THIS IS APPARENT TO THE HERO OF THE EPIC, THERE IS A CREATURE NAMED GOLEM WHO REPRESENTS THE VERY END OF THE CHANGE THE RING BRINGS ABOUT IN A PERSON. GOLEM IS SMALL, DRIED UP, UGLY, AND ENTIRELY CENTERED ON KEEPING THE RING, TO THE POINT WHERE HIS LIFE MEANS NOTHING WITHOUT IT.
THE RING IS THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT IN EACH OF US, THAT JESUS WANTS TO DRIVE OUT.
FOR SOME OF US, THIS WILL TAKE OUR WHOLE LIVES, BUT I THINK ALL OF US CAN SEE THAT AS LONG AS WE HAVE THIS UNCLEAN SPIRIT, WE CAN'T BECOME FULLY UNITED WITH JESUS. BUT HOW CAN WE TELL THAT IT IS BEING DRIVEN OUT? MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT TO WE NEED TO HAVE HAPPEN IF WE ARE TO HAVE THE SPIRIT DRIVEN OUT OF US?
FIRST, WE HAVE TO IDENTIFY THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT; WE HAVE TO LOCATE WITHIN OURSELVES THAT WHICH WE SIMPLY WON'T GIVE UP. WHAT IS IT ABOUT ME THAT LOSING WOULD SEEM TO THREATEN MY VERY IDENTITY? ITS NOT HARD TO DISCOVER. IDENTIFY ALL YOUR HABITS, EVERYTHING THAT SPRINGS FROM YOU WHEN YOU ARE OFF GUARD, OR TIRED. LOOK AT THE KINDS OF REACTIONS YOU HAVE TO OTHER PEOPLE – ESPECIALLY THOSE IN YOUR OWN HOUSEHOLD. LOOK AT THOSE THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT YOU HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT CHANGING FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS, BUT HAVE NEVER REALLY TRIED TO CHANGE. SOMEWHERE IN THERE, YOU WILL DISCOVER YOUR UNCLEAN SPIRIT, THE SPIRIT THAT OCCUPIES IN YOURSELF WHAT YOU NOW THINK IS YOUR PRECIOUS CENTER, BUT WHICH JESUS DESIRES TO FILL UP. IF YOU GO THROUGH THIS REFLECTIVE PROCESS, IF YOU BEGIN TO SEE HOW YOUR UNCLEAN SPIRIT HOLDS YOU DOWN, THAT IS A BEGINNING, THAT CAN BE TAKEN TO JESUS, AND INSTEAD OF SAYING “WHAT HAVE YOU TO DO WITH ME? HAVE YOU COME TO DESTROY ME?” YOU MAY EVEN HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY, “REMOVE IT FROM ME, LORD, EVEN IF THERE WILL BE PAIN, EVEN IF IT MEANS LOSING WHAT I THINK IS THE VERY CENTER OF MY BEING. BECAUSE ONLY THEN CAN I HOPE TO REALLY BE UNITED WITH YOU, AND YOU YOURSELF HAVE PROMISED THAT YOU AND THE FATHER WILL COME TO DWELL WITH ME; YOU YOURSELF HAVE PROMISED THAT ONLY BY UNION WITH YOU CAN I TRANSCEND MY ORDINARY LIFE; ONLY THEN CAN I ENTER ETERNITY.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul
JANUARY 25TH, 2009
BECAUSE THIS IS THE YEAR OF ST. PAUL, THE CHURCH GIVES US AN OPTION THIS SUNDAY; WE CAN EITHER CELEBRATE THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, OR WE CAN CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. IN A REGULAR YEAR THE SUNDAY WOULD TRUMP THE FEAST.
I'M SURE YOU REMEMBER THE STORY. ST. PAUL HAS BEEN GIVEN A MISSION BY THE JEWISH LEADERS IN JERUSALEM – GO TO DAMASCUS AND ROUND UP ALL THOSE CHRISTIANS AND BRING THEM BACK SO THAT THEY CAN BE PUNISHED. AND THEN PAUL SEES A BRILLIANT LIGHT THAT BLINDS HIM, AND AS HE IS LAYING THERE IN THE DUST, HE HEARS THE WORDS, “SAUL, WHY DO YOU PERSECUTE ME?” HE IS THEN LED TO A CHRISTIAN NAMED ANANIAS WHO PRAYS OVER HIM AND “SOMETHING LIKE SCALES” FALL FROM HIS EYES. AND EVENTUALLY PAUL RETURNS TO JERUSALEM, CONVINCES THE APOSTLES THAT HE IS THE REAL THING, AND RECEIVES THE COMMISSION FROM PETER TO GO TO THE GENTILES. AND AT LEAST PARTLY BECAUSE OF PAUL, THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT EVENTUALLY LEFT ITS JEWISH ROOTS AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
BUT PAUL HIMSELF DOES NOT MENTION THE LIGHT OR THE BLINDNESS OR ANY OF THESE DRAMATIC EVENTS WHEN HE IS WRITING ABOUT HIS CONVERSION, AND HIS WRITING IS MUCH EARLIER IS THAN THE STORY IN LUKE. BUT HE DOES MENTION THAT HE RECEIVED A DIRECT REVELATION FROM JESUS CHRIST, THAT HE BECAME CONVINCED OF THE RESURRECTION. BUT DID PAUL REALLY CONVERT? WAS THERE A MOMENT WHEN HE TURNED HIS BACK ON JUDAISM AND BECAME A CHRISTIAN? WE SEE IT THAT WAY, BUT PAUL DIDN'T. DURING PAUL'S LIFETIME, THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT WAS A BRANCH OF JUDAISM, JUST LIKE THE PHARISEES, THE ESSENES, THE SADDUCEES – AND MANY OTHER SECTS. IN FACT, IN HIS EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, ONE OF HIS LAST WRITINGS, HE IS WRITING TO JEWISH CHRISTIANS IN ROME, AND INSISTS THAT HIS GOSPEL IS NOT A DEPARTURE FROM JUDAISM, AND THAT HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF A JEW IN GOOD STANDING. SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PAUL'S CONVERSION, WE ARE READING SOMETHING INTO THAT EVENT THAT PROBABLY WASN'T REALLY THERE.
BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO PAUL. SOMETHING MADE HIM CHANGE HIS WHOLE LIFE, PUT HIMSELF IN DANGER OVER AND OVER AGAIN, FIGHT WITH PAGANS AND PHARISEES AND EVEN FELLOW CHRISTIANS OVER THE MESSAGE THAT JESUS BROUGHT INTO THE WORLD. AND WHAT HAPPENED CAN'T REALLY BE KNOWN; PAUL REFERS TO HIS CONVERSION ONLY BRIEFLY, AND WITHOUT SPECIFICS; AND THE STORY IN LUKE IS PROBABLY MORE THEOLOGY THAN HISTORY.
WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU AND I CHANGE INTO ANOTHER PAUL? WHAT KIND OF EVENT WOULD MAKE US CHANGE OUR LIVES FOREVER? I DON'T THINK BEING TEMPORARILY BLINDED WOULD DO IT. I'M NOT SURE HEARING A VOICE FROM THE HEAVENS WOULD DO IT. THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND WHO HAVE HAD NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND GONE BACK TO THEIR SAME OLD LIVES; THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD PROFOUND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES AND THEY NEVER TOOK. JESUS HIMSELF TALKS ABOUT THE SEED THAT FALLS AMONG THORNS, THE SEED THAT FALLS ON THE ROAD – SEED THAT MAY GERMINATE FOR A TIME, BUT NEVER BEARS FRUIT. NO, ITS HARD TO IMAGINE THAT A SINGLE EVENT WOULD CHANGE PAUL, OR ANYONE, SO MUCH. AFTER ALL, THE APOSTLES SPENT THREE YEARS IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS HIMSELF, AND STILL DESERTED HIM AT THE CRUCIFIXION. AND REMEMBER JUDAS – WITNESS TO ALL THE MIRACLES, SOMEONE WHO HEARD EVERY SERMON JESUS PREACHED – AND STILL HE BETRAYED HIM AT THE END.
MAYBE THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. WHEN LUKE TELLS US THAT PAUL WAS GIVEN A MISSION BY THE JEWISH LEADERS TO GO INTO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND DRAG BACK CHRISTIANS, THIS IS A LITTLE HARD TO BELIEVE, NOT TO MENTION THAT IT PROBABLY VIOLATED ALL KINDS OF ROMAN LAWS. BUT IF HIS MISSION HAD BEEN TO GO TO DAMASCUS AND TRY TO PERSUADE THOSE WHO FOLLOWED JESUS THAT THEY SHOULD LEAVE THEIR HERESY AND COME BACK TO THE TRUE FAITH, THAT'S MORE BELIEVABLE. AFTER ALL, PAUL WAS A PHARISEE, AND IN THOSE DAYS, PHARISEES OFTEN WENT ON MISSIONS TO BRING OTHERS INTO THE “TRUE FAITH” AS THEY SAW IT. IN THE GOSPEL, JESUS MENTIONS HOW THE PHARISEES WOULD CROSS AN OCEAN TO MAKE A CONVERT. SO PAUL GETS TO DAMASCUS, AND THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY WELCOMES HIM, SEES THAT HE IS TAKEN CARE OF, AND PAUL, WHO KNOWS THE BIBLE BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS, DISCOVERS THAT THEY ARE LIVING THE WAY PEOPLE WERE SUPPOSED TO LIVE AT THE END OF TIME; JEWS AND GENTILES TOGETHER; MEN AND WOMEN, SLAVE AND FREE – THERE WERE NO DISTINCTIONS. AND THE COMMUNITY WAS FOUNDED ON LOVE, EVERYONE LOOKED OUT FOR EACH OTHER, AND EVERYONE PUT UP WITH EACH OTHER'S FAULTS, AND EVERYONE PRACTICING WHAT THEY PREACHED. AND AS PAUL WENT AROUND TO OTHER COMMUNITIES, HE SAW THE SAME THING; THESE PEOPLE WERE LIVING THE WAY THE PROPHETS SAID THE WORLD WOULD BE AT THE END OF TIME. AND PAUL RECOGNIZED THAT THE RISEN CHRIST WAS LIVING AMONG THESE PEOPLE; THAT THE MESSIAH HAD COME, AND THAT THE WORLD WAS FOREVER CHANGED.
WE SOMETIMES THINK THAT PAUL WAS THE REAL FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY, BUT THERE WERE CHRISTIANS IN MANY PLACES EVEN BEFORE PAUL WAS CONVERTED. MAYBE THE REASON FOR THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL WAS HIS EXPERIENCE WITH THOSE ANONYMOUS FIRST CHRISTIANS WHO CONVINCED HIM BY THEIR LIVES AND THEIR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER THAT THE MESSIAH OF THE JEWS HAD INDEED COME INTO THE WORLD, AND CONTINUED TO LIVE, RESURRECTED, AMONG HIS PEOPLE.
SO ON THIS FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF ST PAUL, LET US ASK OURSELVES, ARE WE THE KIND OF COMMUNITY THAT WOULD PROVE TO A MODERN DAY PAUL THAT THE MESSIAH HAD COME, THAT JESUS CHRIST LIVES FOREVER AMONG HIS PEOPLE?
BECAUSE THIS IS THE YEAR OF ST. PAUL, THE CHURCH GIVES US AN OPTION THIS SUNDAY; WE CAN EITHER CELEBRATE THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, OR WE CAN CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. IN A REGULAR YEAR THE SUNDAY WOULD TRUMP THE FEAST.
I'M SURE YOU REMEMBER THE STORY. ST. PAUL HAS BEEN GIVEN A MISSION BY THE JEWISH LEADERS IN JERUSALEM – GO TO DAMASCUS AND ROUND UP ALL THOSE CHRISTIANS AND BRING THEM BACK SO THAT THEY CAN BE PUNISHED. AND THEN PAUL SEES A BRILLIANT LIGHT THAT BLINDS HIM, AND AS HE IS LAYING THERE IN THE DUST, HE HEARS THE WORDS, “SAUL, WHY DO YOU PERSECUTE ME?” HE IS THEN LED TO A CHRISTIAN NAMED ANANIAS WHO PRAYS OVER HIM AND “SOMETHING LIKE SCALES” FALL FROM HIS EYES. AND EVENTUALLY PAUL RETURNS TO JERUSALEM, CONVINCES THE APOSTLES THAT HE IS THE REAL THING, AND RECEIVES THE COMMISSION FROM PETER TO GO TO THE GENTILES. AND AT LEAST PARTLY BECAUSE OF PAUL, THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT EVENTUALLY LEFT ITS JEWISH ROOTS AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
BUT PAUL HIMSELF DOES NOT MENTION THE LIGHT OR THE BLINDNESS OR ANY OF THESE DRAMATIC EVENTS WHEN HE IS WRITING ABOUT HIS CONVERSION, AND HIS WRITING IS MUCH EARLIER IS THAN THE STORY IN LUKE. BUT HE DOES MENTION THAT HE RECEIVED A DIRECT REVELATION FROM JESUS CHRIST, THAT HE BECAME CONVINCED OF THE RESURRECTION. BUT DID PAUL REALLY CONVERT? WAS THERE A MOMENT WHEN HE TURNED HIS BACK ON JUDAISM AND BECAME A CHRISTIAN? WE SEE IT THAT WAY, BUT PAUL DIDN'T. DURING PAUL'S LIFETIME, THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT WAS A BRANCH OF JUDAISM, JUST LIKE THE PHARISEES, THE ESSENES, THE SADDUCEES – AND MANY OTHER SECTS. IN FACT, IN HIS EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, ONE OF HIS LAST WRITINGS, HE IS WRITING TO JEWISH CHRISTIANS IN ROME, AND INSISTS THAT HIS GOSPEL IS NOT A DEPARTURE FROM JUDAISM, AND THAT HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF A JEW IN GOOD STANDING. SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PAUL'S CONVERSION, WE ARE READING SOMETHING INTO THAT EVENT THAT PROBABLY WASN'T REALLY THERE.
BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO PAUL. SOMETHING MADE HIM CHANGE HIS WHOLE LIFE, PUT HIMSELF IN DANGER OVER AND OVER AGAIN, FIGHT WITH PAGANS AND PHARISEES AND EVEN FELLOW CHRISTIANS OVER THE MESSAGE THAT JESUS BROUGHT INTO THE WORLD. AND WHAT HAPPENED CAN'T REALLY BE KNOWN; PAUL REFERS TO HIS CONVERSION ONLY BRIEFLY, AND WITHOUT SPECIFICS; AND THE STORY IN LUKE IS PROBABLY MORE THEOLOGY THAN HISTORY.
WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU AND I CHANGE INTO ANOTHER PAUL? WHAT KIND OF EVENT WOULD MAKE US CHANGE OUR LIVES FOREVER? I DON'T THINK BEING TEMPORARILY BLINDED WOULD DO IT. I'M NOT SURE HEARING A VOICE FROM THE HEAVENS WOULD DO IT. THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND WHO HAVE HAD NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND GONE BACK TO THEIR SAME OLD LIVES; THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD PROFOUND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES AND THEY NEVER TOOK. JESUS HIMSELF TALKS ABOUT THE SEED THAT FALLS AMONG THORNS, THE SEED THAT FALLS ON THE ROAD – SEED THAT MAY GERMINATE FOR A TIME, BUT NEVER BEARS FRUIT. NO, ITS HARD TO IMAGINE THAT A SINGLE EVENT WOULD CHANGE PAUL, OR ANYONE, SO MUCH. AFTER ALL, THE APOSTLES SPENT THREE YEARS IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS HIMSELF, AND STILL DESERTED HIM AT THE CRUCIFIXION. AND REMEMBER JUDAS – WITNESS TO ALL THE MIRACLES, SOMEONE WHO HEARD EVERY SERMON JESUS PREACHED – AND STILL HE BETRAYED HIM AT THE END.
MAYBE THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. WHEN LUKE TELLS US THAT PAUL WAS GIVEN A MISSION BY THE JEWISH LEADERS TO GO INTO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND DRAG BACK CHRISTIANS, THIS IS A LITTLE HARD TO BELIEVE, NOT TO MENTION THAT IT PROBABLY VIOLATED ALL KINDS OF ROMAN LAWS. BUT IF HIS MISSION HAD BEEN TO GO TO DAMASCUS AND TRY TO PERSUADE THOSE WHO FOLLOWED JESUS THAT THEY SHOULD LEAVE THEIR HERESY AND COME BACK TO THE TRUE FAITH, THAT'S MORE BELIEVABLE. AFTER ALL, PAUL WAS A PHARISEE, AND IN THOSE DAYS, PHARISEES OFTEN WENT ON MISSIONS TO BRING OTHERS INTO THE “TRUE FAITH” AS THEY SAW IT. IN THE GOSPEL, JESUS MENTIONS HOW THE PHARISEES WOULD CROSS AN OCEAN TO MAKE A CONVERT. SO PAUL GETS TO DAMASCUS, AND THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY WELCOMES HIM, SEES THAT HE IS TAKEN CARE OF, AND PAUL, WHO KNOWS THE BIBLE BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS, DISCOVERS THAT THEY ARE LIVING THE WAY PEOPLE WERE SUPPOSED TO LIVE AT THE END OF TIME; JEWS AND GENTILES TOGETHER; MEN AND WOMEN, SLAVE AND FREE – THERE WERE NO DISTINCTIONS. AND THE COMMUNITY WAS FOUNDED ON LOVE, EVERYONE LOOKED OUT FOR EACH OTHER, AND EVERYONE PUT UP WITH EACH OTHER'S FAULTS, AND EVERYONE PRACTICING WHAT THEY PREACHED. AND AS PAUL WENT AROUND TO OTHER COMMUNITIES, HE SAW THE SAME THING; THESE PEOPLE WERE LIVING THE WAY THE PROPHETS SAID THE WORLD WOULD BE AT THE END OF TIME. AND PAUL RECOGNIZED THAT THE RISEN CHRIST WAS LIVING AMONG THESE PEOPLE; THAT THE MESSIAH HAD COME, AND THAT THE WORLD WAS FOREVER CHANGED.
WE SOMETIMES THINK THAT PAUL WAS THE REAL FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY, BUT THERE WERE CHRISTIANS IN MANY PLACES EVEN BEFORE PAUL WAS CONVERTED. MAYBE THE REASON FOR THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL WAS HIS EXPERIENCE WITH THOSE ANONYMOUS FIRST CHRISTIANS WHO CONVINCED HIM BY THEIR LIVES AND THEIR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER THAT THE MESSIAH OF THE JEWS HAD INDEED COME INTO THE WORLD, AND CONTINUED TO LIVE, RESURRECTED, AMONG HIS PEOPLE.
SO ON THIS FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF ST PAUL, LET US ASK OURSELVES, ARE WE THE KIND OF COMMUNITY THAT WOULD PROVE TO A MODERN DAY PAUL THAT THE MESSIAH HAD COME, THAT JESUS CHRIST LIVES FOREVER AMONG HIS PEOPLE?
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B
JOHN 1:35-42
TODAY WE HEAR ABOUT THE CALL OF SAMUEL TO SERVE GOD AS THE LAST OF THE JUDGES. WE ALSO HEAR ABOUT THE CALL OF ANDREW AND PETER TO FOLLOW JESUS. AND ST PAUL TALKS ABOUT HONORING GOD WITH OUR BODIES. IS THERE A THEME THAT RUNS THROUGH ALL THE READINGS?
ANDREW THE APOSTLE TELLS PETER, “WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH”. SO THE QUESTION COMES TO MIND, “WHAT IS THE MESSIAH?” THE JEWS BELIEVED THAT THE MESSIAH WAS A FIGURE WHO WAS GOING TO ENTER HISTORY AND MAKE RIGHT EVERYTHING THAT WAS WRONG. HE MIGHT COME AS A KING, PROPHET, PRIEST, OR ALL THREE, BUT HIS PRESENCE WOULD USHER IN A NEW AGE, AN AGE WHEN THINGS WOULD BE MADE RIGHT.
THE JEWS OF JESUS' TIME SAW THE WORLD AS FUNDAMENTALLY GOOD, BUT REALLY MESSED UP. THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE LIGHT OF THE NATIONS, BUT THEY WERE A TINY LITTLE PROVINCE OF ROME WITH NO REAL INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD AT LARGE. ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WERE SUPPOSED TO LEARN FROM THE JEWS, (WHO HAD HAD A SPECIAL REVELATION OF GOD) AND JERUSALEM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE CITY TO WHICH ALL THE KINGS OF THE EARTH CAME. BUT JERUSALEM WAS A LITTLE BACKWOODS CAPITAL EXISTING ONLY BECAUSE THE ROMANS PERMITTED IT. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LAW WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE EXAMPLES TO THE WHOLE WORLD, BUT THE BEST LAW FOLLOWERS, THE PHARISEES WERE A MINORITY OF THE JEWS IN JESUS' TIME. THE SUCCESSFUL JEWS WERE THE SADDUCEES, THE ONES WHO HAD BECOME LIKE THE GREEKS.
ST. PAUL HAD A VISION. WHEN YOU READ HIS WRITINGS, YOU SEE THAT THINGS WERE REVEALED TO HIM IN A FLASH, AND HE SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE TRYING TO PUT INTO WORDS WHAT HE LEARNED. PAUL WASA PHARISEE, DEEPLY IMMERSED IN JEWISH THOUGHT OF HIS TIME. AND HE TELLS US THAT WHEN YOU DIED, YOU WOULD SPEND A PERIOD OF TIME IN A HEAVEN, BODILESS, RESTING, BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, AND THEN AT SOME POINT IN TIME, AT THE END OF THE PRESENT AGE, THE MESSIAH AND ALL THOSE WHO DIED WOULD COME BACK TO THIS WORLD, AND TAKE UP WHERE THE MESSIAH HAD LEFT OFF, MAKING THINGS RIGHT.
AND MAYBE YOU DON'T KNOW IT, BUT WE CATHOLICS BELIEVE THIS BASIC IDEA. YOU AND I THINK OF HEAVEN AS A PLACE OF REST, A PLACE WHERE WE WILL SIT ON A CLOUD AND PLAY A HARP AND EAT AND DRINK WITHOUT GETTING FAT. BUT WHEN WE SAY THE CREED, WE SAY THAT WE BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY; AND THAT WE BELIEVE IN THE COMING OF CHRIST TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.
THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT THERE WILL BE A TIME WHEN GOD CREATES A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, OUT OF THE OLD ONE; JUST AS HE GIVES US NEW BODIES WHICH WILL HAVE SOME CONNECTION WITH OUR OLD ONES, BUT WILL BE LIKE THE RESURRECTED BODY OF JESUS, WITHOUT LIMITATION. THE JEWS OF JESUS' TIME AND THE EARLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVED THAT THE PEOPLE WHO BELONGED TO GOD WOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE NEW CREATION; THEY WOULD HAVE A HAND IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE WORLD OVER AGAIN, THE WORLD THAT WOULD BE DONE RIGHT, THE WORLD WHERE JUSTICE AND MERCY AND PEACE WERE THE ORDER OF THE DAY. THIS IS THE THEME OF THE BEATITUDES; BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO SORROW, FOR THEY WILL REJOICE.
SO WHAT IS THE MESSIAH? HE IS THE ONE WHO STARTS THIS PROCESS. WE CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT THE MOMENT CAME ABOUT TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, AND THAT WE ARE ALREADY LIVING IN A WORLD WHERE THE WORK OF GOD TO CREATE A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH HAS ALREADY BEGUN. BECAUSE THE MESSIAH HAS COME, WHAT WE DO NOW TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT IS A BEGINNING FOR THAT TIME WHEN GOD AND ALL THE BLESSED DEAD RETURN TO EARTH TO CREATE A KINGDOM THAT WILL LAST FOREVER, WHICH WILL HAVE AS ITS KING, PRIEST, AND PROPHET, JESUS HIMSELF. AND WE WILL HAVE BODIES, BECAUSE BODIES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR US TO BE HUMAN. AND WE WILL WORK, BECAUSE THAT IS HUMAN TOO, AND WE WILL FIND JOY IN WORK AS WE BUILD UP A NEW WORLD, BECAUSE OUR WORK WILL NEVER BE IN VAIN, WILL NEVER BE FRUSTRATED. AND THAT WILL OCCUPY US FOR ALL ETERNITY.
BUT THE MOST AMAZING THING IS THAT WE CAN START RIGHT NOW. LOOK AT YOUR RELATIONSHIPS, MAKE THEM BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT, ESPECIALLY YOUR MARRIAGES, BECAUSE WHEN YOU GET TO THE NEW EARTH, YOU WILL BE MAKING EVERY RELATIONSHIP PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS LONELY, BE THEIR COMPANION, BECAUSE IN THE NEW EARTH THERE WILL BE NO LONELINESS. IF YOU HAVE THE MEANS TO MAKE A POOR PERSON'S LIFE A LITTLE BETTER, DO IT, BECAUSE ON THE NEW EARTH, THERE WILL BE NO POVERTY. IF YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT INJUSTICE, THEN DO SO, BECAUSE IN THE WORLD TO COME, THERE WILL BE ONLY JUSTICE.
ST. PAUL TELLS US THAT THE MESSIAH WILL COME AGAIN, THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED, AND GOD'S WORLD WILL FINALLY COME ABOUT. IF WE ARE ALREADY ENGAGED IN BRINGING ABOUT THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH, WE CAN'T HELP BUT BEGIN TO FEEL THE JOY THAT WE WILL HAVE IN THAT NEW WORLD, WHERE GOD HIMSELF WILL JOIN HIS PEOPLE IN BUILDING UP THE WORLD TO COME, THE WORLD THAT WILL LAST FOREVER, THE WORLD WHERE WE WILL NEED NO SUN OR MOON, BECAUSE GOD HIMSELF WILL BE THE LIGHT.
ST. PAUL TELLS US THAT WE ARE TO GLORIFY GOD IN OUR BODIES – RIGHT NOW, TODAY. AND THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO GLORIFY GOD IN OUR BODIES – THAT IS TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT. SO LET US BEGIN TODAY.
TODAY WE HEAR ABOUT THE CALL OF SAMUEL TO SERVE GOD AS THE LAST OF THE JUDGES. WE ALSO HEAR ABOUT THE CALL OF ANDREW AND PETER TO FOLLOW JESUS. AND ST PAUL TALKS ABOUT HONORING GOD WITH OUR BODIES. IS THERE A THEME THAT RUNS THROUGH ALL THE READINGS?
ANDREW THE APOSTLE TELLS PETER, “WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH”. SO THE QUESTION COMES TO MIND, “WHAT IS THE MESSIAH?” THE JEWS BELIEVED THAT THE MESSIAH WAS A FIGURE WHO WAS GOING TO ENTER HISTORY AND MAKE RIGHT EVERYTHING THAT WAS WRONG. HE MIGHT COME AS A KING, PROPHET, PRIEST, OR ALL THREE, BUT HIS PRESENCE WOULD USHER IN A NEW AGE, AN AGE WHEN THINGS WOULD BE MADE RIGHT.
THE JEWS OF JESUS' TIME SAW THE WORLD AS FUNDAMENTALLY GOOD, BUT REALLY MESSED UP. THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE LIGHT OF THE NATIONS, BUT THEY WERE A TINY LITTLE PROVINCE OF ROME WITH NO REAL INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD AT LARGE. ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WERE SUPPOSED TO LEARN FROM THE JEWS, (WHO HAD HAD A SPECIAL REVELATION OF GOD) AND JERUSALEM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE CITY TO WHICH ALL THE KINGS OF THE EARTH CAME. BUT JERUSALEM WAS A LITTLE BACKWOODS CAPITAL EXISTING ONLY BECAUSE THE ROMANS PERMITTED IT. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LAW WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE EXAMPLES TO THE WHOLE WORLD, BUT THE BEST LAW FOLLOWERS, THE PHARISEES WERE A MINORITY OF THE JEWS IN JESUS' TIME. THE SUCCESSFUL JEWS WERE THE SADDUCEES, THE ONES WHO HAD BECOME LIKE THE GREEKS.
ST. PAUL HAD A VISION. WHEN YOU READ HIS WRITINGS, YOU SEE THAT THINGS WERE REVEALED TO HIM IN A FLASH, AND HE SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE TRYING TO PUT INTO WORDS WHAT HE LEARNED. PAUL WASA PHARISEE, DEEPLY IMMERSED IN JEWISH THOUGHT OF HIS TIME. AND HE TELLS US THAT WHEN YOU DIED, YOU WOULD SPEND A PERIOD OF TIME IN A HEAVEN, BODILESS, RESTING, BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, AND THEN AT SOME POINT IN TIME, AT THE END OF THE PRESENT AGE, THE MESSIAH AND ALL THOSE WHO DIED WOULD COME BACK TO THIS WORLD, AND TAKE UP WHERE THE MESSIAH HAD LEFT OFF, MAKING THINGS RIGHT.
AND MAYBE YOU DON'T KNOW IT, BUT WE CATHOLICS BELIEVE THIS BASIC IDEA. YOU AND I THINK OF HEAVEN AS A PLACE OF REST, A PLACE WHERE WE WILL SIT ON A CLOUD AND PLAY A HARP AND EAT AND DRINK WITHOUT GETTING FAT. BUT WHEN WE SAY THE CREED, WE SAY THAT WE BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY; AND THAT WE BELIEVE IN THE COMING OF CHRIST TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.
THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT THERE WILL BE A TIME WHEN GOD CREATES A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, OUT OF THE OLD ONE; JUST AS HE GIVES US NEW BODIES WHICH WILL HAVE SOME CONNECTION WITH OUR OLD ONES, BUT WILL BE LIKE THE RESURRECTED BODY OF JESUS, WITHOUT LIMITATION. THE JEWS OF JESUS' TIME AND THE EARLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVED THAT THE PEOPLE WHO BELONGED TO GOD WOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE NEW CREATION; THEY WOULD HAVE A HAND IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE WORLD OVER AGAIN, THE WORLD THAT WOULD BE DONE RIGHT, THE WORLD WHERE JUSTICE AND MERCY AND PEACE WERE THE ORDER OF THE DAY. THIS IS THE THEME OF THE BEATITUDES; BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO SORROW, FOR THEY WILL REJOICE.
SO WHAT IS THE MESSIAH? HE IS THE ONE WHO STARTS THIS PROCESS. WE CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT THE MOMENT CAME ABOUT TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, AND THAT WE ARE ALREADY LIVING IN A WORLD WHERE THE WORK OF GOD TO CREATE A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH HAS ALREADY BEGUN. BECAUSE THE MESSIAH HAS COME, WHAT WE DO NOW TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT IS A BEGINNING FOR THAT TIME WHEN GOD AND ALL THE BLESSED DEAD RETURN TO EARTH TO CREATE A KINGDOM THAT WILL LAST FOREVER, WHICH WILL HAVE AS ITS KING, PRIEST, AND PROPHET, JESUS HIMSELF. AND WE WILL HAVE BODIES, BECAUSE BODIES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR US TO BE HUMAN. AND WE WILL WORK, BECAUSE THAT IS HUMAN TOO, AND WE WILL FIND JOY IN WORK AS WE BUILD UP A NEW WORLD, BECAUSE OUR WORK WILL NEVER BE IN VAIN, WILL NEVER BE FRUSTRATED. AND THAT WILL OCCUPY US FOR ALL ETERNITY.
BUT THE MOST AMAZING THING IS THAT WE CAN START RIGHT NOW. LOOK AT YOUR RELATIONSHIPS, MAKE THEM BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT, ESPECIALLY YOUR MARRIAGES, BECAUSE WHEN YOU GET TO THE NEW EARTH, YOU WILL BE MAKING EVERY RELATIONSHIP PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS LONELY, BE THEIR COMPANION, BECAUSE IN THE NEW EARTH THERE WILL BE NO LONELINESS. IF YOU HAVE THE MEANS TO MAKE A POOR PERSON'S LIFE A LITTLE BETTER, DO IT, BECAUSE ON THE NEW EARTH, THERE WILL BE NO POVERTY. IF YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT INJUSTICE, THEN DO SO, BECAUSE IN THE WORLD TO COME, THERE WILL BE ONLY JUSTICE.
ST. PAUL TELLS US THAT THE MESSIAH WILL COME AGAIN, THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED, AND GOD'S WORLD WILL FINALLY COME ABOUT. IF WE ARE ALREADY ENGAGED IN BRINGING ABOUT THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH, WE CAN'T HELP BUT BEGIN TO FEEL THE JOY THAT WE WILL HAVE IN THAT NEW WORLD, WHERE GOD HIMSELF WILL JOIN HIS PEOPLE IN BUILDING UP THE WORLD TO COME, THE WORLD THAT WILL LAST FOREVER, THE WORLD WHERE WE WILL NEED NO SUN OR MOON, BECAUSE GOD HIMSELF WILL BE THE LIGHT.
ST. PAUL TELLS US THAT WE ARE TO GLORIFY GOD IN OUR BODIES – RIGHT NOW, TODAY. AND THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO GLORIFY GOD IN OUR BODIES – THAT IS TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT. SO LET US BEGIN TODAY.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Baptism of the Lord, cycle B
MARK 1:4-11
DO YOU REMEMBER A TIME WHEN THINGS CHANGED FOREVER FOR YOU? THE DEATH OF SOMEONE DEAR TO YOU, PERHAPS? GETTING YOUR DEGREE, GETTING MARRIED, HAVING YOUR FIRST CHILD? MOST OF US CAN POINT TO THINGS THAT CHANGED OUR LIVES FOREVER, AND MOST OF US CAN THINK OF MORE THAN ONE THING, MORE THAN ONE TIME. AMONG THE THINGS THAT CHANGED FOREVER FOR ME, I WOULD RANK HIGH ON THE LIST THE SUMMER AFTER I HAD SPENT MY FIRST YEAR IN COLLEGE. I CAME HOME TO MONTANA, AND IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED MY OLD HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS. ONE HAD BECOME ENGAGED; SEVERAL WERE NOT GOING TO BE HOME THAT SUMMER, BECAUSE THEY HELD JOBS SOMEWHERE ELSE. ONE FRIEND HAD IN THE COURSE OF A YEAR, BECOME AN ALCOHOLIC. ANOTHER HAD DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT. THE WORLD HAD CHANGED, AND THERE WAS NO GOING BACK.
IF YOU'VE BEEN LISTENING, YOU HAVE HEARD THE GOSPEL WHEN THE ANGEL TOLD JOSEPH TO TAKE MARY AS HIS WIFE AND NAME HER CHILD JESUS. YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT THE STABLE WHERE JESUS WAS BORN, ABOUT THE SHEPHERDS, ABOUT THE THREE KINGS. YOU MAY HAVE LISTENED TO THE PROCLAMATION OF JOHN, “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD”. MATTHEW, LUKE, AND JOHN ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT WHAT WENT ON BEFORE JESUS' PUBLIC LIFE. BUT MARK STARTS OUT WITH A BANG; A FEW WORDS ABOUT JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND THEN JESUS BEING BAPTIZED. NO KINGS, NO SHEPHERDS, NO REFLECTIONS ON THE BEGINNING OF CREATION; JUST WHAT YOU HEARD. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY OF JESUS AS FAR AS MARK IS CONCERNED. ALL THAT OTHER STUFF IS NOT IMPORTANT TO MARK.
IF WE READ ABOUT THE BAPTISM OF JESUS IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW AND OF LUKE, IT SAYS THAT THE HEAVENS WERE OPENED. THE WORD USED IN GREEK IS THE WORD YOU WOULD USE FOR OPENING A DOOR. WHEN YOU OPEN A DOOR, YOU CAN CLOSE IT AGAIN. THE WORD MARK USES IS A WORD MEANING “TORN APART”. WHEN JESUS WAS BAPTIZED, THE HEAVENS WERE TORN APART; AND WHEN SOMETHING IS TORN APART, IT CAN'T BE PUT TOGETHER AGAIN. ISAIAH USED THE SAME WORD WHEN HE PRAYED, “O LORD, THAT YOU WOULD TEAR THE HEAVENS OPEN AND MAKE KNOWN YOUR NAME TO YOUR ENEMIES”.
AND JESUS LOOKED UP, AND HEARD THE VOICE OF HIS FATHER, AND SAW THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDING IN THE SHAPE OF A DOVE. AND ONLY JESUS HEARD AND SAW. HE HEARD THAT HE WAS LOVED, HE WAS ACCEPTED, HE WAS THE SON OF GOD; AND HE SAW THAT HE HAD THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE POWER OF GOD. BUT HE SAW THAT THE HEAVENS WERE TORN APART, NEVER TO BE CLOSED UP AGAIN.
AND FROM THEN ON, JESUS BEGAN TEARING THINGS APART. HE TORE APART WHAT SEPARATED THE RICH FROM THE POOR, THE OUTCASTS FROM THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. HE TORE APART THE RITUALS THAT NO LONGER HELD MEANING; HE TORE APART THE CHAINS THAT BOUND SOMEONE IN LEPROSY, OR IN THE POWER OF A DEMON, OR IN BLINDNESS OR DEAFNESS. AND HE TORE APART MANY OTHER THINGS AS WELL, BECAUSE, YOU SEE, THE HEAVENS HAD BEEN TORN APART AND WOULD NEVER BE CLOSED UP AGAIN; HEAVEN HAD BROKEN THROUGH INTO OUR WORLD.
AND A DAY CAME WHEN JESUS HUNG ON A CROSS, AND THE TEMPLE VEIL, WHICH SEPARATED THE PEOPLE FROM THE HOLY OF HOLIES, WAS TORN APART. AND GOD WOULD NEVER AGAIN BE APART FROM HIS PEOPLE. BECAUSE WHAT IS TORN APART CANNOT BE PUT TOGETHER AGAIN. WHEN JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD, GOD DWELLS WITH US, AND ALWAYS WILL.
AND A ROMAN SOLDIER, A PAGAN, INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, PROCLAIMED TO HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS, THAT JESUS WAS TRULY THE SON OF GOD.
WHEN JESUS WENT DOWN TO THE JORDAN TO BE BAPTIZED, HE JOINED HIMSELF TO PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES, WHO WANTED TO “REPENT”. JOHN BAPTIZED IN THE JORDAN RIVER BECAUSE IT WAS THROUGH THIS RIVER THAT THE WANDERING FOLLOWERS OF MOSES PASSED, AND WHEN THEY CROSSED THE RIVER, THEY BECAME A NATION, A PEOPLE SET APART. AND THOSE WHO WISHED TO JOIN THEMSELVES TO THAT LONG LINE OF PEOPLE WHO WERE FRIENDS OF GOD, WHO FOLLOWED GOD'S WILL, WENT THROUGH THE BAPTISM AS A SYMBOL OF THEIR SINCERITY AND COMMITMENT. BUT JESUS, WHO ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE BAPTIZED IN THAT SAME BAPTISM, MADE IT MORE THAN A SYMBOL; THE SAME ACT THAT TORE APART THE HEAVENS FOR JESUS, NOW WOULD DO THE SAME FOR EVERY BAPTIZED PERSON. AND AFTER BAPTISM, THINGS WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME, THINGS COULD NEVER TURN BACK TO THE WAY THEY WERE BEFORE BAPTISM.
AND YOU AND I ARE BAPTIZED. THE HEAVENS HAVE BEEN TORN APART FOR US, THE SPIRIT HAS DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN INTO US, AND WE HAVE BECOME TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN POWER BEYOND MEASURE. AS BAPTIZED PEOPLE, THE FATHER LOOKS UPON US AS HE LOOKS UPON JESUS, AND CALLS US BELOVED, BELOVED SON, BELOVED DAUGHTER. AND THE LOVE THAT THE FATHER HAS FOR US, HIS ADOPTED CHILDREN, CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY. HE WILL LOVE US WHATEVER WE DO, WHATEVER WE BECOME; HE WILL LOVE US EVEN IF WE CHOOSE TO HAVE NOTHING MORE TO DO WITH HIM, EVEN IF WE DECIDE TO SPEND ETERNITY AWAY FROM HIM, IN DARKNESS. BUT IF WE SPEND OUR LIVES TEARING THINGS APART, IF WE TEAR APART THE BARRIERS BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR, THE BLACK AND THE WHITE, THE HISPANIC AND THE ANGLO; IF WE TEAR APART THE AWFUL CHAINS OF POVERTY BY OUR GENEROSITY, THE PAIN OF LONELINESS BY OUR PRESENCE, THE CURSE OF IGNORANCE BY OUR TEACHING, THEN THE FATHER WILL SAY TO US, YOU ARE MY BELOVED, IN YOU I AM WELL PLEASED.
DO YOU REMEMBER A TIME WHEN THINGS CHANGED FOREVER FOR YOU? THE DEATH OF SOMEONE DEAR TO YOU, PERHAPS? GETTING YOUR DEGREE, GETTING MARRIED, HAVING YOUR FIRST CHILD? MOST OF US CAN POINT TO THINGS THAT CHANGED OUR LIVES FOREVER, AND MOST OF US CAN THINK OF MORE THAN ONE THING, MORE THAN ONE TIME. AMONG THE THINGS THAT CHANGED FOREVER FOR ME, I WOULD RANK HIGH ON THE LIST THE SUMMER AFTER I HAD SPENT MY FIRST YEAR IN COLLEGE. I CAME HOME TO MONTANA, AND IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED MY OLD HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS. ONE HAD BECOME ENGAGED; SEVERAL WERE NOT GOING TO BE HOME THAT SUMMER, BECAUSE THEY HELD JOBS SOMEWHERE ELSE. ONE FRIEND HAD IN THE COURSE OF A YEAR, BECOME AN ALCOHOLIC. ANOTHER HAD DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT. THE WORLD HAD CHANGED, AND THERE WAS NO GOING BACK.
IF YOU'VE BEEN LISTENING, YOU HAVE HEARD THE GOSPEL WHEN THE ANGEL TOLD JOSEPH TO TAKE MARY AS HIS WIFE AND NAME HER CHILD JESUS. YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT THE STABLE WHERE JESUS WAS BORN, ABOUT THE SHEPHERDS, ABOUT THE THREE KINGS. YOU MAY HAVE LISTENED TO THE PROCLAMATION OF JOHN, “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD”. MATTHEW, LUKE, AND JOHN ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT WHAT WENT ON BEFORE JESUS' PUBLIC LIFE. BUT MARK STARTS OUT WITH A BANG; A FEW WORDS ABOUT JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND THEN JESUS BEING BAPTIZED. NO KINGS, NO SHEPHERDS, NO REFLECTIONS ON THE BEGINNING OF CREATION; JUST WHAT YOU HEARD. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY OF JESUS AS FAR AS MARK IS CONCERNED. ALL THAT OTHER STUFF IS NOT IMPORTANT TO MARK.
IF WE READ ABOUT THE BAPTISM OF JESUS IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW AND OF LUKE, IT SAYS THAT THE HEAVENS WERE OPENED. THE WORD USED IN GREEK IS THE WORD YOU WOULD USE FOR OPENING A DOOR. WHEN YOU OPEN A DOOR, YOU CAN CLOSE IT AGAIN. THE WORD MARK USES IS A WORD MEANING “TORN APART”. WHEN JESUS WAS BAPTIZED, THE HEAVENS WERE TORN APART; AND WHEN SOMETHING IS TORN APART, IT CAN'T BE PUT TOGETHER AGAIN. ISAIAH USED THE SAME WORD WHEN HE PRAYED, “O LORD, THAT YOU WOULD TEAR THE HEAVENS OPEN AND MAKE KNOWN YOUR NAME TO YOUR ENEMIES”.
AND JESUS LOOKED UP, AND HEARD THE VOICE OF HIS FATHER, AND SAW THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDING IN THE SHAPE OF A DOVE. AND ONLY JESUS HEARD AND SAW. HE HEARD THAT HE WAS LOVED, HE WAS ACCEPTED, HE WAS THE SON OF GOD; AND HE SAW THAT HE HAD THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE POWER OF GOD. BUT HE SAW THAT THE HEAVENS WERE TORN APART, NEVER TO BE CLOSED UP AGAIN.
AND FROM THEN ON, JESUS BEGAN TEARING THINGS APART. HE TORE APART WHAT SEPARATED THE RICH FROM THE POOR, THE OUTCASTS FROM THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. HE TORE APART THE RITUALS THAT NO LONGER HELD MEANING; HE TORE APART THE CHAINS THAT BOUND SOMEONE IN LEPROSY, OR IN THE POWER OF A DEMON, OR IN BLINDNESS OR DEAFNESS. AND HE TORE APART MANY OTHER THINGS AS WELL, BECAUSE, YOU SEE, THE HEAVENS HAD BEEN TORN APART AND WOULD NEVER BE CLOSED UP AGAIN; HEAVEN HAD BROKEN THROUGH INTO OUR WORLD.
AND A DAY CAME WHEN JESUS HUNG ON A CROSS, AND THE TEMPLE VEIL, WHICH SEPARATED THE PEOPLE FROM THE HOLY OF HOLIES, WAS TORN APART. AND GOD WOULD NEVER AGAIN BE APART FROM HIS PEOPLE. BECAUSE WHAT IS TORN APART CANNOT BE PUT TOGETHER AGAIN. WHEN JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD, GOD DWELLS WITH US, AND ALWAYS WILL.
AND A ROMAN SOLDIER, A PAGAN, INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, PROCLAIMED TO HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS, THAT JESUS WAS TRULY THE SON OF GOD.
WHEN JESUS WENT DOWN TO THE JORDAN TO BE BAPTIZED, HE JOINED HIMSELF TO PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES, WHO WANTED TO “REPENT”. JOHN BAPTIZED IN THE JORDAN RIVER BECAUSE IT WAS THROUGH THIS RIVER THAT THE WANDERING FOLLOWERS OF MOSES PASSED, AND WHEN THEY CROSSED THE RIVER, THEY BECAME A NATION, A PEOPLE SET APART. AND THOSE WHO WISHED TO JOIN THEMSELVES TO THAT LONG LINE OF PEOPLE WHO WERE FRIENDS OF GOD, WHO FOLLOWED GOD'S WILL, WENT THROUGH THE BAPTISM AS A SYMBOL OF THEIR SINCERITY AND COMMITMENT. BUT JESUS, WHO ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE BAPTIZED IN THAT SAME BAPTISM, MADE IT MORE THAN A SYMBOL; THE SAME ACT THAT TORE APART THE HEAVENS FOR JESUS, NOW WOULD DO THE SAME FOR EVERY BAPTIZED PERSON. AND AFTER BAPTISM, THINGS WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME, THINGS COULD NEVER TURN BACK TO THE WAY THEY WERE BEFORE BAPTISM.
AND YOU AND I ARE BAPTIZED. THE HEAVENS HAVE BEEN TORN APART FOR US, THE SPIRIT HAS DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN INTO US, AND WE HAVE BECOME TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN POWER BEYOND MEASURE. AS BAPTIZED PEOPLE, THE FATHER LOOKS UPON US AS HE LOOKS UPON JESUS, AND CALLS US BELOVED, BELOVED SON, BELOVED DAUGHTER. AND THE LOVE THAT THE FATHER HAS FOR US, HIS ADOPTED CHILDREN, CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY. HE WILL LOVE US WHATEVER WE DO, WHATEVER WE BECOME; HE WILL LOVE US EVEN IF WE CHOOSE TO HAVE NOTHING MORE TO DO WITH HIM, EVEN IF WE DECIDE TO SPEND ETERNITY AWAY FROM HIM, IN DARKNESS. BUT IF WE SPEND OUR LIVES TEARING THINGS APART, IF WE TEAR APART THE BARRIERS BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR, THE BLACK AND THE WHITE, THE HISPANIC AND THE ANGLO; IF WE TEAR APART THE AWFUL CHAINS OF POVERTY BY OUR GENEROSITY, THE PAIN OF LONELINESS BY OUR PRESENCE, THE CURSE OF IGNORANCE BY OUR TEACHING, THEN THE FATHER WILL SAY TO US, YOU ARE MY BELOVED, IN YOU I AM WELL PLEASED.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Epiphany, 2009
MATTHEW 2:1-12
THE WORD “MAGI” MEANS ASTRONOMER, OR PERHAPS “ADVISER”, SINCE IN THOSE DAYS, ASTRONOMERS WERE FREQUENTLY ADVISERS TO THE RULERS OF THAT TIME. SO WHY DO WE CALL THEM “WISE MEN”? I THINK THE SCRIPTURE WE READ TODAY MAKES IT OBVIOUS. THEY WERE TRAVELING, AND THEY STOPPED TO ASK DIRECTIONS.
THE STORY OF THE MAGI CONTAINS SOME VERY INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS. FIRST, WHEN THE MAGI ASK WHERE TO FIND THE NEWBORN KING OF THE JEWS, HEROD WAS GREATLY TROUBLED. WE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT, PERHAPS, ALTHOUGH HEROD WAS AN OLD MAN AT THE TIME, AND A NEWBORN “KING” WOULDN'T BE MUCH OF A THREAT. BUT IT SAYS ALL JERUSALEM WAS TROUBLED AS WELL. WE CAN IMAGINE THE SCENE: JERUSALEM IS NOT A VERY LARGE CITY AT THIS TIME, AND RIDING INTO TOWN COMES A BAND OF MEN ON CAMELS, AND IT IS OBVIOUS TO THE PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE MEN OF GREAT WEALTH AND ROYAL RANK. AND THEY ARE ASKING A TROUBLING QUESTION. BECAUSE WHAT WILL IT MEAN – HOW WILL THEIR LIVES BE UPSET, WHAT WILL HAVE TO CHANGE – IF THERE IS A NEWBORN KING? THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM WERE GREATLY TROUBLED. THEY AREN'T VERY DIFFERENT FROM US. WE ARE GREATLY TROUBLED BY CHANGE, OR BY THE CALL FOR CHANGE. WE ARE SO COMFORTABLE AS LONG AS THINGS DON'T CHANGE. AND JESUS DEMANDS CHANGE. THAT IS THE WHOLE MEANING OF THE WORD REPENTANCE.
HEROD HEARS THEIR QUESTION, AND IMMEDIATELY CALLS IN HIS ADVISERS. THE WISE MEN OF HEROD'S COURT, RABBIS, SCRIBES, LAWYERS – HAVE THE ANSWER. THE PROPHECIES ALL SAID THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM. AND THE WISE MEN COULD PROBABLY HAVE TOLD YOU WHEN THE MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN AS WELL – THE TIME HAD BEEN PREDICTED BY AMONG OTHERS, THE PROPHET DANIEL. THE WISE MEN KNEW THE SCRIPTURES INSIDE AND OUT. THEY KNEW ALL THE ANSWERS. BUT AFTER THEY TOLD HEROD THEIR CONCLUSIONS, THEY WENT BACK TO THEIR LIBRARIES AND THEIR BOOKS. ANY ONE OF THEM COULD HAVE GONE TO BETHLEHEM TO FIND THE MESSIAH, BUT THEY DIDN'T BOTHER. IT SEEMED NOT TO HAVE OCCURRED TO THEM. AND THEY AREN'T VERY DIFFERENT FROM US. HOW MANY OF US MAKE TIME TO VISIT THE KING? WE GET HERE ON SUNDAY, THAT'S GOOD; BUT IS THERE A REGULAR HABIT OF PRAYER, OF MEDITATION, OF DIALOG WITH OUR LORD? DO WE DO SPIRITUAL READING, DO WE MAKE A RETREAT EVERY NOW AND THEN, DO WE TAKE OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH SERIOUSLY? BECAUSE OUR ONLY HOPE IS DEVELOPING THAT PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, AND WE CAN ONLY DO THAT BY FOLLOWING A PLAN.
HEROD THEN TELLS THE WISE MEN THAT THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR IN BETHLEHEM. HEROD DOES THIS SECRETLY. WHY? WE KNOW THAT LATER HEROD WILL DISPATCH HIS TROOPS TO KILL ALL THE BOYS TWO AND UNDER IN BETHLEHEM. BUT WAS THAT HIS PURPOSE HERE? I WONDER IF HEROD WASN'T SURE? I WONDER IF HE PERHAPS HAD A THOUGHT THAT HE MIGHT GO AND WORSHIP AS WELL – BUT HEROD DIDN'T GET TO BE KING BY SHOWING HIS HAND, AND IF PART OF HIM WANTED TO WORSHIP THE MESSIAH, PERHAPS ANOTHER PART WANTED TO DESTROY THIS UPSTART, THIS PERSON WHO DID NOT PARTICULARLY THREATEN HIM, BUT COULD BECOME A THREAT TO ONE OF HIS HEIRS. AND HEROD IS PERHAPS NO DIFFERENT THAN YOU AND I AT THIS POINT. SO MANY OF US ARE AFRAID OF COMMITMENT, AFRAID TO TAKE A STAND. WE WOULD RATHER BE AMBIVALENT, SO THAT WE COULD JUMP EITHER WAY, DEPENDING ON CIRCUMSTANCES. AND IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES, OUR COMMITMENT REQUIRES ACTION; FEED THE HUNGRY, CLOTHE THE NAKED, BE A PEACEMAKER; SUFFER PERSECUTION FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE. WHEN WE PUT OUR FAITH INTO ACTION, WE ARE BOUND TO BE DISAPPOINTED, PERSECUTED, OPPOSED . AND IT'S EASIER TO HOLD BACK, TO FAIL TO COMMIT.
CONTRAST THESE WITH THE MAGI. THEY DID NOT HAVE THE SCRIPTURES. THEY STUDIED THE STARS, AND DREW THEIR CONCLUSIONS FROM ASTROLOGIC SIGNS. BUT HAVING DRAWN THOSE CONCLUSIONS, THEY IMMEDIATELY SET OUT, LEAVING BEHIND THE COMFORTS AND PRESTIGE TO WHICH THEY WERE ACCUSTOMED. THE JOURNEY FROM PERSIA TO PALESTINE INVOLVED A LENGTHY PERIOD OF DANGER AND HARDSHIP, CROSSING BORDERS, AVOIDING ROBBERS. AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE TRIPLE A, JUST THAT STAR.
LIKEWISE, THE MAGI WERE CERTAINLY NOT AMBIVALENT. THEY PUT THEIR TREASURE WHERE THEIR HEARTS WERE. THE JOURNEY NOT ONLY TOOK A GREAT DEAL OF PERSONAL COMMITMENT, BUT YOU CAN BET IT WAS EXPENSIVE AS WELL. THE MAGI WERE SINGLE-MINDED; THEY MEANT TO WORSHIP THE MESSIAH, AND NOTHING WOULD STOP THEM.
AND FINALLY THEM MAGI WERE NOT TROUBLED. IF CHANGE WERE NECESSARY FOR THEM TO ACHIEVE THEIR HEART'S DESIRE, THEN CHANGE WOULD HAVE TO BE. WHEN THEY SET OUT THEY MAY HAVE BEEN A LITTLE TROUBLED – WHO WOULDN'T BE? BUT THAT SENSATION WAS OVERWHELMED BY ANTICIPATION. THEY KNEW, EVEN THOUGH THEIR KNOWLEDGE WAS NATURAL, AND NOT BASED ON THE EVIDENCE OF THE SCRIPTURES WHICH THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAD, THAT THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH WOULD DEFINITELY UPSET THE WORLD, BUT IN THE END, EVERYTHING WOULD BE BETTER. THE WORLD WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PAINS OF CHILDBIRTH, THE TERROR OF DEATH, BUT OUT OF THIS WOULD COME A NEW WORLD, A WORLD WHERE ALL THE HOPES AND DREAMS OF MANKIND WOULD BE FULFILLED. THEY CHOSE TO EMBRACE THIS.
SO WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE WISE MEN, THE MAGI, THE KINGS – AND WE'RE NOT SURE WHETHER THERE WERE ONLY THREE, AND WE'RE NOT SURE WHETHER THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME WISE WOMEN AMONG THE PARTY AS WELL – BECAUSE IT ISN'T LIKELY THAT THEY TRAVELED ALONE, PROBABLY BROUGHT ALONG A WHOLE CARAVAN'S WORTH OF PEOPLE – THE IMPORTANT THING FOR US IS TO LOOK AT OUR OWN SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. ARE WE WILLING TO BELIEVE THE WORDS OF OUR OWN SCRIPTURES, OF OUR CHURCH? OR DO WE SAY, “THAT'S NICE” AND GO ON WITH OUR ORDINARY LIVES. AND DO WE TRY TO AVOID CHANGE, TO LIVE IN OUR OWN COMFORTABLE LITTLE WORLD, TO HIDE OUR LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL, OR DO WE WELCOME THE NEW AND SOMETIMES FRIGHTENING, THING THAT JESUS BRINGS INTO THE WORLD? ARE WE AFRAID OF COMMITMENT TO A LIFE OF SERVICE TO JESUS, WHICH DOES INVOLVE HARDSHIP, DISAPPOINTMENT, AND EVEN PERSECUTION, OR IS OUR ATTITUDE LIKE THAT OF HEROD – KEEPING OUR OPTIONS OPEN, NOT BEING WILLING TO COMMIT.
THE STORY OF THE MAGI IS A MIRROR FOR ALL OF US, SO ON THIS FIRST SUNDAY OF THE NEW YEAR, LET US REFLECT ON OUR JOURNEY, AND RESOLVE TO BEGIN ANEW, AS WISE MEN AND WOMEN.
THE WORD “MAGI” MEANS ASTRONOMER, OR PERHAPS “ADVISER”, SINCE IN THOSE DAYS, ASTRONOMERS WERE FREQUENTLY ADVISERS TO THE RULERS OF THAT TIME. SO WHY DO WE CALL THEM “WISE MEN”? I THINK THE SCRIPTURE WE READ TODAY MAKES IT OBVIOUS. THEY WERE TRAVELING, AND THEY STOPPED TO ASK DIRECTIONS.
THE STORY OF THE MAGI CONTAINS SOME VERY INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS. FIRST, WHEN THE MAGI ASK WHERE TO FIND THE NEWBORN KING OF THE JEWS, HEROD WAS GREATLY TROUBLED. WE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT, PERHAPS, ALTHOUGH HEROD WAS AN OLD MAN AT THE TIME, AND A NEWBORN “KING” WOULDN'T BE MUCH OF A THREAT. BUT IT SAYS ALL JERUSALEM WAS TROUBLED AS WELL. WE CAN IMAGINE THE SCENE: JERUSALEM IS NOT A VERY LARGE CITY AT THIS TIME, AND RIDING INTO TOWN COMES A BAND OF MEN ON CAMELS, AND IT IS OBVIOUS TO THE PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE MEN OF GREAT WEALTH AND ROYAL RANK. AND THEY ARE ASKING A TROUBLING QUESTION. BECAUSE WHAT WILL IT MEAN – HOW WILL THEIR LIVES BE UPSET, WHAT WILL HAVE TO CHANGE – IF THERE IS A NEWBORN KING? THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM WERE GREATLY TROUBLED. THEY AREN'T VERY DIFFERENT FROM US. WE ARE GREATLY TROUBLED BY CHANGE, OR BY THE CALL FOR CHANGE. WE ARE SO COMFORTABLE AS LONG AS THINGS DON'T CHANGE. AND JESUS DEMANDS CHANGE. THAT IS THE WHOLE MEANING OF THE WORD REPENTANCE.
HEROD HEARS THEIR QUESTION, AND IMMEDIATELY CALLS IN HIS ADVISERS. THE WISE MEN OF HEROD'S COURT, RABBIS, SCRIBES, LAWYERS – HAVE THE ANSWER. THE PROPHECIES ALL SAID THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM. AND THE WISE MEN COULD PROBABLY HAVE TOLD YOU WHEN THE MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN AS WELL – THE TIME HAD BEEN PREDICTED BY AMONG OTHERS, THE PROPHET DANIEL. THE WISE MEN KNEW THE SCRIPTURES INSIDE AND OUT. THEY KNEW ALL THE ANSWERS. BUT AFTER THEY TOLD HEROD THEIR CONCLUSIONS, THEY WENT BACK TO THEIR LIBRARIES AND THEIR BOOKS. ANY ONE OF THEM COULD HAVE GONE TO BETHLEHEM TO FIND THE MESSIAH, BUT THEY DIDN'T BOTHER. IT SEEMED NOT TO HAVE OCCURRED TO THEM. AND THEY AREN'T VERY DIFFERENT FROM US. HOW MANY OF US MAKE TIME TO VISIT THE KING? WE GET HERE ON SUNDAY, THAT'S GOOD; BUT IS THERE A REGULAR HABIT OF PRAYER, OF MEDITATION, OF DIALOG WITH OUR LORD? DO WE DO SPIRITUAL READING, DO WE MAKE A RETREAT EVERY NOW AND THEN, DO WE TAKE OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH SERIOUSLY? BECAUSE OUR ONLY HOPE IS DEVELOPING THAT PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, AND WE CAN ONLY DO THAT BY FOLLOWING A PLAN.
HEROD THEN TELLS THE WISE MEN THAT THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR IN BETHLEHEM. HEROD DOES THIS SECRETLY. WHY? WE KNOW THAT LATER HEROD WILL DISPATCH HIS TROOPS TO KILL ALL THE BOYS TWO AND UNDER IN BETHLEHEM. BUT WAS THAT HIS PURPOSE HERE? I WONDER IF HEROD WASN'T SURE? I WONDER IF HE PERHAPS HAD A THOUGHT THAT HE MIGHT GO AND WORSHIP AS WELL – BUT HEROD DIDN'T GET TO BE KING BY SHOWING HIS HAND, AND IF PART OF HIM WANTED TO WORSHIP THE MESSIAH, PERHAPS ANOTHER PART WANTED TO DESTROY THIS UPSTART, THIS PERSON WHO DID NOT PARTICULARLY THREATEN HIM, BUT COULD BECOME A THREAT TO ONE OF HIS HEIRS. AND HEROD IS PERHAPS NO DIFFERENT THAN YOU AND I AT THIS POINT. SO MANY OF US ARE AFRAID OF COMMITMENT, AFRAID TO TAKE A STAND. WE WOULD RATHER BE AMBIVALENT, SO THAT WE COULD JUMP EITHER WAY, DEPENDING ON CIRCUMSTANCES. AND IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES, OUR COMMITMENT REQUIRES ACTION; FEED THE HUNGRY, CLOTHE THE NAKED, BE A PEACEMAKER; SUFFER PERSECUTION FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE. WHEN WE PUT OUR FAITH INTO ACTION, WE ARE BOUND TO BE DISAPPOINTED, PERSECUTED, OPPOSED . AND IT'S EASIER TO HOLD BACK, TO FAIL TO COMMIT.
CONTRAST THESE WITH THE MAGI. THEY DID NOT HAVE THE SCRIPTURES. THEY STUDIED THE STARS, AND DREW THEIR CONCLUSIONS FROM ASTROLOGIC SIGNS. BUT HAVING DRAWN THOSE CONCLUSIONS, THEY IMMEDIATELY SET OUT, LEAVING BEHIND THE COMFORTS AND PRESTIGE TO WHICH THEY WERE ACCUSTOMED. THE JOURNEY FROM PERSIA TO PALESTINE INVOLVED A LENGTHY PERIOD OF DANGER AND HARDSHIP, CROSSING BORDERS, AVOIDING ROBBERS. AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE TRIPLE A, JUST THAT STAR.
LIKEWISE, THE MAGI WERE CERTAINLY NOT AMBIVALENT. THEY PUT THEIR TREASURE WHERE THEIR HEARTS WERE. THE JOURNEY NOT ONLY TOOK A GREAT DEAL OF PERSONAL COMMITMENT, BUT YOU CAN BET IT WAS EXPENSIVE AS WELL. THE MAGI WERE SINGLE-MINDED; THEY MEANT TO WORSHIP THE MESSIAH, AND NOTHING WOULD STOP THEM.
AND FINALLY THEM MAGI WERE NOT TROUBLED. IF CHANGE WERE NECESSARY FOR THEM TO ACHIEVE THEIR HEART'S DESIRE, THEN CHANGE WOULD HAVE TO BE. WHEN THEY SET OUT THEY MAY HAVE BEEN A LITTLE TROUBLED – WHO WOULDN'T BE? BUT THAT SENSATION WAS OVERWHELMED BY ANTICIPATION. THEY KNEW, EVEN THOUGH THEIR KNOWLEDGE WAS NATURAL, AND NOT BASED ON THE EVIDENCE OF THE SCRIPTURES WHICH THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAD, THAT THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH WOULD DEFINITELY UPSET THE WORLD, BUT IN THE END, EVERYTHING WOULD BE BETTER. THE WORLD WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PAINS OF CHILDBIRTH, THE TERROR OF DEATH, BUT OUT OF THIS WOULD COME A NEW WORLD, A WORLD WHERE ALL THE HOPES AND DREAMS OF MANKIND WOULD BE FULFILLED. THEY CHOSE TO EMBRACE THIS.
SO WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE WISE MEN, THE MAGI, THE KINGS – AND WE'RE NOT SURE WHETHER THERE WERE ONLY THREE, AND WE'RE NOT SURE WHETHER THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME WISE WOMEN AMONG THE PARTY AS WELL – BECAUSE IT ISN'T LIKELY THAT THEY TRAVELED ALONE, PROBABLY BROUGHT ALONG A WHOLE CARAVAN'S WORTH OF PEOPLE – THE IMPORTANT THING FOR US IS TO LOOK AT OUR OWN SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. ARE WE WILLING TO BELIEVE THE WORDS OF OUR OWN SCRIPTURES, OF OUR CHURCH? OR DO WE SAY, “THAT'S NICE” AND GO ON WITH OUR ORDINARY LIVES. AND DO WE TRY TO AVOID CHANGE, TO LIVE IN OUR OWN COMFORTABLE LITTLE WORLD, TO HIDE OUR LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL, OR DO WE WELCOME THE NEW AND SOMETIMES FRIGHTENING, THING THAT JESUS BRINGS INTO THE WORLD? ARE WE AFRAID OF COMMITMENT TO A LIFE OF SERVICE TO JESUS, WHICH DOES INVOLVE HARDSHIP, DISAPPOINTMENT, AND EVEN PERSECUTION, OR IS OUR ATTITUDE LIKE THAT OF HEROD – KEEPING OUR OPTIONS OPEN, NOT BEING WILLING TO COMMIT.
THE STORY OF THE MAGI IS A MIRROR FOR ALL OF US, SO ON THIS FIRST SUNDAY OF THE NEW YEAR, LET US REFLECT ON OUR JOURNEY, AND RESOLVE TO BEGIN ANEW, AS WISE MEN AND WOMEN.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Feast of the Holy Family, 2008
LUKE 2:22-40
ON TUESDAYS AND FIRST FRIDAY AT SAINT MARY'S CHURCH THE EUCHARIST IS PLACED IN A GOLDEN RECEPTACLE CALLED A “MONSTRANCE” AND PLACED ON THE ALTAR. CANDLES ARE LIT ON EACH SIDE TO SIGNIFY THE DIVINE PRESENCE. JESUS SITS ON HIS THRONE TO BE AVAILABLE TO HIS PEOPLE. AND PEOPLE COME; SOMETIMES THERE IS ONE, SOMETIMES THERE ARE AS MANY AS FIVE WORSHIPERS WHO SIT IN SILENT CONTEMPLATION, IN DIALOG WITH OUR LORD. ONE PROTESTANT MINISTER ONCE SAID THAT IF HE REALLY BELIEVED IN THE DIVINE PRESENCE IN THE EUCHARIST, HE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO STAY AWAY.
SIMEON AND ANNA WERE SOMETHING LIKE THOSE LONELY WORSHIPERS. THE TEMPLE CONSISTED OF COURTS; THERE WAS AN OUTER COURT FOR GENTILES WHO BELIEVED IN GOD BUT WERE NOT READY TO BECOME JEWS. THERE WAS A COURT FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN, AND A COURT FOR MEN, AND IN THE VERY CENTER OF THE TEMPLE WAS THE HOLY OF HOLIES, WHICH HELD THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD. THE TEMPLE WAS FILLED TO THE RAFTERS ON FEAST DAYS AND CELEBRATIONS; AND THERE WAS A CONSTANT FLOW OF PEOPLE IN AND OUT WHO CAME TO PERFORM RITUALS, OR HAVE THE PRIESTS OFFER SACRIFICES. BUT PEOPLE WENT ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS BARELY CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT GOD WAS PRESENT THERE.
EXCEPT FOR PEOPLE LIKE SIMEON AND ANNA. ANNA BELONGED TO THE ORDER OF WIDOWS. WIDOWS HELD A SPECIAL PLACE AMONG THE JEWS, BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURES SAID THAT GOD WAS THE PROTECTOR OF ORPHANS AND WIDOWS, AND THEY HAD A CLAIM ON THE TREASURES OF THE TEMPLE, THE CHARITY OF THE PEOPLE. BUT IN RETURN, WIDOWS TOOK ON TASKS; IN THE TEMPLE THEY MIGHT BE INVOLVED IN HELPING NEW PARENTS WHO CAME TO HAVE A CHILD CIRCUMCISED. THEY MIGHT ASSIST WOMEN WHO HAD GIVEN BIRTH AS THEY WENT THROUGH THE RITUAL BATH OF PURIFICATION. SIMEON WAS EXACTLY WHAT THE TEXT SAYS, A PIOUS MAN OF GREAT YEARS WHO MADE HIS WAY TO THE TEMPLE TO PRAY EVERY DAY, BECAUSE THERE WAS THE PRESENCE OF GOD, THE SAME GOD WHO LED THE PEOPLE ACROSS THE DESERT AND INTO THE PROMISED LAND, THE GOD WHO HAD PROMISED THAT HE WOULD SEE THE MESSIAH.
AND ALTHOUGH THE STORY DOESN'T SAY SO, WE CAN IMAGINE THAT THEY WERE BOTH ALONE. PERHAPS THERE WERE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, BUT BOTH SEEMED TO SPEND THE BULK OF THEIR DAYS IN THE TEMPLE.
AND IT IS TO THESE TWO ELDERLY PEOPLE THAT A POOR YOUNG FAMILY COMES TO GO THROUGH THE RITUALS THAT WERE REQUIRED OF THEM.
SO WHAT IS A FAMILY? IF YOU LOOK UP THE WORD, YOU FIND ALL KINDS OF DEFINITIONS. BUT THE CHURCH POINTS TO JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH AND SAYS, “THIS IS THE HOLY FAMILY”. SO THAT IS WHERE WE HAVE TO START. AND WE CAN ASK, WHEN DID THIS FAMILY BEGIN? NOT WHEN MARY OR JOSEPH WERE BORN; NOT EVEN WHEN THEY WERE ENGAGED TO EACH OTHER, OR WHEN THEY MARRIED. THE HOLY FAMILY BEGAN WHEN JESUS WAS BORN. A FAMILY, IT SEEMS, MUST BE WHERE HUMAN BEINGS ARE GENERATED AND NURTURED. THE GENERATION AND NURTURING IS NOT “ONE WAY” FROM THE PARENT TO THE CHILD. ONCE THE CHILD IS PRESENT, THE LIFELONG PROCESS OF MOLDING AND SHAPING EVERY MEMBER BEGINS; WIFE BECOMES MOTHER AND HUSBAND BECOMES FATHER; THE CHILD BECOMES SON OR DAUGHTER; AND THESE ARE NOT JUST CHANGES IN NAME, THEY ARE DEEP CHANGES THAT CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
THE SECOND THING ABOUT A FAMILY, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE HOLY FAMILY, IS THAT EACH MEMBER LOVES THE OTHER MEMBERS. LOVE, OF COURSE, DOES NOT MEAN AN EMOTION; IT IS AN ACT OF WILL. AND REAL LOVE MEANS THAT I DESIRE THE BEST FOR YOU, AND THE BEST FOR YOU IS THAT YOU WILL ENJOY THE PRESENCE OF GOD FOR ALL ETERNITY. THIS WAS WHAT JESUS AND MARY AND JOSEPH WILLED FOR EACH OTHER. OUR CONTEMPORARY FAMILIES, UNFORTUNATELY, OFTEN CHOOSE THE GOOD AND NEGLECT THE BEST. WHEN WE MAKE DECISIONS THAT AFFECT OUR CHILDREN OR EACH OTHER, DO WE EVEN THINK ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THE DECISION ON THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THE ONE WE SAY WE LOVE? IS IT A GOOD THING TO SEND MY CHILD TO A COLLEGE WHERE HE IS LIKELY TO LOSE, RATHER THAN STRENGTHEN, HIS OR HER FAITH? HOW AM I HELPING MY SPOUSE ACHIEVE HIS OR HER VOCATION? OR AM I PUTTING BARRIERS THERE? DOES OUR MARRIAGE BRING US CLOSER TO OUR GOAL OF HEAVEN, OR FURTHER AWAY?
THE THIRD THING ABOUT A FAMILY IS THAT IT IS INCLUSIVE. EACH OF US CAN SEE THAT OUR FAMILY HAS LAYERS UPON LAYERS; COUSINS, UNCLES AND AUNTS, GRANDPARENTS; AND THEN CLOSE FRIENDS, AND CO-WORKERS; AND THEN CASUAL ACQUAINTANCES. ALL THESE RELATIONSHIPS ARE MEANT TO BE SHAPED, AND ALL THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE MEANT TO BE LOVED. SOME HAVE LESS CLAIM THAN OTHERS, BUT ALL HAVE A CLAIM ON OUR CARE, OUR LOVE, ESPECIALLY THE ANNAS AND SIMEONS, THE LONELY, THE POOR, THE DISTRESSED.
BUT FAMILY ALL BEGINS WITH A CHILD. AND ANNA AND SIMEON, WHO SPEAK FOR THE FORGOTTEN, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DISCARDED, RECOGNIZE IN THIS CHILD THE SEED OF A NEW FAMILY, A FAMILY THAT WILL EMBRACE JEW AND GENTILE ALIKE, A FAMILY THAT WILL GO DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS.
AND ON THIS FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY, WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE PART OF THAT FAMILY, THAT WE ARE CALLED TO NURTURE EACH OTHER, TO LOVE EACH OTHER ENOUGH TO SACRIFICE OURSELVES, NOT FOR MATERIAL GOODS, BUT INDEED FOR THAT GREATEST GOOD, SALVATION. AND WE ARE CALLED TO CONSTANTLY INVITE OTHERS INTO OUR FAMILY; THE FAMILY THAT IS DEFINED BY A CHILD, A CHILD CALLED GOD-WITH-US, THE CHILD WHO COMES TO US AS BREAD AND WINE, THE CHILD WHO IMPRISONS HIMSELF IN THE TABERNACLE AND AWAITS THE PRESENCE OF HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
ON TUESDAYS AND FIRST FRIDAY AT SAINT MARY'S CHURCH THE EUCHARIST IS PLACED IN A GOLDEN RECEPTACLE CALLED A “MONSTRANCE” AND PLACED ON THE ALTAR. CANDLES ARE LIT ON EACH SIDE TO SIGNIFY THE DIVINE PRESENCE. JESUS SITS ON HIS THRONE TO BE AVAILABLE TO HIS PEOPLE. AND PEOPLE COME; SOMETIMES THERE IS ONE, SOMETIMES THERE ARE AS MANY AS FIVE WORSHIPERS WHO SIT IN SILENT CONTEMPLATION, IN DIALOG WITH OUR LORD. ONE PROTESTANT MINISTER ONCE SAID THAT IF HE REALLY BELIEVED IN THE DIVINE PRESENCE IN THE EUCHARIST, HE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO STAY AWAY.
SIMEON AND ANNA WERE SOMETHING LIKE THOSE LONELY WORSHIPERS. THE TEMPLE CONSISTED OF COURTS; THERE WAS AN OUTER COURT FOR GENTILES WHO BELIEVED IN GOD BUT WERE NOT READY TO BECOME JEWS. THERE WAS A COURT FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN, AND A COURT FOR MEN, AND IN THE VERY CENTER OF THE TEMPLE WAS THE HOLY OF HOLIES, WHICH HELD THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD. THE TEMPLE WAS FILLED TO THE RAFTERS ON FEAST DAYS AND CELEBRATIONS; AND THERE WAS A CONSTANT FLOW OF PEOPLE IN AND OUT WHO CAME TO PERFORM RITUALS, OR HAVE THE PRIESTS OFFER SACRIFICES. BUT PEOPLE WENT ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS BARELY CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT GOD WAS PRESENT THERE.
EXCEPT FOR PEOPLE LIKE SIMEON AND ANNA. ANNA BELONGED TO THE ORDER OF WIDOWS. WIDOWS HELD A SPECIAL PLACE AMONG THE JEWS, BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURES SAID THAT GOD WAS THE PROTECTOR OF ORPHANS AND WIDOWS, AND THEY HAD A CLAIM ON THE TREASURES OF THE TEMPLE, THE CHARITY OF THE PEOPLE. BUT IN RETURN, WIDOWS TOOK ON TASKS; IN THE TEMPLE THEY MIGHT BE INVOLVED IN HELPING NEW PARENTS WHO CAME TO HAVE A CHILD CIRCUMCISED. THEY MIGHT ASSIST WOMEN WHO HAD GIVEN BIRTH AS THEY WENT THROUGH THE RITUAL BATH OF PURIFICATION. SIMEON WAS EXACTLY WHAT THE TEXT SAYS, A PIOUS MAN OF GREAT YEARS WHO MADE HIS WAY TO THE TEMPLE TO PRAY EVERY DAY, BECAUSE THERE WAS THE PRESENCE OF GOD, THE SAME GOD WHO LED THE PEOPLE ACROSS THE DESERT AND INTO THE PROMISED LAND, THE GOD WHO HAD PROMISED THAT HE WOULD SEE THE MESSIAH.
AND ALTHOUGH THE STORY DOESN'T SAY SO, WE CAN IMAGINE THAT THEY WERE BOTH ALONE. PERHAPS THERE WERE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, BUT BOTH SEEMED TO SPEND THE BULK OF THEIR DAYS IN THE TEMPLE.
AND IT IS TO THESE TWO ELDERLY PEOPLE THAT A POOR YOUNG FAMILY COMES TO GO THROUGH THE RITUALS THAT WERE REQUIRED OF THEM.
SO WHAT IS A FAMILY? IF YOU LOOK UP THE WORD, YOU FIND ALL KINDS OF DEFINITIONS. BUT THE CHURCH POINTS TO JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH AND SAYS, “THIS IS THE HOLY FAMILY”. SO THAT IS WHERE WE HAVE TO START. AND WE CAN ASK, WHEN DID THIS FAMILY BEGIN? NOT WHEN MARY OR JOSEPH WERE BORN; NOT EVEN WHEN THEY WERE ENGAGED TO EACH OTHER, OR WHEN THEY MARRIED. THE HOLY FAMILY BEGAN WHEN JESUS WAS BORN. A FAMILY, IT SEEMS, MUST BE WHERE HUMAN BEINGS ARE GENERATED AND NURTURED. THE GENERATION AND NURTURING IS NOT “ONE WAY” FROM THE PARENT TO THE CHILD. ONCE THE CHILD IS PRESENT, THE LIFELONG PROCESS OF MOLDING AND SHAPING EVERY MEMBER BEGINS; WIFE BECOMES MOTHER AND HUSBAND BECOMES FATHER; THE CHILD BECOMES SON OR DAUGHTER; AND THESE ARE NOT JUST CHANGES IN NAME, THEY ARE DEEP CHANGES THAT CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
THE SECOND THING ABOUT A FAMILY, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE HOLY FAMILY, IS THAT EACH MEMBER LOVES THE OTHER MEMBERS. LOVE, OF COURSE, DOES NOT MEAN AN EMOTION; IT IS AN ACT OF WILL. AND REAL LOVE MEANS THAT I DESIRE THE BEST FOR YOU, AND THE BEST FOR YOU IS THAT YOU WILL ENJOY THE PRESENCE OF GOD FOR ALL ETERNITY. THIS WAS WHAT JESUS AND MARY AND JOSEPH WILLED FOR EACH OTHER. OUR CONTEMPORARY FAMILIES, UNFORTUNATELY, OFTEN CHOOSE THE GOOD AND NEGLECT THE BEST. WHEN WE MAKE DECISIONS THAT AFFECT OUR CHILDREN OR EACH OTHER, DO WE EVEN THINK ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THE DECISION ON THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THE ONE WE SAY WE LOVE? IS IT A GOOD THING TO SEND MY CHILD TO A COLLEGE WHERE HE IS LIKELY TO LOSE, RATHER THAN STRENGTHEN, HIS OR HER FAITH? HOW AM I HELPING MY SPOUSE ACHIEVE HIS OR HER VOCATION? OR AM I PUTTING BARRIERS THERE? DOES OUR MARRIAGE BRING US CLOSER TO OUR GOAL OF HEAVEN, OR FURTHER AWAY?
THE THIRD THING ABOUT A FAMILY IS THAT IT IS INCLUSIVE. EACH OF US CAN SEE THAT OUR FAMILY HAS LAYERS UPON LAYERS; COUSINS, UNCLES AND AUNTS, GRANDPARENTS; AND THEN CLOSE FRIENDS, AND CO-WORKERS; AND THEN CASUAL ACQUAINTANCES. ALL THESE RELATIONSHIPS ARE MEANT TO BE SHAPED, AND ALL THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE MEANT TO BE LOVED. SOME HAVE LESS CLAIM THAN OTHERS, BUT ALL HAVE A CLAIM ON OUR CARE, OUR LOVE, ESPECIALLY THE ANNAS AND SIMEONS, THE LONELY, THE POOR, THE DISTRESSED.
BUT FAMILY ALL BEGINS WITH A CHILD. AND ANNA AND SIMEON, WHO SPEAK FOR THE FORGOTTEN, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DISCARDED, RECOGNIZE IN THIS CHILD THE SEED OF A NEW FAMILY, A FAMILY THAT WILL EMBRACE JEW AND GENTILE ALIKE, A FAMILY THAT WILL GO DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS.
AND ON THIS FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY, WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE PART OF THAT FAMILY, THAT WE ARE CALLED TO NURTURE EACH OTHER, TO LOVE EACH OTHER ENOUGH TO SACRIFICE OURSELVES, NOT FOR MATERIAL GOODS, BUT INDEED FOR THAT GREATEST GOOD, SALVATION. AND WE ARE CALLED TO CONSTANTLY INVITE OTHERS INTO OUR FAMILY; THE FAMILY THAT IS DEFINED BY A CHILD, A CHILD CALLED GOD-WITH-US, THE CHILD WHO COMES TO US AS BREAD AND WINE, THE CHILD WHO IMPRISONS HIMSELF IN THE TABERNACLE AND AWAITS THE PRESENCE OF HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Christmas Day, 2008
JOHN 1:1-18
IF YOU HAD COME TO MASS YESTERDAY, OR AT MIDNIGHT, YOU WOULD HAVE HEARD THOSE FAMILIAR GOSPELS; THE STORY OF JOSEPH THE JUST MAN, WHO TOOK MARY INTO HIS HOME AFTER AN ANGEL CAME TO HIM IN A DREAM. THE STORY OF BETHLEHEM, THE MANGER, THE SHEPHERDS, THE CHORUS OF ANGELS. BUT THE CHURCH HAS ANOTHER STORY ABOUT THE COMING OF JESUS, AND WE LISTENED TO THAT STORY IN THIS GOSPEL. “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. ALL THINGS COME INTO BEING THROUGH HIM; HE IS LIFE, HE IS LIGHT, AND HE CHOOSES TO DWELL WITH US.
THAT GOSPEL USED TO BE READ AT THE END OF EVERY MASS IN THE DAYS WHEN I WAS AN ALTAR BOY, AND I LIKED THE POETRY OF THE GOSPEL SO MUCH THAT I USED TO BE ABLE TO RECITE IT FROM MEMORY.
AND THERE IS ONE LINE: “THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS, BUT THE DARKNESS DID NOT OVERCOME IT.” WHAT THAT USED TO MEAN TO ME WAS THAT THE LIGHT WOULD TRIUMPH, THE DARKNESS WOULD VANISH AND BE NO MORE. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT THE TEXT SAYS. THE DARKNESS REMAINS, BUT CANNOT OVERCOME THE LIGHT.
IMAGINE BEING IN A ROOM, AS BIG AS A FOOTBALL FIELD, WITHOUT WINDOWS, A ROOM WHERE THE DOOR SEALS OUT EVERY RAY OF LIGHT FROM OUTSIDE. YOU ARE IN THIS DARKNESS. YOU CAN'T SEE ANYTHING, NO SHADOWS, NO MOVEMENT. IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN IN THIS KIND OF DARKNESS, YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. YOU LOSE TRACK OF THE PASSAGE OF TIME; YOU BEGIN TO LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BREATHING. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE A FEELING OF PANIC. YOU ARE DISORIENTED, AND IN YOUR ANXIETY AND DISORIENTATION, YOU CAN THINK OF NOTHING BUT YOURSELF. WHAT WILL BECOME OF ME IN THE DARKNESS?
AND THEN SOMEONE LIGHTS A CANDLE – NOT A BIG CANDLE, JUST A LITTLE ONE. AND BECAUSE OF THAT LIGHT, EVERYTHING CHANGES. YOU STILL CAN'T SEE VERY FAR INTO THE DARKNESS; THE LIGHT FROM THE CANDLE ISN'T THAT BRIGHT. BUT NOW YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE ROOM. YOU CAN SEE THE EXPRESSIONS ON THEIR FACES; YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU TALK, THEY WILL ANSWER. YOU CAN COME TO KNOW THEM BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THEM, EVEN IF ONLY A LITTLE BIT, AND YOUR ALONE-NESS BECOMES LESS LONELY.
AND YOU CAN EVEN COME TO KNOW THE FLAME OF THE CANDLE, THE SOURCE OF THE LIGHT WHICH ILLUMINATES YOU AND THE OTHERS IN THE ROOM.
BUT THE DARKNESS DOES NOT GO AWAY; WHEN YOU TURN YOUR EYES AWAY FROM THE CANDLE, YOU SEE THAT THE DARKNESS IS STILL THERE.
THIS, I THINK, IS THE IDEA THAT JOHN IS DESCRIBING. A LIGHT, YES, BUT NOT ONE WHICH ILLUMINATES EVERY CORNER OF THE ROOM; A LIGHT THAT IS FAINT AND TENTATIVE, JUST ENOUGH SO THAT WE CAN SEE A LITTLE, ENOUGH SO THAT WE CAN SEE THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE, THAT WE ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THAT IN SOME WAY, THE ONE LIGHT TIES US TOGETHER. THE LIGHT CANNOT BE SNUFFED OUT BY THE DARKNESS, BUT THE DARKNESS REMAINS, IT LIVES ON THE EDGES IN A SORT OF A TENSION WITH THE LIGHT. IN THIS VERY LARGE ROOM, IF YOU CHOSE, YOU COULD EVEN WALK AWAY FROM THE LIGHT BACK INTO TOTAL DARKNESS, DARKNESS WHERE YOU WERE AWARE ONLY OF YOURSELF, WHERE YOU WERE AGAIN ALONE; BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THE LIGHT COMES TO HIS PEOPLE, NOT ALL ACCEPT THE LIGHT. THERE ARE SOME WHO STILL PREFER TO LIVE ONLY FOR THEMSELVES.
PERHAPS YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE, OR PERHAPS YOU ARE SOMEONE, WHO LONGS FOR THE COMPANY OF OTHER PEOPLE. IT'S SO TRUE OF MANY SENIOR CITIZENS, WHO SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME BY THEMSELVES. IF YOU WERE TO WALK THROUGH A HOSPITAL OR A JAIL OR A NURSING HOME, YOU WOULD FIND SOME WHO HAVE NO VISITORS, NO ONE WHO COMES TO SEE THEM. THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO LONG FOR THE PRESENCE OF SOMEONE ELSE, AND THIS FEELING BECOMES SO MUCH STRONGER AROUND CHRISTMAS. BUT WE ALL ARE LONELY SPIRITUALLY.
EVEN WHEN WE ARE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE, OVERWHELMED BY FAMILY, THERE IS A PART OF US THAT IS STILL ALONE, A PART THAT SITS ALONE IN THE DARKNESS, IN THE SPIRITUAL DARKNESS THAT BEGAN WHEN OUR FIRST PARENTS CHOSE TO DISOBEY GOD AND LEAVE HIS PRESENCE.
AND THAT IS WHY THE WORD COMES TO DWELL WITH US, OR AS IT SAYS IN ANOTHER TRANSLATION, TO PITCH HIS TENT WITH US. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DARKNESS AND LONELINESS ON THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE, SOME DAYS MORE, SOME DAYS LESS. BUT THE WORD WHICH COMES TO US AND BECOMES THE LIGHT, GIVES US REASON TO HOPE. THE LIGHT REVEALS THAT WE ARE NEVER ALONE, AND THROUGH THE LIGHT WE CAN RELIEVE THE LONELINESS OF EACH OTHER, IF ONLY PARTLY, IF ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
BUT THE LIGHT CANNOT BE SNUFFED OUT, THE DARKNESS CANNOT OVERCOME IT.
TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE LIGHT THAT COMES INTO THE WORLD, THE LIGHT THAT REVEALS US TO OURSELVES, REVEALS OTHERS, REVEALS ITSELF; THE LIGHT THAT IS THE SOURCE OF HEAT AND WARMTH AND REVELATION.
SO THE STORIES OF CHRISTMAS ARE WONDERFUL, THEY FIRE OUR IMAGINATIONS, AS WE FEEL JOSEPH'S PAIN WHEN HE BELIEVES HIS MARY HAS BETRAYED HIM; AS WE ACCOMPANY THE HOLY COUPLE LOOKING FOR SOMEPLACE WARM AND OUT OF THE WIND WHERE THE BABY CAN BE BORN. WE SEE THE REVERENCE OF THE SHEPHERDS, AND WE IMAGINE THAT EVEN THE DUMB BEASTS WORSHIP THE CHILD. WE WATCH THE WISE MEN AS THE ANGEL TELLS THEM TO RETURN BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE, RATHER THAN REPORT BACK TO KING HEROD. THESE IMAGES OF CHRISTMAS ARE ALMOST MAGICAL IN THE PICTURES THEY INVOKE, THE MEMORIES OF PAST CHRISTMASES THEY CALL UP.
BUT JOHN REMINDS US THAT THE REAL MIRACLE IS A LIGHT, A HEAVENLY LIGHT WHICH ENTERS OUR DARKNESS, BRINGING LIFE AND HOPE AND WARMTH AND CONNECTION WITH EACH OTHER. AND THAT IS WHAT WE NEED TO CARRY INTO THE NEW YEAR – THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE THAT THE LIGHT ACCOMPANIES US NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, THE LIGHT THAT NO DARKNESS CAN OVERCOME.
IF YOU HAD COME TO MASS YESTERDAY, OR AT MIDNIGHT, YOU WOULD HAVE HEARD THOSE FAMILIAR GOSPELS; THE STORY OF JOSEPH THE JUST MAN, WHO TOOK MARY INTO HIS HOME AFTER AN ANGEL CAME TO HIM IN A DREAM. THE STORY OF BETHLEHEM, THE MANGER, THE SHEPHERDS, THE CHORUS OF ANGELS. BUT THE CHURCH HAS ANOTHER STORY ABOUT THE COMING OF JESUS, AND WE LISTENED TO THAT STORY IN THIS GOSPEL. “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. ALL THINGS COME INTO BEING THROUGH HIM; HE IS LIFE, HE IS LIGHT, AND HE CHOOSES TO DWELL WITH US.
THAT GOSPEL USED TO BE READ AT THE END OF EVERY MASS IN THE DAYS WHEN I WAS AN ALTAR BOY, AND I LIKED THE POETRY OF THE GOSPEL SO MUCH THAT I USED TO BE ABLE TO RECITE IT FROM MEMORY.
AND THERE IS ONE LINE: “THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS, BUT THE DARKNESS DID NOT OVERCOME IT.” WHAT THAT USED TO MEAN TO ME WAS THAT THE LIGHT WOULD TRIUMPH, THE DARKNESS WOULD VANISH AND BE NO MORE. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT THE TEXT SAYS. THE DARKNESS REMAINS, BUT CANNOT OVERCOME THE LIGHT.
IMAGINE BEING IN A ROOM, AS BIG AS A FOOTBALL FIELD, WITHOUT WINDOWS, A ROOM WHERE THE DOOR SEALS OUT EVERY RAY OF LIGHT FROM OUTSIDE. YOU ARE IN THIS DARKNESS. YOU CAN'T SEE ANYTHING, NO SHADOWS, NO MOVEMENT. IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN IN THIS KIND OF DARKNESS, YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. YOU LOSE TRACK OF THE PASSAGE OF TIME; YOU BEGIN TO LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BREATHING. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE A FEELING OF PANIC. YOU ARE DISORIENTED, AND IN YOUR ANXIETY AND DISORIENTATION, YOU CAN THINK OF NOTHING BUT YOURSELF. WHAT WILL BECOME OF ME IN THE DARKNESS?
AND THEN SOMEONE LIGHTS A CANDLE – NOT A BIG CANDLE, JUST A LITTLE ONE. AND BECAUSE OF THAT LIGHT, EVERYTHING CHANGES. YOU STILL CAN'T SEE VERY FAR INTO THE DARKNESS; THE LIGHT FROM THE CANDLE ISN'T THAT BRIGHT. BUT NOW YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE ROOM. YOU CAN SEE THE EXPRESSIONS ON THEIR FACES; YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU TALK, THEY WILL ANSWER. YOU CAN COME TO KNOW THEM BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THEM, EVEN IF ONLY A LITTLE BIT, AND YOUR ALONE-NESS BECOMES LESS LONELY.
AND YOU CAN EVEN COME TO KNOW THE FLAME OF THE CANDLE, THE SOURCE OF THE LIGHT WHICH ILLUMINATES YOU AND THE OTHERS IN THE ROOM.
BUT THE DARKNESS DOES NOT GO AWAY; WHEN YOU TURN YOUR EYES AWAY FROM THE CANDLE, YOU SEE THAT THE DARKNESS IS STILL THERE.
THIS, I THINK, IS THE IDEA THAT JOHN IS DESCRIBING. A LIGHT, YES, BUT NOT ONE WHICH ILLUMINATES EVERY CORNER OF THE ROOM; A LIGHT THAT IS FAINT AND TENTATIVE, JUST ENOUGH SO THAT WE CAN SEE A LITTLE, ENOUGH SO THAT WE CAN SEE THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE, THAT WE ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THAT IN SOME WAY, THE ONE LIGHT TIES US TOGETHER. THE LIGHT CANNOT BE SNUFFED OUT BY THE DARKNESS, BUT THE DARKNESS REMAINS, IT LIVES ON THE EDGES IN A SORT OF A TENSION WITH THE LIGHT. IN THIS VERY LARGE ROOM, IF YOU CHOSE, YOU COULD EVEN WALK AWAY FROM THE LIGHT BACK INTO TOTAL DARKNESS, DARKNESS WHERE YOU WERE AWARE ONLY OF YOURSELF, WHERE YOU WERE AGAIN ALONE; BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THE LIGHT COMES TO HIS PEOPLE, NOT ALL ACCEPT THE LIGHT. THERE ARE SOME WHO STILL PREFER TO LIVE ONLY FOR THEMSELVES.
PERHAPS YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE, OR PERHAPS YOU ARE SOMEONE, WHO LONGS FOR THE COMPANY OF OTHER PEOPLE. IT'S SO TRUE OF MANY SENIOR CITIZENS, WHO SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME BY THEMSELVES. IF YOU WERE TO WALK THROUGH A HOSPITAL OR A JAIL OR A NURSING HOME, YOU WOULD FIND SOME WHO HAVE NO VISITORS, NO ONE WHO COMES TO SEE THEM. THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO LONG FOR THE PRESENCE OF SOMEONE ELSE, AND THIS FEELING BECOMES SO MUCH STRONGER AROUND CHRISTMAS. BUT WE ALL ARE LONELY SPIRITUALLY.
EVEN WHEN WE ARE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE, OVERWHELMED BY FAMILY, THERE IS A PART OF US THAT IS STILL ALONE, A PART THAT SITS ALONE IN THE DARKNESS, IN THE SPIRITUAL DARKNESS THAT BEGAN WHEN OUR FIRST PARENTS CHOSE TO DISOBEY GOD AND LEAVE HIS PRESENCE.
AND THAT IS WHY THE WORD COMES TO DWELL WITH US, OR AS IT SAYS IN ANOTHER TRANSLATION, TO PITCH HIS TENT WITH US. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DARKNESS AND LONELINESS ON THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE, SOME DAYS MORE, SOME DAYS LESS. BUT THE WORD WHICH COMES TO US AND BECOMES THE LIGHT, GIVES US REASON TO HOPE. THE LIGHT REVEALS THAT WE ARE NEVER ALONE, AND THROUGH THE LIGHT WE CAN RELIEVE THE LONELINESS OF EACH OTHER, IF ONLY PARTLY, IF ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
BUT THE LIGHT CANNOT BE SNUFFED OUT, THE DARKNESS CANNOT OVERCOME IT.
TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE LIGHT THAT COMES INTO THE WORLD, THE LIGHT THAT REVEALS US TO OURSELVES, REVEALS OTHERS, REVEALS ITSELF; THE LIGHT THAT IS THE SOURCE OF HEAT AND WARMTH AND REVELATION.
SO THE STORIES OF CHRISTMAS ARE WONDERFUL, THEY FIRE OUR IMAGINATIONS, AS WE FEEL JOSEPH'S PAIN WHEN HE BELIEVES HIS MARY HAS BETRAYED HIM; AS WE ACCOMPANY THE HOLY COUPLE LOOKING FOR SOMEPLACE WARM AND OUT OF THE WIND WHERE THE BABY CAN BE BORN. WE SEE THE REVERENCE OF THE SHEPHERDS, AND WE IMAGINE THAT EVEN THE DUMB BEASTS WORSHIP THE CHILD. WE WATCH THE WISE MEN AS THE ANGEL TELLS THEM TO RETURN BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE, RATHER THAN REPORT BACK TO KING HEROD. THESE IMAGES OF CHRISTMAS ARE ALMOST MAGICAL IN THE PICTURES THEY INVOKE, THE MEMORIES OF PAST CHRISTMASES THEY CALL UP.
BUT JOHN REMINDS US THAT THE REAL MIRACLE IS A LIGHT, A HEAVENLY LIGHT WHICH ENTERS OUR DARKNESS, BRINGING LIFE AND HOPE AND WARMTH AND CONNECTION WITH EACH OTHER. AND THAT IS WHAT WE NEED TO CARRY INTO THE NEW YEAR – THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE THAT THE LIGHT ACCOMPANIES US NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, THE LIGHT THAT NO DARKNESS CAN OVERCOME.
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