LUKE 24:35-48
WHEN I WAS ABOUT FIVE, I REMEMBER MY GRANDPARENTS GAVE MY PARENTS A LARGE BIBLE. IT HAD GREAT ILLUSTRATIONS – FAMOUS PAINTINGS. EACH BOOK STARTED WITH BEAUTIFUL LETTERING. THERE WERE MAPS OF PALESTINE IN THE TIME OF JESUS, AND MOSES, AND ABRAHAM. I REMEMBER HOW I USED TO OPEN IT UP AND LOOK AT IT WITH WONDER. AND IT SAT ON OUR COFFEE TABLE, AND IN ABOUT TWO OR THREE MONTHS, IT WAS NOT BEING OPENED UP AT ALL BY THAT CURIOUS FIVE YEAR OLD, AND I DON'T THINK IT HAD EVER BEEN OPENED UP BY MY PARENTS. EVENTUALLY IT GOT MOVED TO THE TOP SHELF IN MY PARENT'S CLOSET SO THAT IT WOULDN'T BE RUINED. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO IT TO THIS DAY.
I MIGHT HAVE NEVER KNOWN WHAT THE INSIDE OF A BIBLE LOOKS LIKE HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR A MORMON. IN THE SUMMER OF MY 17TH YEAR I WORKED WITH A MORMON GUY MY AGE. WE WERE BOTH GOING OFF TO COLLEGE, ME TO CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY, AND HIM TO BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY IN UTAH. WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT RELIGION, WE BOTH KNEW WHAT OUR RESPECTIVE CHURCHES TAUGHT, BUT HE COULD BACK UP HIS STATEMENTS BY QUOTING SCRIPTURE. MY GRANDMOTHER GAVE ME AN OLD BIBLE SHE HAD, AND MOST EVENINGS I WOULD READ FROM IT. BY THE END OF THE SUMMER, I AT LEAST WAS ABLE TO GO BACK TO THE BIBLE AND FIND THAT A LOT OF WHAT HE SAID WAS TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT.
TODAY WE HEAR THE APOSTLES INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE FOR THOSE TO WHOM THEY WERE PREACHING. THEY WERE SPEAKING AS IF THEY KNEW SOMETHING, WITH AUTHORITY. AND IN THE GOSPEL, WE FIND OUT WHERE THIS CAME FROM. JESUS, APPEARING IN THEIR MIDST AFTER HIS CRUCIFIXION, OPENED THEIR MINDS SO THAT THEY COULD UNDERSTAND SCRIPTURE. AND WHY DID HE WANT THEM TO UNDERSTAND SCRIPTURE? SO THAT THEY WOULD BE WITNESSES TO THE FACT THAT “THE CHRIST HAD TO SUFFER AND RISE FROM THE DEAD ON THE THIRD DAY SO THAT REPENTANCE, FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, WOULD BE PREACHED IN HIS NAME TO ALL THE NATIONS, BEGINNING FROM JERUSALEM.” JESUS KNEW THAT THE APOSTLES, WHO WERE PRETTY SIMPLE PEOPLE, WERE OVERCOME WITH SURPRISE AND WERE EXPERIENCING GREAT JOY AT WHAT WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE – THAT JESUS, WHOM THEY HAD SEEN NAILED TO A CROSS, WAS ALIVE AND AMONG THEM. BUT THE ONLY WAY THE APOSTLES COULD MAKE SENSE OF THIS AMAZING FACT, THE ONLY WAY THEY COULD COMMUNICATE THIS TO OTHERS, WAS TO KNOW WHAT IT MEANT, AND THAT REQUIRED THAT THEY UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES PROPERLY, THAT THEY UNDERSTAND THEM IN THE LIGHT OF THE TEACHINGS, LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS.
THE SCRIPTURES TO WHICH JESUS REFERRED WERE THE OLD TESTAMENT. THE LIVING CHURCH EVENTUALLY TOOK OTHER WRITINGS, AND AFTER DEBATE AND PRAYER AND SOMETIMES ANGER AND BITTERNESS AND EVEN EXCOMMUNICATION, THEY SETTLED ON THE BOOKS OF THE SO-CALLED NEW TESTAMENT. EACH BOOK HAD TO MEET CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS; IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN APOSTOLIC – TRACEABLE TO THE APOSTLES OR AT LEAST THOSE EARLY CHURCH LEADERS WHO HAD BEEN TAUGHT BY THE APOSTLES. IT HAD TO BE UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED BY THE MAJOR CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES AS BEING INSPIRED. IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN USED IN LITURGY – THAT IS, READ ALONG WITH OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS DURING THE CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST; AND IT HAD TO BE CONSISTENT WITH WHAT THE LIVING, BREATHING CHURCH KNEW TO BE TRUE. SOME BOOKS FOR EXAMPLE WERE REJECTED BECAUSE THEY IMPLIED THAT JESUS WAS NOT REALLY A HUMAN BEING; SOME WERE REJECTED BECAUSE THEY IMPLIED THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS A FORCE, NOT A PERSON.
DOWN THROUGH THE YEARS, THE BIBLE HAS ALWAYS BEEN CENTRAL TO CHRISTIANITY. IT HAS BEEN THE ONE THING ALL CHRISTIANS AGREE UPON, BUT IT HAS ALSO BEEN THE MOST DIVISIVE THING IN CHRISTIANITY. WHY IS THAT? ST. JEROME SAID THE IGNORANCE OF THE SCRIPTURES WAS IGNORANCE OF CHRIST. I THINK WE SEE THAT JESUS WOULD PROBABLY ADD THE PHRASE, PROPERLY INTERPRETED, TO THAT STATEMENT; WE NEED TO HAVE OUR MINDS OPENED BY JESUS IF WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES PROPERLY.
FUNDAMENTALLY, THE BIBLE IS A LENS WHICH ALLOWS US TO SEE JESUS, AND TO KNOW HIM AND UNDERSTAND HIM. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS THE UNIVERSITY WHICH FORMED HIM; AS A JEW, HE LEARNED TO READ AND WRITE AND REASON, HE LEARNED MORALS AND HUMAN WISDOM, HE LEARNED THE HISTORY OF GOD'S LONG LOVE AFFAIR WITH MAN FROM THE SCRIPTURES. AND THE NEW TESTAMENT, WHOSE ORIGINS ARE WITH THOSE WHO WITNESSED THAT HE HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD, TELL US ABOUT THE COMMUNITY THAT CAME TOGETHER SO IMPROBABLY, SO MIRACULOUSLY, AS A RESULT OF HIS LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION; THE COMMUNITY THAT CONTINUES TO PREACH REPENTANCE AND THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
YES, WE HEAR SOME OF THE SCRIPTURES READ EVERY SUNDAY. YES, WE ENCOUNTER THE RISEN LORD IN THE SACRAMENTS, ESPECIALLY THE EUCHARIST. YES, WE OURSELVES ARE LIVING BIBLES, SHOWING JESUS TO OTHER PEOPLE, AND SEEING JESUS IN EACH OTHER. BUT THERE IN THE PAGES OF THE BIBLE LOVINGLY AND THOUGHTFULLY READ, PONDERED, AND PRAYED OVER, WE SEE MORE AND MORE OF THE RISEN LORD, OUR OLDER BROTHER, OUR HIGH PRIEST, AND OUR SHEPHERD. AND AS WE SEE MORE, WE KNOW MORE, AND AS WE KNOW MORE, WE FALL MORE AND MORE IN LOVE.
DOES YOUR BIBLE GATHER DUST ON THE SHELF? HAVE YOU EVER SAT DOWN AND READ EVEN ONE BOOK IN THE BIBLE FROM BEGINNING TO END? DO YOU KNOW WHY CHRISTIANS HAVE BECOME DIVIDED OVER CERTAIN THINGS IN SCRIPTURE, AND HOW THE CHURCH SPEAKS TO THOSE DIVISIONS? DO YOU PRAY WITH THE PRAYERS THAT JESUS AND THE APOSTLES USED, THE PSALMS? DO YOU PRACTICE “LECTIO DIVINA”, THE TIMELESS WAY OF MEDITATION THAT IS SO MUCH RICHER THAN ANYTHING FROM THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST? IF YOU ANSWER “NO”, YOU ARE DEPRIVING YOURSELF OF SOMETHING INFINITELY RICH.
PRAY TO JESUS THAT HE WILL OPEN OUR MINDS TO THE SCRIPTURES, SO THAT WE CAN BE BETTER WITNESSES OF HIS RESURRECTION.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Second Sunday of Easter, cycle b
JOHN 20:19-31
TODAY IS DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY. SISTER FAUSTINA, NOW SAINT FAUSTINA, WROTE IN HER DIARY IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY THAT JESUS HAD REVEALED TO HER THESE WORDS: “ON THAT DAY THE VERY DEPTHS OF MY TENDER MERCY ARE OPEN. I POUR OUT A WHOLE OCEAN OF GRACES UPON THOSE SOULS WHO APPROACH THE FOUNT OF MY MERCY. THE SOUL THAT WILL GO TO CONFESSION AND RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION SHALL OBTAIN COMPLETE FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND PUNISHMENT. ON THAT DAY ALL THE DIVINE FLOODGATES THROUGH WHICH GRACE FLOW ARE OPENED. LET NO SOUL FEAR TO DRAW NEAR TO ME, EVEN THOUGH ITS SINS BE AS SCARLET. MY MERCY IS SO GREAT THAT NO MIND, BE IT OF MAN OR OF ANGEL, WILL BE ABLE TO FATHOM IT THROUGHOUT ALL ETERNITY.”
THE HISTORY OF THIS FEAST DAY IS ALMOST MIRACULOUS. SISTER FAUSTINA, AN UNEDUCATED POLISH WOMAN, TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO ENTER A CONVENT BEFORE SHE WAS FINALLY ACCEPTED. SHE RECEIVED LOCUTIONS FROM JESUS WHICH SHE RECORDED IN HER DIARY. NOW A LOCUTION MEANS THAT A PERSON HAS THE SENSE THAT HE OR SHE IS BEING SPOKEN TO BY JESUS OR MARY, OR PERHAPS A SAINT OR AN ANGEL. IT NEED NOT MEAN “A VOICE IN THE HEAD” NOR IS IT NECESSARILY A DICTATED STATEMENT. AND THE REAL QUESTION, OF COURSE, IS WHETHER IT IS AUTHENTIC, OR PERHAPS A SIGN OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLNESS, OR JUST PLAIN LYING. WORKING WITH HER SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, AND IN RESPONSE TO THESE LOCUTIONS, SHE HAD THE PICTURE OF DIVINE MERCY PAINTED, AND INTRODUCED THE CHAPLET OF DIVINE MERCY. AFTER HER DEATH IN 1934, HER SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR SPREAD THE DEVOTION AND ENCOURAGED THE READING OF HER DIARY. IN 1966, HER DIARY WAS TRANSLATED INTO ITALIAN AND SUBMITTED TO ROME, WHERE IT WAS PROMPTLY PUT ON THE INDEX OF FORBIDDEN BOOKS, AND ONLY IN 1978, DID THE CHURCH FINALLY DECIDE THAT THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE DIARY WHICH WAS AGAINST THE CHURCH'S DOCTRINE.
THE SECOND PART OF THIS STORY HAS TO DO WITH THE MARIANS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, WHO CHAMPION THE DEVOTION TO THE DIVINE MERCY WHICH FAUSTINA HAD DESCRIBED. THE MARIANS WERE FOUNDED IN THE 17TH CENTURY. EVENTUALLY POLAND CAME UNDER CZARIST RULE, AND THERE WAS A PERSECUTION AGAINST ROMAN CATHOLICS. THE ORDER WAS SUPPRESSED FOR 20 YEARS, AND THEN WAS ALLOWED TO RECONSTITUTE ITSELF. BUT OVER THE NEXT 200 YEARS, THEY CONTINUED TO BE PERSECUTED, AND THERE CAME A TIME WHEN THERE WAS EXACTLY ONE MEMBER OF THE MARIAN ORDER STILL ALIVE. FATHER SEKOWSKI AND A PRIEST FROM LITHUANIA, FR. MATULAITIS, REFOUNDED THE ORDER IN SECRET, AND IT GREW. IN 1942, ONE OF THE MEMBERS, A PRIEST NAMED JOSEPH JARZEBOWSKI, MET TWO POLISH PRIESTS WHO HAD BEEN STUDENTS OF SISTER FAUSTINA'S SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR. HE LEARNED OF THE DIVINE MERCY DEVOTION FROM THEM. HIS JOURNEY ACROSS RUSSIA AND JAPAN TO THE UNITED STATES SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT PLOT FOR A MOVIE. HE AND HIS FELLOW MARIANS RESOLVED TO SPREAD THE DEVOTION BUT STOPPED DURING THE TIME SISTER FAUSTINA'S DIARY WAS FORBIDDEN. THEY WORKED TO HAVE HER WORK RE-EXAMINED, AND EVENTUALLY THEY BECAME THE MAIN PROMOTERS OF THE DIVINE MERCY DEVOTION. OF COURSE WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR WITH THE SHRINE AT STOCKBRIDGE.
THE THIRD PART OF THE STORY HAS TO DO WITH JOHN PAUL II, WHO WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN HAVING SISTER FAUSTINA'S WRITINGS RE-EXAMINED (IN THE ORIGINAL POLISH) WHEN HE WAS A CARDINAL. THIS RESULTED IN LIFTING THE BAN ON HER WRITINGS, AND IN 2000, AS POPE HE DECLARED FAUSTINA A SAINT AND DESIGNATED THE SECOND SUNDAY OF THE EASTER SEASON AS DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY.
FINALLY, HE SPENT HIS FIRST DAY IN HEAVEN ON DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY – HE PASSED AWAY THE EVENING BEFORE THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER IN 2005.
I PUT THIS ALL BEFORE YOU TO SHOW YOU HOW IMPROBABLE THIS ALL SEEMS TO BE, HOW MANY SETBACKS AND COINCIDENCES, IF YOU WANT TO CALL THEM THAT, ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PARTICULAR FEAST; AND I HOPE YOU TOO WILL SEE THE HAND OF GOD IN THIS.
THE GOSPEL TODAY IS ABOUT MERCY; THE FIRST THING JESUS DID WHEN HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD WAS GO TO HIS DISCIPLES AND GIVE THEM THE POWER TO FORGIVE SINS. NOW MOST OF US HAVEN'T GOT MUCH OF A SENSE OF SIN. IF I WERE TO ASK YOU IF YOU EXPECT TO GO TO HEAVEN, I BET EVERYONE WOULD PUT THEIR HANDS UP IN THE AIR. I HOPE THAT WILL BE THE CASE. BUT OUR ANCESTORS IN THE FAITH, INCLUDING THE GREATEST SAINTS, WERE MUCH MORE AWARE OF HOW FRAGILE OUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH REALLY IS. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THE CLOSER THEY GOT TO GOD, THE MORE AWARE OF THEIR SINFULNESS THEY WERE. AND WHAT A WONDERFUL, MERCIFUL GIFT JESUS GAVE HIS PEOPLE; WHOSE SINS YOU SHALL FORGIVE, HE TOLD HIS FIRST PRIESTS, THEY WILL BE FORGIVEN.
THE SECOND GREAT ACT OF MERCY IS ALSO DESCRIBED IN THIS GOSPEL. THERE WAS THOMAS, THE MAN WHOSE HEART WAS BROKEN, WHO WOULD NOT PUT HIS TRUST IN JESUS AGAIN, NOT WITHOUT SOLID PROOF. AND IN THIS ATTITUDE OF REJECTION, OF WALLING HIMSELF OFF, OF CYNICISM AND DISBELIEF, JESUS COMES TO HIM. A LOCKED DOOR CANNOT KEEP JESUS AWAY FROM THOSE HE LOVES; NOR CAN A BITTER AND BROKEN HEART; JESUS COMES, JESUS IS THERE, AND HE SHOWS US THROUGH THOMAS THAT HE GIVES EACH OF US EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED TO ENTER INTO HIS FRIENDSHIP. AND HE WOULD HAVE DONE THIS FOR JUDAS AS WELL, BUT JUDAS DID WHAT WE ALL CAN DO – HE TURNED DOWN THE MERCY JESUS OFFERED, AND AS JESUS SAID OF HIM, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER HAD HE NEVER BEEN BORN.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, YOU ARE A SINNER. MAKE NO MISTAKE, YOU DON'T DESERVE HEAVEN. IN FACT, I HATE TO SAY IT, BUT ITS TRUE, THE BLESSED MOTHER DID NOT DESERVE HEAVEN. I HAVE A FRIEND. SHE ISN'T WELL, AND SHE HAS VERY LITTLE IN THIS WORLD. WHEN YOU SAY HOW ARE YOU? SHE REPLIES, “BETTER THAN I DESERVE TO BE.” SHE GETS IT.
BUT JESUS, IN HIS GREAT MERCY, LEFT US WITH THE FREE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND SHOWED US THAT HIS MERCY IS THERE FOR US, NO MATTER HOW FAR AWAY FROM HIM WE MAY FEEL.
PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SPECIAL GRACES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TODAY. IF YOU GO TO CONFESSION WITHIN 20 DAYS OF THIS DAY, AND RECEIVE COMMUNION TODAY, AND SAY THE OUR FATHER AND THE CREED IN FRONT OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, ALONG WITH A PRAYER SUCH AS “MERCIFUL JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU,” OUR CHURCH PROMISES THAT THE SPIRITUAL CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINS WILL BE ELIMINATED. BECAUSE JESUS POURS OUT AN OCEAN OF GRACES TO US TODAY, IF WE WISH TO HAVE THEM.
TODAY IS DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY. SISTER FAUSTINA, NOW SAINT FAUSTINA, WROTE IN HER DIARY IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY THAT JESUS HAD REVEALED TO HER THESE WORDS: “ON THAT DAY THE VERY DEPTHS OF MY TENDER MERCY ARE OPEN. I POUR OUT A WHOLE OCEAN OF GRACES UPON THOSE SOULS WHO APPROACH THE FOUNT OF MY MERCY. THE SOUL THAT WILL GO TO CONFESSION AND RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION SHALL OBTAIN COMPLETE FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND PUNISHMENT. ON THAT DAY ALL THE DIVINE FLOODGATES THROUGH WHICH GRACE FLOW ARE OPENED. LET NO SOUL FEAR TO DRAW NEAR TO ME, EVEN THOUGH ITS SINS BE AS SCARLET. MY MERCY IS SO GREAT THAT NO MIND, BE IT OF MAN OR OF ANGEL, WILL BE ABLE TO FATHOM IT THROUGHOUT ALL ETERNITY.”
THE HISTORY OF THIS FEAST DAY IS ALMOST MIRACULOUS. SISTER FAUSTINA, AN UNEDUCATED POLISH WOMAN, TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO ENTER A CONVENT BEFORE SHE WAS FINALLY ACCEPTED. SHE RECEIVED LOCUTIONS FROM JESUS WHICH SHE RECORDED IN HER DIARY. NOW A LOCUTION MEANS THAT A PERSON HAS THE SENSE THAT HE OR SHE IS BEING SPOKEN TO BY JESUS OR MARY, OR PERHAPS A SAINT OR AN ANGEL. IT NEED NOT MEAN “A VOICE IN THE HEAD” NOR IS IT NECESSARILY A DICTATED STATEMENT. AND THE REAL QUESTION, OF COURSE, IS WHETHER IT IS AUTHENTIC, OR PERHAPS A SIGN OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLNESS, OR JUST PLAIN LYING. WORKING WITH HER SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, AND IN RESPONSE TO THESE LOCUTIONS, SHE HAD THE PICTURE OF DIVINE MERCY PAINTED, AND INTRODUCED THE CHAPLET OF DIVINE MERCY. AFTER HER DEATH IN 1934, HER SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR SPREAD THE DEVOTION AND ENCOURAGED THE READING OF HER DIARY. IN 1966, HER DIARY WAS TRANSLATED INTO ITALIAN AND SUBMITTED TO ROME, WHERE IT WAS PROMPTLY PUT ON THE INDEX OF FORBIDDEN BOOKS, AND ONLY IN 1978, DID THE CHURCH FINALLY DECIDE THAT THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE DIARY WHICH WAS AGAINST THE CHURCH'S DOCTRINE.
THE SECOND PART OF THIS STORY HAS TO DO WITH THE MARIANS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, WHO CHAMPION THE DEVOTION TO THE DIVINE MERCY WHICH FAUSTINA HAD DESCRIBED. THE MARIANS WERE FOUNDED IN THE 17TH CENTURY. EVENTUALLY POLAND CAME UNDER CZARIST RULE, AND THERE WAS A PERSECUTION AGAINST ROMAN CATHOLICS. THE ORDER WAS SUPPRESSED FOR 20 YEARS, AND THEN WAS ALLOWED TO RECONSTITUTE ITSELF. BUT OVER THE NEXT 200 YEARS, THEY CONTINUED TO BE PERSECUTED, AND THERE CAME A TIME WHEN THERE WAS EXACTLY ONE MEMBER OF THE MARIAN ORDER STILL ALIVE. FATHER SEKOWSKI AND A PRIEST FROM LITHUANIA, FR. MATULAITIS, REFOUNDED THE ORDER IN SECRET, AND IT GREW. IN 1942, ONE OF THE MEMBERS, A PRIEST NAMED JOSEPH JARZEBOWSKI, MET TWO POLISH PRIESTS WHO HAD BEEN STUDENTS OF SISTER FAUSTINA'S SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR. HE LEARNED OF THE DIVINE MERCY DEVOTION FROM THEM. HIS JOURNEY ACROSS RUSSIA AND JAPAN TO THE UNITED STATES SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT PLOT FOR A MOVIE. HE AND HIS FELLOW MARIANS RESOLVED TO SPREAD THE DEVOTION BUT STOPPED DURING THE TIME SISTER FAUSTINA'S DIARY WAS FORBIDDEN. THEY WORKED TO HAVE HER WORK RE-EXAMINED, AND EVENTUALLY THEY BECAME THE MAIN PROMOTERS OF THE DIVINE MERCY DEVOTION. OF COURSE WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR WITH THE SHRINE AT STOCKBRIDGE.
THE THIRD PART OF THE STORY HAS TO DO WITH JOHN PAUL II, WHO WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN HAVING SISTER FAUSTINA'S WRITINGS RE-EXAMINED (IN THE ORIGINAL POLISH) WHEN HE WAS A CARDINAL. THIS RESULTED IN LIFTING THE BAN ON HER WRITINGS, AND IN 2000, AS POPE HE DECLARED FAUSTINA A SAINT AND DESIGNATED THE SECOND SUNDAY OF THE EASTER SEASON AS DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY.
FINALLY, HE SPENT HIS FIRST DAY IN HEAVEN ON DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY – HE PASSED AWAY THE EVENING BEFORE THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER IN 2005.
I PUT THIS ALL BEFORE YOU TO SHOW YOU HOW IMPROBABLE THIS ALL SEEMS TO BE, HOW MANY SETBACKS AND COINCIDENCES, IF YOU WANT TO CALL THEM THAT, ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PARTICULAR FEAST; AND I HOPE YOU TOO WILL SEE THE HAND OF GOD IN THIS.
THE GOSPEL TODAY IS ABOUT MERCY; THE FIRST THING JESUS DID WHEN HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD WAS GO TO HIS DISCIPLES AND GIVE THEM THE POWER TO FORGIVE SINS. NOW MOST OF US HAVEN'T GOT MUCH OF A SENSE OF SIN. IF I WERE TO ASK YOU IF YOU EXPECT TO GO TO HEAVEN, I BET EVERYONE WOULD PUT THEIR HANDS UP IN THE AIR. I HOPE THAT WILL BE THE CASE. BUT OUR ANCESTORS IN THE FAITH, INCLUDING THE GREATEST SAINTS, WERE MUCH MORE AWARE OF HOW FRAGILE OUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH REALLY IS. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THE CLOSER THEY GOT TO GOD, THE MORE AWARE OF THEIR SINFULNESS THEY WERE. AND WHAT A WONDERFUL, MERCIFUL GIFT JESUS GAVE HIS PEOPLE; WHOSE SINS YOU SHALL FORGIVE, HE TOLD HIS FIRST PRIESTS, THEY WILL BE FORGIVEN.
THE SECOND GREAT ACT OF MERCY IS ALSO DESCRIBED IN THIS GOSPEL. THERE WAS THOMAS, THE MAN WHOSE HEART WAS BROKEN, WHO WOULD NOT PUT HIS TRUST IN JESUS AGAIN, NOT WITHOUT SOLID PROOF. AND IN THIS ATTITUDE OF REJECTION, OF WALLING HIMSELF OFF, OF CYNICISM AND DISBELIEF, JESUS COMES TO HIM. A LOCKED DOOR CANNOT KEEP JESUS AWAY FROM THOSE HE LOVES; NOR CAN A BITTER AND BROKEN HEART; JESUS COMES, JESUS IS THERE, AND HE SHOWS US THROUGH THOMAS THAT HE GIVES EACH OF US EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED TO ENTER INTO HIS FRIENDSHIP. AND HE WOULD HAVE DONE THIS FOR JUDAS AS WELL, BUT JUDAS DID WHAT WE ALL CAN DO – HE TURNED DOWN THE MERCY JESUS OFFERED, AND AS JESUS SAID OF HIM, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER HAD HE NEVER BEEN BORN.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, YOU ARE A SINNER. MAKE NO MISTAKE, YOU DON'T DESERVE HEAVEN. IN FACT, I HATE TO SAY IT, BUT ITS TRUE, THE BLESSED MOTHER DID NOT DESERVE HEAVEN. I HAVE A FRIEND. SHE ISN'T WELL, AND SHE HAS VERY LITTLE IN THIS WORLD. WHEN YOU SAY HOW ARE YOU? SHE REPLIES, “BETTER THAN I DESERVE TO BE.” SHE GETS IT.
BUT JESUS, IN HIS GREAT MERCY, LEFT US WITH THE FREE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND SHOWED US THAT HIS MERCY IS THERE FOR US, NO MATTER HOW FAR AWAY FROM HIM WE MAY FEEL.
PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SPECIAL GRACES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TODAY. IF YOU GO TO CONFESSION WITHIN 20 DAYS OF THIS DAY, AND RECEIVE COMMUNION TODAY, AND SAY THE OUR FATHER AND THE CREED IN FRONT OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, ALONG WITH A PRAYER SUCH AS “MERCIFUL JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU,” OUR CHURCH PROMISES THAT THE SPIRITUAL CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINS WILL BE ELIMINATED. BECAUSE JESUS POURS OUT AN OCEAN OF GRACES TO US TODAY, IF WE WISH TO HAVE THEM.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter Sunday, 2009
JOHN 20:1-9
TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE VERY REASON THAT WE CHRISTIANS EXIST AS A RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT. SOMEWHERE IN AN OBSCURE CORNER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE SOMETHING HAPPENED, SOMETHING THAT MADE A SMALL GROUP OF ILLITERATE, LOWER CLASS, MARGINALIZED MEN AND WOMEN BECOME FIRMLY CONVINCED THAT A MAN WHOM THEY SAW PUT TO DEATH ON A CROSS HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD. THEY DID NOT EXPECT IT, THEY DID NOT EVEN HOPE FOR IT; IT HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. BUT BECAUSE OF THIS EVENT, THEY WERE TRANSFORMED; THEY SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND BEYOND, TIRELESSLY TELLING OTHERS OF WHAT THEY HAD WITNESSED. OTHERS WHO MET THEM COULD SEE THAT THEIR LIVES HAD BEEN TRANSFORMED; IN A WORLD OF UNCERTAINTY, THEY HAD CERTAINTY; IN A WORLD OF WAR, THEY HAD PEACE; IN A WORLD OF POVERTY, THEY WERE RICH; AND WHERE EVERYONE JEALOUSLY GUARDED THEIR LIVES, THEY THREW THEM AWAY, BECAUSE THEY HAD SOMETHING MORE VALUABLE. AND THOSE WHO MET THEM BECAME THEIR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, AND THE MOVEMENT GREW AND GREW, UNTIL TODAY ONE IN EVERY THREE HUMAN BEINGS ON EARTH ARE FOLLOWERS OF THAT CRUCIFIED MAN.
SOMETHING HAPPENED. I'M NOT SURE WE REALLY GET WHAT HAPPENED BY READING THE GOSPELS. EVERY ONE OF THEM IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT WHEN IT COMES TO THIS EVENT. IN MARK THREE WOMEN ARE MET BY A YOUNG MAN WHO ANNOUNCES THAT JESUS IS RISEN; IN MATTHEW, TWO WOMEN GO TO THE TOMB, AND AN ANGEL ROLLS BACK THE STONE AND SENDS THEM OFF TO TELL THE DISCIPLES THE GOOD NEWS. IN LUKE, SOME WOMEN GO TO THE TOMB, AND MEET TWO MEN WHO ARE DRESSED IN CLOTHES THAT GLEAMED LIKE LIGHTNING. AND WE HAVE JUST HEARD THE STORY FROM JOHN, WHERE ONLY MARY MAGDALENE FIRST CONFRONTS THE TOMB, AND CONCLUDES THAT THE BODY OF JESUS HAS BEEN STOLEN.; BUT PETER AND JOHN ARE THE ONES WHO GO INTO THE TOMB AND SEE THAT IT IS EMPTY. WHAT THE STORIES HAVE IN COMMON, THOUGH, ARE THAT A WOMAN, WHO IN THOSE DAYS COULD NOT BE A RELIABLE WITNESS IN A COURT OF LAW, FOUND AN EMPTY TOMB. AFTER THAT, ALL THE GOSPELS, THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, THE EPISTLES OF PAUL, ALL ATTEST TO THE APPEARANCES OF JESUS AFTER HIS DEATH – PAUL REFERS TO ABOUT 500 WITNESSES, AND ADDS THAT MANY, WHEN HE WROTE HIS LETTER, WERE STILL ALIVE.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? SOME WRITERS SAY THAT THE RESURRECTION IS A METAPHOR; IT IS A POETIC WAY OF SAYING THAT AFTER JESUS DIED, HIS DISCIPLES DISCOVERED THAT THE HIS SPIRIT WAS STILL WITH THEM, AND THAT GAVE THEM STRENGTH TO GO FORTH AND PREACH HIS MESSAGE. AND THEY TELL US THAT IF WE LOOK INSIDE OURSELVES, WE TOO CAN FIND THE SPIRIT OF JESUS, AND WE TOO CAN BECOME BETTER PERSONS. OR THAT IT IS ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN, OR THAT GOD CAN TRANSFORM EVEN THE WORST SINNER, INTO A SAINT, EVEN THE MOST TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE INTO A GOOD THING. AND THIS IS A GOOD MESSAGE; IT REMINDS US THAT THE HUMAN SPIRIT IS POWERFUL, THAT WE CAN HAVE HOPE THAT WE CAN MAKE THINGS BETTER.
SOME LOOK AT THE RESURRECTION EVENT AND SEE THAT IT HAS POWER, POWER TO TRANSFORM SOCIETY, POWER TO MAKE THE POOR RICH, THE WEAK STRONG; AND THEY ARE INSPIRED TO FOUND POLITICAL OR SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, WHICH HAVE RELIGIOUS OVERTONES, LIKE ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, OR LIBERATION THEOLOGY, OR CHRISTIAN FEMINISM, OR SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT. AND THESE ARE GOOD THINGS. IF THE RESURRECTION INSPIRES PEOPLE TO WORK FOR WHAT OUR WORLD DESPERATELY NEEDS, WONDERFUL.
YES, WHEN PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THE CRUCIFIXION AND THE RESURRECTION, MANY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED, AND NOT JUST CHRISTIANS. BUT IF THE RESURRECTION IS A METAPHOR, AN INSPIRATION, A SIGN OF HOPE AND NOTHING MORE, THEN WE MIGHT AS WELL ALL GO HOME.
A WOMAN, OR SOME WOMEN, CONFRONT AN EMPTY TOMB. IN EACH GOSPEL ACCOUNT, THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE BODY HAS MERELY BEEN STOLEN IS RULED OUT; WHO WOULD STRIP OFF THE BURIAL CLOTHES AND NEATLY ROLL UP THE HEAD COVERING IF THE BODY WERE BEING STOLEN; WHO COULD LOOK INTO A TOMB THAT HELD A DEAD MAN AND FIND ANGELS? AND SO THERE IS ONLY ONE POSSIBILITY, THAT THE OCCUPANT OF THE TOMB THREW OFF DEATH AND ROSE AGAIN; SOMEHOW THAT MOST BASIC OF FACTS, THAT DEATH IS THE END, HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE A LIE. AND THAT IS WHY THE MARTYRS JOYFULLY EMBRACED DEATH, WHY HERMITS WENT INTO THE DESERT, WHY MONKS CREATED COMMUNITIES BEHIND WALLS WHERE THEY TRIED TO ANTICIPATE A LIFE WHERE DEATH DID NOT MATTER. THAT IS WHY SAINTS SERVED THE POOR, SPREAD THE GOSPEL THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, SPENT THEIR LIVES FORMING THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THEMSELVES AND IN THEIR SURROUNDINGS. THAT IS WHY OUR PRIESTS LIVE TO SERVE OUR PEOPLE, WHY OUR FAMILIES STRUGGLE DAY IN AND DAY OUT TO CREATE PLACES WHERE LOVE REALIZES ITSELF IN THE BOND BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE, IN THE FORMATION OF CHILDREN. THAT IS WHY SINGLE PEOPLE DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO SERVING THE COMMUNITY TO WHICH THEY BELONG.
BECAUSE EVERY ONE OF THESE PERSONS WHO LIVES A CHRISTIAN LIFE, WHETHER HIDDEN OR FAMOUS, LITTLE OR GREAT, HAS PEERED INTO THE TOMB AND SEEN FOR HIMSELF OR HERSELF THAT IT IS EMPTY, THAT THE ONE WHO WAS BEATEN AND TORTURED AND PUT TO DEATH ON A CROSS CANNOT BE IMPRISONED BY DEATH, CANNOT BE CONFINED TO A TOMB. AND WE REMEMBER HIS WORDS TO US, “WHERE I AM, THERE MY SERVANT MUST BE.”
SOMETHING HAPPENED 2000 YEARS AGO IN AN OUTPOST OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE AMIDST A PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT EVEN CALL THEIR LAND THEIR OWN. AND THERE IS ONLY ONE EXPLANATION FOR IT, AND FOR WHAT FOLLOWED, FOR WHAT CHANGED THE WHOLE WORLD, FOR WHAT IS NOT JUST A METAPHOR, IS NOT JUST AN INSPIRATION. AND THAT IS THAT GOD BROKE INTO HUMAN HISTORY, AND CONTINUES TO BREAK IN, AND NOTHING WILL BE THE SAME AGAIN, AND DEATH WILL NO LONGER BE AN OBSTACLE TO WHAT IS POSSIBLE FOR HUMAN BEINGS.
LOOK INTO THE EMPTY TOMB. DO YOU FEEL IT? DO YOU SENSE THE SACRED? DOES THE WORLD TAKE ON A HALO, A GLEAM OF HOLINESS? THE EMPTY TOMB MEANS THAT THE RISEN JESUS WALKS AMONG US STILL.
TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE VERY REASON THAT WE CHRISTIANS EXIST AS A RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT. SOMEWHERE IN AN OBSCURE CORNER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE SOMETHING HAPPENED, SOMETHING THAT MADE A SMALL GROUP OF ILLITERATE, LOWER CLASS, MARGINALIZED MEN AND WOMEN BECOME FIRMLY CONVINCED THAT A MAN WHOM THEY SAW PUT TO DEATH ON A CROSS HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD. THEY DID NOT EXPECT IT, THEY DID NOT EVEN HOPE FOR IT; IT HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. BUT BECAUSE OF THIS EVENT, THEY WERE TRANSFORMED; THEY SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND BEYOND, TIRELESSLY TELLING OTHERS OF WHAT THEY HAD WITNESSED. OTHERS WHO MET THEM COULD SEE THAT THEIR LIVES HAD BEEN TRANSFORMED; IN A WORLD OF UNCERTAINTY, THEY HAD CERTAINTY; IN A WORLD OF WAR, THEY HAD PEACE; IN A WORLD OF POVERTY, THEY WERE RICH; AND WHERE EVERYONE JEALOUSLY GUARDED THEIR LIVES, THEY THREW THEM AWAY, BECAUSE THEY HAD SOMETHING MORE VALUABLE. AND THOSE WHO MET THEM BECAME THEIR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, AND THE MOVEMENT GREW AND GREW, UNTIL TODAY ONE IN EVERY THREE HUMAN BEINGS ON EARTH ARE FOLLOWERS OF THAT CRUCIFIED MAN.
SOMETHING HAPPENED. I'M NOT SURE WE REALLY GET WHAT HAPPENED BY READING THE GOSPELS. EVERY ONE OF THEM IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT WHEN IT COMES TO THIS EVENT. IN MARK THREE WOMEN ARE MET BY A YOUNG MAN WHO ANNOUNCES THAT JESUS IS RISEN; IN MATTHEW, TWO WOMEN GO TO THE TOMB, AND AN ANGEL ROLLS BACK THE STONE AND SENDS THEM OFF TO TELL THE DISCIPLES THE GOOD NEWS. IN LUKE, SOME WOMEN GO TO THE TOMB, AND MEET TWO MEN WHO ARE DRESSED IN CLOTHES THAT GLEAMED LIKE LIGHTNING. AND WE HAVE JUST HEARD THE STORY FROM JOHN, WHERE ONLY MARY MAGDALENE FIRST CONFRONTS THE TOMB, AND CONCLUDES THAT THE BODY OF JESUS HAS BEEN STOLEN.; BUT PETER AND JOHN ARE THE ONES WHO GO INTO THE TOMB AND SEE THAT IT IS EMPTY. WHAT THE STORIES HAVE IN COMMON, THOUGH, ARE THAT A WOMAN, WHO IN THOSE DAYS COULD NOT BE A RELIABLE WITNESS IN A COURT OF LAW, FOUND AN EMPTY TOMB. AFTER THAT, ALL THE GOSPELS, THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, THE EPISTLES OF PAUL, ALL ATTEST TO THE APPEARANCES OF JESUS AFTER HIS DEATH – PAUL REFERS TO ABOUT 500 WITNESSES, AND ADDS THAT MANY, WHEN HE WROTE HIS LETTER, WERE STILL ALIVE.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? SOME WRITERS SAY THAT THE RESURRECTION IS A METAPHOR; IT IS A POETIC WAY OF SAYING THAT AFTER JESUS DIED, HIS DISCIPLES DISCOVERED THAT THE HIS SPIRIT WAS STILL WITH THEM, AND THAT GAVE THEM STRENGTH TO GO FORTH AND PREACH HIS MESSAGE. AND THEY TELL US THAT IF WE LOOK INSIDE OURSELVES, WE TOO CAN FIND THE SPIRIT OF JESUS, AND WE TOO CAN BECOME BETTER PERSONS. OR THAT IT IS ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN, OR THAT GOD CAN TRANSFORM EVEN THE WORST SINNER, INTO A SAINT, EVEN THE MOST TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE INTO A GOOD THING. AND THIS IS A GOOD MESSAGE; IT REMINDS US THAT THE HUMAN SPIRIT IS POWERFUL, THAT WE CAN HAVE HOPE THAT WE CAN MAKE THINGS BETTER.
SOME LOOK AT THE RESURRECTION EVENT AND SEE THAT IT HAS POWER, POWER TO TRANSFORM SOCIETY, POWER TO MAKE THE POOR RICH, THE WEAK STRONG; AND THEY ARE INSPIRED TO FOUND POLITICAL OR SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, WHICH HAVE RELIGIOUS OVERTONES, LIKE ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, OR LIBERATION THEOLOGY, OR CHRISTIAN FEMINISM, OR SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT. AND THESE ARE GOOD THINGS. IF THE RESURRECTION INSPIRES PEOPLE TO WORK FOR WHAT OUR WORLD DESPERATELY NEEDS, WONDERFUL.
YES, WHEN PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THE CRUCIFIXION AND THE RESURRECTION, MANY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED, AND NOT JUST CHRISTIANS. BUT IF THE RESURRECTION IS A METAPHOR, AN INSPIRATION, A SIGN OF HOPE AND NOTHING MORE, THEN WE MIGHT AS WELL ALL GO HOME.
A WOMAN, OR SOME WOMEN, CONFRONT AN EMPTY TOMB. IN EACH GOSPEL ACCOUNT, THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE BODY HAS MERELY BEEN STOLEN IS RULED OUT; WHO WOULD STRIP OFF THE BURIAL CLOTHES AND NEATLY ROLL UP THE HEAD COVERING IF THE BODY WERE BEING STOLEN; WHO COULD LOOK INTO A TOMB THAT HELD A DEAD MAN AND FIND ANGELS? AND SO THERE IS ONLY ONE POSSIBILITY, THAT THE OCCUPANT OF THE TOMB THREW OFF DEATH AND ROSE AGAIN; SOMEHOW THAT MOST BASIC OF FACTS, THAT DEATH IS THE END, HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE A LIE. AND THAT IS WHY THE MARTYRS JOYFULLY EMBRACED DEATH, WHY HERMITS WENT INTO THE DESERT, WHY MONKS CREATED COMMUNITIES BEHIND WALLS WHERE THEY TRIED TO ANTICIPATE A LIFE WHERE DEATH DID NOT MATTER. THAT IS WHY SAINTS SERVED THE POOR, SPREAD THE GOSPEL THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, SPENT THEIR LIVES FORMING THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THEMSELVES AND IN THEIR SURROUNDINGS. THAT IS WHY OUR PRIESTS LIVE TO SERVE OUR PEOPLE, WHY OUR FAMILIES STRUGGLE DAY IN AND DAY OUT TO CREATE PLACES WHERE LOVE REALIZES ITSELF IN THE BOND BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE, IN THE FORMATION OF CHILDREN. THAT IS WHY SINGLE PEOPLE DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO SERVING THE COMMUNITY TO WHICH THEY BELONG.
BECAUSE EVERY ONE OF THESE PERSONS WHO LIVES A CHRISTIAN LIFE, WHETHER HIDDEN OR FAMOUS, LITTLE OR GREAT, HAS PEERED INTO THE TOMB AND SEEN FOR HIMSELF OR HERSELF THAT IT IS EMPTY, THAT THE ONE WHO WAS BEATEN AND TORTURED AND PUT TO DEATH ON A CROSS CANNOT BE IMPRISONED BY DEATH, CANNOT BE CONFINED TO A TOMB. AND WE REMEMBER HIS WORDS TO US, “WHERE I AM, THERE MY SERVANT MUST BE.”
SOMETHING HAPPENED 2000 YEARS AGO IN AN OUTPOST OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE AMIDST A PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT EVEN CALL THEIR LAND THEIR OWN. AND THERE IS ONLY ONE EXPLANATION FOR IT, AND FOR WHAT FOLLOWED, FOR WHAT CHANGED THE WHOLE WORLD, FOR WHAT IS NOT JUST A METAPHOR, IS NOT JUST AN INSPIRATION. AND THAT IS THAT GOD BROKE INTO HUMAN HISTORY, AND CONTINUES TO BREAK IN, AND NOTHING WILL BE THE SAME AGAIN, AND DEATH WILL NO LONGER BE AN OBSTACLE TO WHAT IS POSSIBLE FOR HUMAN BEINGS.
LOOK INTO THE EMPTY TOMB. DO YOU FEEL IT? DO YOU SENSE THE SACRED? DOES THE WORLD TAKE ON A HALO, A GLEAM OF HOLINESS? THE EMPTY TOMB MEANS THAT THE RISEN JESUS WALKS AMONG US STILL.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Holy Thursday, 2009
JOHN 13:1-15
LITURGY. WE CATHOLICS USE THAT WORD, BUT I DON'T THINK WE OFTEN CONSIDER WHAT IT MEANS. IN ANCIENT GREECE, LEITURGICOS HAPPENED WHEN A WEALTHY MAN BUILT A SHRINE TO ONE OF THE GODS, OR PUT UP THE MONEY FOR A WARSHIP TO HELP DEFEND THE CITY. IT MEANT SOMETHING LIKE “PUBLIC DUTY”, OR “A WORK FOR THE PEOPLE.” OF COURSE WE USE THE WORD TO REFER TO PUBLIC ACTS OF WORSHIP, AND SOMETIMES, MORE SPECIFICALLY, TO OUR MASS.
THE LITURGY ON HOLY THURSDAY IS SPECIAL. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH WE ATTACH THE RITE OF FOOT WASHING TO OUR MASS, BUT IN REALITY, THIS IS THE ONLY TIME OF THE YEAR WHEN WE RE-ENACT THE WHOLE LAST SUPPER. BECAUSE AT THAT LAST SUPPER, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MEAL, THE MEAL IN WHICH JESUS WOULD SAY THOSE WORDS FOR THE FIRST TIME, “TAKE AND EAT, THIS IS MY BODY” AND “THIS IS MY BLOOD,” JESUS GOT UP FROM THE SUPPER AND BEGAN TO WASH HIS DISCIPLE'S FEET.
WE CHRISTIANS ARE A WANDERING PEOPLE. WE ARE DESCENDED FROM ABRAHAM, WHO SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE WANDERING; WE TRACE OUR HERITAGE TO THOSE SLAVES OF EGYPT WHO BECAME A PEOPLE AS THEY WANDERED IN THE DESERT. AFTER ONLY A SHORT PERIOD OF SETTLING DOWN IN THE PROMISED LAND, THEY WERE UPROOTED ONCE AGAIN, AND SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE CIVILIZED WORLD; AND ONLY A FEW CAME BACK TO LIVE IN A LAND WHICH BELONGED TO THE PERSIAN KING, THEN THE GREEKS, AND FINALLY, CAESAR. THEY WERE STILL WANDERERS, IN A SENSE, THEY IN FACT HAD NO HOME THEY COULD REALLY CALL THEIR OWN.
EACH OF US IS A WANDERER; I HAVE A HOME, A HOME THAT I LOVE, BUT I CAME FROM A HOME THAT I LOVED AS WELL, A HOME THAT WILL NEVER BE AGAIN, AND WHICH IN A SENSE DEFINES “HOME” TO ME. AND YOU ALL ARE THE SAME, EVEN IF YOU LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE IN WHICH YOU WERE BORN. SOMEWHERE IN THE PAST YOU REMEMBER BEING A CHILD, HAVING A LOVING MOTHER WHO HELD YOU AND COMFORTED YOU AND FED YOU, AND A STRONG FATHER WHO SEEMED CAPABLE OF ANYTHING. AND THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF HOME IN YOUR MIND, AND TRY AS WE MIGHT, WE CAN'T QUITE RECREATE THAT. A HOME, AT LEAST TO ME, IS NOT NECESSARILY A PLACE; WHEN I WAS LITTLE, WE WOULD GO TO GRANDMA'S, BECAUSE WHERE GRANDMA WAS, THERE WAS HER HOME. A HOME FOR ME IS A PLACE WHERE I CAN PUT DOWN THE BURDENS THAT I CARRY, AT LEAST FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
I ONCE WAS INVITED TO THE HOME OF SOMEONE I KNEW ONLY A LITTLE BIT, WHO RUNS A MASSIVE ORGANIZATION, AND ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE A REMOTE AND INTIMIDATING FIGURE. I KNOW HE MAKES ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY AND SELL ME, AND I EXPECTED THAT THE MEAL WOULD BE PREPARED BY HIS COOK, AND WE WOULD ALL SIT IN THE LIVING ROOM OVER DRINKS WHILE WE LISTENED RESPECTFULLY TO HIS WISDOM. BUT HE GREETED US AT THE DOOR, WEARING AN APRON; HE PERSONALLY REMOVED MY COAT AND HUNG IT IN THE CLOSET; HE INVITED US INTO THE KITCHEN WHERE WE CONVERSED AS HE PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON THE SUPPER. AND DURING THE MEAL HE KEPT GETTING UP TO WAIT ON US. I FELT AT HOME; HE CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT FOR US IN WHICH EVERYTHING WAS TAKEN CARE OF; IT WAS A LITTLE OASIS OF PEACE IN OUR LIVES WHERE WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING.
THAT'S WHAT WE CELEBRATE TONIGHT, THAT IS THE GIFT THAT JESUS GIVES US. HOLY THURSDAY IS AN ANTICIPATION OF OUR TRUE HOME. WE READ THAT THE APOSTLES HAD BEEN ARGUING ABOUT WHO WAS GREATER IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; WE KNOW THAT ONE OF THE APOSTLES WOULD BETRAY JESUS, AND THE OTHERS WOULD DESERT HIM. BUT JESUS WASHES ALL OF THEIR FEET, HE DOES NOT DISTINGUISH THE GOOD FROM THE BAD, THE SINFUL FROM THE HOLY. IN WASHING THEIR FEET, HE WASHES AWAY THEIR SINS AS WELL. AND THEN, ALTHOUGH JOHN'S GOSPEL DOES NOT TELL US THIS, BUT THE OTHERS DO, HE PREPARES THE FOOD WITH HIS OWN HANDS, CHANGING BREAD INTO HIS BODY AND WINE INTO HIS BLOOD, AND FEEDS HIS DISCIPLES NOT JUST ANY FOOD, BUT HIMSELF. AND WHEN WE THINK ABOUT IT, THE DISCIPLES MUST HAVE FELT THAT THEY HAD COME HOME.
LITURGY IS A PUBLIC WORK. OUR WORK TONIGHT IS TO CREATE HERE IN THIS CHURCH, A MEMORY, A MEMORY OF OUR TRUE HOME, WHICH DOES NOT LIE IN THE DISTANT PAST, BUT IN THE GLORIOUS FUTURE. IT WILL BE A HOME THAT WE WILL INSTANTLY RECOGNIZE, A HOME WHERE WE ARE GREETED AT THE DOOR BY OUR HOST, AND FED THE BREAD OF HEAVEN AND THE WINE OF SALVATION, FOR ALL ETERNITY. AND WE WILL FINALLY REST; OUR WANDERING WILL BE OVER, OUR BURDENS PERMANENTLY RELIEVED.
AND AS WE LEAVE HERE TONIGHT, WE ALL HAVE BEEN GIVEN A COMMISSION. WE ARE TO GO OUT AND DO TO OTHERS AS JESUS HAS DONE TO US. WE ARE TO REMIND OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT THEY ARE WANDERERS, AND THAT THERE IS NO TRUE HOME ON THIS EARTH. WE ARE TO WASH THEIR FEET, TEND TO THEIR NEEDS, SEE THAT THEY ARE FED AND CLOTHED AND MADE COMFORTABLE. WE COULD CERTAINLY JUST GO OUT AND TELL THEM ABOUT THE HOME TO WHICH WE ARE CALLED, THE HOME WE REMEMBER TONIGHT; BUT HOW MUCH MORE IT WILL MEAN IF WE SHOW THEM WHAT THAT HOME IS GOING TO BE LIKE?
LITURGY IS A WORK, A WORK OF THE PEOPLE. OUR LITURGY MERELY BEGINS HERE, AND WE MUST CONTINUE IT WHEN WE LEAVE THE CHURCH TONIGHT.
LITURGY. WE CATHOLICS USE THAT WORD, BUT I DON'T THINK WE OFTEN CONSIDER WHAT IT MEANS. IN ANCIENT GREECE, LEITURGICOS HAPPENED WHEN A WEALTHY MAN BUILT A SHRINE TO ONE OF THE GODS, OR PUT UP THE MONEY FOR A WARSHIP TO HELP DEFEND THE CITY. IT MEANT SOMETHING LIKE “PUBLIC DUTY”, OR “A WORK FOR THE PEOPLE.” OF COURSE WE USE THE WORD TO REFER TO PUBLIC ACTS OF WORSHIP, AND SOMETIMES, MORE SPECIFICALLY, TO OUR MASS.
THE LITURGY ON HOLY THURSDAY IS SPECIAL. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH WE ATTACH THE RITE OF FOOT WASHING TO OUR MASS, BUT IN REALITY, THIS IS THE ONLY TIME OF THE YEAR WHEN WE RE-ENACT THE WHOLE LAST SUPPER. BECAUSE AT THAT LAST SUPPER, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MEAL, THE MEAL IN WHICH JESUS WOULD SAY THOSE WORDS FOR THE FIRST TIME, “TAKE AND EAT, THIS IS MY BODY” AND “THIS IS MY BLOOD,” JESUS GOT UP FROM THE SUPPER AND BEGAN TO WASH HIS DISCIPLE'S FEET.
WE CHRISTIANS ARE A WANDERING PEOPLE. WE ARE DESCENDED FROM ABRAHAM, WHO SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE WANDERING; WE TRACE OUR HERITAGE TO THOSE SLAVES OF EGYPT WHO BECAME A PEOPLE AS THEY WANDERED IN THE DESERT. AFTER ONLY A SHORT PERIOD OF SETTLING DOWN IN THE PROMISED LAND, THEY WERE UPROOTED ONCE AGAIN, AND SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE CIVILIZED WORLD; AND ONLY A FEW CAME BACK TO LIVE IN A LAND WHICH BELONGED TO THE PERSIAN KING, THEN THE GREEKS, AND FINALLY, CAESAR. THEY WERE STILL WANDERERS, IN A SENSE, THEY IN FACT HAD NO HOME THEY COULD REALLY CALL THEIR OWN.
EACH OF US IS A WANDERER; I HAVE A HOME, A HOME THAT I LOVE, BUT I CAME FROM A HOME THAT I LOVED AS WELL, A HOME THAT WILL NEVER BE AGAIN, AND WHICH IN A SENSE DEFINES “HOME” TO ME. AND YOU ALL ARE THE SAME, EVEN IF YOU LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE IN WHICH YOU WERE BORN. SOMEWHERE IN THE PAST YOU REMEMBER BEING A CHILD, HAVING A LOVING MOTHER WHO HELD YOU AND COMFORTED YOU AND FED YOU, AND A STRONG FATHER WHO SEEMED CAPABLE OF ANYTHING. AND THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF HOME IN YOUR MIND, AND TRY AS WE MIGHT, WE CAN'T QUITE RECREATE THAT. A HOME, AT LEAST TO ME, IS NOT NECESSARILY A PLACE; WHEN I WAS LITTLE, WE WOULD GO TO GRANDMA'S, BECAUSE WHERE GRANDMA WAS, THERE WAS HER HOME. A HOME FOR ME IS A PLACE WHERE I CAN PUT DOWN THE BURDENS THAT I CARRY, AT LEAST FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
I ONCE WAS INVITED TO THE HOME OF SOMEONE I KNEW ONLY A LITTLE BIT, WHO RUNS A MASSIVE ORGANIZATION, AND ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE A REMOTE AND INTIMIDATING FIGURE. I KNOW HE MAKES ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY AND SELL ME, AND I EXPECTED THAT THE MEAL WOULD BE PREPARED BY HIS COOK, AND WE WOULD ALL SIT IN THE LIVING ROOM OVER DRINKS WHILE WE LISTENED RESPECTFULLY TO HIS WISDOM. BUT HE GREETED US AT THE DOOR, WEARING AN APRON; HE PERSONALLY REMOVED MY COAT AND HUNG IT IN THE CLOSET; HE INVITED US INTO THE KITCHEN WHERE WE CONVERSED AS HE PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON THE SUPPER. AND DURING THE MEAL HE KEPT GETTING UP TO WAIT ON US. I FELT AT HOME; HE CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT FOR US IN WHICH EVERYTHING WAS TAKEN CARE OF; IT WAS A LITTLE OASIS OF PEACE IN OUR LIVES WHERE WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING.
THAT'S WHAT WE CELEBRATE TONIGHT, THAT IS THE GIFT THAT JESUS GIVES US. HOLY THURSDAY IS AN ANTICIPATION OF OUR TRUE HOME. WE READ THAT THE APOSTLES HAD BEEN ARGUING ABOUT WHO WAS GREATER IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; WE KNOW THAT ONE OF THE APOSTLES WOULD BETRAY JESUS, AND THE OTHERS WOULD DESERT HIM. BUT JESUS WASHES ALL OF THEIR FEET, HE DOES NOT DISTINGUISH THE GOOD FROM THE BAD, THE SINFUL FROM THE HOLY. IN WASHING THEIR FEET, HE WASHES AWAY THEIR SINS AS WELL. AND THEN, ALTHOUGH JOHN'S GOSPEL DOES NOT TELL US THIS, BUT THE OTHERS DO, HE PREPARES THE FOOD WITH HIS OWN HANDS, CHANGING BREAD INTO HIS BODY AND WINE INTO HIS BLOOD, AND FEEDS HIS DISCIPLES NOT JUST ANY FOOD, BUT HIMSELF. AND WHEN WE THINK ABOUT IT, THE DISCIPLES MUST HAVE FELT THAT THEY HAD COME HOME.
LITURGY IS A PUBLIC WORK. OUR WORK TONIGHT IS TO CREATE HERE IN THIS CHURCH, A MEMORY, A MEMORY OF OUR TRUE HOME, WHICH DOES NOT LIE IN THE DISTANT PAST, BUT IN THE GLORIOUS FUTURE. IT WILL BE A HOME THAT WE WILL INSTANTLY RECOGNIZE, A HOME WHERE WE ARE GREETED AT THE DOOR BY OUR HOST, AND FED THE BREAD OF HEAVEN AND THE WINE OF SALVATION, FOR ALL ETERNITY. AND WE WILL FINALLY REST; OUR WANDERING WILL BE OVER, OUR BURDENS PERMANENTLY RELIEVED.
AND AS WE LEAVE HERE TONIGHT, WE ALL HAVE BEEN GIVEN A COMMISSION. WE ARE TO GO OUT AND DO TO OTHERS AS JESUS HAS DONE TO US. WE ARE TO REMIND OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT THEY ARE WANDERERS, AND THAT THERE IS NO TRUE HOME ON THIS EARTH. WE ARE TO WASH THEIR FEET, TEND TO THEIR NEEDS, SEE THAT THEY ARE FED AND CLOTHED AND MADE COMFORTABLE. WE COULD CERTAINLY JUST GO OUT AND TELL THEM ABOUT THE HOME TO WHICH WE ARE CALLED, THE HOME WE REMEMBER TONIGHT; BUT HOW MUCH MORE IT WILL MEAN IF WE SHOW THEM WHAT THAT HOME IS GOING TO BE LIKE?
LITURGY IS A WORK, A WORK OF THE PEOPLE. OUR LITURGY MERELY BEGINS HERE, AND WE MUST CONTINUE IT WHEN WE LEAVE THE CHURCH TONIGHT.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Palm Sunday,cycle b
MARK 14:1-15:47 (THE PASSION OF OUR LORD)
WE'VE JUST TAKEN PART IN AN ANCIENT TRADITION – THE READING OF THE PASSION. OUR CELEBRANT READS THE PARTS WHERE JESUS SPEAKS, AND WE HAVE A NARRATOR, AND WE HAVE SOMEONE ELSE WHO DOES ALL THE OTHER PARTS. AND THEN WE HAVE THE CHORUS – THAT IS YOU AND I. WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR PART, IT ISN'T MUCH, BUT IT DOES SERVE AS KIND OF AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.
IN OUR FIRST PART, WE SPEAK FOR THE PRIESTS AND SCRIBES, WHO SEEK TO ARREST JESUS – BUT WE SAY, “NOT DURING THE FESTIVAL, FOR FEAR THAT THERE MAY BE A RIOT AMONG THE PEOPLE.” HOW OFTEN DO WE FAIL TO DO SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BECAUSE WE FEAR SOME REACTION FROM THOSE AROUND US?
“WHY HAS THERE BEEN THIS WASTE OF PERFUMED OIL? IT COULD HAVE BEEN SOLD FOR MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED DAYS WAGES AND THE MONEY GIVEN TO THE POOR.” WHEN WE SEE SOMEONE ELSE DOING GOOD, DO WE THANK GOD FOR THAT? OR PERHAPS, OUT OF ENVY, WE CRITICIZE, WE FIND FAULT.
“WHERE DO YOU WANT US TO GO AND PREPARE FOR YOU TO EAT THE PASSOVER?” THE APOSTLES SAID THIS TO JESUS. I IMAGINE JESUS MIGHT HAVE SAID TO HIMSELF, “DO I HAVE TO THINK OF EVERYTHING?” ARE THERE TIMES WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRES US TO STEP OUT AND TAKE INITIATIVE, BUT WE HOLD BACK, WAITING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO LEAD?
THE NEXT TIME WE IN THE CHORUS SPEAK, WE ARE SOME OF THE FALSE WITNESSES AGAINST JESUS. “WE HEARD HIM SAY, “I WILL DESTROY THIS TEMPLE MADE WITH HANDS AND WITHIN THREE DAYS I WILL BUILD ANOTHER NOT MADE WITH HANDS.” WHEN JESUS MADE THIS STATEMENT, THOSE WHO HEARD HIM KNEW HE WAS SPEAKING FIGURATIVELY. NO ONE WHO WAS THERE REALLY BELIEVED THAT JESUS WAS GOING TO TEAR DOWN THE TEMPLE AND BUILD ANOTHER, NOT IN THREE DAYS, NOT WITHOUT HUMAN LABOR. BUT THE WORDS JESUS SPOKE ARE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT AND USED AGAINST HIM. DO WE DO THIS? DO WE ISOLATE THINGS SOMEONE MAY HAVE SAID AND USE THOSE WORDS TO CHARACTERIZE HIM? DO WE SNEER AT THE POPE FOR SAYING THAT CONDOMS PROMOTE AIDS BUT NEVER GO TO THE TROUBLE TO ACTUALLY READ WHAT THE POPE ACTUALLY SAID?
“PROPHECY” WE SAY, WITH THE SOLDIERS WHO TORTURE JESUS. DO WE STOP UP OUR EARS WHEN SOMEONE WHO IS NOT ONE OF US SPEAKS THE TRUTH TO US? DO WE THINK THAT WE HAVE NOTHING TO LEARN FROM OTHER RELIGIONS, OTHER RACES, OTHER SOCIAL CLASSES?
“YOU TOO WERE WITH THE NAZARENE, JESUS”, AND “SURELY YOU ARE ONE OF THEM, FOR YOU TOO ARE A GALILEAN.” HAVE WE EVER JUDGED SOMEONE BECAUSE OF THE COMPANY HE OR SHE KEEPS? DO WE LABEL PEOPLE, MAKING THEM “THINGS” IN OUR OWN EYES, SO THAT WE LOSE SIGHT OF THEIR UNIQUENESS, THEIR INDIVIDUALITY, THE FACT THAT THEY ARE LOVED WITH A DIVINE LOVE?
“CRUCIFY HIM!” IS THERE ANYONE, A BOSS, A POLITICAL LEADER, A RELIGIOUS LEADER, -- ANYONE WHO IS A THORN IN MY SIDE – THAT I REALLY WISH WOULD GET WHAT IS COMING TO HIM OR HER; THAT I WOULD NOT SHED A TEAR OVER IF I HEARD THAT THAT PERSON HAD BEEN IN A CAR ACCIDENT?
“HAIL, KING OF THE JEWS.” THESE WORDS MOCKED JESUS. MOCKERY IS A GOOD WAY TO AVOID TAKING SOMEONE SERIOUSLY, OR TO KEEP FROM ENGAGING IN HONEST DIALOG WITH SOMEONE.
“YOU WHO WOULD DESTROY THE TEMPLE AND REBUILD IT IN THREE DAYS, SAVE YOURSELF BY COMING DOWN FROM THE CROSS!” HAVE YOU AND I EVER STOOD BY AND WATCHED AS SOMEONE ELSE SUFFERED? IF WE HAVEN'T BEEN GENEROUS TO THE POOR AND MARGINALIZED, WE HAVE.
“HE SAVED OTHERS, HE CANNOT SAVE HIMSELF. LET CHRIST, THE KING OF ISRAEL, COME DOWN NOW FROM THE CROSS, THAT WE MAY SEE AND BELIEVE.” WHAT DO WE NEED BEFORE WE COMMIT OURSELVES? STILL ANOTHER MIRACLE?
“LOOK, HE IS CALLING ELIJAH!” JESUS IN HIS DYING AGONY CALLED OUT TO GOD. THOSE LISTENING CHOSE TO HEAR HIM CALL ON ELIJAH, THE PROPHET, TO RESCUE HIM. DO WE DELIBERATELY MISINTERPRET WHAT WE HEAR SO THAT WE WON'T HAVE TO FACE WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON?
THESE AREN'T ALL THE THINGS WE HUMANS ARE GUILTY OF. BUT ITS A START. THANK GOD THAT JESUS HAS GUARANTEED OUR FORGIVENESS.
WE'VE JUST TAKEN PART IN AN ANCIENT TRADITION – THE READING OF THE PASSION. OUR CELEBRANT READS THE PARTS WHERE JESUS SPEAKS, AND WE HAVE A NARRATOR, AND WE HAVE SOMEONE ELSE WHO DOES ALL THE OTHER PARTS. AND THEN WE HAVE THE CHORUS – THAT IS YOU AND I. WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR PART, IT ISN'T MUCH, BUT IT DOES SERVE AS KIND OF AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.
IN OUR FIRST PART, WE SPEAK FOR THE PRIESTS AND SCRIBES, WHO SEEK TO ARREST JESUS – BUT WE SAY, “NOT DURING THE FESTIVAL, FOR FEAR THAT THERE MAY BE A RIOT AMONG THE PEOPLE.” HOW OFTEN DO WE FAIL TO DO SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BECAUSE WE FEAR SOME REACTION FROM THOSE AROUND US?
“WHY HAS THERE BEEN THIS WASTE OF PERFUMED OIL? IT COULD HAVE BEEN SOLD FOR MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED DAYS WAGES AND THE MONEY GIVEN TO THE POOR.” WHEN WE SEE SOMEONE ELSE DOING GOOD, DO WE THANK GOD FOR THAT? OR PERHAPS, OUT OF ENVY, WE CRITICIZE, WE FIND FAULT.
“WHERE DO YOU WANT US TO GO AND PREPARE FOR YOU TO EAT THE PASSOVER?” THE APOSTLES SAID THIS TO JESUS. I IMAGINE JESUS MIGHT HAVE SAID TO HIMSELF, “DO I HAVE TO THINK OF EVERYTHING?” ARE THERE TIMES WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRES US TO STEP OUT AND TAKE INITIATIVE, BUT WE HOLD BACK, WAITING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO LEAD?
THE NEXT TIME WE IN THE CHORUS SPEAK, WE ARE SOME OF THE FALSE WITNESSES AGAINST JESUS. “WE HEARD HIM SAY, “I WILL DESTROY THIS TEMPLE MADE WITH HANDS AND WITHIN THREE DAYS I WILL BUILD ANOTHER NOT MADE WITH HANDS.” WHEN JESUS MADE THIS STATEMENT, THOSE WHO HEARD HIM KNEW HE WAS SPEAKING FIGURATIVELY. NO ONE WHO WAS THERE REALLY BELIEVED THAT JESUS WAS GOING TO TEAR DOWN THE TEMPLE AND BUILD ANOTHER, NOT IN THREE DAYS, NOT WITHOUT HUMAN LABOR. BUT THE WORDS JESUS SPOKE ARE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT AND USED AGAINST HIM. DO WE DO THIS? DO WE ISOLATE THINGS SOMEONE MAY HAVE SAID AND USE THOSE WORDS TO CHARACTERIZE HIM? DO WE SNEER AT THE POPE FOR SAYING THAT CONDOMS PROMOTE AIDS BUT NEVER GO TO THE TROUBLE TO ACTUALLY READ WHAT THE POPE ACTUALLY SAID?
“PROPHECY” WE SAY, WITH THE SOLDIERS WHO TORTURE JESUS. DO WE STOP UP OUR EARS WHEN SOMEONE WHO IS NOT ONE OF US SPEAKS THE TRUTH TO US? DO WE THINK THAT WE HAVE NOTHING TO LEARN FROM OTHER RELIGIONS, OTHER RACES, OTHER SOCIAL CLASSES?
“YOU TOO WERE WITH THE NAZARENE, JESUS”, AND “SURELY YOU ARE ONE OF THEM, FOR YOU TOO ARE A GALILEAN.” HAVE WE EVER JUDGED SOMEONE BECAUSE OF THE COMPANY HE OR SHE KEEPS? DO WE LABEL PEOPLE, MAKING THEM “THINGS” IN OUR OWN EYES, SO THAT WE LOSE SIGHT OF THEIR UNIQUENESS, THEIR INDIVIDUALITY, THE FACT THAT THEY ARE LOVED WITH A DIVINE LOVE?
“CRUCIFY HIM!” IS THERE ANYONE, A BOSS, A POLITICAL LEADER, A RELIGIOUS LEADER, -- ANYONE WHO IS A THORN IN MY SIDE – THAT I REALLY WISH WOULD GET WHAT IS COMING TO HIM OR HER; THAT I WOULD NOT SHED A TEAR OVER IF I HEARD THAT THAT PERSON HAD BEEN IN A CAR ACCIDENT?
“HAIL, KING OF THE JEWS.” THESE WORDS MOCKED JESUS. MOCKERY IS A GOOD WAY TO AVOID TAKING SOMEONE SERIOUSLY, OR TO KEEP FROM ENGAGING IN HONEST DIALOG WITH SOMEONE.
“YOU WHO WOULD DESTROY THE TEMPLE AND REBUILD IT IN THREE DAYS, SAVE YOURSELF BY COMING DOWN FROM THE CROSS!” HAVE YOU AND I EVER STOOD BY AND WATCHED AS SOMEONE ELSE SUFFERED? IF WE HAVEN'T BEEN GENEROUS TO THE POOR AND MARGINALIZED, WE HAVE.
“HE SAVED OTHERS, HE CANNOT SAVE HIMSELF. LET CHRIST, THE KING OF ISRAEL, COME DOWN NOW FROM THE CROSS, THAT WE MAY SEE AND BELIEVE.” WHAT DO WE NEED BEFORE WE COMMIT OURSELVES? STILL ANOTHER MIRACLE?
“LOOK, HE IS CALLING ELIJAH!” JESUS IN HIS DYING AGONY CALLED OUT TO GOD. THOSE LISTENING CHOSE TO HEAR HIM CALL ON ELIJAH, THE PROPHET, TO RESCUE HIM. DO WE DELIBERATELY MISINTERPRET WHAT WE HEAR SO THAT WE WON'T HAVE TO FACE WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON?
THESE AREN'T ALL THE THINGS WE HUMANS ARE GUILTY OF. BUT ITS A START. THANK GOD THAT JESUS HAS GUARANTEED OUR FORGIVENESS.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Fifth Sunday of Easter, cycle B
JOHN 12:20-33
SIR, WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE JESUS. WERE THE GREEKS IN THIS STORY CURIOUS, JUST TAKING A TOUR OF THE HOLY LAND, MEANING TO TAKE IN ALL THE SIGHTS AND MEET THE LOCAL CHARACTERS? OR IS THERE SOMETHING MORE GOING ON? JOHN IS THE ONLY ONE WHO TELLS THIS STORY, AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE REMEMBER THAT JOHN IS WRITING HIS GOSPEL FOR A GENTILE COMMUNITY, A “GREEK” COMMUNITY. AND JOHN MAKES SURE WE REALIZE THAT THESE GREEKS ARE FOREIGNERS, GENTILES, BECAUSE HE HAS THEM APPROACHING PHILIP, AN APOSTLE WITH A GREEK NAME, WHO CAME FROM BETHSAIDA, A TOWN IN NORTHERN ISRAEL WHERE THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO SPOKE GREEK. JOHN HIGHLIGHTS THIS MOMENT, BECAUSE IN HIS GOSPEL, WHEN JESUS ENCOUNTERS GENTILES WHO WISH TO HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY, ACCORDING TO THE PROPHETS THIS IS THE SIGNAL FOR JESUS THAT HIS PASSION IS ABOUT TO START. AND THAT IS THE REASON THAT JESUS BEGINS TO TALK ABOUT HIS PASSION.
WHEN YOU READ THIS WHOLE PASSAGE, IT ALMOST SEEMS THAT THE FIRST PART, THE PART ABOUT THE GREEKS, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SECOND PART. BUT THE TWO PARTS ARE RELATED.
JESUS NOT ONLY TALKS ABOUT HIS FORTHCOMING PASSION, BUT IN TALKING ABOUT IT, HE MAKES SURE THAT HIS HEARERS KNOW THAT WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO UNDERGO, HIS FOLLOWERS MUST AS WELL. WHERE I AM, HE SAYS, THERE MY SERVANT MUST BE.
JESUS SPEAKS ABOUT A GRAIN OF WHEAT FALLING TO THE GROUND AND DYING, AND ONLY THEN CAN IT BEAR MUCH FRUIT; HE SAYS THAT ONLY IF WE HATE OUR LIVES WILL WE SAVE THEM. JESUS IS REFERRING TO HIS OWN PASSION AND DEATH; BUT HE IS ALSO REFERRING TO HIS FOLLOWERS, AND WANTS TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO DO, WE MUST DO AS WELL.
WHEN I WAS IN MY TEENS, I GOT MY HANDS ON A PLAYBOY MAGAZINE. PLAYBOY USED TO BE A MUCH MORE WIDELY CIRCULATED MAGAZINE THAN IT IS NOW, AND IT WAS ALMOST RESPECTABLE. BEING A NERD, I SKIPPED OVER THE CENTERFOLD AND DISCOVERED THAT THE PUBLISHER OF THE MAGAZINE HAD A SECTION CALLED “THE PLAYBOY PHILOSOPHY”. I READ THIS, READ ANOTHER SECTION FROM ANOTHER MAGAZINE, AND DISCOVERED, AFTER A WHILE, THAT IT WAS GETTING REPETITIVE, SO I NEVER ACTUALLY READ THE WHOLE THING. BUT IT WAS A CONSISTENT PHILOSOPHY. MR. HEFNER'S VERY WINDY AND VERBOSE TREATISE COULD BE BOILED DOWN TO THE IDEA THAT SATISFYING YOUR PLEASURES SHOULD BE YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY. OF COURSE YOU SHOULDN'T HURT OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS PURSUIT, AND YOU SHOULD PAY ENOUGH ATTENTION TO POLITICS TO MAKE SURE EXTERNAL FORCES WOULD NOT GET IN YOUR WAY. AND LEST YOU THINK THAT MR. HEFNER WAS PROMOTING MASSIVE EXCESS, HE WAS NOT; HE IN FACT FELT THAT IF YOU WERE GOING TO EXPERIENCE AS MUCH PLEASURE AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR LIFE, THAN YOU HAD TO SEE TO IT THAT YOU KEPT YOUR BODY IN REASONABLY GOOD SHAPE AND GOOD HEALTH. BUT PERSONAL PLEASURE WAS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED.
I SAW A PICTURE OF HIM THE OTHER DAY. HE'S IN HIS MID-EIGHTIES. HE STILL LIVES IN HIS MANSION, SURROUNDED BY PRETTY GIRLS, PARTYING FROM MORNING TO NIGHT, OR AS MUCH AS HE CAN AT THIS AGE. BUT HIS EYES ARE EMPTY AND HIS FACE LOOKS RAVAGED. HE IS FACING HIS DEATH, AND HE KNOWS IT. AND A LIFE DEVOTED TO PLEASURE HAS PRECIOUS LITTLE TO SHOW FOR IT AT THE END.
WHERE I AM, THERE MY SERVANT SHALL BE. WE ALL HAVE AT LEAST A LITTLE OF THE PLAYBOY PHILOSOPHY IN US. IT IS THE PULL OF ORIGINAL SIN, THE VOICE IN US THAT SAYS, “I DON'T CARE WHAT GOD SAYS, THAT FRUIT ON THAT TREE LOOKS MIGHTY TASTY.” BUT IF WE ARE TO BE SERVANTS OF JESUS, THEN WE MUST BE THAT GRAIN OF WHEAT; WE MUST LEARN TO LOVE SOMETHING MORE THAN WE LOVE OUR OWN LIVES. IF WE DON'T, WE WILL END UP FACING THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD THAT JESUS TALKS ABOUT.
DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM LAST WEEK WHEN A NURSE I WORK WITH SAT WITH A PATIENT DYING OF CANCER, HOLDING HER HAND AS SHE STRUGGLED FOR BREATH. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I MET HIM WHEN I SAW MY DAUGHTER COMFORTING HER CHILD WHO HAD JUST FALLEN AND SCRAPED HIS KNEE. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM WHEN I JOINED A SMALL GROUP OF OUR FELLOW PARISHIONERS, WHO KEEP JESUS COMPANY ON TUESDAY AFTERNOONS WHEN HE IS EXPOSED IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM WHEN I WATCHED AN ELDERLY MAN STRUGGLING TO OPERATE A BODY THAT NO LONGER COOPERATED, SO THAT HE COULD GET TO HIS FEET AND GREET ME AT THE DOOR.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, JESUS IS ALL AROUND US IF WE KNOW WHERE TO LOOK. WHEREVER SOMEONE GIVES HIMSELF AWAY, EVEN A LITTLE BIT, THERE JESUS IS. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IS ALL ABOUT. JESUS GAVE HIMSELF AWAY, EVERY BIT OF HIMSELF, EVERY LAST DROP OF BLOOD, EVERY LAST BREATH, FOR YOU AND I. AND WHERE I AM, HE SAYS, THERE ALSO WILL MY SERVANT BE.
ON THIS FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, WE SHOULD ASK WHAT WE WILL SEE WHEN WE LOOK IN A MIRROR. WILL WE SEE A PERSON LOOKING BACK WITH EMPTY EYES, EYES THAT LOOK FORWARD TO A MEANINGLESS DEATH AFTER A MEANINGLESS LIFE? THE RULER OF THIS WORLD WILL BE DRIVEN OUT, AS JESUS SAYS, AND ALONG WITH HIM, THOSE WHO LIVED ONLY FOR WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER.
OR WILL WE LOOK INTO THAT MIRROR AND SEE IN OUR OWN EYES A PERSON WHO HAS SPENT A LIFETIME GIVING HIMSELF AWAY, A LITTLE AT A TIME, SO THAT AT THE END, THERE IS NOTHING LEFT. HOW WONDERFUL THAT WOULD BE. BECAUSE IF WE HAVE GIVEN OURSELVES AWAY, AND THERE IS NOTHING OF US LEFT, THEN IN THE MIRROR WE WILL SEE ONLY JESUS. FOR WHERE I AM, THERE ALSO MY SERVANT WILL BE.
SIR, WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE JESUS. WERE THE GREEKS IN THIS STORY CURIOUS, JUST TAKING A TOUR OF THE HOLY LAND, MEANING TO TAKE IN ALL THE SIGHTS AND MEET THE LOCAL CHARACTERS? OR IS THERE SOMETHING MORE GOING ON? JOHN IS THE ONLY ONE WHO TELLS THIS STORY, AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE REMEMBER THAT JOHN IS WRITING HIS GOSPEL FOR A GENTILE COMMUNITY, A “GREEK” COMMUNITY. AND JOHN MAKES SURE WE REALIZE THAT THESE GREEKS ARE FOREIGNERS, GENTILES, BECAUSE HE HAS THEM APPROACHING PHILIP, AN APOSTLE WITH A GREEK NAME, WHO CAME FROM BETHSAIDA, A TOWN IN NORTHERN ISRAEL WHERE THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO SPOKE GREEK. JOHN HIGHLIGHTS THIS MOMENT, BECAUSE IN HIS GOSPEL, WHEN JESUS ENCOUNTERS GENTILES WHO WISH TO HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY, ACCORDING TO THE PROPHETS THIS IS THE SIGNAL FOR JESUS THAT HIS PASSION IS ABOUT TO START. AND THAT IS THE REASON THAT JESUS BEGINS TO TALK ABOUT HIS PASSION.
WHEN YOU READ THIS WHOLE PASSAGE, IT ALMOST SEEMS THAT THE FIRST PART, THE PART ABOUT THE GREEKS, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SECOND PART. BUT THE TWO PARTS ARE RELATED.
JESUS NOT ONLY TALKS ABOUT HIS FORTHCOMING PASSION, BUT IN TALKING ABOUT IT, HE MAKES SURE THAT HIS HEARERS KNOW THAT WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO UNDERGO, HIS FOLLOWERS MUST AS WELL. WHERE I AM, HE SAYS, THERE MY SERVANT MUST BE.
JESUS SPEAKS ABOUT A GRAIN OF WHEAT FALLING TO THE GROUND AND DYING, AND ONLY THEN CAN IT BEAR MUCH FRUIT; HE SAYS THAT ONLY IF WE HATE OUR LIVES WILL WE SAVE THEM. JESUS IS REFERRING TO HIS OWN PASSION AND DEATH; BUT HE IS ALSO REFERRING TO HIS FOLLOWERS, AND WANTS TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO DO, WE MUST DO AS WELL.
WHEN I WAS IN MY TEENS, I GOT MY HANDS ON A PLAYBOY MAGAZINE. PLAYBOY USED TO BE A MUCH MORE WIDELY CIRCULATED MAGAZINE THAN IT IS NOW, AND IT WAS ALMOST RESPECTABLE. BEING A NERD, I SKIPPED OVER THE CENTERFOLD AND DISCOVERED THAT THE PUBLISHER OF THE MAGAZINE HAD A SECTION CALLED “THE PLAYBOY PHILOSOPHY”. I READ THIS, READ ANOTHER SECTION FROM ANOTHER MAGAZINE, AND DISCOVERED, AFTER A WHILE, THAT IT WAS GETTING REPETITIVE, SO I NEVER ACTUALLY READ THE WHOLE THING. BUT IT WAS A CONSISTENT PHILOSOPHY. MR. HEFNER'S VERY WINDY AND VERBOSE TREATISE COULD BE BOILED DOWN TO THE IDEA THAT SATISFYING YOUR PLEASURES SHOULD BE YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY. OF COURSE YOU SHOULDN'T HURT OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS PURSUIT, AND YOU SHOULD PAY ENOUGH ATTENTION TO POLITICS TO MAKE SURE EXTERNAL FORCES WOULD NOT GET IN YOUR WAY. AND LEST YOU THINK THAT MR. HEFNER WAS PROMOTING MASSIVE EXCESS, HE WAS NOT; HE IN FACT FELT THAT IF YOU WERE GOING TO EXPERIENCE AS MUCH PLEASURE AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR LIFE, THAN YOU HAD TO SEE TO IT THAT YOU KEPT YOUR BODY IN REASONABLY GOOD SHAPE AND GOOD HEALTH. BUT PERSONAL PLEASURE WAS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED.
I SAW A PICTURE OF HIM THE OTHER DAY. HE'S IN HIS MID-EIGHTIES. HE STILL LIVES IN HIS MANSION, SURROUNDED BY PRETTY GIRLS, PARTYING FROM MORNING TO NIGHT, OR AS MUCH AS HE CAN AT THIS AGE. BUT HIS EYES ARE EMPTY AND HIS FACE LOOKS RAVAGED. HE IS FACING HIS DEATH, AND HE KNOWS IT. AND A LIFE DEVOTED TO PLEASURE HAS PRECIOUS LITTLE TO SHOW FOR IT AT THE END.
WHERE I AM, THERE MY SERVANT SHALL BE. WE ALL HAVE AT LEAST A LITTLE OF THE PLAYBOY PHILOSOPHY IN US. IT IS THE PULL OF ORIGINAL SIN, THE VOICE IN US THAT SAYS, “I DON'T CARE WHAT GOD SAYS, THAT FRUIT ON THAT TREE LOOKS MIGHTY TASTY.” BUT IF WE ARE TO BE SERVANTS OF JESUS, THEN WE MUST BE THAT GRAIN OF WHEAT; WE MUST LEARN TO LOVE SOMETHING MORE THAN WE LOVE OUR OWN LIVES. IF WE DON'T, WE WILL END UP FACING THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD THAT JESUS TALKS ABOUT.
DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM LAST WEEK WHEN A NURSE I WORK WITH SAT WITH A PATIENT DYING OF CANCER, HOLDING HER HAND AS SHE STRUGGLED FOR BREATH. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I MET HIM WHEN I SAW MY DAUGHTER COMFORTING HER CHILD WHO HAD JUST FALLEN AND SCRAPED HIS KNEE. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM WHEN I JOINED A SMALL GROUP OF OUR FELLOW PARISHIONERS, WHO KEEP JESUS COMPANY ON TUESDAY AFTERNOONS WHEN HE IS EXPOSED IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. DO YOU WANT TO SEE JESUS? I SAW HIM WHEN I WATCHED AN ELDERLY MAN STRUGGLING TO OPERATE A BODY THAT NO LONGER COOPERATED, SO THAT HE COULD GET TO HIS FEET AND GREET ME AT THE DOOR.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, JESUS IS ALL AROUND US IF WE KNOW WHERE TO LOOK. WHEREVER SOMEONE GIVES HIMSELF AWAY, EVEN A LITTLE BIT, THERE JESUS IS. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IS ALL ABOUT. JESUS GAVE HIMSELF AWAY, EVERY BIT OF HIMSELF, EVERY LAST DROP OF BLOOD, EVERY LAST BREATH, FOR YOU AND I. AND WHERE I AM, HE SAYS, THERE ALSO WILL MY SERVANT BE.
ON THIS FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, WE SHOULD ASK WHAT WE WILL SEE WHEN WE LOOK IN A MIRROR. WILL WE SEE A PERSON LOOKING BACK WITH EMPTY EYES, EYES THAT LOOK FORWARD TO A MEANINGLESS DEATH AFTER A MEANINGLESS LIFE? THE RULER OF THIS WORLD WILL BE DRIVEN OUT, AS JESUS SAYS, AND ALONG WITH HIM, THOSE WHO LIVED ONLY FOR WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER.
OR WILL WE LOOK INTO THAT MIRROR AND SEE IN OUR OWN EYES A PERSON WHO HAS SPENT A LIFETIME GIVING HIMSELF AWAY, A LITTLE AT A TIME, SO THAT AT THE END, THERE IS NOTHING LEFT. HOW WONDERFUL THAT WOULD BE. BECAUSE IF WE HAVE GIVEN OURSELVES AWAY, AND THERE IS NOTHING OF US LEFT, THEN IN THE MIRROR WE WILL SEE ONLY JESUS. FOR WHERE I AM, THERE ALSO MY SERVANT WILL BE.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Third Sunday of Lent, cycle B
JOHN 2:13-25
ALL FOUR GOSPELS TELL THE STORY OF JESUS CLEANSING THE TEMPLE, IN ALMOST THE SAME WORDS. MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE PUT THE EVENT NEAR THE END OF JESUS' LIFE, AND THERE IS THE HINT THAT THIS WAS THE LAST STRAW, THE THING THAT FINALLY GOT THE AUTHORITIES TO ARREST HIM AND PUT HIM TO DEATH. IN JOHN, HOWEVER, THE STORY STANDS AT THE BEGINNING OF JESUS' MINISTRY. IF YOU'VE DONE ANY READING OR STUDYING ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE BIBLE, THE FACT THAT ONE AUTHOR USES A STORY DIFFERENTLY THAN ANOTHER ISN'T A BIG SURPRISE. NONE OF THE GOSPEL WRITERS WERE WRITING HISTORY, AFTER ALL.
BUT THE STORY MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY FAMILIAR ONE TO CHRISTIANS THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE OF ROME, JUST LIKE THE STORY OF THE PASSION. AND PEOPLE THEN, AS NOW, WONDERED WHAT DID IT ALL MEAN?
JESUS WAS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, A PROPHET, AND PROPHETS OFTEN ACTED OUT THE MESSAGE GOD HAD FOR HIS PEOPLE. YOU MIGHT REMEMBER HOW JEREMIAH, FOR EXAMPLE, TOOK A POT AND BROKE IT IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE TO SYMBOLIZE WHAT GOD WAS GOING TO DO TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL. AND THE PEOPLE AROUND JESUS RECOGNIZED WHAT HE DID AS A PROPHETIC ACT; THEY DIDN'T CALL THE POLICE, THEY ASKED FOR A SIGN THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS A MESSAGE FROM GOD.
TO OUR MODERN SENSIBILITIES, JESUS' ACTION MEANS THAT HE PERCEIVED CORRUPTION IN WHAT WAS GOING ON AND WANTED TO PUT A STOP TO IT. BUT HE MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT HIS VIOLENT ACTION WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING; AS SOON AS HE LEFT, THE MERCHANTS AND MONEY CHANGERS WOULD BE BACK. AFTER ALL, THEY WERE PERFORMING AN IMPORTANT AND ESSENTIAL SERVICE. IF YOU WANTED TO SACRIFICE AN ANIMAL OR BIRD TO GOD, IT HAD TO BE A PERFECT ANIMAL, NO BRUISES, SCRATCHES, LUMPS; AND THE MERCHANTS HAD SELECTED EXACTLY SUCH CREATURES SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO. AND EVERYONE KNEW THAT IF YOU CARRIED MONEY INTO THE TEMPLE TO PAY YOUR TAX, OR BUY AN ANIMAL, IT COULD NOT BE MONEY WITH A PORTRAIT OF THE EMPEROR ON IT, OR A ROMAN GOD, OR IN FACT ANY SORT OF IMAGE; SO THE MONEY CHANGERS WERE IMPORTANT IN KEEPING THE TEMPLE ITSELF RITUALLY PURE AND UNCONTAMINATED.
SO WHY THIS SUDDEN, VIOLENT EXPLOSION OF ANGER ON THE PART OF JESUS? DID THE APOSTLES WONDER WHO TOOK THE JESUS THEY KNEW AND SUBSTITUTED THIS MADMAN?
THINK ABOUT THE TEMPLE. THE FIRST TEMPLE HAD BEEN BUILT BY SOLOMON; IT'S MAIN PURPOSE WAS TO HOUSE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, WHICH HAD BEEN PUT TOGETHER IN THE DESERT BY THE WANDERING HEBREWS BEFORE THEY ENTERED THE COUNTRY GOD HAD PREPARED FOR THEM. BUT THAT TEMPLE HAD BEEN DESTROYED, AND THE ARK HAD BEEN CARRIED AWAY. WHEN THE PEOPLE CAME BACK FROM THE EXILE, THE BUILT THE SECOND TEMPLE, AND NOW, HEROD WAS IN THE PROCESS OF RENOVATING IT. BUT EVERY JEW KNEW THAT IN THE EXACT CENTER OF THE TEMPLE, IN A ROOM THAT WAS HEAVILY GUARDED, THERE WAS THE SPECIAL PRESENCE OF GOD. ONCE A YEAR THE HIGH PRIEST WOULD ENTER THE TEMPLE, PRONOUNCE THE NAME OF GOD, AND OFFER THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE. THE REST OF THE TIME, OTHER PRIESTS COULD GO IN THERE ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE; BUT THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES COULD ONLY STAND OUTSIDE. THE TEMPLE WAS THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. BUT IF YOU LOOKED AT THE DESIGN OF THE TEMPLE, THERE WAS A PLACE RESERVED FOR THE LEVITES AND PRIESTS; ANOTHER FOR JEWISH MEN, A THIRD FOR JEWISH WOMEN AND CHILDREN; AND A FOURTH FOR GENTILES WHO BELIEVED IN THE JEWISH GOD BUT DID NOT WANT TO BECOME JEWS. AND FURTHERMORE, THE TEMPLE WAS SET APART FROM THE WORLD BY THE MERCHANTS AND MONEY CHANGERS; THEY SET UP THEIR STALLS ON THE TEMPLE GROUNDS, AND IF YOU WANTED TO GO INTO THE TEMPLE PROPER, YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH THEM. THE TEMPLE, IN OTHER WORDS, HAD BEEN MEANT TO BE A “HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE” ACCORDING TO ISAIAH, BUT HAD BECOME A SYMBOL OF DIVISION; GOD FROM MAN, CLERGY FROM LAITY, JEWS FROM GENTILES, MEN FROM WOMEN. IT DID THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO, WHAT HAD BEEN ENVISIONED BY ALL THE PROPHETS.
AND MAYBE WHAT JESUS WAS DOING WAS ACTING OUT THE DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLE; BY DRIVING AWAY THE ANIMAL SACRIFICES AND THE MONEY CHANGERS, THE TEMPLE NO LONGER COULD FUNCTION; AND JESUS THEN SAID ABOUT HIMSELF, “DESTROY THIS TEMPLE, AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP. JESUS IS THE NEW TEMPLE, THE NEW MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, THE TEMPLE THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED, NO LONGER A TEMPLE THAT DIVIDES, BUT IN JESUS, UNITES.
LATER WE WILL HEAR JESUS PRAY, “THAT ALL MAY BE ONE, AS I, FATHER IN YOU, AND YOU IN ME, THAT ALL MAY BE ONE IN US.” AND AS WE FOLLOW JESUS THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, WE SEE HIM UNITING THE BLIND WITH THE SEEING, THE LEPERS WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT DISEASED; EVEN THE DEAD WITH THE LIVING, BECAUSE IF YOU LOVE ENOUGH, ANY DIVISION HURTS YOU. EVERY INJUSTICE, EVERY SIN, BEGINS WITH DIVISION; AND HEALING THE EVILS OF THE WORLD MUST BEGIN WITH OVERCOMING DIVISION.
TODAY, WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS OUR TEMPLE, JESUS IS THE PLACE WHERE GOD AND HUMANITY MEET, NOT ONLY MEET, BUT BECOME ONE. AND WE ASK, WHAT KINDS OF DIVISION AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR? HOW CAN I HELP TO OVERCOME DIVISION? HOW CAN I TAKE THE ONENESS WHICH IS PRESENT IN THE HUMANITY AND DIVINITY OF JESUS, THE UNION WHICH IS PRESENT IN THE FATHER AND THE SON, AND EXTEND IT TO ME, TO THOSE I LOVE, TO THOSE I DON'T EVEN KNOW, PERHAPS. HOW CAN I HELP ANSWER THE PRAYER OF JESUS, THAT ALL MAY BE ONE.
ALL FOUR GOSPELS TELL THE STORY OF JESUS CLEANSING THE TEMPLE, IN ALMOST THE SAME WORDS. MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE PUT THE EVENT NEAR THE END OF JESUS' LIFE, AND THERE IS THE HINT THAT THIS WAS THE LAST STRAW, THE THING THAT FINALLY GOT THE AUTHORITIES TO ARREST HIM AND PUT HIM TO DEATH. IN JOHN, HOWEVER, THE STORY STANDS AT THE BEGINNING OF JESUS' MINISTRY. IF YOU'VE DONE ANY READING OR STUDYING ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE BIBLE, THE FACT THAT ONE AUTHOR USES A STORY DIFFERENTLY THAN ANOTHER ISN'T A BIG SURPRISE. NONE OF THE GOSPEL WRITERS WERE WRITING HISTORY, AFTER ALL.
BUT THE STORY MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY FAMILIAR ONE TO CHRISTIANS THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE OF ROME, JUST LIKE THE STORY OF THE PASSION. AND PEOPLE THEN, AS NOW, WONDERED WHAT DID IT ALL MEAN?
JESUS WAS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, A PROPHET, AND PROPHETS OFTEN ACTED OUT THE MESSAGE GOD HAD FOR HIS PEOPLE. YOU MIGHT REMEMBER HOW JEREMIAH, FOR EXAMPLE, TOOK A POT AND BROKE IT IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE TO SYMBOLIZE WHAT GOD WAS GOING TO DO TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL. AND THE PEOPLE AROUND JESUS RECOGNIZED WHAT HE DID AS A PROPHETIC ACT; THEY DIDN'T CALL THE POLICE, THEY ASKED FOR A SIGN THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS A MESSAGE FROM GOD.
TO OUR MODERN SENSIBILITIES, JESUS' ACTION MEANS THAT HE PERCEIVED CORRUPTION IN WHAT WAS GOING ON AND WANTED TO PUT A STOP TO IT. BUT HE MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT HIS VIOLENT ACTION WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING; AS SOON AS HE LEFT, THE MERCHANTS AND MONEY CHANGERS WOULD BE BACK. AFTER ALL, THEY WERE PERFORMING AN IMPORTANT AND ESSENTIAL SERVICE. IF YOU WANTED TO SACRIFICE AN ANIMAL OR BIRD TO GOD, IT HAD TO BE A PERFECT ANIMAL, NO BRUISES, SCRATCHES, LUMPS; AND THE MERCHANTS HAD SELECTED EXACTLY SUCH CREATURES SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO. AND EVERYONE KNEW THAT IF YOU CARRIED MONEY INTO THE TEMPLE TO PAY YOUR TAX, OR BUY AN ANIMAL, IT COULD NOT BE MONEY WITH A PORTRAIT OF THE EMPEROR ON IT, OR A ROMAN GOD, OR IN FACT ANY SORT OF IMAGE; SO THE MONEY CHANGERS WERE IMPORTANT IN KEEPING THE TEMPLE ITSELF RITUALLY PURE AND UNCONTAMINATED.
SO WHY THIS SUDDEN, VIOLENT EXPLOSION OF ANGER ON THE PART OF JESUS? DID THE APOSTLES WONDER WHO TOOK THE JESUS THEY KNEW AND SUBSTITUTED THIS MADMAN?
THINK ABOUT THE TEMPLE. THE FIRST TEMPLE HAD BEEN BUILT BY SOLOMON; IT'S MAIN PURPOSE WAS TO HOUSE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, WHICH HAD BEEN PUT TOGETHER IN THE DESERT BY THE WANDERING HEBREWS BEFORE THEY ENTERED THE COUNTRY GOD HAD PREPARED FOR THEM. BUT THAT TEMPLE HAD BEEN DESTROYED, AND THE ARK HAD BEEN CARRIED AWAY. WHEN THE PEOPLE CAME BACK FROM THE EXILE, THE BUILT THE SECOND TEMPLE, AND NOW, HEROD WAS IN THE PROCESS OF RENOVATING IT. BUT EVERY JEW KNEW THAT IN THE EXACT CENTER OF THE TEMPLE, IN A ROOM THAT WAS HEAVILY GUARDED, THERE WAS THE SPECIAL PRESENCE OF GOD. ONCE A YEAR THE HIGH PRIEST WOULD ENTER THE TEMPLE, PRONOUNCE THE NAME OF GOD, AND OFFER THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE. THE REST OF THE TIME, OTHER PRIESTS COULD GO IN THERE ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE; BUT THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES COULD ONLY STAND OUTSIDE. THE TEMPLE WAS THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. BUT IF YOU LOOKED AT THE DESIGN OF THE TEMPLE, THERE WAS A PLACE RESERVED FOR THE LEVITES AND PRIESTS; ANOTHER FOR JEWISH MEN, A THIRD FOR JEWISH WOMEN AND CHILDREN; AND A FOURTH FOR GENTILES WHO BELIEVED IN THE JEWISH GOD BUT DID NOT WANT TO BECOME JEWS. AND FURTHERMORE, THE TEMPLE WAS SET APART FROM THE WORLD BY THE MERCHANTS AND MONEY CHANGERS; THEY SET UP THEIR STALLS ON THE TEMPLE GROUNDS, AND IF YOU WANTED TO GO INTO THE TEMPLE PROPER, YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH THEM. THE TEMPLE, IN OTHER WORDS, HAD BEEN MEANT TO BE A “HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE” ACCORDING TO ISAIAH, BUT HAD BECOME A SYMBOL OF DIVISION; GOD FROM MAN, CLERGY FROM LAITY, JEWS FROM GENTILES, MEN FROM WOMEN. IT DID THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO, WHAT HAD BEEN ENVISIONED BY ALL THE PROPHETS.
AND MAYBE WHAT JESUS WAS DOING WAS ACTING OUT THE DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLE; BY DRIVING AWAY THE ANIMAL SACRIFICES AND THE MONEY CHANGERS, THE TEMPLE NO LONGER COULD FUNCTION; AND JESUS THEN SAID ABOUT HIMSELF, “DESTROY THIS TEMPLE, AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP. JESUS IS THE NEW TEMPLE, THE NEW MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, THE TEMPLE THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED, NO LONGER A TEMPLE THAT DIVIDES, BUT IN JESUS, UNITES.
LATER WE WILL HEAR JESUS PRAY, “THAT ALL MAY BE ONE, AS I, FATHER IN YOU, AND YOU IN ME, THAT ALL MAY BE ONE IN US.” AND AS WE FOLLOW JESUS THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, WE SEE HIM UNITING THE BLIND WITH THE SEEING, THE LEPERS WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT DISEASED; EVEN THE DEAD WITH THE LIVING, BECAUSE IF YOU LOVE ENOUGH, ANY DIVISION HURTS YOU. EVERY INJUSTICE, EVERY SIN, BEGINS WITH DIVISION; AND HEALING THE EVILS OF THE WORLD MUST BEGIN WITH OVERCOMING DIVISION.
TODAY, WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS OUR TEMPLE, JESUS IS THE PLACE WHERE GOD AND HUMANITY MEET, NOT ONLY MEET, BUT BECOME ONE. AND WE ASK, WHAT KINDS OF DIVISION AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR? HOW CAN I HELP TO OVERCOME DIVISION? HOW CAN I TAKE THE ONENESS WHICH IS PRESENT IN THE HUMANITY AND DIVINITY OF JESUS, THE UNION WHICH IS PRESENT IN THE FATHER AND THE SON, AND EXTEND IT TO ME, TO THOSE I LOVE, TO THOSE I DON'T EVEN KNOW, PERHAPS. HOW CAN I HELP ANSWER THE PRAYER OF JESUS, THAT ALL MAY BE ONE.
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