MARK 13:24-32
THIS IS THE LAST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME. NEXT WEEK WE CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING, AND THEN WE ARE OFF TO A NEW CHURCH YEAR. TIME FLIES. TODAY OUR FIRST READING AND OUR GOSPEL BELONG TO THE CATEGORY OF RELIGIOUS WRITING WE CALL “APOCALYPTIC”, AND IT IS CERTAINLY APPROPRIATE THAT OUR ATTENTION AT THE END OF THE YEAR TURNS TO LAST THINGS. IF YOU WERE HEARING THESE READINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME, THEY SOUND FRIGHTENING; BUT WE ARE NOT HEARING THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME; WE CHRISTIANS HAVE BEEN HEARING THEM FOR 2000 YEARS, AND OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS HAVE BEEN HEARING DANIEL'S PROPHECY FOR AN ADDITIONAL 200 YEARS OR SO. AND WE CAN BE EXCUSED, I THINK, FOR STIFLING A YAWN. IT AIN'T HAPPENED YET! AND GIVEN THE TRACK RECORD, WE CAN SAFELY COUNT ON IT NOT HAPPENING THIS COMING YEAR EITHER. THE JEWS STILL AWAIT THEIR DELIVERANCE, AND WE CHRISTIANS HAVE LONG AGO BURIED THE GENERATION THAT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO PASS AWAY UNTIL THESE THINGS CAME TO PASS.
THE WORD, “APOCALYPSE” COMES FROM TWO GREEK WORDS WHICH MEAN “REMOVE THE COVER”. YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME LIVED IN A CONSTANT STATE OF TURMOIL. YOU NEVER KNEW WHETHER THAT NAGGING COUGH COULD TURN INTO PNEUMONIA AND KILL YOU, OR THAT CUT YOU GOT AT WORK WOULD FESTER AND RESULT IN THE LOSS OF AN ARM OR A LEG. YOU WERE RULED BY AN AUTHORITY WHO HAD NO CHECKS AND BALANCES, AND YOUR LIFE AND FORTUNE LITERALLY BELONGED TO HIM. AND SOMETIMES JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU AND YOUR NEIGHBORS UNDERSTOOD THIS, HE WOULD SEND HIS TROOPS INTO TOWN TO TAKE EVERYTHING YOU HAD TO LIVE ON. AND IF YOU WERE A LABORER, YOUR LIFE DEPENDED DAY TO DAY ON WHETHER YOU COULD FIND WORK; AND AFTER A BACKBREAKING DAY OF WORK, YOU WOULD GET ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY YOUR EVENING MEAL, SO YOU COULD START AGAIN IN THE MORNING. THERE WERE A FEW PEOPLE AROUND WHO WERE BETTER OFF -- THE RICH MERCHANTS, THE WELL CONNECTED POLITICALLY, THOSE WHO WERE PROFESSIONAL RELIGIOUS PEOPLE – BUT LIFE FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON WAS HAND TO MOUTH, AND VERY UNPREDICTABLE. WE SEE THIS RIGHT THERE IN THE SCRIPTURES – THE BEGGARS, THE LAME, THE BLIND, THE DEAF, THE “POSSESSED”, THE LEPERS. WE SEE THE WORKMEN STANDING AROUND WAITING TO BE HIRED, BECAUSE IF THEY CAN'T FIND WORK, THEY WON'T EAT. WE SEE THE LITTLE GIRL WHOSE FATHER APPROACHES JESUS TO BEG HIM TO SAVE HER; BECAUSE WHEN LITTLE GIRLS GOT SICK, ABOUT HALF THE TIME THEY DIED. AND IF YOU READ THE GOSPELS WITH AN EYE TO HISTORY, YOU CAN ALMOST FEEL THE UNSPOKEN PRESENCE OF THE SOLDIERS, THE CENTURIONS, THE TAX COLLECTORS, WHO ARE AN EVER PRESENT REMINDER THAT THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND ARE THERE NOT BY RIGHT, BUT BECAUSE THE EMPEROR IN A FAR DISTANT CITY ALLOWS THEM TO BE, FOR NOW, IF THEY BEHAVE.
WE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN 21STCENTURY LONGMEADOW, MASSACHUSETTS, ARE NOT A LOT LIKE THOSE PEOPLE OF JESUS TIME. WE ARE SECURE, OR AT LEAST WE THINK WE ARE. EVEN GREAT FINANCIAL CRISES, EVEN AIRPLANES KNOCKING DOWN SKYSCRAPERS, DON'T PHASE US FOR VERY LONG. WE HAVE AN UNSHAKABLE FAITH THAT THE STAGE ON WHICH OUR LIVES PLAY OUT WILL BE THE SAME TOMORROW AS IT IS TODAY. OH, THINGS CHANGE. WE DIDN'T HAVE THE INTERNET A FEW YEARS AGO. I WAS EVEN BORN BEFORE WE HAD TELEVISION. BUT YOU COULD ALWAYS FIND FOOD IN A GROCERY STORE; THERE WAS ALWAYS A SOURCE OF HEAT TO KEEP YOU WARM IN THE WINTER; THERE WAS ALWAYS A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD. WE ALL KNOW WE ARE GOING TO DIE SOMEDAY, BUT WE DO OUR BEST TO IGNORE THAT FACT.
BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO LOOK FAR TO SEE THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE EVEN IN OUR OWN TIME WHO HAVE A QUITE DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE OF LIFE. THINK OF THE IRAQI CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE BEEN PERSECUTED OUT OF THEIR ANCESTRAL HOMES AND HAVE LOST EVERYTHING. FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES THEY WILL BE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS, REFUGEES, PEOPLE WHO IMPERFECTLY UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE AND THE CULTURES OF THEIR HOST COUNTRY. AND THINK ABOUT THE INDONESIANS WHO LOST EVERYTHING IN THE TYPHOON A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. OUR SECURITY, OUR PREDICTABLE AND ORDERLY LIVES, ARE FRAGILE INDEED, MUCH MORE SO THAN WE THINK.
AND THAT IS WHAT APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE IS REALLY ABOUT. DANIEL AND JESUS ADDRESS THE PEOPLE WHOSE WORLD HAS BEEN COMPLETELY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. DANIEL SPEAKS TO THE JEWISH EXILES; THEY ONLY REMEMBER A TIME WHEN THEY WERE A PROUD PEOPLE LIVING IN A COUNTRY THEY COULD CALL THEIR OWN. JESUS SPEAKS TO A PEOPLE WHO ARE AT THE MERCY OF THEIR ROMAN RULERS. THEY LIVE IN A SHAM COUNTRY, WITH A KING WHO IS A FIGUREHEAD, AND THEY ARE REMINDED EVERY DAY BY THE MARCHING SOLDIERS OF ROME, BY THE BODIES HANGING ON CROSSES, THAT THEY LIVE IN A PRISON, THAT THEY ARE NOT IN CHARGE OF THEIR OWN FUTURES. AND DANIEL AND JESUS REMIND THEIR HEARERS OF TWO THINGS; IF WE THINK WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR LIVES, IF WE THINK WE ARE GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS LIFE WITHOUT SOME MAJOR, WORLD-SHATTERING PROBLEM, WE ARE JUST PLAIN WRONG. AND THE SECOND POINT IS THAT THERE IS ONE THING WE CAN BE CERTAIN OF; THAT GOD IS IN CHARGE, THAT HE WILL MAKE ALL THE WRONGS RIGHT, THAT IN THE END HE WILL TRIUMPH – THAT IS MORE CERTAIN THAN THAT THE SUN WILL COME UP TOMORROW.
AND JESUS AND DANIEL UNCOVER THIS REALITY FOR US, AS FOR THEIR OWN TIMES. AND ON THIS LAST DAY OF ORDINARY TIME, WE ARE INVITED TO TAKE OFF OUR BLINDFOLDS AND SEE WHAT IS REALLY REAL. AND WHEN WE LEAVE CHURCH TODAY, WE WILL HAVE A CHOICE. WE CAN GO BACK TO OUR ILLUSION, THAT LIFE IS COMFORTABLE, PREDICTABLE; THAT TOMORROW WILL BE LIKE YESTERDAY, THAT WE ARE IN CHARGE. OF COURSE IF WE CHOOSE THIS, WE WILL BE SURPRISED; A DAY WILL COME WHEN OUR WORLD WILL BE TORN APART. AND WE WILL NOT BE READY. OR WE CAN LISTEN TO JESUS, LISTEN TO THE PROPHETS, AND BEGIN LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD, THE WORLD WHERE NOTHING IS CERTAIN, WHERE WE CANNOT REALLY DEPEND ON ANYTHING THAT IS CREATED. AND THEN WE CAN BUILD OUR LIVES AROUND THE ONE CERTAINTY, THAT CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN, THAT IN GOD'S TIME EVERYTHING WILL MAKE SENSE, EVEN OUR SUFFERING, EVEN OUR PAIN. AND IN GOD'S TIME, AND ONLY IN THAT TIME, CAN WE HAVE THE CERTAINTY AND STABILITY AND EVERLASTING PEACE THAT WE ALL DESIRE.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B
MARK 12:38-44
MANY YEARS AGO I WAS VISITING A PATIENT WHO HAD UNDERGONE A HEART OPERATION. AS I ENTERED THE ROOM, A MAN DRESSED IN CLERICAL GARB WAS LEAVING. I ASKED MY PATIENT IF THAT WAS HIS MINISTER. HE REPLIED, USING A FEW CHOICE CURSE WORDS, THAT THIS MINISTER WAS WELL KNOWN FOR COMING IN TO PATIENT'S ROOMS, OFFERING TO PRAY FOR THEM, AND THEN HOLDING OUT HIS HAND UNTIL A DONATION WAS PUT INTO IT. I COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT, BUT IT WAS CONFIRMED BY ONE OF THE NURSES ON THE FLOOR. THE INDIVIDUAL IN QUESTION WAS AN ORDAINED MINISTER, AND WOULD GO TO THE ROOM WHERE A LIST OF ALL THE INPATIENTS WAS KEPT (FOR PRIESTS AND RABBIS AND MINISTERS TO LOCATE MEMBERS OF THEIR FLOCKS). HE WOULD APPARENTLY IDENTIFY PEOPLE OF CERTAIN ETHNIC GROUPS RELATED TO HIS OWN, AND USE THAT AS AN EXCUSE TO VISIT. ONE OF THE CASUALTIES OF THE PRIVACY LAWS IS THAT CLERGY CAN NO LONGER WALK INTO A HOSPITAL AND FIND THE NAMES AND LOCATIONS OF MEMBERS OF THEIR CONGREGATIONS. OUR GREEDY REVEREND HASN'T BEEN SEEN IN QUITE A WHILE.
WHEN JESUS CONDEMNS THE SCRIBES FOR DEVOURING THE HOUSES OF WIDOWS, AND AS A PRETEXT RECITING LONG PRAYERS, I THINK OF THIS. THE TEMPLE TREASURY HAD A PURPOSE. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GIVE AS GENEROUSLY AS YOU COULD, AND WE SEE MANY GOOD JEWISH MEN AND WOMEN DROPPING LARGE SUMS INTO THE COLLECTION BASKET. THE MONEY WAS THERE FOR TWO MAIN PURPOSES – FIRST, TO KEEP UP THE TEMPLE AND PAY THE SALARIES OF THE PRIESTS. THE MONEY WAS NOT THERE TO BUY SACRIFICES – THAT WAS DONE ON AN INDIVIDUAL OR COMMUNAL BASIS, AND A SEPARATE SET OF TRANSACTIONS, FOR WHICH THERE WERE MONEY CHANGERS AND MERCHANTS WHO SOLD ACCEPTABLE LAMBS AND BIRDS AND COWS. THE SECOND PURPOSE OF THE MONEY GIVEN INTO THE TEMPLE TREASURY WAS PRECISELY TO TAKE CARE OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS. THE LEVITIC PRIESTHOOD, WHICH WAS SEPARATE FROM THE TEMPLE PRIESTHOOD, WAS IN CHARGE OF FINDING THOSE MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE WHO WERE REALLY DOWN ON THEIR LUCK AND HAD NO ONE TO LOOK AFTER THEM, AND USE THE TEMPLE MONEY TO HELP THEM OUT. BECAUSE IF YOU WERE A WIDOW OR AN ORPHAN, YOU HAD NO OTHER RECOURSE.
BUT AS WITH ALL GOOD INTENTIONS, PEOPLE CAME ALONG TO EXPLOIT THE SITUATION. THE SCRIBES LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THEIR PRAYERS WERE PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE, BECAUSE THEY COULD GO ON AND ON USING LARGE WORDS THAT THEY HAD LEARNED BECAUSE THEY COULD READ. AND YOU COULD PAY A SCRIBE TO PRAY FOR YOU, AND IF YOU WERE REALLY IN TROUBLE, LIKE BEING A WIDOW OR AN ORPHAN, YOU MIGHT BE WILLING TO PAY QUITE A BIT FOR A REALLY EFFECTIVE PRAYER. AND THE SCRIBES WOULD TAKE THE MONEY, BUY BETTER CLOTHES, IMPROVE THEIR SOCIAL STATUS, AND THUS DEMONSTRATE TO THOSE FIRST CENTURY PEOPLE THAT GOD MUST BE LISTENING TO THEM, OR HOW ELSE COULD THEY GET SO RICH?
SO THERE IS A REASON THAT THESE TWO PARTS OF THE GOSPEL ARE RELATED. JESUS RIGHTLY (AND OF COURSE ONE COULD NEVER SAY “JESUS WRONGLY”) PRAISES THE WIDOW FOR GIVING HER LAST PENNY TO THE TREASURY. BUT I THINK THE QUESTION THAT HE WANTED HIS DISCIPLES TO PONDER WAS NOT HOW GENEROUS WE SHOULD BE, BUT WHY THIS WIDOW WAS SO POOR IN THE FIRST PLACE? AND THAT IS WHY THIS OBSERVATION OF THE WIDOW FOLLOWS UPON CONDEMNATION OF THE SCRIBES WHO PRAY FOR MONEY, AND IMPOVERISH WIDOWS.
JESUS IS SAYING, IF ALL THAT MONEY IS GOING INTO THE TEMPLE TREASURY, WHY IS IT THAT THERE ARE POOR WIDOWS WHO HAVE NOTHING AT ALL?
SOMEONE WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO ONCE WENT THROUGH THE GOSPELS AND COUNTED UP ALL THE TIMES JESUS MENTIONS TREASURE, PROPERTY, WEALTH, POVERTY – AND FOUND THAT THESE STATEMENTS OF OUR LORD ARE SIX TIMES AS FREQUENT AS ANY OTHER TOPIC HE DISCUSSES. AND YET, MOST OF US WHO PRACTICE OUR CATHOLIC RELIGION THINK ABOUT THE PROPER USE OF THE GOODS WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN ABOUT SIX TIMES LESS OFTEN THAN ANY OTHER ASPECT OF OUR RELIGION. AND HERE I'M PREACHING TO MYSELF – WHY DON'T I TAKE JESUS AT HIS WORD AND TRUST THAT THE FATHER IN HEAVEN WILL TAKE CARE OF ME, BECAUSE I AM WORTH MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS? WHY DON'T I TAKE JESUS AT HIS WORD WHEN HE TELLS ME THAT WHATEVER I GIVE WILL BE RETURNED TO ME ONE HUNDRED FOLD? WHY DON'T I TAKE JESUS AT HIS WORD WHEN HE TELLS ME THAT I SHOULD GO AND SELL WHAT I HAVE AND GIVE IT TO THE POOR, AND I WILL HAVE ABUNDANT TREASURE IN HEAVEN? AND WHY DON'T I LISTEN WHEN JESUS TELLS ME THAT WHATEVER I DO FOR THE LEAST OF MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, I DO FOR HIM. THE SAD THING IS THAT I KNOW MYSELF WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT I WILL NEVER ACHIEVE THESE IDEALS THAT HE SETS FORTH. I AM TOO WORRIED ABOUT BEING POOR – A GIFT FROM MY MOTHER, I THINK, BUT SHE PASSED IT ON FROM HER FOLKS, AND ALL THE WAY BACK TO ADAM AND EVE. I AM TOO WORRIED ABOUT BEING POOR BECAUSE I LIKE WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER, AND ALMOST EVERYTHING TAKES A LITTLE MONEY. I AM EVEN WORRIED ABOUT BEING POOR BECAUSE IF I AM POOR I CAN'T HELP OUT MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WHEN THEY ARE DESPERATE. BUT THAT'S PROBABLY THIRD ON A LIST OF THREE. I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT JESUS WILL BE MORE GENEROUS WITH HIS MERCY THAN I AM WITH ALL THE GIFTS HE HAS GIVEN ME TO SHARE WITH THOSE WHO ARE LESS FORTUNATE THAN I AM.
I THINK MOST OF US IN LONGMEADOW HAVE OUR FAVORITE CHARITIES. I KNOW SOME PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT THE SPRINGFIELD SYMPHONY; CONTRIBUTE TO MAINTAINING A NATURE PRESERVE, PROVIDE FOR EDUCATIONAL OR ARTISTIC ENRICHMENT; GIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO PBS. AND THESE ARE ALL GOOD AND WORTHY CHARITIES, AND DESERVE OUR SUPPORT. CERTAINLY CATHOLIC EDUCATION IS A GREAT PLACE TO PUT SOME OF YOUR CHARITABLE GIVING. BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOU GIVE TO THESE KINDS OF ENDEAVORS, IF YOU HAVE A CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE, WHEN YOU SEE SOMEONE WHO IS OBVIOUSLY POOR, THE QUESTION YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF, AND I SHOULD ASK MYSELF, IS WHY IS THIS PERSON POOR? AND WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
MANY YEARS AGO I WAS VISITING A PATIENT WHO HAD UNDERGONE A HEART OPERATION. AS I ENTERED THE ROOM, A MAN DRESSED IN CLERICAL GARB WAS LEAVING. I ASKED MY PATIENT IF THAT WAS HIS MINISTER. HE REPLIED, USING A FEW CHOICE CURSE WORDS, THAT THIS MINISTER WAS WELL KNOWN FOR COMING IN TO PATIENT'S ROOMS, OFFERING TO PRAY FOR THEM, AND THEN HOLDING OUT HIS HAND UNTIL A DONATION WAS PUT INTO IT. I COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT, BUT IT WAS CONFIRMED BY ONE OF THE NURSES ON THE FLOOR. THE INDIVIDUAL IN QUESTION WAS AN ORDAINED MINISTER, AND WOULD GO TO THE ROOM WHERE A LIST OF ALL THE INPATIENTS WAS KEPT (FOR PRIESTS AND RABBIS AND MINISTERS TO LOCATE MEMBERS OF THEIR FLOCKS). HE WOULD APPARENTLY IDENTIFY PEOPLE OF CERTAIN ETHNIC GROUPS RELATED TO HIS OWN, AND USE THAT AS AN EXCUSE TO VISIT. ONE OF THE CASUALTIES OF THE PRIVACY LAWS IS THAT CLERGY CAN NO LONGER WALK INTO A HOSPITAL AND FIND THE NAMES AND LOCATIONS OF MEMBERS OF THEIR CONGREGATIONS. OUR GREEDY REVEREND HASN'T BEEN SEEN IN QUITE A WHILE.
WHEN JESUS CONDEMNS THE SCRIBES FOR DEVOURING THE HOUSES OF WIDOWS, AND AS A PRETEXT RECITING LONG PRAYERS, I THINK OF THIS. THE TEMPLE TREASURY HAD A PURPOSE. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GIVE AS GENEROUSLY AS YOU COULD, AND WE SEE MANY GOOD JEWISH MEN AND WOMEN DROPPING LARGE SUMS INTO THE COLLECTION BASKET. THE MONEY WAS THERE FOR TWO MAIN PURPOSES – FIRST, TO KEEP UP THE TEMPLE AND PAY THE SALARIES OF THE PRIESTS. THE MONEY WAS NOT THERE TO BUY SACRIFICES – THAT WAS DONE ON AN INDIVIDUAL OR COMMUNAL BASIS, AND A SEPARATE SET OF TRANSACTIONS, FOR WHICH THERE WERE MONEY CHANGERS AND MERCHANTS WHO SOLD ACCEPTABLE LAMBS AND BIRDS AND COWS. THE SECOND PURPOSE OF THE MONEY GIVEN INTO THE TEMPLE TREASURY WAS PRECISELY TO TAKE CARE OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS. THE LEVITIC PRIESTHOOD, WHICH WAS SEPARATE FROM THE TEMPLE PRIESTHOOD, WAS IN CHARGE OF FINDING THOSE MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE WHO WERE REALLY DOWN ON THEIR LUCK AND HAD NO ONE TO LOOK AFTER THEM, AND USE THE TEMPLE MONEY TO HELP THEM OUT. BECAUSE IF YOU WERE A WIDOW OR AN ORPHAN, YOU HAD NO OTHER RECOURSE.
BUT AS WITH ALL GOOD INTENTIONS, PEOPLE CAME ALONG TO EXPLOIT THE SITUATION. THE SCRIBES LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THEIR PRAYERS WERE PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE, BECAUSE THEY COULD GO ON AND ON USING LARGE WORDS THAT THEY HAD LEARNED BECAUSE THEY COULD READ. AND YOU COULD PAY A SCRIBE TO PRAY FOR YOU, AND IF YOU WERE REALLY IN TROUBLE, LIKE BEING A WIDOW OR AN ORPHAN, YOU MIGHT BE WILLING TO PAY QUITE A BIT FOR A REALLY EFFECTIVE PRAYER. AND THE SCRIBES WOULD TAKE THE MONEY, BUY BETTER CLOTHES, IMPROVE THEIR SOCIAL STATUS, AND THUS DEMONSTRATE TO THOSE FIRST CENTURY PEOPLE THAT GOD MUST BE LISTENING TO THEM, OR HOW ELSE COULD THEY GET SO RICH?
SO THERE IS A REASON THAT THESE TWO PARTS OF THE GOSPEL ARE RELATED. JESUS RIGHTLY (AND OF COURSE ONE COULD NEVER SAY “JESUS WRONGLY”) PRAISES THE WIDOW FOR GIVING HER LAST PENNY TO THE TREASURY. BUT I THINK THE QUESTION THAT HE WANTED HIS DISCIPLES TO PONDER WAS NOT HOW GENEROUS WE SHOULD BE, BUT WHY THIS WIDOW WAS SO POOR IN THE FIRST PLACE? AND THAT IS WHY THIS OBSERVATION OF THE WIDOW FOLLOWS UPON CONDEMNATION OF THE SCRIBES WHO PRAY FOR MONEY, AND IMPOVERISH WIDOWS.
JESUS IS SAYING, IF ALL THAT MONEY IS GOING INTO THE TEMPLE TREASURY, WHY IS IT THAT THERE ARE POOR WIDOWS WHO HAVE NOTHING AT ALL?
SOMEONE WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO ONCE WENT THROUGH THE GOSPELS AND COUNTED UP ALL THE TIMES JESUS MENTIONS TREASURE, PROPERTY, WEALTH, POVERTY – AND FOUND THAT THESE STATEMENTS OF OUR LORD ARE SIX TIMES AS FREQUENT AS ANY OTHER TOPIC HE DISCUSSES. AND YET, MOST OF US WHO PRACTICE OUR CATHOLIC RELIGION THINK ABOUT THE PROPER USE OF THE GOODS WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN ABOUT SIX TIMES LESS OFTEN THAN ANY OTHER ASPECT OF OUR RELIGION. AND HERE I'M PREACHING TO MYSELF – WHY DON'T I TAKE JESUS AT HIS WORD AND TRUST THAT THE FATHER IN HEAVEN WILL TAKE CARE OF ME, BECAUSE I AM WORTH MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS? WHY DON'T I TAKE JESUS AT HIS WORD WHEN HE TELLS ME THAT WHATEVER I GIVE WILL BE RETURNED TO ME ONE HUNDRED FOLD? WHY DON'T I TAKE JESUS AT HIS WORD WHEN HE TELLS ME THAT I SHOULD GO AND SELL WHAT I HAVE AND GIVE IT TO THE POOR, AND I WILL HAVE ABUNDANT TREASURE IN HEAVEN? AND WHY DON'T I LISTEN WHEN JESUS TELLS ME THAT WHATEVER I DO FOR THE LEAST OF MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, I DO FOR HIM. THE SAD THING IS THAT I KNOW MYSELF WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT I WILL NEVER ACHIEVE THESE IDEALS THAT HE SETS FORTH. I AM TOO WORRIED ABOUT BEING POOR – A GIFT FROM MY MOTHER, I THINK, BUT SHE PASSED IT ON FROM HER FOLKS, AND ALL THE WAY BACK TO ADAM AND EVE. I AM TOO WORRIED ABOUT BEING POOR BECAUSE I LIKE WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER, AND ALMOST EVERYTHING TAKES A LITTLE MONEY. I AM EVEN WORRIED ABOUT BEING POOR BECAUSE IF I AM POOR I CAN'T HELP OUT MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WHEN THEY ARE DESPERATE. BUT THAT'S PROBABLY THIRD ON A LIST OF THREE. I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT JESUS WILL BE MORE GENEROUS WITH HIS MERCY THAN I AM WITH ALL THE GIFTS HE HAS GIVEN ME TO SHARE WITH THOSE WHO ARE LESS FORTUNATE THAN I AM.
I THINK MOST OF US IN LONGMEADOW HAVE OUR FAVORITE CHARITIES. I KNOW SOME PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT THE SPRINGFIELD SYMPHONY; CONTRIBUTE TO MAINTAINING A NATURE PRESERVE, PROVIDE FOR EDUCATIONAL OR ARTISTIC ENRICHMENT; GIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO PBS. AND THESE ARE ALL GOOD AND WORTHY CHARITIES, AND DESERVE OUR SUPPORT. CERTAINLY CATHOLIC EDUCATION IS A GREAT PLACE TO PUT SOME OF YOUR CHARITABLE GIVING. BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOU GIVE TO THESE KINDS OF ENDEAVORS, IF YOU HAVE A CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE, WHEN YOU SEE SOMEONE WHO IS OBVIOUSLY POOR, THE QUESTION YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF, AND I SHOULD ASK MYSELF, IS WHY IS THIS PERSON POOR? AND WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
Sunday, November 1, 2009
All Saints Day, 2009
MATTHEW 5:1-12A
THE GOSPEL TODAY RECOUNTS THE BEATITUDES. ST. MATTHEW TELLS US HOW JESUS WENT UP TO A MOUNTAIN, WHERE HE PROBABLY CLIMBED UP HIGH ENOUGH TO BE SEEN BY THE CROWD. HE THEN SAT DOWN, AND BEGAN TO TEACH. ST. MATTHEW WANTS HIS READERS TO THINK ABOUT ANOTHER MOUNTAIN, AND ANOTHER TEACHER – MOSES, MT. SINAI, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. AND FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE REAL TEACHERS ALWAYS TAUGHT SITTING DOWN. THAT WAS THE POSITION ASSUMED BY THE RABBIS.
AND THEN JESUS DELIVERS THE EIGHT BEATITUDES – SORT OF THE COMMANDMENTS FOR THE NEW AGE, THE AGE THAT JESUS WOULD USHER IN BY HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. IF YOU REMEMBER THE COMMANDMENTS, THEY ARE THAT – FULL OF “THOU SHALT NOT'S”. EIGHT OF THE TEN HAD TO DO WITH EXTERNAL OBSERVANCE; IF YOU FOLLOWED SOMEONE AROUND LONG ENOUGH, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE OBEYED THE COMMANDMENTS. BUT YOU COULDN'T TELL IF HE OR SHE WAS COVETING A NEIGHBOR'S GOODS, OR A NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. THE IDEA HERE WAS THAT COVETING, WHICH IS A MUCH STRONGER IN HEBREW THAN IN ENGLISH, SUGGESTS THAT ONE'S WHOLE BEING IS TIED UP WITH DESIRE; IT IS ALMOST OBSESSIVE. AND AS SUCH, COVETING – WHETHER GOODS OR WIFE, MAKES YOU LESS THAN HUMAN, AND MAKES YOU NEGLECT THE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING; IT CAPTURES YOUR IMAGINATION AND YOUR WILL, AND PARALYZES YOU, UNTIL YOU EITHER SHAKE IT OFF WITH GOD'S HELP, OR GIVE IN TO IT.
THE BEATITUDES, IN CONTRAST, DO NOT SAY, “THOU SHALT” OR “THOU SHALT NOT.” THEY SIMPLY SAY, “BLESSED” OR IN SOME TRANSLATIONS, “HAPPY” OR “MOST FAVORED” AND IF YOU FOLLOWED A CHRISTIAN AROUND FOR A WHILE, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE WAS LIVING THE BEATITUDES. EXCEPT FOR TWO – BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, AND BEING OF PURE HEART. THE OTHER BEATITUDES HAVE TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS, WITH HOW ONE INTERACTS WITH ONE'S NEIGHBORS, OR HOW ONE STANDS UP TO ENEMIES. BUT THE TWO IN QUESTION HAVE TO DO WITH SOMETHING INWARD, SOMETHING THAT CAN'T BE OBSERVED. THE FIRST BEATITUDE, BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, LIKE BEING PERSECUTED, HOLDS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT? THE EARLY MONKS RECOGNIZED THIS RELATIONSHIP– THEY TALKED ABOUT RED MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU SHED YOUR BLOOD, AND WHITE MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU VOLUNTARILY REJECTED THE WORLD AND PUT YOUR WHOLE LIFE IN THE HANDS OF GOD. I THINK THIS IS A CLUE. A PERSECUTED PERSON UNDERSTANDS THAT HE OR SHE IS NOT IN CHARGE; IF YOU ARE BEING PERSECUTED, THINGS ARE NOT UNDER YOUR CONTROL. A PERSON WHO IS POOR IN SPIRIT IS SOMEONE WHO RECOGNIZES THIS AS WELL. MOST OF US LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE IN CONTROL, AND OUR GREATEST PAIN IS IF WE HAVE SOMETHING HAPPEN TO US THAT TAKES AWAY OUR CONTROL. AND YET, IN REALITY, WE ARE NEVER IN CONTROL, ONLY GOD IS. AND THE RECOGNITION OF THIS FACT DEEP IN OUR SOULS IS BEING POOR IN SPIRIT. AND AN OUTSIDE OBSERVER CAN'T TELL WHETHER SOMEONE IS POOR IN SPIRIT.
THE OTHER INVISIBLE BEATITUDE HOLDS OUT THE GREATEST PROMISE; TO SEE GOD. BLESSED ARE THE CLEAN OF HEART. AND YET, WHAT DOES THIS REALLY MEAN? AND HOW IS IT THAT BY BEING CLEAN OF HEART, IT FOLLOWS THAT WE WILL SEE GOD? IF WE COULD FIGURE' THIS OUT, MOST OF US WOULD GLADLY DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, TO SEE GOD IS EXACTLY WHY HUMAN BEINGS WERE CREATED. ST. THOMAS TELLS US THAT THIS IS HEAVEN, THE BEATIFIC VISION, THE TIMELESS MOMENT WHEN WE ARE COMPLETELY FULFILLED. OUR BUDDHIST FRIENDS SAY THAT ONCE WE LOSE OUR DESIRE FOR EVERYTHING, WE WILL ENTER A BLESSED STATE. CHRISTIANS SAY THAT THAT BLESSED STATE IS FULFILLMENT OF EVERYTHING THAT WE LACK, CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS, IN OUR WHOLE BEINGS.
SO WHAT IS CLEAN OF HEART? THE HEART, TO THE JEWS, WAS THE CENTER OF A HUMAN BEING. AND IT IS IN THIS VERY CENTER THAT EVERYTHING LIVES THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING HAPPY. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE HOLD GRUDGES. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE DWELL ON THE MISTAKES WE'VE MADE IN THE PAST, TO THE DETRIMENT OF DEALING WITH THE PRESENT. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE REACT TO DISRESPECT FROM OTHER PEOPLE, WHERE WE FEEL THAT WE ARE BEING NEGLECTED BY THOSE WHO SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE FEAR THE FUTURE, THAT WE WORRY ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE IT THROUGH OLD AGE. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE ALLOW THOSE ATTITUDES AND TENDENCIES TO EXIST WHICH LEAD US TO SIN. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE CONSTANTLY COMPARE WHAT IS WITH WHAT COULD BE. AND HERE JESUS' TEACHING IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE THAT OF THE BUDDHA, BUT ONLY A LITTLE BIT. BECAUSE THE BUDDHA TAUGHT THAT IF YOU COULD GET RID OF ALL DESIRES, WHICH OF COURSE ARE THE REASONS PEOPLE HAVE HEARTACHES OF ANY SORT, YOU WOULD ALSO GET RID OF YOUR PERSON, THAT WHICH YOU CALL YOURSELF, AND THIS WAS THE BEST A HUMAN BEING COULD HOPE FOR, THAT WAS NIRVANA. BUT JESUS TELLS AS THAT IF WE CAN CULTIVATE THAT INNER PEACE, THAT SILENCE, THAT DETACHMENT FROM ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH DISTURB US AND KEEP US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN, WE WILL GAIN OURSELVES, WE WILL FIND THAT COMPLETENESS THAT ONLY CAN BE FOUND IN UNION WITH GOD, IN THE VISION OF GOD, BECAUSE AS ST. AUGUSTINE SAID, “OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS, UNTIL THEY REST IN THEE, OH LORD.”
TODAY AS WE PREPARE FOR THE EUCHARIST, AS I PREPARE THE BREAD AND WINE, AND FATHER REILLY OFFERS THESE GIFTS TO THE GLORIOUS GOD WHO GIVES US EVERYTHING, INCLUDING HIS ONLY SON, YOU AND I SHOULD ASK OURSELVES IF WE ACTUALLY DO PUT GOD AT THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES, IF WE ACTUALLY ARE CLEAN OF HEART; AND WE SHOULD OFFER TO GOD ALL OF THOSE THINGS IN OUR HEARTS WHICH ARE THE SOURCE OF SIN, OF WORRY, OF ANXIETY, OF DISTRACTION -- ALL OF THOSE INNER DISPOSITIONS WHICH KEEP US FROM TRUE HAPPINESS AND LEAD US TO SIN. BECAUSE JUST AS GOD WILL TRANSFORM THE SUBSTANCES OF BREAD AND WINE INTO THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, IF WE WILL LET GO OF ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE SO ATTACHED TO OUR HEARTS THAT THEY SEEM TO BE PART OF US, GOD WILL ENTER INTO OUR HEARTS AND GIVE US THAT PEACE THAT YOU CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE IT. AND THEN WE WILL BE CLEAN OF HEART, AND THEN WE WILL SEE GOD.
THE GOSPEL TODAY RECOUNTS THE BEATITUDES. ST. MATTHEW TELLS US HOW JESUS WENT UP TO A MOUNTAIN, WHERE HE PROBABLY CLIMBED UP HIGH ENOUGH TO BE SEEN BY THE CROWD. HE THEN SAT DOWN, AND BEGAN TO TEACH. ST. MATTHEW WANTS HIS READERS TO THINK ABOUT ANOTHER MOUNTAIN, AND ANOTHER TEACHER – MOSES, MT. SINAI, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. AND FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE REAL TEACHERS ALWAYS TAUGHT SITTING DOWN. THAT WAS THE POSITION ASSUMED BY THE RABBIS.
AND THEN JESUS DELIVERS THE EIGHT BEATITUDES – SORT OF THE COMMANDMENTS FOR THE NEW AGE, THE AGE THAT JESUS WOULD USHER IN BY HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. IF YOU REMEMBER THE COMMANDMENTS, THEY ARE THAT – FULL OF “THOU SHALT NOT'S”. EIGHT OF THE TEN HAD TO DO WITH EXTERNAL OBSERVANCE; IF YOU FOLLOWED SOMEONE AROUND LONG ENOUGH, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE OBEYED THE COMMANDMENTS. BUT YOU COULDN'T TELL IF HE OR SHE WAS COVETING A NEIGHBOR'S GOODS, OR A NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. THE IDEA HERE WAS THAT COVETING, WHICH IS A MUCH STRONGER IN HEBREW THAN IN ENGLISH, SUGGESTS THAT ONE'S WHOLE BEING IS TIED UP WITH DESIRE; IT IS ALMOST OBSESSIVE. AND AS SUCH, COVETING – WHETHER GOODS OR WIFE, MAKES YOU LESS THAN HUMAN, AND MAKES YOU NEGLECT THE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING; IT CAPTURES YOUR IMAGINATION AND YOUR WILL, AND PARALYZES YOU, UNTIL YOU EITHER SHAKE IT OFF WITH GOD'S HELP, OR GIVE IN TO IT.
THE BEATITUDES, IN CONTRAST, DO NOT SAY, “THOU SHALT” OR “THOU SHALT NOT.” THEY SIMPLY SAY, “BLESSED” OR IN SOME TRANSLATIONS, “HAPPY” OR “MOST FAVORED” AND IF YOU FOLLOWED A CHRISTIAN AROUND FOR A WHILE, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE WAS LIVING THE BEATITUDES. EXCEPT FOR TWO – BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, AND BEING OF PURE HEART. THE OTHER BEATITUDES HAVE TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS, WITH HOW ONE INTERACTS WITH ONE'S NEIGHBORS, OR HOW ONE STANDS UP TO ENEMIES. BUT THE TWO IN QUESTION HAVE TO DO WITH SOMETHING INWARD, SOMETHING THAT CAN'T BE OBSERVED. THE FIRST BEATITUDE, BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, LIKE BEING PERSECUTED, HOLDS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT? THE EARLY MONKS RECOGNIZED THIS RELATIONSHIP– THEY TALKED ABOUT RED MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU SHED YOUR BLOOD, AND WHITE MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU VOLUNTARILY REJECTED THE WORLD AND PUT YOUR WHOLE LIFE IN THE HANDS OF GOD. I THINK THIS IS A CLUE. A PERSECUTED PERSON UNDERSTANDS THAT HE OR SHE IS NOT IN CHARGE; IF YOU ARE BEING PERSECUTED, THINGS ARE NOT UNDER YOUR CONTROL. A PERSON WHO IS POOR IN SPIRIT IS SOMEONE WHO RECOGNIZES THIS AS WELL. MOST OF US LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE IN CONTROL, AND OUR GREATEST PAIN IS IF WE HAVE SOMETHING HAPPEN TO US THAT TAKES AWAY OUR CONTROL. AND YET, IN REALITY, WE ARE NEVER IN CONTROL, ONLY GOD IS. AND THE RECOGNITION OF THIS FACT DEEP IN OUR SOULS IS BEING POOR IN SPIRIT. AND AN OUTSIDE OBSERVER CAN'T TELL WHETHER SOMEONE IS POOR IN SPIRIT.
THE OTHER INVISIBLE BEATITUDE HOLDS OUT THE GREATEST PROMISE; TO SEE GOD. BLESSED ARE THE CLEAN OF HEART. AND YET, WHAT DOES THIS REALLY MEAN? AND HOW IS IT THAT BY BEING CLEAN OF HEART, IT FOLLOWS THAT WE WILL SEE GOD? IF WE COULD FIGURE' THIS OUT, MOST OF US WOULD GLADLY DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, TO SEE GOD IS EXACTLY WHY HUMAN BEINGS WERE CREATED. ST. THOMAS TELLS US THAT THIS IS HEAVEN, THE BEATIFIC VISION, THE TIMELESS MOMENT WHEN WE ARE COMPLETELY FULFILLED. OUR BUDDHIST FRIENDS SAY THAT ONCE WE LOSE OUR DESIRE FOR EVERYTHING, WE WILL ENTER A BLESSED STATE. CHRISTIANS SAY THAT THAT BLESSED STATE IS FULFILLMENT OF EVERYTHING THAT WE LACK, CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS, IN OUR WHOLE BEINGS.
SO WHAT IS CLEAN OF HEART? THE HEART, TO THE JEWS, WAS THE CENTER OF A HUMAN BEING. AND IT IS IN THIS VERY CENTER THAT EVERYTHING LIVES THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING HAPPY. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE HOLD GRUDGES. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE DWELL ON THE MISTAKES WE'VE MADE IN THE PAST, TO THE DETRIMENT OF DEALING WITH THE PRESENT. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE REACT TO DISRESPECT FROM OTHER PEOPLE, WHERE WE FEEL THAT WE ARE BEING NEGLECTED BY THOSE WHO SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE FEAR THE FUTURE, THAT WE WORRY ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE IT THROUGH OLD AGE. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE ALLOW THOSE ATTITUDES AND TENDENCIES TO EXIST WHICH LEAD US TO SIN. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE CONSTANTLY COMPARE WHAT IS WITH WHAT COULD BE. AND HERE JESUS' TEACHING IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE THAT OF THE BUDDHA, BUT ONLY A LITTLE BIT. BECAUSE THE BUDDHA TAUGHT THAT IF YOU COULD GET RID OF ALL DESIRES, WHICH OF COURSE ARE THE REASONS PEOPLE HAVE HEARTACHES OF ANY SORT, YOU WOULD ALSO GET RID OF YOUR PERSON, THAT WHICH YOU CALL YOURSELF, AND THIS WAS THE BEST A HUMAN BEING COULD HOPE FOR, THAT WAS NIRVANA. BUT JESUS TELLS AS THAT IF WE CAN CULTIVATE THAT INNER PEACE, THAT SILENCE, THAT DETACHMENT FROM ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH DISTURB US AND KEEP US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN, WE WILL GAIN OURSELVES, WE WILL FIND THAT COMPLETENESS THAT ONLY CAN BE FOUND IN UNION WITH GOD, IN THE VISION OF GOD, BECAUSE AS ST. AUGUSTINE SAID, “OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS, UNTIL THEY REST IN THEE, OH LORD.”
TODAY AS WE PREPARE FOR THE EUCHARIST, AS I PREPARE THE BREAD AND WINE, AND FATHER REILLY OFFERS THESE GIFTS TO THE GLORIOUS GOD WHO GIVES US EVERYTHING, INCLUDING HIS ONLY SON, YOU AND I SHOULD ASK OURSELVES IF WE ACTUALLY DO PUT GOD AT THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES, IF WE ACTUALLY ARE CLEAN OF HEART; AND WE SHOULD OFFER TO GOD ALL OF THOSE THINGS IN OUR HEARTS WHICH ARE THE SOURCE OF SIN, OF WORRY, OF ANXIETY, OF DISTRACTION -- ALL OF THOSE INNER DISPOSITIONS WHICH KEEP US FROM TRUE HAPPINESS AND LEAD US TO SIN. BECAUSE JUST AS GOD WILL TRANSFORM THE SUBSTANCES OF BREAD AND WINE INTO THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, IF WE WILL LET GO OF ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE SO ATTACHED TO OUR HEARTS THAT THEY SEEM TO BE PART OF US, GOD WILL ENTER INTO OUR HEARTS AND GIVE US THAT PEACE THAT YOU CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE IT. AND THEN WE WILL BE CLEAN OF HEART, AND THEN WE WILL SEE GOD.
All Saints Day
MATTHEW 5:1-12A
THE GOSPEL TODAY RECOUNTS THE BEATITUDES. ST. MATTHEW TELLS US HOW JESUS WENT UP TO A MOUNTAIN, WHERE HE PROBABLY CLIMBED UP HIGH ENOUGH TO BE SEEN BY THE CROWD. HE THEN SAT DOWN, AND BEGAN TO TEACH. ST. MATTHEW WANTS HIS READERS TO THINK ABOUT ANOTHER MOUNTAIN, AND ANOTHER TEACHER – MOSES, MT. SINAI, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. AND FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE REAL TEACHERS ALWAYS TAUGHT SITTING DOWN. THAT WAS THE POSITION ASSUMED BY THE RABBIS.
AND THEN JESUS DELIVERS THE EIGHT BEATITUDES – SORT OF THE COMMANDMENTS FOR THE NEW AGE, THE AGE THAT JESUS WOULD USHER IN BY HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. IF YOU REMEMBER THE COMMANDMENTS, THEY ARE THAT – FULL OF “THOU SHALT NOT'S”. EIGHT OF THE TEN HAD TO DO WITH EXTERNAL OBSERVANCE; IF YOU FOLLOWED SOMEONE AROUND LONG ENOUGH, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE OBEYED THE COMMANDMENTS. BUT YOU COULDN'T TELL IF HE OR SHE WAS COVETING A NEIGHBOR'S GOODS, OR A NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. THE IDEA HERE WAS THAT COVETING, WHICH IS A MUCH STRONGER IN HEBREW THAN IN ENGLISH, SUGGESTS THAT ONE'S WHOLE BEING IS TIED UP WITH DESIRE; IT IS ALMOST OBSESSIVE. AND AS SUCH, COVETING – WHETHER GOODS OR WIFE, MAKES YOU LESS THAN HUMAN, AND MAKES YOU NEGLECT THE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING; IT CAPTURES YOUR IMAGINATION AND YOUR WILL, AND PARALYZES YOU, UNTIL YOU EITHER SHAKE IT OFF WITH GOD'S HELP, OR GIVE IN TO IT.
THE BEATITUDES, IN CONTRAST, DO NOT SAY, “THOU SHALT” OR “THOU SHALT NOT.” THEY SIMPLY SAY, “BLESSED” OR IN SOME TRANSLATIONS, “HAPPY” OR “MOST FAVORED” AND IF YOU FOLLOWED A CHRISTIAN AROUND FOR A WHILE, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE WAS LIVING THE BEATITUDES. EXCEPT FOR TWO – BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, AND BEING OF PURE HEART. THE OTHER BEATITUDES HAVE TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS, WITH HOW ONE INTERACTS WITH ONE'S NEIGHBORS, OR HOW ONE STANDS UP TO ENEMIES. BUT THE TWO IN QUESTION HAVE TO DO WITH SOMETHING INWARD, SOMETHING THAT CAN'T BE OBSERVED. THE FIRST BEATITUDE, BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, LIKE BEING PERSECUTED, HOLDS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT? THE EARLY MONKS RECOGNIZED THIS RELATIONSHIP– THEY TALKED ABOUT RED MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU SHED YOUR BLOOD, AND WHITE MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU VOLUNTARILY REJECTED THE WORLD AND PUT YOUR WHOLE LIFE IN THE HANDS OF GOD. I THINK THIS IS A CLUE. A PERSECUTED PERSON UNDERSTANDS THAT HE OR SHE IS NOT IN CHARGE; IF YOU ARE BEING PERSECUTED, THINGS ARE NOT UNDER YOUR CONTROL. A PERSON WHO IS POOR IN SPIRIT IS SOMEONE WHO RECOGNIZES THIS AS WELL. MOST OF US LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE IN CONTROL, AND OUR GREATEST PAIN IS IF WE HAVE SOMETHING HAPPEN TO US THAT TAKES AWAY OUR CONTROL. AND YET, IN REALITY, WE ARE NEVER IN CONTROL, ONLY GOD IS. AND THE RECOGNITION OF THIS FACT DEEP IN OUR SOULS IS BEING POOR IN SPIRIT. AND AN OUTSIDE OBSERVER CAN'T TELL WHETHER SOMEONE IS POOR IN SPIRIT.
THE OTHER INVISIBLE BEATITUDE HOLDS OUT THE GREATEST PROMISE; TO SEE GOD. BLESSED ARE THE CLEAN OF HEART. AND YET, WHAT DOES THIS REALLY MEAN? AND HOW IS IT THAT BY BEING CLEAN OF HEART, IT FOLLOWS THAT WE WILL SEE GOD? IF WE COULD FIGURE' THIS OUT, MOST OF US WOULD GLADLY DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, TO SEE GOD IS EXACTLY WHY HUMAN BEINGS WERE CREATED. ST. THOMAS TELLS US THAT THIS IS HEAVEN, THE BEATIFIC VISION, THE TIMELESS MOMENT WHEN WE ARE COMPLETELY FULFILLED. OUR BUDDHIST FRIENDS SAY THAT ONCE WE LOSE OUR DESIRE FOR EVERYTHING, WE WILL ENTER A BLESSED STATE. CHRISTIANS SAY THAT THAT BLESSED STATE IS FULFILLMENT OF EVERYTHING THAT WE LACK, CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS, IN OUR WHOLE BEINGS.
SO WHAT IS CLEAN OF HEART? THE HEART, TO THE JEWS, WAS THE CENTER OF A HUMAN BEING. AND IT IS IN THIS VERY CENTER THAT EVERYTHING LIVES THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING HAPPY. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE HOLD GRUDGES. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE DWELL ON THE MISTAKES WE'VE MADE IN THE PAST, TO THE DETRIMENT OF DEALING WITH THE PRESENT. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE REACT TO DISRESPECT FROM OTHER PEOPLE, WHERE WE FEEL THAT WE ARE BEING NEGLECTED BY THOSE WHO SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE FEAR THE FUTURE, THAT WE WORRY ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE IT THROUGH OLD AGE. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE ALLOW THOSE ATTITUDES AND TENDENCIES TO EXIST WHICH LEAD US TO SIN. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE CONSTANTLY COMPARE WHAT IS WITH WHAT COULD BE. AND HERE JESUS' TEACHING IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE THAT OF THE BUDDHA, BUT ONLY A LITTLE BIT. BECAUSE THE BUDDHA TAUGHT THAT IF YOU COULD GET RID OF ALL DESIRES, WHICH OF COURSE ARE THE REASONS PEOPLE HAVE HEARTACHES OF ANY SORT, YOU WOULD ALSO GET RID OF YOUR PERSON, THAT WHICH YOU CALL YOURSELF, AND THIS WAS THE BEST A HUMAN BEING COULD HOPE FOR, THAT WAS NIRVANA. BUT JESUS TELLS AS THAT IF WE CAN CULTIVATE THAT INNER PEACE, THAT SILENCE, THAT DETACHMENT FROM ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH DISTURB US AND KEEP US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN, WE WILL GAIN OURSELVES, WE WILL FIND THAT COMPLETENESS THAT ONLY CAN BE FOUND IN UNION WITH GOD, IN THE VISION OF GOD, BECAUSE AS ST. AUGUSTINE SAID, “OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS, UNTIL THEY REST IN THEE, OH LORD.”
TODAY AS WE PREPARE FOR THE EUCHARIST, AS I PREPARE THE BREAD AND WINE, AND FATHER REILLY OFFERS THESE GIFTS TO THE GLORIOUS GOD WHO GIVES US EVERYTHING, INCLUDING HIS ONLY SON, YOU AND I SHOULD ASK OURSELVES IF WE ACTUALLY DO PUT GOD AT THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES, IF WE ACTUALLY ARE CLEAN OF HEART; AND WE SHOULD OFFER TO GOD ALL OF THOSE THINGS IN OUR HEARTS WHICH ARE THE SOURCE OF SIN, OF WORRY, OF ANXIETY, OF DISTRACTION -- ALL OF THOSE INNER DISPOSITIONS WHICH KEEP US FROM TRUE HAPPINESS AND LEAD US TO SIN. BECAUSE JUST AS GOD WILL TRANSFORM THE SUBSTANCES OF BREAD AND WINE INTO THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, IF WE WILL LET GO OF ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE SO ATTACHED TO OUR HEARTS THAT THEY SEEM TO BE PART OF US, GOD WILL ENTER INTO OUR HEARTS AND GIVE US THAT PEACE THAT YOU CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE IT. AND THEN WE WILL BE CLEAN OF HEART, AND THEN WE WILL SEE GOD.
THE GOSPEL TODAY RECOUNTS THE BEATITUDES. ST. MATTHEW TELLS US HOW JESUS WENT UP TO A MOUNTAIN, WHERE HE PROBABLY CLIMBED UP HIGH ENOUGH TO BE SEEN BY THE CROWD. HE THEN SAT DOWN, AND BEGAN TO TEACH. ST. MATTHEW WANTS HIS READERS TO THINK ABOUT ANOTHER MOUNTAIN, AND ANOTHER TEACHER – MOSES, MT. SINAI, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. AND FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE REAL TEACHERS ALWAYS TAUGHT SITTING DOWN. THAT WAS THE POSITION ASSUMED BY THE RABBIS.
AND THEN JESUS DELIVERS THE EIGHT BEATITUDES – SORT OF THE COMMANDMENTS FOR THE NEW AGE, THE AGE THAT JESUS WOULD USHER IN BY HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. IF YOU REMEMBER THE COMMANDMENTS, THEY ARE THAT – FULL OF “THOU SHALT NOT'S”. EIGHT OF THE TEN HAD TO DO WITH EXTERNAL OBSERVANCE; IF YOU FOLLOWED SOMEONE AROUND LONG ENOUGH, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE OBEYED THE COMMANDMENTS. BUT YOU COULDN'T TELL IF HE OR SHE WAS COVETING A NEIGHBOR'S GOODS, OR A NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. THE IDEA HERE WAS THAT COVETING, WHICH IS A MUCH STRONGER IN HEBREW THAN IN ENGLISH, SUGGESTS THAT ONE'S WHOLE BEING IS TIED UP WITH DESIRE; IT IS ALMOST OBSESSIVE. AND AS SUCH, COVETING – WHETHER GOODS OR WIFE, MAKES YOU LESS THAN HUMAN, AND MAKES YOU NEGLECT THE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING; IT CAPTURES YOUR IMAGINATION AND YOUR WILL, AND PARALYZES YOU, UNTIL YOU EITHER SHAKE IT OFF WITH GOD'S HELP, OR GIVE IN TO IT.
THE BEATITUDES, IN CONTRAST, DO NOT SAY, “THOU SHALT” OR “THOU SHALT NOT.” THEY SIMPLY SAY, “BLESSED” OR IN SOME TRANSLATIONS, “HAPPY” OR “MOST FAVORED” AND IF YOU FOLLOWED A CHRISTIAN AROUND FOR A WHILE, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE WAS LIVING THE BEATITUDES. EXCEPT FOR TWO – BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, AND BEING OF PURE HEART. THE OTHER BEATITUDES HAVE TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS, WITH HOW ONE INTERACTS WITH ONE'S NEIGHBORS, OR HOW ONE STANDS UP TO ENEMIES. BUT THE TWO IN QUESTION HAVE TO DO WITH SOMETHING INWARD, SOMETHING THAT CAN'T BE OBSERVED. THE FIRST BEATITUDE, BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, LIKE BEING PERSECUTED, HOLDS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT? THE EARLY MONKS RECOGNIZED THIS RELATIONSHIP– THEY TALKED ABOUT RED MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU SHED YOUR BLOOD, AND WHITE MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU VOLUNTARILY REJECTED THE WORLD AND PUT YOUR WHOLE LIFE IN THE HANDS OF GOD. I THINK THIS IS A CLUE. A PERSECUTED PERSON UNDERSTANDS THAT HE OR SHE IS NOT IN CHARGE; IF YOU ARE BEING PERSECUTED, THINGS ARE NOT UNDER YOUR CONTROL. A PERSON WHO IS POOR IN SPIRIT IS SOMEONE WHO RECOGNIZES THIS AS WELL. MOST OF US LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE IN CONTROL, AND OUR GREATEST PAIN IS IF WE HAVE SOMETHING HAPPEN TO US THAT TAKES AWAY OUR CONTROL. AND YET, IN REALITY, WE ARE NEVER IN CONTROL, ONLY GOD IS. AND THE RECOGNITION OF THIS FACT DEEP IN OUR SOULS IS BEING POOR IN SPIRIT. AND AN OUTSIDE OBSERVER CAN'T TELL WHETHER SOMEONE IS POOR IN SPIRIT.
THE OTHER INVISIBLE BEATITUDE HOLDS OUT THE GREATEST PROMISE; TO SEE GOD. BLESSED ARE THE CLEAN OF HEART. AND YET, WHAT DOES THIS REALLY MEAN? AND HOW IS IT THAT BY BEING CLEAN OF HEART, IT FOLLOWS THAT WE WILL SEE GOD? IF WE COULD FIGURE' THIS OUT, MOST OF US WOULD GLADLY DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, TO SEE GOD IS EXACTLY WHY HUMAN BEINGS WERE CREATED. ST. THOMAS TELLS US THAT THIS IS HEAVEN, THE BEATIFIC VISION, THE TIMELESS MOMENT WHEN WE ARE COMPLETELY FULFILLED. OUR BUDDHIST FRIENDS SAY THAT ONCE WE LOSE OUR DESIRE FOR EVERYTHING, WE WILL ENTER A BLESSED STATE. CHRISTIANS SAY THAT THAT BLESSED STATE IS FULFILLMENT OF EVERYTHING THAT WE LACK, CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS, IN OUR WHOLE BEINGS.
SO WHAT IS CLEAN OF HEART? THE HEART, TO THE JEWS, WAS THE CENTER OF A HUMAN BEING. AND IT IS IN THIS VERY CENTER THAT EVERYTHING LIVES THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING HAPPY. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE HOLD GRUDGES. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE DWELL ON THE MISTAKES WE'VE MADE IN THE PAST, TO THE DETRIMENT OF DEALING WITH THE PRESENT. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE REACT TO DISRESPECT FROM OTHER PEOPLE, WHERE WE FEEL THAT WE ARE BEING NEGLECTED BY THOSE WHO SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE FEAR THE FUTURE, THAT WE WORRY ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE IT THROUGH OLD AGE. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE ALLOW THOSE ATTITUDES AND TENDENCIES TO EXIST WHICH LEAD US TO SIN. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE CONSTANTLY COMPARE WHAT IS WITH WHAT COULD BE. AND HERE JESUS' TEACHING IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE THAT OF THE BUDDHA, BUT ONLY A LITTLE BIT. BECAUSE THE BUDDHA TAUGHT THAT IF YOU COULD GET RID OF ALL DESIRES, WHICH OF COURSE ARE THE REASONS PEOPLE HAVE HEARTACHES OF ANY SORT, YOU WOULD ALSO GET RID OF YOUR PERSON, THAT WHICH YOU CALL YOURSELF, AND THIS WAS THE BEST A HUMAN BEING COULD HOPE FOR, THAT WAS NIRVANA. BUT JESUS TELLS AS THAT IF WE CAN CULTIVATE THAT INNER PEACE, THAT SILENCE, THAT DETACHMENT FROM ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH DISTURB US AND KEEP US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN, WE WILL GAIN OURSELVES, WE WILL FIND THAT COMPLETENESS THAT ONLY CAN BE FOUND IN UNION WITH GOD, IN THE VISION OF GOD, BECAUSE AS ST. AUGUSTINE SAID, “OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS, UNTIL THEY REST IN THEE, OH LORD.”
TODAY AS WE PREPARE FOR THE EUCHARIST, AS I PREPARE THE BREAD AND WINE, AND FATHER REILLY OFFERS THESE GIFTS TO THE GLORIOUS GOD WHO GIVES US EVERYTHING, INCLUDING HIS ONLY SON, YOU AND I SHOULD ASK OURSELVES IF WE ACTUALLY DO PUT GOD AT THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES, IF WE ACTUALLY ARE CLEAN OF HEART; AND WE SHOULD OFFER TO GOD ALL OF THOSE THINGS IN OUR HEARTS WHICH ARE THE SOURCE OF SIN, OF WORRY, OF ANXIETY, OF DISTRACTION -- ALL OF THOSE INNER DISPOSITIONS WHICH KEEP US FROM TRUE HAPPINESS AND LEAD US TO SIN. BECAUSE JUST AS GOD WILL TRANSFORM THE SUBSTANCES OF BREAD AND WINE INTO THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, IF WE WILL LET GO OF ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE SO ATTACHED TO OUR HEARTS THAT THEY SEEM TO BE PART OF US, GOD WILL ENTER INTO OUR HEARTS AND GIVE US THAT PEACE THAT YOU CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE IT. AND THEN WE WILL BE CLEAN OF HEART, AND THEN WE WILL SEE GOD.
All Saints Day
MATTHEW 5:1-12A
THE GOSPEL TODAY RECOUNTS THE BEATITUDES. ST. MATTHEW TELLS US HOW JESUS WENT UP TO A MOUNTAIN, WHERE HE PROBABLY CLIMBED UP HIGH ENOUGH TO BE SEEN BY THE CROWD. HE THEN SAT DOWN, AND BEGAN TO TEACH. ST. MATTHEW WANTS HIS READERS TO THINK ABOUT ANOTHER MOUNTAIN, AND ANOTHER TEACHER – MOSES, MT. SINAI, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. AND FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE REAL TEACHERS ALWAYS TAUGHT SITTING DOWN. THAT WAS THE POSITION ASSUMED BY THE RABBIS.
AND THEN JESUS DELIVERS THE EIGHT BEATITUDES – SORT OF THE COMMANDMENTS FOR THE NEW AGE, THE AGE THAT JESUS WOULD USHER IN BY HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. IF YOU REMEMBER THE COMMANDMENTS, THEY ARE THAT – FULL OF “THOU SHALT NOT'S”. EIGHT OF THE TEN HAD TO DO WITH EXTERNAL OBSERVANCE; IF YOU FOLLOWED SOMEONE AROUND LONG ENOUGH, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE OBEYED THE COMMANDMENTS. BUT YOU COULDN'T TELL IF HE OR SHE WAS COVETING A NEIGHBOR'S GOODS, OR A NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. THE IDEA HERE WAS THAT COVETING, WHICH IS A MUCH STRONGER IN HEBREW THAN IN ENGLISH, SUGGESTS THAT ONE'S WHOLE BEING IS TIED UP WITH DESIRE; IT IS ALMOST OBSESSIVE. AND AS SUCH, COVETING – WHETHER GOODS OR WIFE, MAKES YOU LESS THAN HUMAN, AND MAKES YOU NEGLECT THE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING; IT CAPTURES YOUR IMAGINATION AND YOUR WILL, AND PARALYZES YOU, UNTIL YOU EITHER SHAKE IT OFF WITH GOD'S HELP, OR GIVE IN TO IT.
THE BEATITUDES, IN CONTRAST, DO NOT SAY, “THOU SHALT” OR “THOU SHALT NOT.” THEY SIMPLY SAY, “BLESSED” OR IN SOME TRANSLATIONS, “HAPPY” OR “MOST FAVORED” AND IF YOU FOLLOWED A CHRISTIAN AROUND FOR A WHILE, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE WAS LIVING THE BEATITUDES. EXCEPT FOR TWO – BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, AND BEING OF PURE HEART. THE OTHER BEATITUDES HAVE TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS, WITH HOW ONE INTERACTS WITH ONE'S NEIGHBORS, OR HOW ONE STANDS UP TO ENEMIES. BUT THE TWO IN QUESTION HAVE TO DO WITH SOMETHING INWARD, SOMETHING THAT CAN'T BE OBSERVED. THE FIRST BEATITUDE, BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, LIKE BEING PERSECUTED, HOLDS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT? THE EARLY MONKS RECOGNIZED THIS RELATIONSHIP– THEY TALKED ABOUT RED MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU SHED YOUR BLOOD, AND WHITE MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU VOLUNTARILY REJECTED THE WORLD AND PUT YOUR WHOLE LIFE IN THE HANDS OF GOD. I THINK THIS IS A CLUE. A PERSECUTED PERSON UNDERSTANDS THAT HE OR SHE IS NOT IN CHARGE; IF YOU ARE BEING PERSECUTED, THINGS ARE NOT UNDER YOUR CONTROL. A PERSON WHO IS POOR IN SPIRIT IS SOMEONE WHO RECOGNIZES THIS AS WELL. MOST OF US LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE IN CONTROL, AND OUR GREATEST PAIN IS IF WE HAVE SOMETHING HAPPEN TO US THAT TAKES AWAY OUR CONTROL. AND YET, IN REALITY, WE ARE NEVER IN CONTROL, ONLY GOD IS. AND THE RECOGNITION OF THIS FACT DEEP IN OUR SOULS IS BEING POOR IN SPIRIT. AND AN OUTSIDE OBSERVER CAN'T TELL WHETHER SOMEONE IS POOR IN SPIRIT.
THE OTHER INVISIBLE BEATITUDE HOLDS OUT THE GREATEST PROMISE; TO SEE GOD. BLESSED ARE THE CLEAN OF HEART. AND YET, WHAT DOES THIS REALLY MEAN? AND HOW IS IT THAT BY BEING CLEAN OF HEART, IT FOLLOWS THAT WE WILL SEE GOD? IF WE COULD FIGURE' THIS OUT, MOST OF US WOULD GLADLY DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, TO SEE GOD IS EXACTLY WHY HUMAN BEINGS WERE CREATED. ST. THOMAS TELLS US THAT THIS IS HEAVEN, THE BEATIFIC VISION, THE TIMELESS MOMENT WHEN WE ARE COMPLETELY FULFILLED. OUR BUDDHIST FRIENDS SAY THAT ONCE WE LOSE OUR DESIRE FOR EVERYTHING, WE WILL ENTER A BLESSED STATE. CHRISTIANS SAY THAT THAT BLESSED STATE IS FULFILLMENT OF EVERYTHING THAT WE LACK, CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS, IN OUR WHOLE BEINGS.
SO WHAT IS CLEAN OF HEART? THE HEART, TO THE JEWS, WAS THE CENTER OF A HUMAN BEING. AND IT IS IN THIS VERY CENTER THAT EVERYTHING LIVES THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING HAPPY. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE HOLD GRUDGES. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE DWELL ON THE MISTAKES WE'VE MADE IN THE PAST, TO THE DETRIMENT OF DEALING WITH THE PRESENT. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE REACT TO DISRESPECT FROM OTHER PEOPLE, WHERE WE FEEL THAT WE ARE BEING NEGLECTED BY THOSE WHO SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE FEAR THE FUTURE, THAT WE WORRY ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE IT THROUGH OLD AGE. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE ALLOW THOSE ATTITUDES AND TENDENCIES TO EXIST WHICH LEAD US TO SIN. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE CONSTANTLY COMPARE WHAT IS WITH WHAT COULD BE. AND HERE JESUS' TEACHING IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE THAT OF THE BUDDHA, BUT ONLY A LITTLE BIT. BECAUSE THE BUDDHA TAUGHT THAT IF YOU COULD GET RID OF ALL DESIRES, WHICH OF COURSE ARE THE REASONS PEOPLE HAVE HEARTACHES OF ANY SORT, YOU WOULD ALSO GET RID OF YOUR PERSON, THAT WHICH YOU CALL YOURSELF, AND THIS WAS THE BEST A HUMAN BEING COULD HOPE FOR, THAT WAS NIRVANA. BUT JESUS TELLS AS THAT IF WE CAN CULTIVATE THAT INNER PEACE, THAT SILENCE, THAT DETACHMENT FROM ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH DISTURB US AND KEEP US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN, WE WILL GAIN OURSELVES, WE WILL FIND THAT COMPLETENESS THAT ONLY CAN BE FOUND IN UNION WITH GOD, IN THE VISION OF GOD, BECAUSE AS ST. AUGUSTINE SAID, “OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS, UNTIL THEY REST IN THEE, OH LORD.”
TODAY AS WE PREPARE FOR THE EUCHARIST, AS I PREPARE THE BREAD AND WINE, AND FATHER REILLY OFFERS THESE GIFTS TO THE GLORIOUS GOD WHO GIVES US EVERYTHING, INCLUDING HIS ONLY SON, YOU AND I SHOULD ASK OURSELVES IF WE ACTUALLY DO PUT GOD AT THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES, IF WE ACTUALLY ARE CLEAN OF HEART; AND WE SHOULD OFFER TO GOD ALL OF THOSE THINGS IN OUR HEARTS WHICH ARE THE SOURCE OF SIN, OF WORRY, OF ANXIETY, OF DISTRACTION -- ALL OF THOSE INNER DISPOSITIONS WHICH KEEP US FROM TRUE HAPPINESS AND LEAD US TO SIN. BECAUSE JUST AS GOD WILL TRANSFORM THE SUBSTANCES OF BREAD AND WINE INTO THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, IF WE WILL LET GO OF ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE SO ATTACHED TO OUR HEARTS THAT THEY SEEM TO BE PART OF US, GOD WILL ENTER INTO OUR HEARTS AND GIVE US THAT PEACE THAT YOU CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE IT. AND THEN WE WILL BE CLEAN OF HEART, AND THEN WE WILL SEE GOD.
THE GOSPEL TODAY RECOUNTS THE BEATITUDES. ST. MATTHEW TELLS US HOW JESUS WENT UP TO A MOUNTAIN, WHERE HE PROBABLY CLIMBED UP HIGH ENOUGH TO BE SEEN BY THE CROWD. HE THEN SAT DOWN, AND BEGAN TO TEACH. ST. MATTHEW WANTS HIS READERS TO THINK ABOUT ANOTHER MOUNTAIN, AND ANOTHER TEACHER – MOSES, MT. SINAI, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. AND FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE REAL TEACHERS ALWAYS TAUGHT SITTING DOWN. THAT WAS THE POSITION ASSUMED BY THE RABBIS.
AND THEN JESUS DELIVERS THE EIGHT BEATITUDES – SORT OF THE COMMANDMENTS FOR THE NEW AGE, THE AGE THAT JESUS WOULD USHER IN BY HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. IF YOU REMEMBER THE COMMANDMENTS, THEY ARE THAT – FULL OF “THOU SHALT NOT'S”. EIGHT OF THE TEN HAD TO DO WITH EXTERNAL OBSERVANCE; IF YOU FOLLOWED SOMEONE AROUND LONG ENOUGH, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE OBEYED THE COMMANDMENTS. BUT YOU COULDN'T TELL IF HE OR SHE WAS COVETING A NEIGHBOR'S GOODS, OR A NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. THE IDEA HERE WAS THAT COVETING, WHICH IS A MUCH STRONGER IN HEBREW THAN IN ENGLISH, SUGGESTS THAT ONE'S WHOLE BEING IS TIED UP WITH DESIRE; IT IS ALMOST OBSESSIVE. AND AS SUCH, COVETING – WHETHER GOODS OR WIFE, MAKES YOU LESS THAN HUMAN, AND MAKES YOU NEGLECT THE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING; IT CAPTURES YOUR IMAGINATION AND YOUR WILL, AND PARALYZES YOU, UNTIL YOU EITHER SHAKE IT OFF WITH GOD'S HELP, OR GIVE IN TO IT.
THE BEATITUDES, IN CONTRAST, DO NOT SAY, “THOU SHALT” OR “THOU SHALT NOT.” THEY SIMPLY SAY, “BLESSED” OR IN SOME TRANSLATIONS, “HAPPY” OR “MOST FAVORED” AND IF YOU FOLLOWED A CHRISTIAN AROUND FOR A WHILE, YOU COULD TELL WHETHER HE OR SHE WAS LIVING THE BEATITUDES. EXCEPT FOR TWO – BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, AND BEING OF PURE HEART. THE OTHER BEATITUDES HAVE TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS, WITH HOW ONE INTERACTS WITH ONE'S NEIGHBORS, OR HOW ONE STANDS UP TO ENEMIES. BUT THE TWO IN QUESTION HAVE TO DO WITH SOMETHING INWARD, SOMETHING THAT CAN'T BE OBSERVED. THE FIRST BEATITUDE, BEING POOR IN SPIRIT, LIKE BEING PERSECUTED, HOLDS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT? THE EARLY MONKS RECOGNIZED THIS RELATIONSHIP– THEY TALKED ABOUT RED MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU SHED YOUR BLOOD, AND WHITE MARTYRDOM, WHEN YOU VOLUNTARILY REJECTED THE WORLD AND PUT YOUR WHOLE LIFE IN THE HANDS OF GOD. I THINK THIS IS A CLUE. A PERSECUTED PERSON UNDERSTANDS THAT HE OR SHE IS NOT IN CHARGE; IF YOU ARE BEING PERSECUTED, THINGS ARE NOT UNDER YOUR CONTROL. A PERSON WHO IS POOR IN SPIRIT IS SOMEONE WHO RECOGNIZES THIS AS WELL. MOST OF US LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE IN CONTROL, AND OUR GREATEST PAIN IS IF WE HAVE SOMETHING HAPPEN TO US THAT TAKES AWAY OUR CONTROL. AND YET, IN REALITY, WE ARE NEVER IN CONTROL, ONLY GOD IS. AND THE RECOGNITION OF THIS FACT DEEP IN OUR SOULS IS BEING POOR IN SPIRIT. AND AN OUTSIDE OBSERVER CAN'T TELL WHETHER SOMEONE IS POOR IN SPIRIT.
THE OTHER INVISIBLE BEATITUDE HOLDS OUT THE GREATEST PROMISE; TO SEE GOD. BLESSED ARE THE CLEAN OF HEART. AND YET, WHAT DOES THIS REALLY MEAN? AND HOW IS IT THAT BY BEING CLEAN OF HEART, IT FOLLOWS THAT WE WILL SEE GOD? IF WE COULD FIGURE' THIS OUT, MOST OF US WOULD GLADLY DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, TO SEE GOD IS EXACTLY WHY HUMAN BEINGS WERE CREATED. ST. THOMAS TELLS US THAT THIS IS HEAVEN, THE BEATIFIC VISION, THE TIMELESS MOMENT WHEN WE ARE COMPLETELY FULFILLED. OUR BUDDHIST FRIENDS SAY THAT ONCE WE LOSE OUR DESIRE FOR EVERYTHING, WE WILL ENTER A BLESSED STATE. CHRISTIANS SAY THAT THAT BLESSED STATE IS FULFILLMENT OF EVERYTHING THAT WE LACK, CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS, IN OUR WHOLE BEINGS.
SO WHAT IS CLEAN OF HEART? THE HEART, TO THE JEWS, WAS THE CENTER OF A HUMAN BEING. AND IT IS IN THIS VERY CENTER THAT EVERYTHING LIVES THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING HAPPY. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE HOLD GRUDGES. IT IS IN THE HEART WHERE WE DWELL ON THE MISTAKES WE'VE MADE IN THE PAST, TO THE DETRIMENT OF DEALING WITH THE PRESENT. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE REACT TO DISRESPECT FROM OTHER PEOPLE, WHERE WE FEEL THAT WE ARE BEING NEGLECTED BY THOSE WHO SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE FEAR THE FUTURE, THAT WE WORRY ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE IT THROUGH OLD AGE. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE ALLOW THOSE ATTITUDES AND TENDENCIES TO EXIST WHICH LEAD US TO SIN. IT IS IN THE HEART THAT WE CONSTANTLY COMPARE WHAT IS WITH WHAT COULD BE. AND HERE JESUS' TEACHING IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE THAT OF THE BUDDHA, BUT ONLY A LITTLE BIT. BECAUSE THE BUDDHA TAUGHT THAT IF YOU COULD GET RID OF ALL DESIRES, WHICH OF COURSE ARE THE REASONS PEOPLE HAVE HEARTACHES OF ANY SORT, YOU WOULD ALSO GET RID OF YOUR PERSON, THAT WHICH YOU CALL YOURSELF, AND THIS WAS THE BEST A HUMAN BEING COULD HOPE FOR, THAT WAS NIRVANA. BUT JESUS TELLS AS THAT IF WE CAN CULTIVATE THAT INNER PEACE, THAT SILENCE, THAT DETACHMENT FROM ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH DISTURB US AND KEEP US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN, WE WILL GAIN OURSELVES, WE WILL FIND THAT COMPLETENESS THAT ONLY CAN BE FOUND IN UNION WITH GOD, IN THE VISION OF GOD, BECAUSE AS ST. AUGUSTINE SAID, “OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS, UNTIL THEY REST IN THEE, OH LORD.”
TODAY AS WE PREPARE FOR THE EUCHARIST, AS I PREPARE THE BREAD AND WINE, AND FATHER REILLY OFFERS THESE GIFTS TO THE GLORIOUS GOD WHO GIVES US EVERYTHING, INCLUDING HIS ONLY SON, YOU AND I SHOULD ASK OURSELVES IF WE ACTUALLY DO PUT GOD AT THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES, IF WE ACTUALLY ARE CLEAN OF HEART; AND WE SHOULD OFFER TO GOD ALL OF THOSE THINGS IN OUR HEARTS WHICH ARE THE SOURCE OF SIN, OF WORRY, OF ANXIETY, OF DISTRACTION -- ALL OF THOSE INNER DISPOSITIONS WHICH KEEP US FROM TRUE HAPPINESS AND LEAD US TO SIN. BECAUSE JUST AS GOD WILL TRANSFORM THE SUBSTANCES OF BREAD AND WINE INTO THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, IF WE WILL LET GO OF ALL THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE SO ATTACHED TO OUR HEARTS THAT THEY SEEM TO BE PART OF US, GOD WILL ENTER INTO OUR HEARTS AND GIVE US THAT PEACE THAT YOU CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE IT. AND THEN WE WILL BE CLEAN OF HEART, AND THEN WE WILL SEE GOD.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B
MARK 10:46-52
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD ASK FOR IF YOU HAD ONE WISH? THINK ABOUT IT FOR A MINUTE. ONE WISH, IT WILL BE GRANTED. AND IT CAN'T BE A WISH THAT YOU WILL HAVE THREE WISHES GRANTED, OR TEN, OR TWENTY. AND IT CAN'T BE A WISH THAT YOU WILL HAVE SUPERPOWERS, OR WILL LIVE FOREVER. YOU HAVE ONE WISH, A LEGITIMATE WISH, A WISH THAT DOES NOT ALTER THE FACT THAT YOU ARE A LIMITED, MORTAL HUMAN BEING.
AS YOU THINK ABOUT THIS, THINK ABOUT THE CATEGORIES OF WISHES. DO YOU WISH FOR SOMETHING FOR THE WORLD? AN END TO WAR, OR STARVATION, OR POLLUTION, OR GLOBAL WARMING? DO YOU WISH FOR SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE – THAT YOUR COUSIN WOULD BE CURED OF CANCER; THAT YOUR SON WOULD GET INTO HARVARD? OR DO YOU WISH FOR SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF – A BETTER JOB, A RETURN TO HEALTH IF YOU ARE ILL, TO BECOME YOUNGER IF YOU ARE OLD; TRUE LOVE.
THE BLIND MAN CRIED OUT TO JESUS, “SON OF DAVID, HAVE PITY ON ME!” AND JESUS REPLIED, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?”
MAYBE THE ANSWER SEEMS OBVIOUS TO US. WHAT BLIND PERSON WOULD NOT WANT HIS SIGHT? BUT IN JESUS' TIME MANY OF THOSE WHO BEGGED FOR A LIVING ACTUALLY VALUED THEIR HANDICAPS. THERE ARE STILL PLACES IN THE WORLD WHERE A CHILD OF A FAMILY WHO LIVE OFF OF BEGGING WILL BE DELIBERATELY CRIPPLED, SO THAT HE WILL HAVE AN ADVANTAGE IN THIS PARTICULAR PROFESSION. SOME OF US ARE LIKE THIS. WE HAVE HABITS WHICH CRIPPLE US, ANGER WHICH KEEPS US FROM MOVING FORWARD, JEALOUSY, RESENTMENT – WE CAN ALL THINK OF SOMETHING ABOUT US THAT WE WOULD NEVER LET GO OF. AND THAT SOMETHING IS HOLDING US BACK, KEEPING US FROM LEADING A FULL AND COMPLETE LIFE, KEEPING US FROM ENJOYING MORE FULLY THAT RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE WITH JESUS. AND SOMETIMES WE PRAY, “TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!” BUT IN OUR HEART OF HEARTS, WE DON'T REALLY MEAN IT.
JESUS AS GOD MAY HAVE KNOWN WHAT THE MAN REALLY WANTED, BUT AS A HUMAN BEING HE MADE NO PRESUMPTIONS; HE SAID, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?”
THIS BLIND MAN WAS NOT SOMEONE WHO SAW VALUE IN HIS BLINDNESS. HE ONLY SAW HIS BLINDNESS AS A TOTAL DISASTER IN HIS LIFE. HE MADE HIS LIVING BY BEGGING. HE TRIPPED AND STUMBLED AND WALKED INTO WALLS. HE WAS A JOKE TO THE LOCAL TEENAGERS. HE HAD NO CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS, EXCEPT PERHAPS WITH HIS BLOOD RELATIVES; HE LIVED ON CHARITY, BUT HE WISHED HE COULD MAKE A LIVING WITH HIS OWN TALENTS. HIS BLINDNESS MADE HIM LESS THAN HUMAN.
SO WHEN THE BLIND MAN MADE HIS REQUEST, “LORD, I WANT TO SEE!” HE WAS NOT MERELY ASKING FOR THE GIFT OF VISION – HE WAS ASKING TO BECOME FULLY HUMAN. HE WANTED FULL PARTICIPATION IN LIFE, HE WANTED TO GO FROM BEING AN OBJECT, WHETHER IT WAS THE RECEIVING OF KINDNESS OR CRUELTY FROM OTHER PEOPLE. HE WANTED TO QUIT BEING DEPENDENT, BEING HELPLESS – HE WANTED TO BECOME A SUBJECT, SOMEONE IN CHARGE OF HIS OWN LIFE, HIS OWN DESTINY, SOMEONE WHO COULD CONTROL WHAT WAS AROUND HIM. THE BLIND MAN KNEW THAT GAINING THE GIFT OF SIGHT WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO BRING ABOUT THIS CHANGE.
ALL OF US WANT THE SAME THING. WE DON'T LIKE TO BE OBJECTS, AND YET, WE SENSE THAT WE ARE – WHEN OUR TAXES ARE RAISED WITHOUT OUR CONSENT; WHEN WE HAVE TO WAIT A FEW HOURS IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM TO BE SEEN; WHEN WE ARE CHARGED AN OUTRAGEOUS BILL BY OUR MECHANIC FOR SOMETHING THAT WE HAD TO HAVE DONE. WE FEEL LIKE AN OBJECT WHEN SOMEONE SHOWS US DISRESPECT, OR DISHONESTY, OR TAKES US FOR GRANTED. IT'S HARD TO GET THROUGH A DAY WITHOUT SENSING THAT WE ARE AN OBJECT TO SOMEONE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING, SOMETHING THAT COMES FROM OUR OWN TALENTS, OUR OWN EFFORTS, WE GET A GLIMPSE OF OURSELF AS A SUBJECT. IN FACT, MOST OF THE TIME WHEN WE FEEL JOY OR HAPPINESS, WE HAVE JUST ACTED AS A SUBJECT. BUT THOSE MOMENTS SEEM FEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
IN ALL HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS, EVEN IN A GREAT MARRIAGE, HAPPINESS IS RELATED TO THE DEGREE TO WHICH EACH PARTNER FEELS THAT HE OR SHE IS A SUBJECT. AND THAT FEELING OF BEING A SUBJECT IS GREATLY INFLUENCED BY OUR PERCEPTION THAT WE ARE FREE. AND FREEDOM MEANS CHOICE.
JESUS WANTS YOU AND I TO HAVE FREEDOM; HE WANTS US TO BE PURELY SUBJECT. HE WANTS US TO SPEND ETERNITY WITH HIM IN HEAVEN, BUT EVEN MORE, HE WANTS US TO FREELY CHOOSE THIS GOAL. AND IF WE ARE FREE TO CHOOSE THIS, WE ARE FREE TO REJECT IT AS WELL. TO JESUS, THERE IS NOTHING OF THE OBJECT ABOUT US; JESUS WILL NEVER COMPEL US, NEVER FORCE US. AND THE ONLY RELATIONSHIP WE CAN HAVE WITH ANOTHER PERSON WHICH COMPLETELY RESPECTS OUR FREEDOM, OUR NATURE AS SUBJECT, IS THAT RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST.
THE BLIND MAN WENT TO JESUS, WHO HONORED HIS FREEDOM BY ASKING, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” AND THE BLIND MAN REPLIED, “LORD, I WANT TO SEE!” AND JESUS HELPED HIM BECOME A SUBJECT, HELPED HIM BECOME MORE FREE, MORE CAPABLE OF CONTROLLING HIS OWN LIFE THAN HE HAD BEEN BEFORE. AND IN THAT MORE HUMAN STATE, HE BECOMES MORE CAPABLE OF CHOOSING GOOD, OR CHOOSING EVIL.
SO PERHAPS THAT IS THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHAT WOULD WE ANSWER TO THE LORD IF HE ASKED “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” WOULD WE SAY, “MAKE ME MORE FREE?” KNOWING THAT WITH GREATER FREEDOM COMES GREATER RESPONSIBILITY; WITH GREATER CHOICE COMES GREATER OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE BAD CHOICES; BUT WITH GREATER FREEDOM COMES THE ABILITY TO FREELY CHOOSE GOD, TO FREELY HELP BUILD THE KINGDOM OF JESUS, TO FREELY ENTER INTO A PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR MASTER, JESUS. AND IN THE END, THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD DESIRE, SINCE IT IS THE KEY TO HAPPINESS ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.
SO LET US SAY TO JESUS, “I WANT TO SEE! I WANT TO BE MORE HUMAN! I WANT TO BE FREE! I WANT TO FREELY CHOOSE YOU, MY LORD.!”
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD ASK FOR IF YOU HAD ONE WISH? THINK ABOUT IT FOR A MINUTE. ONE WISH, IT WILL BE GRANTED. AND IT CAN'T BE A WISH THAT YOU WILL HAVE THREE WISHES GRANTED, OR TEN, OR TWENTY. AND IT CAN'T BE A WISH THAT YOU WILL HAVE SUPERPOWERS, OR WILL LIVE FOREVER. YOU HAVE ONE WISH, A LEGITIMATE WISH, A WISH THAT DOES NOT ALTER THE FACT THAT YOU ARE A LIMITED, MORTAL HUMAN BEING.
AS YOU THINK ABOUT THIS, THINK ABOUT THE CATEGORIES OF WISHES. DO YOU WISH FOR SOMETHING FOR THE WORLD? AN END TO WAR, OR STARVATION, OR POLLUTION, OR GLOBAL WARMING? DO YOU WISH FOR SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE – THAT YOUR COUSIN WOULD BE CURED OF CANCER; THAT YOUR SON WOULD GET INTO HARVARD? OR DO YOU WISH FOR SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF – A BETTER JOB, A RETURN TO HEALTH IF YOU ARE ILL, TO BECOME YOUNGER IF YOU ARE OLD; TRUE LOVE.
THE BLIND MAN CRIED OUT TO JESUS, “SON OF DAVID, HAVE PITY ON ME!” AND JESUS REPLIED, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?”
MAYBE THE ANSWER SEEMS OBVIOUS TO US. WHAT BLIND PERSON WOULD NOT WANT HIS SIGHT? BUT IN JESUS' TIME MANY OF THOSE WHO BEGGED FOR A LIVING ACTUALLY VALUED THEIR HANDICAPS. THERE ARE STILL PLACES IN THE WORLD WHERE A CHILD OF A FAMILY WHO LIVE OFF OF BEGGING WILL BE DELIBERATELY CRIPPLED, SO THAT HE WILL HAVE AN ADVANTAGE IN THIS PARTICULAR PROFESSION. SOME OF US ARE LIKE THIS. WE HAVE HABITS WHICH CRIPPLE US, ANGER WHICH KEEPS US FROM MOVING FORWARD, JEALOUSY, RESENTMENT – WE CAN ALL THINK OF SOMETHING ABOUT US THAT WE WOULD NEVER LET GO OF. AND THAT SOMETHING IS HOLDING US BACK, KEEPING US FROM LEADING A FULL AND COMPLETE LIFE, KEEPING US FROM ENJOYING MORE FULLY THAT RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE WITH JESUS. AND SOMETIMES WE PRAY, “TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!” BUT IN OUR HEART OF HEARTS, WE DON'T REALLY MEAN IT.
JESUS AS GOD MAY HAVE KNOWN WHAT THE MAN REALLY WANTED, BUT AS A HUMAN BEING HE MADE NO PRESUMPTIONS; HE SAID, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?”
THIS BLIND MAN WAS NOT SOMEONE WHO SAW VALUE IN HIS BLINDNESS. HE ONLY SAW HIS BLINDNESS AS A TOTAL DISASTER IN HIS LIFE. HE MADE HIS LIVING BY BEGGING. HE TRIPPED AND STUMBLED AND WALKED INTO WALLS. HE WAS A JOKE TO THE LOCAL TEENAGERS. HE HAD NO CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS, EXCEPT PERHAPS WITH HIS BLOOD RELATIVES; HE LIVED ON CHARITY, BUT HE WISHED HE COULD MAKE A LIVING WITH HIS OWN TALENTS. HIS BLINDNESS MADE HIM LESS THAN HUMAN.
SO WHEN THE BLIND MAN MADE HIS REQUEST, “LORD, I WANT TO SEE!” HE WAS NOT MERELY ASKING FOR THE GIFT OF VISION – HE WAS ASKING TO BECOME FULLY HUMAN. HE WANTED FULL PARTICIPATION IN LIFE, HE WANTED TO GO FROM BEING AN OBJECT, WHETHER IT WAS THE RECEIVING OF KINDNESS OR CRUELTY FROM OTHER PEOPLE. HE WANTED TO QUIT BEING DEPENDENT, BEING HELPLESS – HE WANTED TO BECOME A SUBJECT, SOMEONE IN CHARGE OF HIS OWN LIFE, HIS OWN DESTINY, SOMEONE WHO COULD CONTROL WHAT WAS AROUND HIM. THE BLIND MAN KNEW THAT GAINING THE GIFT OF SIGHT WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO BRING ABOUT THIS CHANGE.
ALL OF US WANT THE SAME THING. WE DON'T LIKE TO BE OBJECTS, AND YET, WE SENSE THAT WE ARE – WHEN OUR TAXES ARE RAISED WITHOUT OUR CONSENT; WHEN WE HAVE TO WAIT A FEW HOURS IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM TO BE SEEN; WHEN WE ARE CHARGED AN OUTRAGEOUS BILL BY OUR MECHANIC FOR SOMETHING THAT WE HAD TO HAVE DONE. WE FEEL LIKE AN OBJECT WHEN SOMEONE SHOWS US DISRESPECT, OR DISHONESTY, OR TAKES US FOR GRANTED. IT'S HARD TO GET THROUGH A DAY WITHOUT SENSING THAT WE ARE AN OBJECT TO SOMEONE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING, SOMETHING THAT COMES FROM OUR OWN TALENTS, OUR OWN EFFORTS, WE GET A GLIMPSE OF OURSELF AS A SUBJECT. IN FACT, MOST OF THE TIME WHEN WE FEEL JOY OR HAPPINESS, WE HAVE JUST ACTED AS A SUBJECT. BUT THOSE MOMENTS SEEM FEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
IN ALL HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS, EVEN IN A GREAT MARRIAGE, HAPPINESS IS RELATED TO THE DEGREE TO WHICH EACH PARTNER FEELS THAT HE OR SHE IS A SUBJECT. AND THAT FEELING OF BEING A SUBJECT IS GREATLY INFLUENCED BY OUR PERCEPTION THAT WE ARE FREE. AND FREEDOM MEANS CHOICE.
JESUS WANTS YOU AND I TO HAVE FREEDOM; HE WANTS US TO BE PURELY SUBJECT. HE WANTS US TO SPEND ETERNITY WITH HIM IN HEAVEN, BUT EVEN MORE, HE WANTS US TO FREELY CHOOSE THIS GOAL. AND IF WE ARE FREE TO CHOOSE THIS, WE ARE FREE TO REJECT IT AS WELL. TO JESUS, THERE IS NOTHING OF THE OBJECT ABOUT US; JESUS WILL NEVER COMPEL US, NEVER FORCE US. AND THE ONLY RELATIONSHIP WE CAN HAVE WITH ANOTHER PERSON WHICH COMPLETELY RESPECTS OUR FREEDOM, OUR NATURE AS SUBJECT, IS THAT RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST.
THE BLIND MAN WENT TO JESUS, WHO HONORED HIS FREEDOM BY ASKING, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” AND THE BLIND MAN REPLIED, “LORD, I WANT TO SEE!” AND JESUS HELPED HIM BECOME A SUBJECT, HELPED HIM BECOME MORE FREE, MORE CAPABLE OF CONTROLLING HIS OWN LIFE THAN HE HAD BEEN BEFORE. AND IN THAT MORE HUMAN STATE, HE BECOMES MORE CAPABLE OF CHOOSING GOOD, OR CHOOSING EVIL.
SO PERHAPS THAT IS THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHAT WOULD WE ANSWER TO THE LORD IF HE ASKED “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” WOULD WE SAY, “MAKE ME MORE FREE?” KNOWING THAT WITH GREATER FREEDOM COMES GREATER RESPONSIBILITY; WITH GREATER CHOICE COMES GREATER OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE BAD CHOICES; BUT WITH GREATER FREEDOM COMES THE ABILITY TO FREELY CHOOSE GOD, TO FREELY HELP BUILD THE KINGDOM OF JESUS, TO FREELY ENTER INTO A PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR MASTER, JESUS. AND IN THE END, THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD DESIRE, SINCE IT IS THE KEY TO HAPPINESS ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.
SO LET US SAY TO JESUS, “I WANT TO SEE! I WANT TO BE MORE HUMAN! I WANT TO BE FREE! I WANT TO FREELY CHOOSE YOU, MY LORD.!”
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B
MARK 10:35-45
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE LAST MEAL JESUS ATE WITH HIS APOSTLES? TRADITION HAS IT THAT THIS WAS THE SEDER, OR PASSOVER SUPPER. EVEN IN THE TIME OF JESUS IT WAS SURROUNDED WITH RITUAL. THAT IS WHY JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO AND PREPARE THE SUPPER, SINCE THERE WAS A LOT OF WORK INVOLVED. IF YOU'VE EVER GONE TO A CHRISTIAN VERSION, OR PARTICIPATED IN THE SEDER WITH A JEWISH FAMILY, YOU WILL REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE PRAYERS; THERE IS THE MATZO, A SORT OF CRACKER, WHICH IS PLACED IN A SPECIAL CLOTH WRAPPER, AND REMINDS US THAT THE JEWS LEFT EGYPT SO RAPIDLY THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO ALLOW THEIR BREAD TO RISE. AND THEN THERE ARE THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS; THE MIXTURE OF FRUIT AND NUTS, TO REMIND US OF THE MORTAR USED BY THE JEWISH SLAVES TO ASSEMBLE THE BRICK BUILDINGS FOR PHAROH; THE PARSLEY DIPPED IN SALT TO REMIND US OF THE TEARS OF THE JEWISH SLAVES; THE EGG, WHICH IS A SYMBOL OF SPRING AND NEW BEGINNINGS; THE SHANK OF LAMB, WHICH REMINDS US OF THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB, AND THE BITTER HERBS, WHICH REMIND US OF THE BITTERNESS OF SLAVERY.
JESUS INSTITUTED THE HOLY EUCHARIST AT THE PASSOVER MEAL. SO WE MIGHT ASK THE QUESTION, WHY DID HE CHOOSE THE BREAD TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO HIS BODY? AFTER ALL, THERE WERE OTHER CANDIDATES. IT WOULD HAVE SEEMED OBVIOUS, SINCE JESUS WAS GOING TO BE OUR SACRIFICE, FOR HIM TO CHOOSE THE LAMB; LAMBS WERE SACRIFICED ALL THE TIME AT THE TEMPLE, AND IN FACT JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD REFERRED TO JESUS AS THE LAMB OF GOD. WELL, IF NOT THE LAMB, WHY NOT THE EGG? AFTER ALL, THE EGG, SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL, HAS BEEN THE SYMBOL OF A NEW BEGINNING. IT IS A SYMBOL OF EASTER, OF SPRINGTIME, OF NEW LIFE. AND JESUS CERTAINLY CAN LAY CLAIM TO ALL OF THOSE MEANINGS. THE MIXTURE OF FRUIT AND NUTS SYMBOLIZED MORTAR FOR THE JEWS, AND JESUS COULD HAVE USED THAT, SINCE HE HAD INDICATED THAT HE CAME TO BUILD THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AND HAD TOLD PETER THAT UPON THIS ROCK HE WOULD BUILD HIS CHURCH. AND I SUPPOSE IF WE STRETCHED OUR IMAGINATION WE COULD FIGURE OUT SOME WAY JESUS MIGHT HAVE USED THE PARSLEY IN SALT WATER, OR THE BITTER HERBS. BUT HE CHOSE THE MATZOH, THE BREAD.
SO WHY BREAD?
WE ARE SO FAR FROM JESUS' TIME THAT WE CAN BARELY UNDERSTAND WHAT BREAD WAS TO THOSE FIRST CENTURY JEWS. WHETHER IT WAS LEAVENED OR UNLEAVENED, IT WAS FLAT. IT WAS USUALLY BAKED ON A FLAT STONE LAID OVER COALS RAKED FROM A FIRE. IT WAS MADE FROM WHATEVER GRAIN WAS HANDY – WHEAT, BARLEY, OATS, OR A MIXTURE. AND SINCE THE GRAIN WAS GROUND BY HAND, YOU COULD USUALLY BITE INTO SOME PIECES OF GRAIN THAT HAD NOT BEEN COMPLETELY TURNED INTO FLOUR. AND IT WAS CHEAP, AND NOT THOUGHT MUCH OF. BECAUSE BREAD WAS THERE TO SERVE AS A PLATE, AS A NAPKIN, AS A FORK OR SPOON. IN FACT, IN REALLY RICH HOUSEHOLDS, THE BREAD THAT HAD BEEN USED MIGHT NOT EVEN BE EATEN – IT MIGHT BE WADDED UP AND THROWN TO THE DOGS. REMEMBER THE RICH MAN IN THE STORY OF LAZARUS? THE BREAD WAS UNIQUE AMONGST ALL THE PARTS OF THE PASSOVER MEAL – IT WAS THE SERVANT OF THE MEAL.
THE SEDER MEAL USED FOUR CUPS OF WINE. THE FIRST TWO ARE CONSUMED WITHIN THE MEAL; THE THIRD RIGHT AFTER THE GRACE AFTER THE MEAL. THIS THIRD CUP WAS THE ONE JESUS OFFERED AS HIS BLOOD. (HE AND HIS DISCIPLES NEVER DRANK THE FOURTH AT THE MEAL; THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DRUNK AFTER THE PSALMS OF PRAISE, BUT IN THE SCRIPTURES, IT SAYS THAT AFTER THEY SANG THE PSALM OF PRAISE, THEY WENT OUT INTO THE NIGHT. JESUS DRANK THE FOURTH CUP ON THE CROSS. BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY).
SO WHY THE THIRD CUP?
WINE HAD A DIFFERENT MEANING THEN THAN IT DOES TODAY. EVEN OUR ELDER BROTHERS THE JEWS USE A VERY REFINED SWEET WINE FOR PASSOVER. BUT IN JESUS' TIME, THAT WAS NOT WINE. WINE WAS MADE BY FILLING AN ANIMAL SKIN WITH GRAPE JUICE AND LEAVING IT OUT IN THE SUN. IT WOULD NATURALLY FERMENT, BUT IF YOU'VE EVER TASTED FRESHLY FERMENTED GRAPE JUICE, IT ISN'T VERY GOOD. BUT WHEN THE AVAILABLE WATER WAS LIKELY TO BE CONTAMINATED BY WHATEVER HAD BEEN DUMPED INTO IT, THIS FERMENTED GRAPE JUICE CAME IN HANDY, SINCE WHEN YOU MIXED IT WITH WATER, YOU DILUTED THE TASTE OF THE WINE TO WHERE IT WAS TOLERABLE; AND YOU ALSO KILLED THE GERMS IN THE WATER, SO YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO DRINK IT WITHOUT GETTING SICK. WE ACT THAT OUT EVEN TODAY AT MASS, WHEN A LITTLE WATER IS ADDED TO THE CUP OF WINE. THE WATER IS US, AND THE WINE REDEEMS THE WATER, AND THE THIRD CUP WAS THE CUP OF REDEMPTION IN THE SEDER.
SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH TODAY'S GOSPEL? I THINK ONE OF THE REASONS JESUS CHOSE THE BREAD OF THE PASSOVER TO BE HIS BODY IS TO SYMBOLIZE THAT HE CAME TO SERVE, AND NOT TO BE SERVED. AND HE CHOSE THE THIRD CUP BECAUSE THAT WAS INDEED THE CUP THAT SYMBOLIZED REDEMPTION AT THE PASSOVER MEAL.
AND WHEN HE GIVES US HIS BODY AND HIS BLOOD IN OUR HOLY COMMUNION, HE OFFERS TO TRANSFORM US, BUT TO TRANSFORM US INTO SERVANTS, SERVANTS WHO ARE CALLED TO SERVE EACH OTHER AND THE WHOLE WORLD. BECAUSE THE SPIRITUAL FOOD WHICH IS HIS BODY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM THOSE WHO EAT IT INTO ITSELF. AND WHEN WE PARTAKE OF THE WINE, WE DRINK OF THE THIRD CUP IN THE SEDER MEAL, THE CUP WHICH RECALLS REDEMPTION, THE CUP WHICH PURIFIES AND MAKES HOLY THE WATER INTO WHICH IT IS MIXED. AND WE ARE PROMISED THAT OUR HAPPINESS WILL LIE IN THE DEGREE TO WHICH WE DEVOTE OURSELVES TO SERVICE. THERE IS NO SHORT CUT, NO OTHER WAY TO GET THERE.
AND WHEN WE LEAVE MASS AFTER TAKING PART IN THE EUCHARIST, WE SHOULD RECALL THOSE WORDS OF JESUS: “WHOEVER WISHES TO BE GREAT AMONG YOU WILL BE YOUR SERVANT; WHOEVER WISHES TO BE FIRST AMONG YOU WILL BE THE SLAVE OF ALL.”
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE LAST MEAL JESUS ATE WITH HIS APOSTLES? TRADITION HAS IT THAT THIS WAS THE SEDER, OR PASSOVER SUPPER. EVEN IN THE TIME OF JESUS IT WAS SURROUNDED WITH RITUAL. THAT IS WHY JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO AND PREPARE THE SUPPER, SINCE THERE WAS A LOT OF WORK INVOLVED. IF YOU'VE EVER GONE TO A CHRISTIAN VERSION, OR PARTICIPATED IN THE SEDER WITH A JEWISH FAMILY, YOU WILL REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE PRAYERS; THERE IS THE MATZO, A SORT OF CRACKER, WHICH IS PLACED IN A SPECIAL CLOTH WRAPPER, AND REMINDS US THAT THE JEWS LEFT EGYPT SO RAPIDLY THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO ALLOW THEIR BREAD TO RISE. AND THEN THERE ARE THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS; THE MIXTURE OF FRUIT AND NUTS, TO REMIND US OF THE MORTAR USED BY THE JEWISH SLAVES TO ASSEMBLE THE BRICK BUILDINGS FOR PHAROH; THE PARSLEY DIPPED IN SALT TO REMIND US OF THE TEARS OF THE JEWISH SLAVES; THE EGG, WHICH IS A SYMBOL OF SPRING AND NEW BEGINNINGS; THE SHANK OF LAMB, WHICH REMINDS US OF THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB, AND THE BITTER HERBS, WHICH REMIND US OF THE BITTERNESS OF SLAVERY.
JESUS INSTITUTED THE HOLY EUCHARIST AT THE PASSOVER MEAL. SO WE MIGHT ASK THE QUESTION, WHY DID HE CHOOSE THE BREAD TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO HIS BODY? AFTER ALL, THERE WERE OTHER CANDIDATES. IT WOULD HAVE SEEMED OBVIOUS, SINCE JESUS WAS GOING TO BE OUR SACRIFICE, FOR HIM TO CHOOSE THE LAMB; LAMBS WERE SACRIFICED ALL THE TIME AT THE TEMPLE, AND IN FACT JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD REFERRED TO JESUS AS THE LAMB OF GOD. WELL, IF NOT THE LAMB, WHY NOT THE EGG? AFTER ALL, THE EGG, SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL, HAS BEEN THE SYMBOL OF A NEW BEGINNING. IT IS A SYMBOL OF EASTER, OF SPRINGTIME, OF NEW LIFE. AND JESUS CERTAINLY CAN LAY CLAIM TO ALL OF THOSE MEANINGS. THE MIXTURE OF FRUIT AND NUTS SYMBOLIZED MORTAR FOR THE JEWS, AND JESUS COULD HAVE USED THAT, SINCE HE HAD INDICATED THAT HE CAME TO BUILD THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AND HAD TOLD PETER THAT UPON THIS ROCK HE WOULD BUILD HIS CHURCH. AND I SUPPOSE IF WE STRETCHED OUR IMAGINATION WE COULD FIGURE OUT SOME WAY JESUS MIGHT HAVE USED THE PARSLEY IN SALT WATER, OR THE BITTER HERBS. BUT HE CHOSE THE MATZOH, THE BREAD.
SO WHY BREAD?
WE ARE SO FAR FROM JESUS' TIME THAT WE CAN BARELY UNDERSTAND WHAT BREAD WAS TO THOSE FIRST CENTURY JEWS. WHETHER IT WAS LEAVENED OR UNLEAVENED, IT WAS FLAT. IT WAS USUALLY BAKED ON A FLAT STONE LAID OVER COALS RAKED FROM A FIRE. IT WAS MADE FROM WHATEVER GRAIN WAS HANDY – WHEAT, BARLEY, OATS, OR A MIXTURE. AND SINCE THE GRAIN WAS GROUND BY HAND, YOU COULD USUALLY BITE INTO SOME PIECES OF GRAIN THAT HAD NOT BEEN COMPLETELY TURNED INTO FLOUR. AND IT WAS CHEAP, AND NOT THOUGHT MUCH OF. BECAUSE BREAD WAS THERE TO SERVE AS A PLATE, AS A NAPKIN, AS A FORK OR SPOON. IN FACT, IN REALLY RICH HOUSEHOLDS, THE BREAD THAT HAD BEEN USED MIGHT NOT EVEN BE EATEN – IT MIGHT BE WADDED UP AND THROWN TO THE DOGS. REMEMBER THE RICH MAN IN THE STORY OF LAZARUS? THE BREAD WAS UNIQUE AMONGST ALL THE PARTS OF THE PASSOVER MEAL – IT WAS THE SERVANT OF THE MEAL.
THE SEDER MEAL USED FOUR CUPS OF WINE. THE FIRST TWO ARE CONSUMED WITHIN THE MEAL; THE THIRD RIGHT AFTER THE GRACE AFTER THE MEAL. THIS THIRD CUP WAS THE ONE JESUS OFFERED AS HIS BLOOD. (HE AND HIS DISCIPLES NEVER DRANK THE FOURTH AT THE MEAL; THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DRUNK AFTER THE PSALMS OF PRAISE, BUT IN THE SCRIPTURES, IT SAYS THAT AFTER THEY SANG THE PSALM OF PRAISE, THEY WENT OUT INTO THE NIGHT. JESUS DRANK THE FOURTH CUP ON THE CROSS. BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY).
SO WHY THE THIRD CUP?
WINE HAD A DIFFERENT MEANING THEN THAN IT DOES TODAY. EVEN OUR ELDER BROTHERS THE JEWS USE A VERY REFINED SWEET WINE FOR PASSOVER. BUT IN JESUS' TIME, THAT WAS NOT WINE. WINE WAS MADE BY FILLING AN ANIMAL SKIN WITH GRAPE JUICE AND LEAVING IT OUT IN THE SUN. IT WOULD NATURALLY FERMENT, BUT IF YOU'VE EVER TASTED FRESHLY FERMENTED GRAPE JUICE, IT ISN'T VERY GOOD. BUT WHEN THE AVAILABLE WATER WAS LIKELY TO BE CONTAMINATED BY WHATEVER HAD BEEN DUMPED INTO IT, THIS FERMENTED GRAPE JUICE CAME IN HANDY, SINCE WHEN YOU MIXED IT WITH WATER, YOU DILUTED THE TASTE OF THE WINE TO WHERE IT WAS TOLERABLE; AND YOU ALSO KILLED THE GERMS IN THE WATER, SO YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO DRINK IT WITHOUT GETTING SICK. WE ACT THAT OUT EVEN TODAY AT MASS, WHEN A LITTLE WATER IS ADDED TO THE CUP OF WINE. THE WATER IS US, AND THE WINE REDEEMS THE WATER, AND THE THIRD CUP WAS THE CUP OF REDEMPTION IN THE SEDER.
SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH TODAY'S GOSPEL? I THINK ONE OF THE REASONS JESUS CHOSE THE BREAD OF THE PASSOVER TO BE HIS BODY IS TO SYMBOLIZE THAT HE CAME TO SERVE, AND NOT TO BE SERVED. AND HE CHOSE THE THIRD CUP BECAUSE THAT WAS INDEED THE CUP THAT SYMBOLIZED REDEMPTION AT THE PASSOVER MEAL.
AND WHEN HE GIVES US HIS BODY AND HIS BLOOD IN OUR HOLY COMMUNION, HE OFFERS TO TRANSFORM US, BUT TO TRANSFORM US INTO SERVANTS, SERVANTS WHO ARE CALLED TO SERVE EACH OTHER AND THE WHOLE WORLD. BECAUSE THE SPIRITUAL FOOD WHICH IS HIS BODY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM THOSE WHO EAT IT INTO ITSELF. AND WHEN WE PARTAKE OF THE WINE, WE DRINK OF THE THIRD CUP IN THE SEDER MEAL, THE CUP WHICH RECALLS REDEMPTION, THE CUP WHICH PURIFIES AND MAKES HOLY THE WATER INTO WHICH IT IS MIXED. AND WE ARE PROMISED THAT OUR HAPPINESS WILL LIE IN THE DEGREE TO WHICH WE DEVOTE OURSELVES TO SERVICE. THERE IS NO SHORT CUT, NO OTHER WAY TO GET THERE.
AND WHEN WE LEAVE MASS AFTER TAKING PART IN THE EUCHARIST, WE SHOULD RECALL THOSE WORDS OF JESUS: “WHOEVER WISHES TO BE GREAT AMONG YOU WILL BE YOUR SERVANT; WHOEVER WISHES TO BE FIRST AMONG YOU WILL BE THE SLAVE OF ALL.”
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