MATTHEW 5:13-16
ONE OF THE THINGS DEACONS AND PRIESTS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO IS WRITE DOWN ALL THE DETAILS FOR THEIR FUNERALS, AND FILE THEM WITH THE DIOCESE. IT SOUNDS A LITTLE MORBID, DOESN'T IT? BUT IT'S NOT SUCH A BAD IDEA. IT TAKES A HUGE BURDEN OFF OF THE PEOPLE YOU'VE LEFT BEHIND, WHO WILL HAVE ENOUGH PROBLEMS WITHOUT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE.
PART OF THE TASK IS TO SELECT THE MUSIC AND THE READINGS FOR THE FUNERAL MASS. I'M NOT MUCH OF A MUSIC PERSON, ALTHOUGH I LIKE TO SING. BUT MY FAVORITE PIECE OF SACRED MUSIC IS SHUBERT'S AVE MARIA, SO I'VE PUT THAT DOWN. ONE OF MY FAVORITE NON-SACRED PIECES IS THE STONE'S “SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL”, WHICH PROBABLY WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR MY FUNERAL, ALTHOUGH I HAVEN'T ASKED MY WIFE WHAT SHE THINKS YET.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GOSPEL, THE FIRST READING, THE SECOND READING? WHAT WOULD REFLECT YOUR LIFE, WHAT READINGS WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR LOVED ONES TO ASSOCIATE WITH YOU?
WOULD ANYONE PICK THE READINGS FROM TODAY? I'D BE ASHAMED TO, BUT I WISH I COULD. BECAUSE THESE VERY SHORT READINGS GIVE US THE ESSENCE OF WHAT GOD WANTS FROM US. AND IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU KNOW YOU FALL WAY SHORT.
JESUS SAYS WE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. IN JESUS TIME THERE WAS SALT WHICH WAS OBTAINED FROM MINES. THIS WAS VERY PURE, AND WAS USED BY THE VERY RICH, AND WEIGHED OUT AND USED TO PAY ROMAN SOLDIERS. SINCE IT WAS IN DEMAND ALL OVER THE EMPIRE, IT MADE A PRETTY GOOD MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE. BUT WHEN JESUS TALKED ABOUT SALT, HE WAS PROBABLY THINKING ABOUT BROWN AND YELLOW CRYSTALS THAT HAD BEEN OBTAINED FROM DRYING SEA WATER. IF YOU WERE A SALT MERCHANT, YOU MIGHT SELL SALT WITH A LOT OF SAND MIXED IN TO INCREASE YOUR PROFIT. POOR PEOPLE DIDN'T SPRINKLE SALT ON FOOD; THEY USED IT TO PRESERVE FOOD, AND WHEN THEY ATE THE MEAT OR FISH THAT HAD BEEN HEAVILY SALTED, THEY WASHED AWAY THE SALT. OBVIOUSLY IF YOUR SALT WAS MIXED WITH SAND, THE FOOD MIGHT NOT BE ADEQUATELY FLAVORED, OR MAYBE EVEN SPOILED. JESUS BRINGS UP THE IMAGE OF LIGHT AS WELL; IF WE HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL BASKET, WHAT GOOD ARE WE? IF WE DECIDE NOT TO BE SALT, IF WE DECIDE TO HIDE OUR LIGHT, WELL, THERE IS NO BACK UP PLAN. GOD HAS TURNED OVER TO US THE CREATION AND REALIZATION OF HIS KINGDOM. IT WILL COME, WE KNOW THAT. BUT GOD GIVES US THE CHANCE TO BE A PART OF IT.
THE FIRST READING FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH SHOWS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE LIGHT; SIMPLE THINGS – FEEDING THE HUNGRY, SHELTERING THE HOMELESS, CLOTHING THE NAKED – NOT ONLY DOES THAT CAUSE MY LIGHT TO SHINE FORTH, IT ENLISTS GOD HIMSELF IN MY ACTIONS, AND JUST AS WE BECOME LIGHT FOR THOSE AROUND US, GOD BECOMES LIGHT FOR US, HE ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS, HE PROTECTS US. BUT THIS PROMISE THAT GOD WILL LOOK AFTER THOSE WHO TAKE SERIOUSLY THAT THEY ARE LIGHT AND SALT, IS NOT UNIQUE TO ISAIAH; IT IS A THEME THAT RUNS THROUGH THE BIBLE. JESUS HIMSELF PROMISED THAT THE MEASURE WITH WHICH WE MEASURE AS WE GIVE TO OUR NEIGHBOR IS THE SAME MEASURE GOD WILL USE TO GIVE TO US; IF YOU OFFER A TEASPOON FULL OF LOVE, EXPECT A TEASPOON OF REWARD FROM GOD. IF YOU OFFER A TRUCKLOAD, A TRUCKLOAD FOR YOU IS PROMISED.
SAINT PAUL ADDS ANOTHER DIMENSION. I IMAGINE SOME OF YOU ARE LIKE ME. I HAVE A CHARACTER TRAIT THAT I WISH I DIDN'T HAVE. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SHAKE IT ALL MY LIFE. I DON'T LIKE TO BEGIN ANYTHING UNLESS I'M REASONABLY SURE OF THE OUTCOME, AND THE EFFORT WHICH I WILL HAVE TO EXERT. SO I THINK OF SOMETHING I HAVE TO DO, AND AFTER I ANALYZE IT FROM ALL SIDES I OFTEN END UP THINKING THAT THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO DO IT, I'M NOT PREPARED, I HAVE TOO MANY OTHER IRONS IN THE FIRE. SO I PUT IT ON THE BACK BURNER UNTIL I AM MORE PREPARED, UNTIL I HAVE MORE TIME. AND IF YOU WERE TO SEE MY BACK BURNER, IT IS PRETTY CROWDED. BUT SAINT PAUL WRITES TO HIS BELOVED CORINTHIANS. HE REMINDS THEM THAT WHEN HE CAME TO THEM, HE BROUGHT NOTHING – HE HADN'T PREPARED ELOQUENT SERMONS, HE DIDN'T BRING LOGICAL ARGUMENTS AND BRILLIANT THOUGHTS, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS EXTREMELY WELL EDUCATED. IN FACT, IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, PAUL TRIED THAT IN ATHENS. HE MET WITH THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE OF THE CITY AND TRIED TO BRING CHRIST TO THEM BY USING PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC. THEY REPLIED THAT IT WAS INTERESTING, AND MAYBE THEY'D HAVE HIM COME AROUND AGAIN SOME TIME. AND HERE, AN OLDER AND WISER PAUL RESOLVES TO STICK TO THE BASIC MESSAGE – THAT CHRIST SUFFERED, DIED, AND ROSE AGAIN, SO THAT WE COULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE – AND THE REST WOULD BE UP TO GOD.
YOU GO OUT, BEGIN TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, A LITTLE AT A TIME; YOU GO OUT AND SHINE A LITTLE OF THE LIGHT OF CHRIST, REFLECTED OFF OF YOU, INTO SOME DARK CORNERS; YOU GO OUT, UNPREPARED, NOT SEEING WHERE YOU WILL END UP, BEING LIKE JESUS WHO GAVE WHAT HE COULD TO THOSE WHO CROSSED HIS PATH. AND YOU GO OUT KNOWING ONLY THAT THE CRUCIFIED LORD GIVES YOU ALL THE POWER YOU NEED TO BE THE LIGHT, TO BE THE SALT. AND THE PROMISE IS THAT IF YOU ARE DOING THE WORK OF GOD, THE WORK LAID OUT BY ISAIAH, GOD HIMSELF WILL BE THERE WITH YOU. AND THAT'S THE RECIPE FOR BEING A SAINT. SIMPLE.
WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL IF AT YOUR FUNERAL, THOSE WHO KNEW YOU GOT TOGETHER AND SAID, “YOU KNOW, HE WAS A LIGHT SHINING IN THE DARKNESS, HER LIFE WAS LIKE THE SALT THAT KEEPS THINGS FRESH, THAT KEEPS CORRUPTION AT BAY. AND THIS GOSPEL IS THE RIGHT GOSPEL TO READ AT THE FUNERAL MASS.
I HOPE I HAVE A FEW MORE YEARS BEFORE MY FUNERAL MASS. AND I HOPE THAT BEFORE I DIE MAYBE I WILL GROW ENOUGH IN MY SPIRITUAL LIFE SO THAT THESE READINGS COULD BE READ AT MY FUNERAL, WITHOUT PEOPLE WONDERING WHAT ON EARTH THEY HAD TO DO WITH MY LIFE.
SO IN THE PLAN FOR MY FUNERAL I'VE GOT SHUBERT'S AVE MARIA, AND I'VE PICKED OUT SOME NICE READINGS. BUT A FUNERAL PLAN IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, AND MAYBE I'LL MAKE SOME CHANGES NOW AND THEN. IT'S GOOD TO LOOK AT THE PLAN ONCE A YEAR OR SO, AND WONDER WHETHER THOSE THINGS I'VE PUT IN THERE ARE STILL WHAT I WANT, OR WHETHER SOMETHING ELSE MIGHT BE APPROPRIATE, AND WHETHER I AM MAKING ANY PROGRESS IN MY SPIRITUAL LIFE, PROGRESS THAT CALLS FOR A DIFFERENT READINGS, DIFFERENT MUSIC.
MAYBE PLANNING ONE'S FUNERAL IS A GOOD THING FOR ALL OF US TO DO.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
MATTHEW 5:1-12
IF YOU COME TO CHURCH REGULARLY, YOU HAVE HEARD THE GOSPEL ABOUT THE BEATITUDES BEFORE. IT IS ALSO THE GOSPEL FOR ALL SAINTS DAY. THE BEATITUDES APPEAR IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FORM IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE. WHEN I HEAR THE BEATITUDES, I ALWAYS FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE. SURE, I WANT TO BE BLESSED, OR BLEST, OR HAPPY, DIFFERENT WORDS THAT YOU WILL RUN ACROSS IN DIFFERENT TRANSLATIONS. BUT THOSE CONDITIONS! FIRST, I DON'T REALLY WANT TO MOURN, OR BE PERSECUTED, OR BE POOR, IN SPIRIT OR IN REALITY. I'M NOT PARTICULARLY MEEK, SO IT LOOKS AS THOUGH I WON'T INHERIT THE EARTH ANY TIME SOON. I LIKE RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT I DON'T HUNGER AND THIRST FOR IT; AND I COULD GO ON.
SO WHAT IS JESUS TALKING ABOUT? ODDLY ENOUGH, DOWN THROUGH THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, MANY GREAT THEOLOGIANS AND PREACHERS HAVE ATTEMPTED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION, AND TWO THOUSAND YEARS HAVE NOT RESULTED IN AGREEMENT.
FOR EXAMPLE: THE BEATITUDES INSPIRED MANY OF THOSE WHO FOUNDED MONASTIC MOVEMENTS, OR BECAME MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS LIKE THE FRANCISCANS. BUT WHILE YOU CAN PRACTICE SOME OF THE BEATITUDES, SOME SEEM ACCIDENTAL – MOURNING, FOR EXAMPLE, REQUIRES SOMETHING TO MOURN ABOUT. AND IF YOU TRY TO CREATE SOMETHING TO MOURN ABOUT, IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU. THE SAME IS TRUE OF PERSECUTION. IF WE GO LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO PERSECUTE US, THAT SEEMS A LITTLE MASOCHISTIC. SO IF WE TAKE THEM ABSOLUTELY LITERALLY, AS IF THEY PRESCRIBE A WAY OF LIFE, THAT DOESN'T WORK.
THE OPPOSITE EXTREME, TAUGHT BY SOME OTHER CHRISTIAN THINKERS, IS THAT THESE ARE ALL SPIRITUAL. LUKE QUOTED JESUS AS SAYING, “BLESSED ARE THE POOR.” BUT MATTHEW CAME ALONG AND SAID, “BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT. MAYBE HE WAS GIVING US A HINT. IT'S A LOT EASIER TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT AND KEEP MY SUV AND FLAT PANEL TV THAN IT IS TO BE REALLY POOR AND WONDER WHERE MY NEXT MEAL IS COMING FROM. AND IF I SPIRITUALIZE EVERYTHING, THAT WORKS WELL. I CAN BE ARROGANT AND DOMINEERING ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT MEEK IN MY HEART; I CAN LAUGH AND PARTY A LOT, BUT IN MY HEART I CAN MOURN THAT THERE IS SIN IN THE WORLD. SEE HOW IT WORKS? WHEN SOME POLITICAL LEADER PROMISES TO MAKE ABORTION EVEN MORE AVAILABLE AND TELLS THE WORLD THAT THOSE WHO OPPOSE ABORTION ARE TRYING TO FORCE EVERYONE TO ACCEPT THEIR PRIVATE CONVICTIONS, WELL, I CAN FEEL PERSECUTED BECAUSE I AM AGAINST ABORTION, AT LEAST ENOUGH SO THAT I WOULDN'T HAVE ONE MYSELF.
KARL BARTH, A PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN WHO POPE BENEDICT CALLED THE GREATEST THEOLOGIAN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, SAID THAT JESUS HIMSELF FULFILLS THE BEATITUDES, SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO. AND CERTAINLY EACH BEATITUDE IS FULFILLED PERFECTLY BY JESUS; HE IS POOR, HUNGERS AND THIRSTS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS; HE IS MEEK; HE MOURNS ESPECIALLY ABOUT THOSE WHO REJECT WHAT HE OFFERS; AND OF COURSE HE IS PERSECUTED. BUT WHILE YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH THAT LOGIC, JESUS IS CLEARLY TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE, NOT A PERSON.
SO WHEN YOU CAN'T FIGURE SOMETHING OUT IT'S TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW THINGS ACTUALLY WERE IN JESUS' DAY; WHAT WAS THE WORLD LIKE IN THEN?
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT IT WAS EASIER FOR A CAMEL TO SQUEEZE THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE THAN IT WAS FOR A RICH MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN? WHAT DID THE DISCIPLES SAY? SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT THAT IF A RICH MAN CAN'T DO IT, HOW CAN ANYONE EXPECT THEM TO DO IT? AFTER ALL, A RICH MAN HAD THE LEISURE TO FOLLOW THE LAW PERFECTLY; HE HAD THE MONEY TO OFFER SACRIFICES; HE HAD THE TIME TO STUDY SCRIPTURE; AND IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT GOD HAD BLESSED HIM, BECAUSE HE WAS RICH! AND THE APOSTLES DEMONSTRATED THIS MIND SET ANOTHER TIME, WHEN THEY ASKED JESUS WHETHER A BLIND MAN WAS BLIND BECAUSE OF HIS OWN SIN, OR THE SIN OF HIS PARENTS? IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE BEING BLIND FROM BIRTH WAS A SIGN THAT GOD DIDN'T LIKE YOU, AND GOD DIDN'T LIKE PEOPLE WHO SINNED, SO LOGICALLY, SOMEONE BLIND WAS AFFECTED BY SIN.
AND IF YOU LOST A LOVED ONE AND WERE MOURNING, OR IF YOU WERE TOO SHY TO STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU DESERVED, OR IF YOU WERE POOR, OR PERSECUTED, WELL, THOSE WERE ALL SIGNS THAT SIN HAD AFFECTED YOUR LIFE.
SO CAN YOU IMAGINE THE EFFECT OF JESUS' WORDS ON PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT LIKE THIS? WHY, IT CHALLENGED EVERYTHING THEY KNEW. AND IN A SOCIETY WHERE THERE WAS ALWAYS CONFLICT BETWEEN JEWS AND ROMANS, PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES, JEWS AND SAMARITANS, AND WHERE EVERYONE ASSUMED THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE, JESUS BLESSED PEACEMAKERS, EVEN THOUGH THEY NEVER SEEMED TO SUCCEED. AND WHERE EVERYONE WAS OUT TO GET WHAT WAS COMING TO THEM, EVEN IF IT MEANT CHEATING A BIT, JESUS BLESSED THE RIGHTEOUS, THOSE WHO WANTED JUSTICE, EVEN WHEN IT MADE REGULAR PEOPLE FEEL GUILTY AND SOMETIMES ANGRY. AND IF GOD IS BLESSING ALL OF THESE PEOPLE, NOT IN THE FUTURE, BUT RIGHT NOW – IT MUST HAVE SLOWLY DAWNED ON JESUS' HEARERS THAT GOD WANTS TO BLESS, INDEED DOES BLESS, EVERYONE. HE DESIRES TO BLESS EVERYONE; HIS JOY IS TO GIVE US WHAT WE NEED TO BE HAPPY.
AND NOW THE BEATITUDES START TO MAKE SENSE. FIRST, JESUS IS SAYING, LOOK AROUND YOU. DO YOU SEE PEOPLE WHO LOOK GOD-FORSAKEN? PEOPLE LIVING IN SIN, PEOPLE LIVING IN POVERTY, STUMBLING ALCOHOLICS, DOPE ADDICTS? DO YOU SEE THAT WOMAN FURTIVELY ENTERING THE ABORTION CLINIC FOR THE FOURTH OR FIFTH TIME? DO YOU SEE THAT OLD MAN WITH ALZHEIMER,S DISEASE, THAT WOMAN WHOSE MENTAL ILLNESS WAXES AND WANES? GOD IS BLESSING ALL OF THEM, HE IS SHOWERING THEM WITH HIS GRACE, HE IS CALLING THEM TO HIMSELF, HE IS LOVING THEM. AND IF HE IS DOING THIS, HE IS BLESSING YOU, AND THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU. AND HE IS MADLY IN LOVE WITH THE PEOPLE HE CREATED, THE PEOPLE HE DIED FOR, THE PEOPLE IN WHOM HE MAKES HIS DWELLING. SAINT PAUL SUMMED IT UP: “NEITHER HEIGHT NOR DEPTH, NOR ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATION, WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD.”
AND THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS, THE GOSPEL. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A HAPPY BABY? I'VE SEEN QUITE A FEW. BABIES ARE HAPPY BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE UNCONDITIONALLY LOVED. THEY CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE THAT ANYTHING THEY DO COULD CHANGE THAT FACT, AND KNOWING THAT ONE ELEMENTARY BIT OF INFORMATION, THEY FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE, TO LEARN TO WALK, TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE, TO GROW INTO BEING THEMSELVES, TO BECOME PERSONS. AND IF I TRULY BELIEVE THAT GOD UNCONDITIONALLY LOVES ME, I CAN DO AMAZING THINGS, AND I CAN BE BLESSED, I CAN BE HAPPY.
ISN'T THIS WONDERFUL NEWS? DON'T YOU WISH EVERYONE KNEW THAT GOD LOVES THEM PASSIONATELY, THAT HE IS RIGHT NOW BLESSING THEM, THAT EVEN WHEN THEY FEEL THAT THEY ARE ABANDONED AND MISERABLE, HE IS THERE, HE IS ALWAYS THERE. AND JESUS TELLS US THAT EVEN IF WE DIE, GOD'S BLESSING IS STILL WITH US, AND IF WE ACCEPT HIS BLESSING, WE WILL LIVE FOREVER IN THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHER. GO OUT AND SHARE THIS GOOD NEWS, AND AS YOU DO, YOU WILL FIND IT BECOMING MORE AND MORE REAL FOR YOU.
IF YOU COME TO CHURCH REGULARLY, YOU HAVE HEARD THE GOSPEL ABOUT THE BEATITUDES BEFORE. IT IS ALSO THE GOSPEL FOR ALL SAINTS DAY. THE BEATITUDES APPEAR IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FORM IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE. WHEN I HEAR THE BEATITUDES, I ALWAYS FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE. SURE, I WANT TO BE BLESSED, OR BLEST, OR HAPPY, DIFFERENT WORDS THAT YOU WILL RUN ACROSS IN DIFFERENT TRANSLATIONS. BUT THOSE CONDITIONS! FIRST, I DON'T REALLY WANT TO MOURN, OR BE PERSECUTED, OR BE POOR, IN SPIRIT OR IN REALITY. I'M NOT PARTICULARLY MEEK, SO IT LOOKS AS THOUGH I WON'T INHERIT THE EARTH ANY TIME SOON. I LIKE RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT I DON'T HUNGER AND THIRST FOR IT; AND I COULD GO ON.
SO WHAT IS JESUS TALKING ABOUT? ODDLY ENOUGH, DOWN THROUGH THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, MANY GREAT THEOLOGIANS AND PREACHERS HAVE ATTEMPTED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION, AND TWO THOUSAND YEARS HAVE NOT RESULTED IN AGREEMENT.
FOR EXAMPLE: THE BEATITUDES INSPIRED MANY OF THOSE WHO FOUNDED MONASTIC MOVEMENTS, OR BECAME MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS LIKE THE FRANCISCANS. BUT WHILE YOU CAN PRACTICE SOME OF THE BEATITUDES, SOME SEEM ACCIDENTAL – MOURNING, FOR EXAMPLE, REQUIRES SOMETHING TO MOURN ABOUT. AND IF YOU TRY TO CREATE SOMETHING TO MOURN ABOUT, IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU. THE SAME IS TRUE OF PERSECUTION. IF WE GO LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO PERSECUTE US, THAT SEEMS A LITTLE MASOCHISTIC. SO IF WE TAKE THEM ABSOLUTELY LITERALLY, AS IF THEY PRESCRIBE A WAY OF LIFE, THAT DOESN'T WORK.
THE OPPOSITE EXTREME, TAUGHT BY SOME OTHER CHRISTIAN THINKERS, IS THAT THESE ARE ALL SPIRITUAL. LUKE QUOTED JESUS AS SAYING, “BLESSED ARE THE POOR.” BUT MATTHEW CAME ALONG AND SAID, “BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT. MAYBE HE WAS GIVING US A HINT. IT'S A LOT EASIER TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT AND KEEP MY SUV AND FLAT PANEL TV THAN IT IS TO BE REALLY POOR AND WONDER WHERE MY NEXT MEAL IS COMING FROM. AND IF I SPIRITUALIZE EVERYTHING, THAT WORKS WELL. I CAN BE ARROGANT AND DOMINEERING ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT MEEK IN MY HEART; I CAN LAUGH AND PARTY A LOT, BUT IN MY HEART I CAN MOURN THAT THERE IS SIN IN THE WORLD. SEE HOW IT WORKS? WHEN SOME POLITICAL LEADER PROMISES TO MAKE ABORTION EVEN MORE AVAILABLE AND TELLS THE WORLD THAT THOSE WHO OPPOSE ABORTION ARE TRYING TO FORCE EVERYONE TO ACCEPT THEIR PRIVATE CONVICTIONS, WELL, I CAN FEEL PERSECUTED BECAUSE I AM AGAINST ABORTION, AT LEAST ENOUGH SO THAT I WOULDN'T HAVE ONE MYSELF.
KARL BARTH, A PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN WHO POPE BENEDICT CALLED THE GREATEST THEOLOGIAN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, SAID THAT JESUS HIMSELF FULFILLS THE BEATITUDES, SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO. AND CERTAINLY EACH BEATITUDE IS FULFILLED PERFECTLY BY JESUS; HE IS POOR, HUNGERS AND THIRSTS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS; HE IS MEEK; HE MOURNS ESPECIALLY ABOUT THOSE WHO REJECT WHAT HE OFFERS; AND OF COURSE HE IS PERSECUTED. BUT WHILE YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH THAT LOGIC, JESUS IS CLEARLY TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE, NOT A PERSON.
SO WHEN YOU CAN'T FIGURE SOMETHING OUT IT'S TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW THINGS ACTUALLY WERE IN JESUS' DAY; WHAT WAS THE WORLD LIKE IN THEN?
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT IT WAS EASIER FOR A CAMEL TO SQUEEZE THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE THAN IT WAS FOR A RICH MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN? WHAT DID THE DISCIPLES SAY? SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT THAT IF A RICH MAN CAN'T DO IT, HOW CAN ANYONE EXPECT THEM TO DO IT? AFTER ALL, A RICH MAN HAD THE LEISURE TO FOLLOW THE LAW PERFECTLY; HE HAD THE MONEY TO OFFER SACRIFICES; HE HAD THE TIME TO STUDY SCRIPTURE; AND IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT GOD HAD BLESSED HIM, BECAUSE HE WAS RICH! AND THE APOSTLES DEMONSTRATED THIS MIND SET ANOTHER TIME, WHEN THEY ASKED JESUS WHETHER A BLIND MAN WAS BLIND BECAUSE OF HIS OWN SIN, OR THE SIN OF HIS PARENTS? IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE BEING BLIND FROM BIRTH WAS A SIGN THAT GOD DIDN'T LIKE YOU, AND GOD DIDN'T LIKE PEOPLE WHO SINNED, SO LOGICALLY, SOMEONE BLIND WAS AFFECTED BY SIN.
AND IF YOU LOST A LOVED ONE AND WERE MOURNING, OR IF YOU WERE TOO SHY TO STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU DESERVED, OR IF YOU WERE POOR, OR PERSECUTED, WELL, THOSE WERE ALL SIGNS THAT SIN HAD AFFECTED YOUR LIFE.
SO CAN YOU IMAGINE THE EFFECT OF JESUS' WORDS ON PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT LIKE THIS? WHY, IT CHALLENGED EVERYTHING THEY KNEW. AND IN A SOCIETY WHERE THERE WAS ALWAYS CONFLICT BETWEEN JEWS AND ROMANS, PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES, JEWS AND SAMARITANS, AND WHERE EVERYONE ASSUMED THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE, JESUS BLESSED PEACEMAKERS, EVEN THOUGH THEY NEVER SEEMED TO SUCCEED. AND WHERE EVERYONE WAS OUT TO GET WHAT WAS COMING TO THEM, EVEN IF IT MEANT CHEATING A BIT, JESUS BLESSED THE RIGHTEOUS, THOSE WHO WANTED JUSTICE, EVEN WHEN IT MADE REGULAR PEOPLE FEEL GUILTY AND SOMETIMES ANGRY. AND IF GOD IS BLESSING ALL OF THESE PEOPLE, NOT IN THE FUTURE, BUT RIGHT NOW – IT MUST HAVE SLOWLY DAWNED ON JESUS' HEARERS THAT GOD WANTS TO BLESS, INDEED DOES BLESS, EVERYONE. HE DESIRES TO BLESS EVERYONE; HIS JOY IS TO GIVE US WHAT WE NEED TO BE HAPPY.
AND NOW THE BEATITUDES START TO MAKE SENSE. FIRST, JESUS IS SAYING, LOOK AROUND YOU. DO YOU SEE PEOPLE WHO LOOK GOD-FORSAKEN? PEOPLE LIVING IN SIN, PEOPLE LIVING IN POVERTY, STUMBLING ALCOHOLICS, DOPE ADDICTS? DO YOU SEE THAT WOMAN FURTIVELY ENTERING THE ABORTION CLINIC FOR THE FOURTH OR FIFTH TIME? DO YOU SEE THAT OLD MAN WITH ALZHEIMER,S DISEASE, THAT WOMAN WHOSE MENTAL ILLNESS WAXES AND WANES? GOD IS BLESSING ALL OF THEM, HE IS SHOWERING THEM WITH HIS GRACE, HE IS CALLING THEM TO HIMSELF, HE IS LOVING THEM. AND IF HE IS DOING THIS, HE IS BLESSING YOU, AND THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU. AND HE IS MADLY IN LOVE WITH THE PEOPLE HE CREATED, THE PEOPLE HE DIED FOR, THE PEOPLE IN WHOM HE MAKES HIS DWELLING. SAINT PAUL SUMMED IT UP: “NEITHER HEIGHT NOR DEPTH, NOR ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATION, WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD.”
AND THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS, THE GOSPEL. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A HAPPY BABY? I'VE SEEN QUITE A FEW. BABIES ARE HAPPY BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE UNCONDITIONALLY LOVED. THEY CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE THAT ANYTHING THEY DO COULD CHANGE THAT FACT, AND KNOWING THAT ONE ELEMENTARY BIT OF INFORMATION, THEY FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE, TO LEARN TO WALK, TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE, TO GROW INTO BEING THEMSELVES, TO BECOME PERSONS. AND IF I TRULY BELIEVE THAT GOD UNCONDITIONALLY LOVES ME, I CAN DO AMAZING THINGS, AND I CAN BE BLESSED, I CAN BE HAPPY.
ISN'T THIS WONDERFUL NEWS? DON'T YOU WISH EVERYONE KNEW THAT GOD LOVES THEM PASSIONATELY, THAT HE IS RIGHT NOW BLESSING THEM, THAT EVEN WHEN THEY FEEL THAT THEY ARE ABANDONED AND MISERABLE, HE IS THERE, HE IS ALWAYS THERE. AND JESUS TELLS US THAT EVEN IF WE DIE, GOD'S BLESSING IS STILL WITH US, AND IF WE ACCEPT HIS BLESSING, WE WILL LIVE FOREVER IN THE HOUSE OF OUR FATHER. GO OUT AND SHARE THIS GOOD NEWS, AND AS YOU DO, YOU WILL FIND IT BECOMING MORE AND MORE REAL FOR YOU.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Third Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 4:12-23
IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, AND YOU ARE, YOU ARE NOT ENTIRELY SURE ABOUT WANTING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AT HAND. YOU DON'T WANT IT OUT OF SIGHT, BUT YOU ALSO DON'T WANT IT KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR, DEMANDING A RESPONSE FROM YOU. IT'S NICE IF IT'S JUST FAR ENOUGH AWAY SO THAT WE CAN GET INVOLVED WITH IT IF WE WANT TO, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IGNORE IT'S DEMANDS AS LONG AS THEY ARE INCONVENIENT TO US.
WE CHRISTIANS LOVE CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE JESUS IS A LITTLE BABY, CUTE AND CUDDLY, AND MAKING NO DEMANDS ON US. REMEMBER THAT LINE FROM THE CHRISTMAS HYMN, “LITTLE LORD JESUS, NO CRYING HE MAKES”.
HOLY SATURDAY IS ANOTHER TIME WHEN THE PRESSURE IS OFF. IT IS THE DAY WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS DEAD AND BURIED. WE DON'T HAVE MASS; IT IS A QUIET DAY WHEN ALL THE TENSION AND DRAMA OF HOLY WEEK TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND RELAXES BEFORE THE CLIMAX OF EASTER – WHEN JESUS RETURNS FROM THE DEAD AND AGAIN ANNOUNCES, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
IF YOU ARE IN TUNE WITH THE LITURGICAL YEAR, MOST OF THE TIME THERE IS THAT NAGGING FEELING – THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS DEMANDING A RESPONSE, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE NEUTRAL.
BUT WE ARE CHRISTIANS, WE ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE FATHER AND JESUS IS OUR BROTHER, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US. WHY DO WE HAVE THESE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, WHICH IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE WAY GOD WANTS THE WORLD TO BE, THE NEW WORLD THAT JESUS PREACHED, THE WORLD WHERE THERE ARE NO POOR PEOPLE, WHERE THERE IS NO PAIN AND SUFFERING, WHERE THERE ARE NO CRAZED YOUNG MEN WHO SHOOT PEOPLE, OR MEN AND WOMEN WHO BECOME SUICIDE BOMBERS BECAUSE THEY THINK THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS OF THEM? AS MOTHER THERESA AND SAINT FRANCIS AND ANY SAINT YOU CAN THINK OF PROVED, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS RIGHT HERE, AND YOU AND I CAN BRING IT INTO BEING, WE CAN MAKE IT REAL, RIGHT NOW, TODAY, IF WE WANT TO. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS TO BE JESUS CHRIST TO THOSE PEOPLE AROUND US – FAMILY MEMBERS, PEOPLE WE WORK WITH. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS OFFER THEM OUR LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT; ALL WE NEED TO DO IS SEE WHAT THEY NEED AND DO WHAT WE CAN TO FULFILL THOSE NEEDS. IF WE DO THAT EVERY DAY WE WILL BRING TO LIFE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
JESUS WALKED ALONG THE SEASHORE, AND TOLD FOUR MEN TO FOLLOW HIM. THEY WEREN'T EDUCATED; THEY COULDN'T EVEN SPEAK GOOD HEBREW LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED DOWN IN JERUSALEM; AND THEY SMELLED LIKE FISH. WE READ HOW THEY DROPPED EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW JESUS. BUT IF WE READ FURTHER IN THE GOSPELS, THEY WOULD GO ALONG WITH JESUS FOR A WHILE, THEN RETURN HOME; THEN GO OUT WITH HIM AGAIN. JESUS SPENT THE FIRST PART OF HIS MINISTRY WANDERING AROUND AN AREA IN NORTHERN ISRAEL ABOUT 30 MILES ACROSS BEFORE HE WENT TO JERUSALEM TO BE CRUCIFIED AND DIE. AND PETER, ANDREW, JAMES AND JOHN, LIKE YOU AND I, HAD TO LEARN TO BRING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN INTO THEIR OWN LIVES, INTO THE MIDST OF THEIR FAMILIES AND OCCUPATIONS – THEY HAD TO LEARN THIS BEFORE THEY COULD BECOME MISSIONARIES AND CO-FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH. BECAUSE THE FIRST DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN IS TO MAKE REAL THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN HIS OR HER OWN LIFE.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN CAME INTO BEING FOR A PHYSICIAN FRIEND OF MINE WHO FELT CALLED TO JOIN A MEDICAL MISSIONARY GROUP THAT DEVOTES MUCH OF THEIR VACATION TIME TO STAFFING A CLINIC IN HAITI. SHE VOLUNTEERED FOR ONE TOUR, AND HAS GONE BACK TEN TIMES, AND GOTTEN A FEW OTHER PEOPLE TO GO WITH HER. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS BEING REALIZED BIT BY BIT BY A GROUP OF LADIES IN HOLYOKE THAT HAVE MADE MORE THAN 100,000 ROSARIES AND SENT THEM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO MISSIONARIES.
YOU WON'T FIND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AT THE MOVIES, OR ON THE INTERNET, OR OUT ON THE GOLF COURSE. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THOSE THINGS, OF COURSE, BUT AS WE USE THE MOMENTS OF EVERY DAY – TIME THAT WE'LL NEVER HAVE AGAIN – WE NEED TO ASK WHETHER THAT IS WHERE WE WILL FIND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. IF NOT, MAYBE WE NEED TO RETHINK OUR ROUTINE, OUR HABITS. JESUS TALKED ABOUT THE MERCHANT WHO SOLD EVERYTHING HE HAD SO THAT HE COULD BUY A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.
SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF SISTER OLGA YAQOB, WHO IS A MYSTIC OF SORTS AND ACTS AS A CAMPUS MINISTER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY. SHE MAKES IT A POINT EACH YEAR TO SELECT A SAINT AND THEN CONSCIOUSLY TRIES TO IMITATE THAT SAINT. NOT A BAD IDEA IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN – FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS FOUND IT, AND IMITATE HIM OR HER.
WE ALL KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, AND YOU ARE, YOU KNOW THAT THE MOMENTS WHEN YOU'VE BEEN THE HAPPIEST HAVE BEEN WHEN YOU ARE GIVING YOURSELF TO SOMEONE ELSE; WHEN YOU SEE YOUR FAMILY APPRECIATING THAT SUPPER YOU'VE PREPARED; WHEN YOU SEE THE LOOK ON A CHILD'S FACE WHEN YOU GIVE HER THAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT SHE'S BEEN LONGING FOR. AND A PERSON WHO WAKES UP ONE DAY AND REALIZES THAT NO ONE NEEDS HIM – THAT IS A SAD PERSON, THAT IS A SURE ROAD TO DEPRESSION. JESUS MAKES IT SO SIMPLE -- “FOLLOW ME. DO WHAT I DO. LEARN FROM ME. THEN YOU WILL BE HAPPY, THEN YOU WILL BEGIN YOUR HEAVEN RIGHT HERE ON EARTH.”
I HAVE TO WARN YOU. HEAVEN IS NOT A PLACE WHERE YOU WILL SIT ON A CLOUD DOING NOTHING. HEAVEN IS A PLACE WHERE THOSE WHO GET THERE WILL CONTINUE WHAT THEY WERE DOING ON EARTH – LIVING OUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. SAINT THERESA PROMISED THAT SHE WOULD SPEND HER HEAVEN DOING GOOD ON EARTH; AND IF THE BLESSED MOTHER HAS APPEARED EVEN A FRACTION OF THE TIMES SHE'S BEEN SAID TO HAVE APPEARED, WE KNOW SHE KEEPS BUSY.
FOUR ORDINARY MEN HEARD JESUS ANNOUNCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AND LEFT EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW HIM. JESUS ANNOUNCES THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN TODAY, HERE IN THIS CHURCH, AND INVITES YOU AND I TO FOLLOW HIM. THOSE FOUR MEN DIDN'T GET IT AT FIRST OR EVEN LATER; BUT THEY DID GET IT EVENTUALLY – BECAUSE THEY BEGAN TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES WHEN THEY HEARD JESUS CALL THEM. WILL YOU AND I DO LIKEWISE?
IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, AND YOU ARE, YOU ARE NOT ENTIRELY SURE ABOUT WANTING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AT HAND. YOU DON'T WANT IT OUT OF SIGHT, BUT YOU ALSO DON'T WANT IT KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR, DEMANDING A RESPONSE FROM YOU. IT'S NICE IF IT'S JUST FAR ENOUGH AWAY SO THAT WE CAN GET INVOLVED WITH IT IF WE WANT TO, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IGNORE IT'S DEMANDS AS LONG AS THEY ARE INCONVENIENT TO US.
WE CHRISTIANS LOVE CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE JESUS IS A LITTLE BABY, CUTE AND CUDDLY, AND MAKING NO DEMANDS ON US. REMEMBER THAT LINE FROM THE CHRISTMAS HYMN, “LITTLE LORD JESUS, NO CRYING HE MAKES”.
HOLY SATURDAY IS ANOTHER TIME WHEN THE PRESSURE IS OFF. IT IS THE DAY WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS DEAD AND BURIED. WE DON'T HAVE MASS; IT IS A QUIET DAY WHEN ALL THE TENSION AND DRAMA OF HOLY WEEK TAKES A DEEP BREATH AND RELAXES BEFORE THE CLIMAX OF EASTER – WHEN JESUS RETURNS FROM THE DEAD AND AGAIN ANNOUNCES, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
IF YOU ARE IN TUNE WITH THE LITURGICAL YEAR, MOST OF THE TIME THERE IS THAT NAGGING FEELING – THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS DEMANDING A RESPONSE, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE NEUTRAL.
BUT WE ARE CHRISTIANS, WE ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE FATHER AND JESUS IS OUR BROTHER, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US. WHY DO WE HAVE THESE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, WHICH IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE WAY GOD WANTS THE WORLD TO BE, THE NEW WORLD THAT JESUS PREACHED, THE WORLD WHERE THERE ARE NO POOR PEOPLE, WHERE THERE IS NO PAIN AND SUFFERING, WHERE THERE ARE NO CRAZED YOUNG MEN WHO SHOOT PEOPLE, OR MEN AND WOMEN WHO BECOME SUICIDE BOMBERS BECAUSE THEY THINK THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS OF THEM? AS MOTHER THERESA AND SAINT FRANCIS AND ANY SAINT YOU CAN THINK OF PROVED, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS RIGHT HERE, AND YOU AND I CAN BRING IT INTO BEING, WE CAN MAKE IT REAL, RIGHT NOW, TODAY, IF WE WANT TO. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS TO BE JESUS CHRIST TO THOSE PEOPLE AROUND US – FAMILY MEMBERS, PEOPLE WE WORK WITH. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS OFFER THEM OUR LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT; ALL WE NEED TO DO IS SEE WHAT THEY NEED AND DO WHAT WE CAN TO FULFILL THOSE NEEDS. IF WE DO THAT EVERY DAY WE WILL BRING TO LIFE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
JESUS WALKED ALONG THE SEASHORE, AND TOLD FOUR MEN TO FOLLOW HIM. THEY WEREN'T EDUCATED; THEY COULDN'T EVEN SPEAK GOOD HEBREW LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED DOWN IN JERUSALEM; AND THEY SMELLED LIKE FISH. WE READ HOW THEY DROPPED EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW JESUS. BUT IF WE READ FURTHER IN THE GOSPELS, THEY WOULD GO ALONG WITH JESUS FOR A WHILE, THEN RETURN HOME; THEN GO OUT WITH HIM AGAIN. JESUS SPENT THE FIRST PART OF HIS MINISTRY WANDERING AROUND AN AREA IN NORTHERN ISRAEL ABOUT 30 MILES ACROSS BEFORE HE WENT TO JERUSALEM TO BE CRUCIFIED AND DIE. AND PETER, ANDREW, JAMES AND JOHN, LIKE YOU AND I, HAD TO LEARN TO BRING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN INTO THEIR OWN LIVES, INTO THE MIDST OF THEIR FAMILIES AND OCCUPATIONS – THEY HAD TO LEARN THIS BEFORE THEY COULD BECOME MISSIONARIES AND CO-FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH. BECAUSE THE FIRST DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN IS TO MAKE REAL THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN HIS OR HER OWN LIFE.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN CAME INTO BEING FOR A PHYSICIAN FRIEND OF MINE WHO FELT CALLED TO JOIN A MEDICAL MISSIONARY GROUP THAT DEVOTES MUCH OF THEIR VACATION TIME TO STAFFING A CLINIC IN HAITI. SHE VOLUNTEERED FOR ONE TOUR, AND HAS GONE BACK TEN TIMES, AND GOTTEN A FEW OTHER PEOPLE TO GO WITH HER. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS BEING REALIZED BIT BY BIT BY A GROUP OF LADIES IN HOLYOKE THAT HAVE MADE MORE THAN 100,000 ROSARIES AND SENT THEM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO MISSIONARIES.
YOU WON'T FIND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AT THE MOVIES, OR ON THE INTERNET, OR OUT ON THE GOLF COURSE. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THOSE THINGS, OF COURSE, BUT AS WE USE THE MOMENTS OF EVERY DAY – TIME THAT WE'LL NEVER HAVE AGAIN – WE NEED TO ASK WHETHER THAT IS WHERE WE WILL FIND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. IF NOT, MAYBE WE NEED TO RETHINK OUR ROUTINE, OUR HABITS. JESUS TALKED ABOUT THE MERCHANT WHO SOLD EVERYTHING HE HAD SO THAT HE COULD BUY A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.
SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF SISTER OLGA YAQOB, WHO IS A MYSTIC OF SORTS AND ACTS AS A CAMPUS MINISTER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY. SHE MAKES IT A POINT EACH YEAR TO SELECT A SAINT AND THEN CONSCIOUSLY TRIES TO IMITATE THAT SAINT. NOT A BAD IDEA IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN – FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS FOUND IT, AND IMITATE HIM OR HER.
WE ALL KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, AND YOU ARE, YOU KNOW THAT THE MOMENTS WHEN YOU'VE BEEN THE HAPPIEST HAVE BEEN WHEN YOU ARE GIVING YOURSELF TO SOMEONE ELSE; WHEN YOU SEE YOUR FAMILY APPRECIATING THAT SUPPER YOU'VE PREPARED; WHEN YOU SEE THE LOOK ON A CHILD'S FACE WHEN YOU GIVE HER THAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT SHE'S BEEN LONGING FOR. AND A PERSON WHO WAKES UP ONE DAY AND REALIZES THAT NO ONE NEEDS HIM – THAT IS A SAD PERSON, THAT IS A SURE ROAD TO DEPRESSION. JESUS MAKES IT SO SIMPLE -- “FOLLOW ME. DO WHAT I DO. LEARN FROM ME. THEN YOU WILL BE HAPPY, THEN YOU WILL BEGIN YOUR HEAVEN RIGHT HERE ON EARTH.”
I HAVE TO WARN YOU. HEAVEN IS NOT A PLACE WHERE YOU WILL SIT ON A CLOUD DOING NOTHING. HEAVEN IS A PLACE WHERE THOSE WHO GET THERE WILL CONTINUE WHAT THEY WERE DOING ON EARTH – LIVING OUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. SAINT THERESA PROMISED THAT SHE WOULD SPEND HER HEAVEN DOING GOOD ON EARTH; AND IF THE BLESSED MOTHER HAS APPEARED EVEN A FRACTION OF THE TIMES SHE'S BEEN SAID TO HAVE APPEARED, WE KNOW SHE KEEPS BUSY.
FOUR ORDINARY MEN HEARD JESUS ANNOUNCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AND LEFT EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW HIM. JESUS ANNOUNCES THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN TODAY, HERE IN THIS CHURCH, AND INVITES YOU AND I TO FOLLOW HIM. THOSE FOUR MEN DIDN'T GET IT AT FIRST OR EVEN LATER; BUT THEY DID GET IT EVENTUALLY – BECAUSE THEY BEGAN TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES WHEN THEY HEARD JESUS CALL THEM. WILL YOU AND I DO LIKEWISE?
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
JOHN 1:29-34
SOMETIMES IT SEEMS AS THOUGH SOME LUCKY INDIVIDUALS HAVE A DESTINY. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IT WAS ALL PREORDAINED. WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL TO BE LIKE THAT – TO ALWAYS SEE WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GO. TO KNOW WITH CERTAINTY WHERE GOD WAS LEADING YOU. THE VATICAN JUST ANNOUNCED THAT POPE JOHN PAUL II WILL BE BEATIFIED THE SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. IT'S VERY EARLY IN THE PROCESS, BUT THE OBLIGATORY MIRACLE HAS BEEN CERTIFIED, AND HIS LIFE HAS BEEN GONE OVER WITH A FINE TOOTHED COMB. AND JOHN PAUL SEEMS TO HAVE HAD ONE OF THOSE LIVES OF DESTINY. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS PREDESTINED, AND THE OUTCOME WAS THAT HE BECAME ONE OF OUR GREATEST POPES, AND INDEED, MANY FEEL THAT HIS LEADERSHIP SAVED THE CHURCH. I DON'T KNOW HOW HIS LIFE LOOKED TO JOHN PAUL II; BUT I THINK WE DO KNOW WHAT HIS LIFE LOOKED LIKE TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.
THINK OF THE THINGS WE KNOW. HE WAS JESUS' COUSIN, AND EVEN BEFORE HIS BIRTH, WE ARE TOLD THAT HE REACTED TO JESUS' PRESENCE. LAST SUNDAY WE HEARD ABOUT HOW, WHEN JESUS CAME TO HIM FOR BAPTISM, JOHN EXCLAIMED THAT HE SHOULD BE BAPTIZED BY JESUS. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH JOHN ALWAYS HAD AN INTUITION THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR SOMEONE; HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS. HE TOLD THOSE WHO HEARD HIM THAT SOMEONE WAS COMING WHO WAS GREATER THAN HIM, SO GREAT THAT HE WASN'T WORTHY TO UNTIE HIS SANDAL STRAP. BUT WHEN YOU READ FURTHER INTO WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT JOHN, THERE IS UNCERTAINTY. TODAY HE ADMITS TWICE THAT HE DID NOT KNOW JESUS, THE ONE FOR WHOM HE WAS TO PREPARE THE WAY. AND IN ANOTHER STORY HE SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO JESUS TO ASK “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN KNEW HE WAS GIVEN A MISSION BY GOD. WE CAN ALMOST IMAGINE THAT BEFORE HE STARTED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY, HE MUST HAVE DONE A LOT OF THINKING AND SEARCHING. HIS FATHER WAS A PRIEST, AFTER ALL, SO JOHN PROBABLY HAD A DECENT EDUCATION. WE KNOW HE SPENT TIME IN THE DESERT, JUST LIKE JESUS DID AFTER HIS BAPTISM. AS HE SEARCHED TO KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR HIMSELF, HE LIVED IN THE DESERT LIKE A HERMIT, AND WHEN HE CAME BACK TO CIVILIZATION, HE LOOKED LIKE A WILD MAN. AND AT EVERY MOMENT, EVEN THOUGH HE ACTED BOLDLY, AND EVEN THOUGH WHEN WE LOOK ACROSS THOSE TWO THOUSAND YEARS IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HIS LIFE WAS SCRIPTED, AND THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS ALMOST PREDESTINED, THE GOSPELS GIVE US A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE – A JOHN WHO DESPITE HIS DEDICATION, HIS COURAGE, HIS HOLINESS, DOESN'T RECOGNIZE JESUS. OF COURSE HE DOES, EVENTUALLY, BUT EVEN IN HIS LAST DAYS IN HEROD'S PRISON, HE'S NOT QUITE SURE. AND I WONDER IF, WHEN JOHN WENT TO HIS EXECUTION, OR WHEN JOHN PAUL II REALIZED THAT HIS DEATH WAS NEAR, THESE GREAT SAINTS MAY HAVE HAD A MOMENT OF UNCERTAINTY, A WISH FOR CLARITY – DID THEIR LIVES REALLY HAVE MEANING? DID THEY REALLY HAVE A DESTINY? I SUSPECT THAT THIS IS A QUESTION THAT EVERYONE HAS AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES – DID I MATTER? DID MY LIFE MAKE A DIFFERENCE? DID I DO WHAT GOD WANTED ME TO DO, OR IS THERE A GOD AT ALL?
IN THE END, JOHN RECOGNIZED THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH. TODAY WE HEAR HIM TELLING THIS TO HIS OWN DISCIPLES. BUT LATER HE'LL ASK AGAIN; LIKE ALL OF US, JOHN GOES FROM MORE CERTAINTY TO LESS CERTAINTY AND BACK AGAIN. IT IS NOT GIVEN TO ANY HUMAN BEING TO KNOW, REALLY KNOW, WHAT HE IS PUT ON THIS EARTH FOR.
BUT JOHN PAUL II AND JOHN THE BAPTIST SEEMED TO SHARE A CHARACTERISTIC; AT EACH JUNCTURE IN THEIR LIVES, WHEN THEY HAD TO MAKE CHOICES, THEY SEEMED TO MAKE “INSPIRED” CHOICES. THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY HEARD VOICES IN THEIR HEADS. IT DOES MEAN THAT WHEN THEY MADE CHOICES, THEY USUALLY STEPPED OUT AND TOOK A CHANCE ON GOD. JOHN PAUL CHOSE TO BECOME A PRIEST IN AN ERA WHEN THAT WAS DANGEROUS AND PUT HIM ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW. JOHN THE BAPTIST COULD HAVE BECOME A MEMBER OF THE HEREDITARY PRIESTHOOD OF ISRAEL, AND LIVED A LIFE OF SERVICE; INSTEAD, HE CHOSE TO LIVE IN THE DESERT AS A HERMIT. JOHN PAUL WASN'T AFRAID, THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, TO SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THE NAZI'S, THE COMMUNISTS, TO AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, TO POWERFUL PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD; JOHN THE BAPTIST NEVER HESITATED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES.
SO BEING A SAINT IS NOT THE SAME AS LIVING A LIFE OF CERTAINTY, A LIFE OF DESTINY. IT IS JUST BEING OPEN TO INSPIRATION EVERY TIME A CHOICE HAS TO BE MADE. LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, WE MAY ONLY HAVE A SMALL PART OF THE TRUTH, AND WE MAY HAVE TO STEP OUT INTO THE DARKNESS WITHOUT GOOD EVIDENCE, WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS GIVEN ALL HE OR SHE NEEDS TO KNOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE THINK WE NEED; IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES, OR THE RESULTS OF OUR ACTIONS. IN FACT, MOST OF THE TIME, WE DON'T GET THAT PRIVILEGE. WE ARE ONLY GIVEN WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE A CHOICE, A CHOICE FOR GOD OR A CHOICE NOT IN LINE WITH GOD'S WILL. AND EVEN IF WE MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, WE WON'T REALLY KNOW THEY WERE RIGHT UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE.
SO WHAT TO DO? IN A WAY, THIS IS VERY LIBERATING. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW OUR LIVES TURN OUT. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING, OR DOING SOME GREAT WORK FOR GOD. WE AREN'T GIVEN THE BIG PICTURE, THE PLAN OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES. BUT WE ARE GIVEN AT EVERY MOMENT, ENOUGH INFORMATION TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE, AND OUR WHOLE LIVES AS CHRISTIANS CONSIST OF LISTENING, OF PRAYING, OF PURIFYING OUR MOTIVES AND OUR INTENTIONS, SO THAT THE NEXT TIME WE MAKE A CHOICE, WE WILL MAKE THE ONE GOD WANTS US TO MAKE. GOD ALWAYS GIVES US A CHOICE, AND HE RESPECTS OUR FREE WILL. BUT HE GIVES US WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE OUR CHOICES. WE MAY NEVER SEE WHAT HE WANTS FOR US, WE MAY, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, HAVE TO ADMIT THAT “WE DID NOT KNOW HIM”. BUT OUR PART IN THE WORLD TO COME IS ASSURED IF WE MAKE OUR CHOICES EACH TIME WITH PRAYER, WITH THOUGHT, AND WITH UNSELFISHNESS; IF WE MAKE THOSE CHOICES BECAUSE WE HAVE WORKED TO UNDERSTAND THE WILL OF GOD. AND WE WON'T HAVE CERTAINTY, EXCEPT THE CERTAINTY OF KNOWING THAT GOD WILL TAKE OUR LIVES AND KNIT THEM INTO HIS GRAND PLAN FOR HIS KINGDOM, AND WE WILL SEE HOW OUR CHOICES REALLY MATTERED SOME DAY. AND WE WILL REALIZE, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, LIKE JOHN PAUL II, THAT GOD WAS WORKING IN OUR LIVES, EVEN THOUGH WE DID NOT KNOW HIM.
SOMETIMES IT SEEMS AS THOUGH SOME LUCKY INDIVIDUALS HAVE A DESTINY. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IT WAS ALL PREORDAINED. WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL TO BE LIKE THAT – TO ALWAYS SEE WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GO. TO KNOW WITH CERTAINTY WHERE GOD WAS LEADING YOU. THE VATICAN JUST ANNOUNCED THAT POPE JOHN PAUL II WILL BE BEATIFIED THE SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. IT'S VERY EARLY IN THE PROCESS, BUT THE OBLIGATORY MIRACLE HAS BEEN CERTIFIED, AND HIS LIFE HAS BEEN GONE OVER WITH A FINE TOOTHED COMB. AND JOHN PAUL SEEMS TO HAVE HAD ONE OF THOSE LIVES OF DESTINY. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS PREDESTINED, AND THE OUTCOME WAS THAT HE BECAME ONE OF OUR GREATEST POPES, AND INDEED, MANY FEEL THAT HIS LEADERSHIP SAVED THE CHURCH. I DON'T KNOW HOW HIS LIFE LOOKED TO JOHN PAUL II; BUT I THINK WE DO KNOW WHAT HIS LIFE LOOKED LIKE TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.
THINK OF THE THINGS WE KNOW. HE WAS JESUS' COUSIN, AND EVEN BEFORE HIS BIRTH, WE ARE TOLD THAT HE REACTED TO JESUS' PRESENCE. LAST SUNDAY WE HEARD ABOUT HOW, WHEN JESUS CAME TO HIM FOR BAPTISM, JOHN EXCLAIMED THAT HE SHOULD BE BAPTIZED BY JESUS. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH JOHN ALWAYS HAD AN INTUITION THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR SOMEONE; HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS. HE TOLD THOSE WHO HEARD HIM THAT SOMEONE WAS COMING WHO WAS GREATER THAN HIM, SO GREAT THAT HE WASN'T WORTHY TO UNTIE HIS SANDAL STRAP. BUT WHEN YOU READ FURTHER INTO WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT JOHN, THERE IS UNCERTAINTY. TODAY HE ADMITS TWICE THAT HE DID NOT KNOW JESUS, THE ONE FOR WHOM HE WAS TO PREPARE THE WAY. AND IN ANOTHER STORY HE SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO JESUS TO ASK “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN KNEW HE WAS GIVEN A MISSION BY GOD. WE CAN ALMOST IMAGINE THAT BEFORE HE STARTED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY, HE MUST HAVE DONE A LOT OF THINKING AND SEARCHING. HIS FATHER WAS A PRIEST, AFTER ALL, SO JOHN PROBABLY HAD A DECENT EDUCATION. WE KNOW HE SPENT TIME IN THE DESERT, JUST LIKE JESUS DID AFTER HIS BAPTISM. AS HE SEARCHED TO KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR HIMSELF, HE LIVED IN THE DESERT LIKE A HERMIT, AND WHEN HE CAME BACK TO CIVILIZATION, HE LOOKED LIKE A WILD MAN. AND AT EVERY MOMENT, EVEN THOUGH HE ACTED BOLDLY, AND EVEN THOUGH WHEN WE LOOK ACROSS THOSE TWO THOUSAND YEARS IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HIS LIFE WAS SCRIPTED, AND THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS ALMOST PREDESTINED, THE GOSPELS GIVE US A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE – A JOHN WHO DESPITE HIS DEDICATION, HIS COURAGE, HIS HOLINESS, DOESN'T RECOGNIZE JESUS. OF COURSE HE DOES, EVENTUALLY, BUT EVEN IN HIS LAST DAYS IN HEROD'S PRISON, HE'S NOT QUITE SURE. AND I WONDER IF, WHEN JOHN WENT TO HIS EXECUTION, OR WHEN JOHN PAUL II REALIZED THAT HIS DEATH WAS NEAR, THESE GREAT SAINTS MAY HAVE HAD A MOMENT OF UNCERTAINTY, A WISH FOR CLARITY – DID THEIR LIVES REALLY HAVE MEANING? DID THEY REALLY HAVE A DESTINY? I SUSPECT THAT THIS IS A QUESTION THAT EVERYONE HAS AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES – DID I MATTER? DID MY LIFE MAKE A DIFFERENCE? DID I DO WHAT GOD WANTED ME TO DO, OR IS THERE A GOD AT ALL?
IN THE END, JOHN RECOGNIZED THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH. TODAY WE HEAR HIM TELLING THIS TO HIS OWN DISCIPLES. BUT LATER HE'LL ASK AGAIN; LIKE ALL OF US, JOHN GOES FROM MORE CERTAINTY TO LESS CERTAINTY AND BACK AGAIN. IT IS NOT GIVEN TO ANY HUMAN BEING TO KNOW, REALLY KNOW, WHAT HE IS PUT ON THIS EARTH FOR.
BUT JOHN PAUL II AND JOHN THE BAPTIST SEEMED TO SHARE A CHARACTERISTIC; AT EACH JUNCTURE IN THEIR LIVES, WHEN THEY HAD TO MAKE CHOICES, THEY SEEMED TO MAKE “INSPIRED” CHOICES. THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY HEARD VOICES IN THEIR HEADS. IT DOES MEAN THAT WHEN THEY MADE CHOICES, THEY USUALLY STEPPED OUT AND TOOK A CHANCE ON GOD. JOHN PAUL CHOSE TO BECOME A PRIEST IN AN ERA WHEN THAT WAS DANGEROUS AND PUT HIM ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW. JOHN THE BAPTIST COULD HAVE BECOME A MEMBER OF THE HEREDITARY PRIESTHOOD OF ISRAEL, AND LIVED A LIFE OF SERVICE; INSTEAD, HE CHOSE TO LIVE IN THE DESERT AS A HERMIT. JOHN PAUL WASN'T AFRAID, THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, TO SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THE NAZI'S, THE COMMUNISTS, TO AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, TO POWERFUL PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD; JOHN THE BAPTIST NEVER HESITATED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES.
SO BEING A SAINT IS NOT THE SAME AS LIVING A LIFE OF CERTAINTY, A LIFE OF DESTINY. IT IS JUST BEING OPEN TO INSPIRATION EVERY TIME A CHOICE HAS TO BE MADE. LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, WE MAY ONLY HAVE A SMALL PART OF THE TRUTH, AND WE MAY HAVE TO STEP OUT INTO THE DARKNESS WITHOUT GOOD EVIDENCE, WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS GIVEN ALL HE OR SHE NEEDS TO KNOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE THINK WE NEED; IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES, OR THE RESULTS OF OUR ACTIONS. IN FACT, MOST OF THE TIME, WE DON'T GET THAT PRIVILEGE. WE ARE ONLY GIVEN WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE A CHOICE, A CHOICE FOR GOD OR A CHOICE NOT IN LINE WITH GOD'S WILL. AND EVEN IF WE MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, WE WON'T REALLY KNOW THEY WERE RIGHT UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE.
SO WHAT TO DO? IN A WAY, THIS IS VERY LIBERATING. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW OUR LIVES TURN OUT. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING, OR DOING SOME GREAT WORK FOR GOD. WE AREN'T GIVEN THE BIG PICTURE, THE PLAN OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES. BUT WE ARE GIVEN AT EVERY MOMENT, ENOUGH INFORMATION TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE, AND OUR WHOLE LIVES AS CHRISTIANS CONSIST OF LISTENING, OF PRAYING, OF PURIFYING OUR MOTIVES AND OUR INTENTIONS, SO THAT THE NEXT TIME WE MAKE A CHOICE, WE WILL MAKE THE ONE GOD WANTS US TO MAKE. GOD ALWAYS GIVES US A CHOICE, AND HE RESPECTS OUR FREE WILL. BUT HE GIVES US WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE OUR CHOICES. WE MAY NEVER SEE WHAT HE WANTS FOR US, WE MAY, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, HAVE TO ADMIT THAT “WE DID NOT KNOW HIM”. BUT OUR PART IN THE WORLD TO COME IS ASSURED IF WE MAKE OUR CHOICES EACH TIME WITH PRAYER, WITH THOUGHT, AND WITH UNSELFISHNESS; IF WE MAKE THOSE CHOICES BECAUSE WE HAVE WORKED TO UNDERSTAND THE WILL OF GOD. AND WE WON'T HAVE CERTAINTY, EXCEPT THE CERTAINTY OF KNOWING THAT GOD WILL TAKE OUR LIVES AND KNIT THEM INTO HIS GRAND PLAN FOR HIS KINGDOM, AND WE WILL SEE HOW OUR CHOICES REALLY MATTERED SOME DAY. AND WE WILL REALIZE, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, LIKE JOHN PAUL II, THAT GOD WAS WORKING IN OUR LIVES, EVEN THOUGH WE DID NOT KNOW HIM.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Baptism of the Lord, Cycle A
MATTHEW 3:13-17
WE CATHOLICS MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE BAPTISM THAT JOHN WAS GIVING AND THE BAPTISM THAT JESUS SPOKE ABOUT WHEN HE TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO AND BAPTIZE ALL NATIONS. JOHN'S BAPTISM WAS IN A SENSE A CALL TO THE PEOPLE TO RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS; THAT'S WHY HE DID IT AT THAT SPOT ON THE JORDAN RIVER – THE PLACE WHERE GOD HAD PARTED THE WATERS AND ALLOWED THE ISRAELITES LED BY JOSHUA TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. YES, THEY LEFT EGYPT THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA, BUT THEY ENTERED ISRAEL THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE JORDAN. OUR BAPTISM IS A SACRAMENT. IT IS NOT MERELY A SYMBOL, IT IMPARTS GRACE. GRACE WHICH IS STILL WORKING IN YOU AND I.
SAINT THERESA OF AVILA, THE GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH WHO REFORMED THE CARMELITE ORDER, WROTE THE “INTERIOR CASTLE” WHICH IS A MASTERPIECE OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY. THE MAIN POINT IS THAT AT BAPTISM THE TRINITY DWELLS IN OUR VERY CENTER, IN THE CENTER OF OUR SOUL. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO UNITE WITH THE TRINITY TO A CERTAIN EXTENT WHILE WE ARE STILL HERE ON EARTH. WE START OUT FAR FROM THE CENTER, AND AS WE BEGIN TO PRAY, AND TURN OUR BACKS ON WHATEVER KEEPS US FROM GOD, WE HAVE DIFFICULTY – SHE COMPARES IT TO WATERING A GARDEN BY LOWERING A BUCKET INTO A WELL AND CARRYING IT BACK AND FORTH. LATER, IT BECOMES EASIER; IT IS AS THOUGH NOW WE HAVE A WINCH TO HELP US GET THE BUCKET UP. THEN IT'S AS THOUGH THERE IS A STREAM WHICH WE CAN DIVERT TO OUR GARDEN; AND FINALLY THE RAIN COMES AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. ALL THE WHILE WE STRUGGLE TO REACH THE TRINITY DWELLING IN OUR HEARTS, THE WATERS OF BAPTISM ARE THERE FOR US TO USE – THE GRACES THAT COME, FIRST WITH EFFORT, THEN LATER WITH HARDLY ANY AT ALL, ALL LEADING TO THIS GREAT AND WONDERFUL UNION. THERESA SAYS THAT IT IS ALL THERE FOR THE TAKING, AND AS SOON AS WE BEGIN TO MAKE THE EFFORT, GOD HELPS US. THERESA, BY THE WAY, DIDN'T EVEN GET STARTED UNTIL SHE WAS 39, AND HAD HAD A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE. HOW MANY OF US HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED ON THIS JOURNEY TO THE TRINITY, NOT IN SOME DISTANT HEAVEN, BUT IN OUR VERY HEARTS, A JOURNEY MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR BAPTISM?
SAINT TERESE OF LISEAUX, ALSO A GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, KNEW FROM THE TIME SHE WAS SMALL THAT SHE WANTED TO GIVE HERSELF TO GOD. SHE TOOK STOCK OF HERSELF, AND COULDN'T SEE MUCH THAT SHE THOUGHT GOD WANTED. SHE DIDN'T HAVE THE HEALTH AND STAMINA TO BE A MISSIONARY; SHE WASN'T VERY EDUCATED AND COULDN'T BE A GREAT THEOLOGIAN; SHE WASN'T MUSICAL AND COULDN'T WRITE GLORIOUS HYMNS; BUT THEN SHE LOOKED INTO HER HEART AND SAW THAT GOD HAD INDEED GIVEN HER A GIFT – SHE NOTICED THE DROPS OF BLOOD RUNNING FROM THE FACE OF JESUS CRUCIFIED IN A PICTURE SHE WAS CONTEMPLATING, AND HOW NO ONE WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM AS THEY FELL ON THE GROUND. SHE FELT THAT HER CALL, HER GIFT, WAS TO TEND TO THE DROPS OF BLOOD, TO WIPE THEM UP, TO COLLECT THEM, TO DRY THE FACE OF JESUS. OF COURSE THAT SOUNDS VERY SENTIMENTAL, BUT TERESE WENT ON TO ELABORATE ON HOW SHE WAS GIVEN THE GIFT OF SENSITIVITY SO THAT SHE COULD FEEL THE PAIN AND HEARTACHE AND TURMOIL THAT WENT ON IN THOSE AROUND HER, AND SOMETIMES IN THOSE FOR WHOM SHE PRAYED. IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SHE GIVES MANY EXAMPLES OF THIS. IN BAPTISM WE ARE ALL GIVEN GIFTS, VERY SPECIAL GIFTS, GIFTS IN SOME CASES THAT HARDLY ANYONE ELSE HAS. SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT. AND HE ALSO TELLS US THAT THESE GIFTS ARE NOT FOR US, THEY ARE FOR THE CHURCH. IN PAUL'S TIME IT WAS VERY MATTER OF FACT; THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO COULD HEAL; OTHERS WHO COULD READ HEARTS; STILL OTHERS WHO HAD GOD=GIVEN WISDOM, OR GOD-GIVEN KNOWLEDGE, OR THE ABILITY TO TEACH. SOME GIFTS WERE GREAT AND OTHERS SMALL, BUT ALL WERE NECESSARY. SAINT TERESE’S GIFT WAS SMALL; BUT IT MADE HER A GREAT SAINT. HAVE YOU AND I LOOKED FOR OUR SPECIAL GIFTS, THE GIFT THAT WAS GIVEN TO US AT BAPTISM, THE GIFT WE WERE MEANT TO SHARE WITH THE CHURCH, THE GIFT THAT WE MAY BE HIDING UNDER A BUSHEL? GOD HELP US IF WE DON'T USE OUR GIFT AS HE INTENDS!
MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA, WHO WILL SOMEDAY BE A SAINT, I'M SURE, AND MAYBE EVEN A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, BEGAN HER SPIRITUAL LIFE AS A MEMBER OF A TEACHING ORDER. IN THOSE DAYS SHE COULD ALMOST HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO HER, AS HE LED HER FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHER, UNTIL SHE FOUNDED HER OWN ORDER AND BEGAN TO SERVE THE POOREST OF THE POOR. AND THEN, AS WE LEARNED FROM LETTERS OF HERS THAT HAD BEEN PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY, THOSE INSPIRATIONS, THOSE MOMENTS OF TENDERNESS, THOSE URGINGS AND MOTIONS OF THE HEART WHICH LED HER TO DO THESE THINGS – THEY ALL DRIED UP, AND SHE SPEND MOST OF HER LIFE AFTERWARD WITH A CONSTANT FEELING OF EMPTINESS, OF BEING ABANDONED, OF HAVING NONE OF WHAT LED HER TO THAT POINT. I TOOK CARE OF AN ELDERLY SISTER ONE TIME, WHO TOLD ME THAT SHE HAD HAD A PROFOUND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE AS A YOUNG WOMAN, AND THAT LED HER TO ENTER THE CONVENT. AND SHE SAID, WITH WISTFULNESS, THAT SHE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THAT FOR ALL HER LIFE. I THINK THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH MOTHER THERESA. BUT GOD WAS OBVIOUSLY WORKING IN HER AND THROUGH HER – ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT HER LIFE, HER DEVOTION, HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, CAN'T DENY THAT. BUT TO HER IT WAS AS THOUGH SHE WAS ABANDONED. BAPTISM IS THE UNSHAKABLE PROMISE THAT NO MATTER HOW YOU AND I MAY FEEL AT ANY GIVEN TIME, GOD IS BUSILY WORKING IN US, CHANGING US, MOLDING US INTO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON. IF WE COULD SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING, WE WOULD PROBABLY EITHER TELL HIM WE'D RATHER HE DID SOMETHING ELSE, OR VOLUNTEER TO GIVE HIM OUR ADVICE. THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE SLOG TO CHURCH WITHOUT MUCH ENTHUSIASM, WHEN IT IS ALL WE CAN DO TO SAY OUR PRAYERS; WHEN OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE TASTES AS DRY AS CARDBOARD, THOSE ARE THE MOMENTS WHEN GOD IS CHANGING US MOST PROFOUNDLY. HE STARTS BY GIVING US TASTES OF HIMSELF, AND ENDS BY HIDING FROM US; AND SOMETIMES IT'S PAINFUL, AND SOMETIMES IT'S WONDERFUL, BUT IF WE PERSEVERE, IF WE CLING TO THE GRACE OF OUR BAPTISM, HE WILL USE US FOR HIS WORK – WHICH IS ALL THAT MATTERS.
SO ON THIS DAY WHEN WE REMEMBER JESUS' BAPTISM, AND OUR OWN, LET US ALSO REMEMBER THE THREE THERESAS, AND HOW THEY EACH RESPONDED TO THEIR BAPTISMAL GRACE; AND LET US REMEMBER THAT GOD WILL MAKE US SAINTS AS WELL, IF WE LET HIM. WHEN YOU LEAVE MASS TODAY, TOUCH YOUR HAND TO THE HOLY WATER AND SIGN YOURSELF WITH CHRIST'S CROSS, AND REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE TRINITY; YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GIFT FOR THE CHURCH, A GIFT ONLY YOU HAVE; AND THAT YOU ARE BEING WORKED ON, SHAPED INTO JESUS, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, WHETHER YOU FEEL IT OR NOT.
WE CATHOLICS MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE BAPTISM THAT JOHN WAS GIVING AND THE BAPTISM THAT JESUS SPOKE ABOUT WHEN HE TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO AND BAPTIZE ALL NATIONS. JOHN'S BAPTISM WAS IN A SENSE A CALL TO THE PEOPLE TO RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS; THAT'S WHY HE DID IT AT THAT SPOT ON THE JORDAN RIVER – THE PLACE WHERE GOD HAD PARTED THE WATERS AND ALLOWED THE ISRAELITES LED BY JOSHUA TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. YES, THEY LEFT EGYPT THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA, BUT THEY ENTERED ISRAEL THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE JORDAN. OUR BAPTISM IS A SACRAMENT. IT IS NOT MERELY A SYMBOL, IT IMPARTS GRACE. GRACE WHICH IS STILL WORKING IN YOU AND I.
SAINT THERESA OF AVILA, THE GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH WHO REFORMED THE CARMELITE ORDER, WROTE THE “INTERIOR CASTLE” WHICH IS A MASTERPIECE OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY. THE MAIN POINT IS THAT AT BAPTISM THE TRINITY DWELLS IN OUR VERY CENTER, IN THE CENTER OF OUR SOUL. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO UNITE WITH THE TRINITY TO A CERTAIN EXTENT WHILE WE ARE STILL HERE ON EARTH. WE START OUT FAR FROM THE CENTER, AND AS WE BEGIN TO PRAY, AND TURN OUR BACKS ON WHATEVER KEEPS US FROM GOD, WE HAVE DIFFICULTY – SHE COMPARES IT TO WATERING A GARDEN BY LOWERING A BUCKET INTO A WELL AND CARRYING IT BACK AND FORTH. LATER, IT BECOMES EASIER; IT IS AS THOUGH NOW WE HAVE A WINCH TO HELP US GET THE BUCKET UP. THEN IT'S AS THOUGH THERE IS A STREAM WHICH WE CAN DIVERT TO OUR GARDEN; AND FINALLY THE RAIN COMES AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. ALL THE WHILE WE STRUGGLE TO REACH THE TRINITY DWELLING IN OUR HEARTS, THE WATERS OF BAPTISM ARE THERE FOR US TO USE – THE GRACES THAT COME, FIRST WITH EFFORT, THEN LATER WITH HARDLY ANY AT ALL, ALL LEADING TO THIS GREAT AND WONDERFUL UNION. THERESA SAYS THAT IT IS ALL THERE FOR THE TAKING, AND AS SOON AS WE BEGIN TO MAKE THE EFFORT, GOD HELPS US. THERESA, BY THE WAY, DIDN'T EVEN GET STARTED UNTIL SHE WAS 39, AND HAD HAD A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE. HOW MANY OF US HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED ON THIS JOURNEY TO THE TRINITY, NOT IN SOME DISTANT HEAVEN, BUT IN OUR VERY HEARTS, A JOURNEY MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR BAPTISM?
SAINT TERESE OF LISEAUX, ALSO A GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, KNEW FROM THE TIME SHE WAS SMALL THAT SHE WANTED TO GIVE HERSELF TO GOD. SHE TOOK STOCK OF HERSELF, AND COULDN'T SEE MUCH THAT SHE THOUGHT GOD WANTED. SHE DIDN'T HAVE THE HEALTH AND STAMINA TO BE A MISSIONARY; SHE WASN'T VERY EDUCATED AND COULDN'T BE A GREAT THEOLOGIAN; SHE WASN'T MUSICAL AND COULDN'T WRITE GLORIOUS HYMNS; BUT THEN SHE LOOKED INTO HER HEART AND SAW THAT GOD HAD INDEED GIVEN HER A GIFT – SHE NOTICED THE DROPS OF BLOOD RUNNING FROM THE FACE OF JESUS CRUCIFIED IN A PICTURE SHE WAS CONTEMPLATING, AND HOW NO ONE WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM AS THEY FELL ON THE GROUND. SHE FELT THAT HER CALL, HER GIFT, WAS TO TEND TO THE DROPS OF BLOOD, TO WIPE THEM UP, TO COLLECT THEM, TO DRY THE FACE OF JESUS. OF COURSE THAT SOUNDS VERY SENTIMENTAL, BUT TERESE WENT ON TO ELABORATE ON HOW SHE WAS GIVEN THE GIFT OF SENSITIVITY SO THAT SHE COULD FEEL THE PAIN AND HEARTACHE AND TURMOIL THAT WENT ON IN THOSE AROUND HER, AND SOMETIMES IN THOSE FOR WHOM SHE PRAYED. IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SHE GIVES MANY EXAMPLES OF THIS. IN BAPTISM WE ARE ALL GIVEN GIFTS, VERY SPECIAL GIFTS, GIFTS IN SOME CASES THAT HARDLY ANYONE ELSE HAS. SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT. AND HE ALSO TELLS US THAT THESE GIFTS ARE NOT FOR US, THEY ARE FOR THE CHURCH. IN PAUL'S TIME IT WAS VERY MATTER OF FACT; THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO COULD HEAL; OTHERS WHO COULD READ HEARTS; STILL OTHERS WHO HAD GOD=GIVEN WISDOM, OR GOD-GIVEN KNOWLEDGE, OR THE ABILITY TO TEACH. SOME GIFTS WERE GREAT AND OTHERS SMALL, BUT ALL WERE NECESSARY. SAINT TERESE’S GIFT WAS SMALL; BUT IT MADE HER A GREAT SAINT. HAVE YOU AND I LOOKED FOR OUR SPECIAL GIFTS, THE GIFT THAT WAS GIVEN TO US AT BAPTISM, THE GIFT WE WERE MEANT TO SHARE WITH THE CHURCH, THE GIFT THAT WE MAY BE HIDING UNDER A BUSHEL? GOD HELP US IF WE DON'T USE OUR GIFT AS HE INTENDS!
MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA, WHO WILL SOMEDAY BE A SAINT, I'M SURE, AND MAYBE EVEN A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, BEGAN HER SPIRITUAL LIFE AS A MEMBER OF A TEACHING ORDER. IN THOSE DAYS SHE COULD ALMOST HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO HER, AS HE LED HER FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHER, UNTIL SHE FOUNDED HER OWN ORDER AND BEGAN TO SERVE THE POOREST OF THE POOR. AND THEN, AS WE LEARNED FROM LETTERS OF HERS THAT HAD BEEN PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY, THOSE INSPIRATIONS, THOSE MOMENTS OF TENDERNESS, THOSE URGINGS AND MOTIONS OF THE HEART WHICH LED HER TO DO THESE THINGS – THEY ALL DRIED UP, AND SHE SPEND MOST OF HER LIFE AFTERWARD WITH A CONSTANT FEELING OF EMPTINESS, OF BEING ABANDONED, OF HAVING NONE OF WHAT LED HER TO THAT POINT. I TOOK CARE OF AN ELDERLY SISTER ONE TIME, WHO TOLD ME THAT SHE HAD HAD A PROFOUND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE AS A YOUNG WOMAN, AND THAT LED HER TO ENTER THE CONVENT. AND SHE SAID, WITH WISTFULNESS, THAT SHE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THAT FOR ALL HER LIFE. I THINK THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH MOTHER THERESA. BUT GOD WAS OBVIOUSLY WORKING IN HER AND THROUGH HER – ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT HER LIFE, HER DEVOTION, HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, CAN'T DENY THAT. BUT TO HER IT WAS AS THOUGH SHE WAS ABANDONED. BAPTISM IS THE UNSHAKABLE PROMISE THAT NO MATTER HOW YOU AND I MAY FEEL AT ANY GIVEN TIME, GOD IS BUSILY WORKING IN US, CHANGING US, MOLDING US INTO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON. IF WE COULD SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING, WE WOULD PROBABLY EITHER TELL HIM WE'D RATHER HE DID SOMETHING ELSE, OR VOLUNTEER TO GIVE HIM OUR ADVICE. THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE SLOG TO CHURCH WITHOUT MUCH ENTHUSIASM, WHEN IT IS ALL WE CAN DO TO SAY OUR PRAYERS; WHEN OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE TASTES AS DRY AS CARDBOARD, THOSE ARE THE MOMENTS WHEN GOD IS CHANGING US MOST PROFOUNDLY. HE STARTS BY GIVING US TASTES OF HIMSELF, AND ENDS BY HIDING FROM US; AND SOMETIMES IT'S PAINFUL, AND SOMETIMES IT'S WONDERFUL, BUT IF WE PERSEVERE, IF WE CLING TO THE GRACE OF OUR BAPTISM, HE WILL USE US FOR HIS WORK – WHICH IS ALL THAT MATTERS.
SO ON THIS DAY WHEN WE REMEMBER JESUS' BAPTISM, AND OUR OWN, LET US ALSO REMEMBER THE THREE THERESAS, AND HOW THEY EACH RESPONDED TO THEIR BAPTISMAL GRACE; AND LET US REMEMBER THAT GOD WILL MAKE US SAINTS AS WELL, IF WE LET HIM. WHEN YOU LEAVE MASS TODAY, TOUCH YOUR HAND TO THE HOLY WATER AND SIGN YOURSELF WITH CHRIST'S CROSS, AND REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE TRINITY; YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GIFT FOR THE CHURCH, A GIFT ONLY YOU HAVE; AND THAT YOU ARE BEING WORKED ON, SHAPED INTO JESUS, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, WHETHER YOU FEEL IT OR NOT.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Epiphany, 2011
MATTHEW 2:1-12
SAINT THOMAS WAS PROBABLY THE MOST BRILLIANT THEOLOGIAN OUR CHURCH HAS EVER HAD. IF YOU'VE EVER LOOKED AT HIS MASTERPIECE, THE SUMMA THEOLOGICA, YOU WOULD SEE AN ALMOST MATHEMATICAL APPROACH TO THEOLOGY, WHICH THOMAS DID REGARD AS A SCIENCE. BUT PEOPLE WHO ONLY READ HIS SUMMA AND OTHER MAJOR THEOLOGICAL WORKS TEND TO REGARD THOMAS AS SORT OF BLOODLESS – ALL BRAIN AND NO HEART. BUT THOMAS PREACHED A LOT OF SERMONS, TOO, AND THESE REVEAL MUCH MORE OF HIM AS A REAL HUMAN BEING. ONE OF HIS SERMONS WAS BASED ON THE THREE GIFTS WHICH WERE GIVEN TO THE CHRIST CHILD BY THE MAGI, WHICH WE HEAR OF TODAY. THOMAS ASKED THE QUESTION, WHY DID THE MAGI BRING A BABY GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH? OBVIOUSLY WE CAN SEE THESE GIFTS IN A THEOLOGICAL SENSE, BUT THOMAS SAW A PRACTICAL SENSE AS WELL. GOLD, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE JESUS' FAMILY WAS POOR. FRANKINCENSE, BECAUSE THOMAS WAS SURE THAT THE STABLE IN WHICH JESUS WAS BORN MUST HAVE SMELLED BAD, AND FRANKINCENSE WOULD MASK THE ODOR. AND MYRRH, BECAUSE THIS WAS CONSIDERED MEDICINAL, AND COULD BOTH DULL PAIN AND PREVENT INFECTION, AND THE CHILD WOULD SOON BE CIRCUMCISED.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST READING, YOU WILL SEE THAT ISAIAH PREDICTS THAT CARAVANS WILL COME TO JERUSALEM BEARING GIFTS OF GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE. MATTHEW, WHO IS WRITING TO JEWISH CONVERTS AND USING HIS GOSPEL TO SHOW THEM HOW JESUS FULFILLS THE PROPHECIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, SHOWS THAT JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECIES, AND WHEN IT ISN'T OBVIOUS, HE POINTS IT OUT. REMEMBER LAST WEEK WHEN WE HEARD THE STORY OF THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT? THE FAMILY FLED TO EGYPT, PARTLY BECAUSE THAT WAY WHEN THEY CAME BACK THEY WOULD FULFILL THE PROPHECY “OUT OF EGYPT I WILL CALL MY SON”. AND WHEN JOSEPH DECIDED TO GO TO LIVE IN NAZARETH, IT WAS TO FULFILL THE PROPHECY, “HE SHALL BE CALLED A NAZOREAN”. SO HERE WE HAVE MATTHEW'S DESCRIPTION OF THE VISIT OF THE MAGI, AND HE IS CONSCIOUSLY RECALLING THE PROPHECY THAT THE GENTILES WOULD BRING GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE TO JERUSALEM, AND WOULD WORSHIP GOD.
BUT I CAN HEAR SOME OF YOU SAY, “WAIT A MINUTE! THE FIRST READING SAYS THAT THEY WILL BRING GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE TO JERUSALEM, BUT MATTHEW HAS THE GENTILES, THESE MAGI, BRINGING GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH TO BETHLEHEM, A LITTLE NO-ACCOUNT TOWN OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. WHAT GIVES HERE?” AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT YOU SHOULD BE SAYING.
MATTHEW IS WRITING ABOUT 80 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. BY THEN THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF THINKING ABOUT JESUS. THERE WAS THE EXPECTATION AMONG THE JEWS THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE A GREAT KING. CERTAINLY THAT GOES ALONG WITH GOLD. AND SOME JEWS THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD ALSO BE A HIGH PRIEST. INCENSE MAKES SENSE HERE. BUT MYRRH? MYRRH WAS A HEALING OINTMENT, IT IS TRUE, BUT IT WAS ALSO USED TO EMBALM BODIES. AND IN FACT JESUS ENCOUNTERS MYRRH TWICE AT THE END OF HIS LIFE. FIRST, HE IS GIVEN A SPONGE DIPPED IN WINE MIXED WITH MYRRH WHEN HE IS HANGING ON THE CROSS. THE IDEA IS THAT HE WILL ANESTHETIZE HIMSELF; BY DRINKING THIS MIXTURE HE WILL SORT OF PUT HIMSELF INTO A STUPOR SO THAT HE DOESN'T SUFFER AS MUCH. JESUS OF COURSE DIDN'T TAKE THE MIXTURE. THE SECOND PLACE HE ENCOUNTERS MYRRH IS WHEN HIS BODY IS EMBALMED WITH A MIXTURE OF MYRRH AND ALOES. IF THE MYRRH REPRESENTS ANYTHING, IT REPRESENTS THE MESSIAH AS PROPHET, BUT PROPHET LIKE JEREMIAH, A MAN WHO WAS PERSECUTED AND PROBABLY EVEN PUT TO DEATH BECAUSE OF WHAT HE SAID; OR A PROPHET LIKE ELIJAH, WHO WAS HUNTED AND DRIVEN INTO THE WILDERNESS BECAUSE HE SPOKE THE WORD OF GOD.
SO IN A SENSE MATTHEW IS TELLING HIS JEWISH CONVERTS THAT JESUS IS TRULY THE EXPECTED MESSIAH, BUT NOT JUST A KING, NOT JUST A KING AND PRIEST, BUT INDEED A PROPHET AS WELL, A PROPHET IN THE TRUE SENSE, SOMEONE WHO DIED FOR THE TRUTH. AND MATTHEW EMPHASIZES THAT THE FIRST PEOPLE TO WHOM THIS MESSIAH WAS REVEALED WERE GENTILES, AND NOT EVEN RIGHTEOUS GENTILES WHO WORSHIPED THE JEWISH GOD; THEY WERE INSTEAD ASTROLOGERS, PEOPLE WHO STUDIED THE STARS – SOMETHING FORBIDDEN TO JEWISH PEOPLE. AND THIS ENCOUNTER TOOK PLACE IN BETHLEHEM, NOT JERUSALEM, THE CENTER OF JEWISH POWER, LEARNING, AND WORSHIP. MATTHEW IS POINTING OUT THAT THE BIRTH OF JESUS IS CLEARLY THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT IS A COMPLETE BREAK FROM THE PAST, A RADICAL NEW BEGINNING.
ISAIAH'S PROPHECY, THEREFORE, IS NOT QUITE ON THE MARK, AND THAT IS ALRIGHT. THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH COULD NOT BE A RADICAL NEW BEGINNING, A NEW START FOR MANKIND, IF IT WAS PREDICTABLE. BUT ISAIAH GOT MOST OF IT RIGHT, MEANING THAT THERE IS CONTINUITY; GOD WHO HAS BEEN WORKING IN HUMAN HISTORY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING FINALLY BRINGS ABOUT THE LONG AWAITED EVENT, THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISES MADE THROUGH THE PROPHETS.
BETHLEHEM, NOT JERUSALEM; GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH, NOT JUST GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE; AND A BABY IN A STABLE, NOT A KING OR EVEN THE SON OF A KING WITH ROYAL BLOOD LIVING IN A PALACE; NOT TO GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, BUT TO STRANGERS, PEOPLE WHO WERE NEARLY PAGANS. THAT IS THE KIND OF GOD WHO IS REVEALED IN THIS EPIPHANY.
THE MAGI SET OUT FROM THEIR HOMELAND LOADED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE FROM THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH, THE AUTHOR OF THE LONGEST AND MOST INFLUENTIAL PROPHECY IN THE SCRIPTURES. THIS LED THEM TO JERUSALEM. THERE THEY HEARD OF THE PROPHECY OF MICAH, A MORE OBSCURE PROPHET WHOSE WRITING IS VERY SHORT, AND THAT LED THEM TO BETHLEHEM. THAT IS THE KIND OF GOD WHO IS REVEALED IN THIS EPIPHANY.
GOD IS REVEALED AS A GOD WHO BECOMES ONE OF US, WHO SUFFERS AND DIES, WHO IS THERE FOR ALL PEOPLE, NOT JUST THE JEWS; WHO BRINGS GLORY TO A TINY VILLAGE A FEW MILES FROM JERUSALEM, NOT THE BEAUTIFUL CITY. THE MAGI WERE LED TO FIND JESUS IN THIS CONTEXT, AMONG THE POOR, THE LOWLY, THE OBSCURE. AND THEY WERE CHANGED, SO MUCH SO THAT THEY WENT HOME BY A DIFFERENT WAY.
TODAY LET US GO HOME BY A DIFFERENT WAY, CHANGED BY OUR ENCOUNTER WITH GOD WHO REVEALS HIMSELF TO US IN THE POOR AND SUFFERING, AS WELL AS IN THE WORD AND IN THE EUCHARIST.
SAINT THOMAS WAS PROBABLY THE MOST BRILLIANT THEOLOGIAN OUR CHURCH HAS EVER HAD. IF YOU'VE EVER LOOKED AT HIS MASTERPIECE, THE SUMMA THEOLOGICA, YOU WOULD SEE AN ALMOST MATHEMATICAL APPROACH TO THEOLOGY, WHICH THOMAS DID REGARD AS A SCIENCE. BUT PEOPLE WHO ONLY READ HIS SUMMA AND OTHER MAJOR THEOLOGICAL WORKS TEND TO REGARD THOMAS AS SORT OF BLOODLESS – ALL BRAIN AND NO HEART. BUT THOMAS PREACHED A LOT OF SERMONS, TOO, AND THESE REVEAL MUCH MORE OF HIM AS A REAL HUMAN BEING. ONE OF HIS SERMONS WAS BASED ON THE THREE GIFTS WHICH WERE GIVEN TO THE CHRIST CHILD BY THE MAGI, WHICH WE HEAR OF TODAY. THOMAS ASKED THE QUESTION, WHY DID THE MAGI BRING A BABY GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH? OBVIOUSLY WE CAN SEE THESE GIFTS IN A THEOLOGICAL SENSE, BUT THOMAS SAW A PRACTICAL SENSE AS WELL. GOLD, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE JESUS' FAMILY WAS POOR. FRANKINCENSE, BECAUSE THOMAS WAS SURE THAT THE STABLE IN WHICH JESUS WAS BORN MUST HAVE SMELLED BAD, AND FRANKINCENSE WOULD MASK THE ODOR. AND MYRRH, BECAUSE THIS WAS CONSIDERED MEDICINAL, AND COULD BOTH DULL PAIN AND PREVENT INFECTION, AND THE CHILD WOULD SOON BE CIRCUMCISED.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST READING, YOU WILL SEE THAT ISAIAH PREDICTS THAT CARAVANS WILL COME TO JERUSALEM BEARING GIFTS OF GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE. MATTHEW, WHO IS WRITING TO JEWISH CONVERTS AND USING HIS GOSPEL TO SHOW THEM HOW JESUS FULFILLS THE PROPHECIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, SHOWS THAT JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECIES, AND WHEN IT ISN'T OBVIOUS, HE POINTS IT OUT. REMEMBER LAST WEEK WHEN WE HEARD THE STORY OF THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT? THE FAMILY FLED TO EGYPT, PARTLY BECAUSE THAT WAY WHEN THEY CAME BACK THEY WOULD FULFILL THE PROPHECY “OUT OF EGYPT I WILL CALL MY SON”. AND WHEN JOSEPH DECIDED TO GO TO LIVE IN NAZARETH, IT WAS TO FULFILL THE PROPHECY, “HE SHALL BE CALLED A NAZOREAN”. SO HERE WE HAVE MATTHEW'S DESCRIPTION OF THE VISIT OF THE MAGI, AND HE IS CONSCIOUSLY RECALLING THE PROPHECY THAT THE GENTILES WOULD BRING GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE TO JERUSALEM, AND WOULD WORSHIP GOD.
BUT I CAN HEAR SOME OF YOU SAY, “WAIT A MINUTE! THE FIRST READING SAYS THAT THEY WILL BRING GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE TO JERUSALEM, BUT MATTHEW HAS THE GENTILES, THESE MAGI, BRINGING GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH TO BETHLEHEM, A LITTLE NO-ACCOUNT TOWN OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. WHAT GIVES HERE?” AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT YOU SHOULD BE SAYING.
MATTHEW IS WRITING ABOUT 80 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. BY THEN THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF THINKING ABOUT JESUS. THERE WAS THE EXPECTATION AMONG THE JEWS THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE A GREAT KING. CERTAINLY THAT GOES ALONG WITH GOLD. AND SOME JEWS THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD ALSO BE A HIGH PRIEST. INCENSE MAKES SENSE HERE. BUT MYRRH? MYRRH WAS A HEALING OINTMENT, IT IS TRUE, BUT IT WAS ALSO USED TO EMBALM BODIES. AND IN FACT JESUS ENCOUNTERS MYRRH TWICE AT THE END OF HIS LIFE. FIRST, HE IS GIVEN A SPONGE DIPPED IN WINE MIXED WITH MYRRH WHEN HE IS HANGING ON THE CROSS. THE IDEA IS THAT HE WILL ANESTHETIZE HIMSELF; BY DRINKING THIS MIXTURE HE WILL SORT OF PUT HIMSELF INTO A STUPOR SO THAT HE DOESN'T SUFFER AS MUCH. JESUS OF COURSE DIDN'T TAKE THE MIXTURE. THE SECOND PLACE HE ENCOUNTERS MYRRH IS WHEN HIS BODY IS EMBALMED WITH A MIXTURE OF MYRRH AND ALOES. IF THE MYRRH REPRESENTS ANYTHING, IT REPRESENTS THE MESSIAH AS PROPHET, BUT PROPHET LIKE JEREMIAH, A MAN WHO WAS PERSECUTED AND PROBABLY EVEN PUT TO DEATH BECAUSE OF WHAT HE SAID; OR A PROPHET LIKE ELIJAH, WHO WAS HUNTED AND DRIVEN INTO THE WILDERNESS BECAUSE HE SPOKE THE WORD OF GOD.
SO IN A SENSE MATTHEW IS TELLING HIS JEWISH CONVERTS THAT JESUS IS TRULY THE EXPECTED MESSIAH, BUT NOT JUST A KING, NOT JUST A KING AND PRIEST, BUT INDEED A PROPHET AS WELL, A PROPHET IN THE TRUE SENSE, SOMEONE WHO DIED FOR THE TRUTH. AND MATTHEW EMPHASIZES THAT THE FIRST PEOPLE TO WHOM THIS MESSIAH WAS REVEALED WERE GENTILES, AND NOT EVEN RIGHTEOUS GENTILES WHO WORSHIPED THE JEWISH GOD; THEY WERE INSTEAD ASTROLOGERS, PEOPLE WHO STUDIED THE STARS – SOMETHING FORBIDDEN TO JEWISH PEOPLE. AND THIS ENCOUNTER TOOK PLACE IN BETHLEHEM, NOT JERUSALEM, THE CENTER OF JEWISH POWER, LEARNING, AND WORSHIP. MATTHEW IS POINTING OUT THAT THE BIRTH OF JESUS IS CLEARLY THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT IS A COMPLETE BREAK FROM THE PAST, A RADICAL NEW BEGINNING.
ISAIAH'S PROPHECY, THEREFORE, IS NOT QUITE ON THE MARK, AND THAT IS ALRIGHT. THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH COULD NOT BE A RADICAL NEW BEGINNING, A NEW START FOR MANKIND, IF IT WAS PREDICTABLE. BUT ISAIAH GOT MOST OF IT RIGHT, MEANING THAT THERE IS CONTINUITY; GOD WHO HAS BEEN WORKING IN HUMAN HISTORY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING FINALLY BRINGS ABOUT THE LONG AWAITED EVENT, THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISES MADE THROUGH THE PROPHETS.
BETHLEHEM, NOT JERUSALEM; GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH, NOT JUST GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE; AND A BABY IN A STABLE, NOT A KING OR EVEN THE SON OF A KING WITH ROYAL BLOOD LIVING IN A PALACE; NOT TO GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, BUT TO STRANGERS, PEOPLE WHO WERE NEARLY PAGANS. THAT IS THE KIND OF GOD WHO IS REVEALED IN THIS EPIPHANY.
THE MAGI SET OUT FROM THEIR HOMELAND LOADED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE FROM THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH, THE AUTHOR OF THE LONGEST AND MOST INFLUENTIAL PROPHECY IN THE SCRIPTURES. THIS LED THEM TO JERUSALEM. THERE THEY HEARD OF THE PROPHECY OF MICAH, A MORE OBSCURE PROPHET WHOSE WRITING IS VERY SHORT, AND THAT LED THEM TO BETHLEHEM. THAT IS THE KIND OF GOD WHO IS REVEALED IN THIS EPIPHANY.
GOD IS REVEALED AS A GOD WHO BECOMES ONE OF US, WHO SUFFERS AND DIES, WHO IS THERE FOR ALL PEOPLE, NOT JUST THE JEWS; WHO BRINGS GLORY TO A TINY VILLAGE A FEW MILES FROM JERUSALEM, NOT THE BEAUTIFUL CITY. THE MAGI WERE LED TO FIND JESUS IN THIS CONTEXT, AMONG THE POOR, THE LOWLY, THE OBSCURE. AND THEY WERE CHANGED, SO MUCH SO THAT THEY WENT HOME BY A DIFFERENT WAY.
TODAY LET US GO HOME BY A DIFFERENT WAY, CHANGED BY OUR ENCOUNTER WITH GOD WHO REVEALS HIMSELF TO US IN THE POOR AND SUFFERING, AS WELL AS IN THE WORD AND IN THE EUCHARIST.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas, 2010
LUKE 2:15-20
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS AFTER JOAN AND I WERE MARRIED, WE DECIDED TO SPEND WITH OUR PARENTS. MINE LIVED IN MONTANA AND HERS LIVED IN MARYLAND, SO THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS WE FLEW FROM MONTANA TO MARYLAND. JOAN'S PARENTS LET US KNOW THAT MAYBE THE NEXT YEAR WE SHOULD SPEND CHRISTMAS DAY WITH THEM. SO THE SECOND CHRISTMAS WE FLEW FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MARYLAND WITH OUR NEW DAUGHTER, AND THEN FLEW TO MONTANA ON THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. MY MOTHER SAID IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT US BEING THERE. SO THE THIRD YEAR, WE DECIDED TO SPEND PART OF CHRISTMAS DAY WITH EACH SET OF PARENTS. WE LEFT MONTANA ABOUT TWO HOURS LATE, GOT INTO LAS VEGAS TO CHANGE PLANES, AND I REMEMBER RUNNING THROUGH THE AIRPORT WITH A LITTLE GIRL UNDER EACH ARM, AND JOAN RUNNING BEHIND ME WITH A LARGE BAG FULL OF DIAPERS AND BOTTLES AND TOYS. THAT WAS THE LAST CHRISTMAS WE SPENT WITH EITHER FAMILY. BABIES CHANGE LIVES.
THIS LAST YEAR GABRIEL AND JACK BECAME OUR SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH GRANDCHILDREN. GABRIEL'S FAMILY ALREADY HAD FIVE CHILDREN AND JACK'S HAD THREE, AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT THERE WERE MIXED FEELINGS WHEN THEIR PARENTS LEARNED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY. TWO MORE YEARS AT LEAST, OF DIAPERS, OF GETTING UP AT NIGHT, OF VISITS TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM, OF CRYING – AND AT LEAST TWO MORE YEARS BEFORE THEIR MOTHERS COULD RESUME THE PLANS THEY HAD PUT ASIDE TO RAISE THEIR CHILDREN. AND OF COURSE, THE CONSTANT WORRY -- HOW ARE WE GOING TO AFFORD THIS? WHERE WILL WE PUT HIM? AND BABIES PUT STRESS ON A MARRIAGE. YOU DON'T THINK CLEARLY WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING A BABY OR WHEN YOU HAVE ONE. BABIES ALWAYS CHANGE LIVES.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO A TEENAGE GIRL FOUND HERSELF EXPECTING A CHILD, AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES BY WHICH THAT CAME ABOUT WERE TOO UNBELIEVABLE TO TELL ANYONE. HER NEW HUSBAND WAS DEEPLY HURT, BUT BECAUSE HE LOVED HER, HE DECIDED TO DIVORCE HER AND PRETEND THAT THE CHILD WAS HIS, SO SHE WOULDN'T BE CONDEMNED. AND THEN HE HAD A DREAM. IT WASN'T EASY. THE PEOPLE IN THEIR LITTLE VILLAGE COULD SEE THAT SHE WAS PREGNANT AND SHE HADN'T EVEN MOVED OUT OF HER FATHER'S HOUSE. AND THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF OUR SAVIOUR AND HER DEVOTED HUSBAND WOULD GO THROUGH LIFE LOOKED DOWN UPON BY THEIR NEIGHBORS, WHO WOULD ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT THEIRS WAS A SHOTGUN MARRIAGE. BUT IN BETHLEHEM, IN A STABLE, A BABY WAS BORN, A BABY WHO CHANGED THEIR LIVES; AND GOD BROKE INTO OUR WORLD, AND ANGELS SANG IN THE HEAVENS AND SHEPHERDS CAME DOWN FROM THE HILLS TO WORSHIP THIS BABY; AND THE ANIMALS WHO SHARED THE STABLE LOOKED ON WITH DUMB WONDER AT THEIR CREATOR, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. AND THIS BABY CHANGED OUR LIVES, FOREVER.
IN THE CHRISTMAS SEASON, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T RELIGIOUS, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT NOTICE THAT THE WORLD IS CHANGED. THERE ARE LIGHTS EVERYWHERE – BRIGHT LIGHTS, LIGHTS ON TREES, INSIDE AND OUT; TINY LIGHTS DOING THEIR PART TO MELT AWAY THE DARKNESS. AND GREEN AND RED DOMINATE, EVEN IN THE STORES, AND EVERGREENS FILL OUR HOMES WITH A WOODSY SMELL. IN OUR HOMES WE SET UP THAT OLD MANGER SCENE THAT'S BEEN IN OUR FAMILY FOR YEARS AND YEARS, AND THE ADVENT CANDLES SIT ON OUR MANTLE OR OUR DINING ROOM TABLE. AND HERE IN THE CHURCH, EVERYTHING IS CHANGED; THE SCENE IN FRONT OF THE ALTAR, THE FOREST OF FIR TREES AGAINST THE WALL, THE POINSETTIAS EVERYWHERE. AS WE MOVE TOWARDS THE CELEBRATION OF A BABY'S BIRTH TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, SOME IMPULSE IN US CALLS FOR CHANGE; WE FEEL AN URGE TO CHANGE THE WORLD, BECAUSE THE BABY CHANGED THE WORLD.
BUT IT WILL SOON BE ALL OVER. A WEEK OR SO FROM NOW, EVERYTHING WILL BE PUT AWAY, THE WORLD WILL BE BACK LIKE IT WAS BEFORE, AND WE WILL SETTLE DOWN TO WAIT FOR SPRING AND MOST OF US WON'T REALLY BE CHANGED.
BUT A BABY IS MEANT TO CHANGE LIVES, AND THIS ONE IS NO EXCEPTION. HE WANTS TO DISRUPT OUR ROUTINE, HE WANTS TO SHAKE US UP. HE WANTS TO TURN A CHURCH FULL OF STRANGERS INTO A FAMILY, WHO SHARE EACH OTHERS' JOYS AND SORROWS, WHO CHEER EACH OTHER ON, WHO RUSH TO HELP FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE SUFFERING. HE WANTS YOU AND I TO BE HIS BROTHER AND SISTER, MOTHER AND FATHER; HE WANTS GENUINE AFFECTION TO FLOW FROM EACH OF US AS WE EXCHANGE SMILES AND KIND WORDS ON CHRISTMAS. BUT MOST OF ALL HE WANTS US TO GET TOGETHER EVERY WEEK TO SHARE IN THE BANQUET HE OFFERS, THE BANQUET OF HIS BODY AND BLOOD, THE FOOD HE GIVES US TO MAKE US A FAMILY, WITH A FATHER WHO LOOKS ON US WITH LOVE.
MY GRANDSON GABRIEL NOW TEN MONTHS OLD, IS THE HEART OF HIS FAMILY. HIS BROTHERS AND SISTER HOLD HIM AND PLAY WITH HIM; HIS MOTHER WATCHES HIM WITH JOY IN HER HEART AS HE DOES ALL THOSE SILLY THINGS THAT BABIES DO. HIS FATHER THROWS HIM IN THE AIR AND LAUGHS AS HE SQUEALS WITH DELIGHT. AND JACK, ONLY THREE MONTHS OLD, CAN'T DO MUCH YET, BUT HE SURE CAN SMILE, AND YOU SHOULD SEE HOW HARD HIS FAMILY WORKS TO GET THOSE SMILES. NEITHER FAMILY CAN EVEN IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE WITHOUT THEIR BABY. GABRIEL AND JACK CHANGED THINGS FOREVER IN THEIR FAMILIES. BABIES CHANGE LIVES.
REAL CHANGE IS HARD. NEW BABIES BRING SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND DIRTY DIAPERS AND OLDER SIBLINGS SOMETIMES SHOW A LITTLE JEALOUSY, AND EVERYONE HAS TO MAKE A LITTLE MORE ROOM AND A GIVE A LITTLE MORE TIME. BUT THE CHANGE IS SO WORTH IT. AND THIS CHRISTMAS, DON'T LET THINGS GO BACK TO NORMAL. GIVE BIRTH TO THE CHRIST CHILD IN YOUR HEART AND LET HIM CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER. A BABY MAKES A FAMILY, A BABY MAKES A HOME, AND THIS CHURCH IS HIS HOME AND YOURS; THIS FAMILY IS HIS FAMILY AND YOURS.
I WATCH WHAT BABIES DO TO PEOPLE; HOW MUCH JOY THEY BRING; HOW GREAT THE REWARD FOR THE DISRUPTION IN THE LIVES OF THEIR PARENTS AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS. AND I WONDER HOW MUCH YEAR AROUND JOY THE BABY JESUS WILL BRING TO EACH OF US IF WE LET HIM CHANGE US ON THIS CHRISTMAS DAY, CHANGE US INTO A FAMILY THAT GATHERS EVERY WEEK AROUND THE SUPPER TABLE TO BE TOGETHER FOR A SHORT TIME BEFORE GOING BACK OUT INTO THE WORLD. BECAUSE BABIES CHANGE LIVES, CHANGE THEM FOREVER.
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS AFTER JOAN AND I WERE MARRIED, WE DECIDED TO SPEND WITH OUR PARENTS. MINE LIVED IN MONTANA AND HERS LIVED IN MARYLAND, SO THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS WE FLEW FROM MONTANA TO MARYLAND. JOAN'S PARENTS LET US KNOW THAT MAYBE THE NEXT YEAR WE SHOULD SPEND CHRISTMAS DAY WITH THEM. SO THE SECOND CHRISTMAS WE FLEW FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MARYLAND WITH OUR NEW DAUGHTER, AND THEN FLEW TO MONTANA ON THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. MY MOTHER SAID IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT US BEING THERE. SO THE THIRD YEAR, WE DECIDED TO SPEND PART OF CHRISTMAS DAY WITH EACH SET OF PARENTS. WE LEFT MONTANA ABOUT TWO HOURS LATE, GOT INTO LAS VEGAS TO CHANGE PLANES, AND I REMEMBER RUNNING THROUGH THE AIRPORT WITH A LITTLE GIRL UNDER EACH ARM, AND JOAN RUNNING BEHIND ME WITH A LARGE BAG FULL OF DIAPERS AND BOTTLES AND TOYS. THAT WAS THE LAST CHRISTMAS WE SPENT WITH EITHER FAMILY. BABIES CHANGE LIVES.
THIS LAST YEAR GABRIEL AND JACK BECAME OUR SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH GRANDCHILDREN. GABRIEL'S FAMILY ALREADY HAD FIVE CHILDREN AND JACK'S HAD THREE, AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT THERE WERE MIXED FEELINGS WHEN THEIR PARENTS LEARNED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY. TWO MORE YEARS AT LEAST, OF DIAPERS, OF GETTING UP AT NIGHT, OF VISITS TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM, OF CRYING – AND AT LEAST TWO MORE YEARS BEFORE THEIR MOTHERS COULD RESUME THE PLANS THEY HAD PUT ASIDE TO RAISE THEIR CHILDREN. AND OF COURSE, THE CONSTANT WORRY -- HOW ARE WE GOING TO AFFORD THIS? WHERE WILL WE PUT HIM? AND BABIES PUT STRESS ON A MARRIAGE. YOU DON'T THINK CLEARLY WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING A BABY OR WHEN YOU HAVE ONE. BABIES ALWAYS CHANGE LIVES.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO A TEENAGE GIRL FOUND HERSELF EXPECTING A CHILD, AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES BY WHICH THAT CAME ABOUT WERE TOO UNBELIEVABLE TO TELL ANYONE. HER NEW HUSBAND WAS DEEPLY HURT, BUT BECAUSE HE LOVED HER, HE DECIDED TO DIVORCE HER AND PRETEND THAT THE CHILD WAS HIS, SO SHE WOULDN'T BE CONDEMNED. AND THEN HE HAD A DREAM. IT WASN'T EASY. THE PEOPLE IN THEIR LITTLE VILLAGE COULD SEE THAT SHE WAS PREGNANT AND SHE HADN'T EVEN MOVED OUT OF HER FATHER'S HOUSE. AND THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF OUR SAVIOUR AND HER DEVOTED HUSBAND WOULD GO THROUGH LIFE LOOKED DOWN UPON BY THEIR NEIGHBORS, WHO WOULD ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT THEIRS WAS A SHOTGUN MARRIAGE. BUT IN BETHLEHEM, IN A STABLE, A BABY WAS BORN, A BABY WHO CHANGED THEIR LIVES; AND GOD BROKE INTO OUR WORLD, AND ANGELS SANG IN THE HEAVENS AND SHEPHERDS CAME DOWN FROM THE HILLS TO WORSHIP THIS BABY; AND THE ANIMALS WHO SHARED THE STABLE LOOKED ON WITH DUMB WONDER AT THEIR CREATOR, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. AND THIS BABY CHANGED OUR LIVES, FOREVER.
IN THE CHRISTMAS SEASON, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T RELIGIOUS, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT NOTICE THAT THE WORLD IS CHANGED. THERE ARE LIGHTS EVERYWHERE – BRIGHT LIGHTS, LIGHTS ON TREES, INSIDE AND OUT; TINY LIGHTS DOING THEIR PART TO MELT AWAY THE DARKNESS. AND GREEN AND RED DOMINATE, EVEN IN THE STORES, AND EVERGREENS FILL OUR HOMES WITH A WOODSY SMELL. IN OUR HOMES WE SET UP THAT OLD MANGER SCENE THAT'S BEEN IN OUR FAMILY FOR YEARS AND YEARS, AND THE ADVENT CANDLES SIT ON OUR MANTLE OR OUR DINING ROOM TABLE. AND HERE IN THE CHURCH, EVERYTHING IS CHANGED; THE SCENE IN FRONT OF THE ALTAR, THE FOREST OF FIR TREES AGAINST THE WALL, THE POINSETTIAS EVERYWHERE. AS WE MOVE TOWARDS THE CELEBRATION OF A BABY'S BIRTH TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, SOME IMPULSE IN US CALLS FOR CHANGE; WE FEEL AN URGE TO CHANGE THE WORLD, BECAUSE THE BABY CHANGED THE WORLD.
BUT IT WILL SOON BE ALL OVER. A WEEK OR SO FROM NOW, EVERYTHING WILL BE PUT AWAY, THE WORLD WILL BE BACK LIKE IT WAS BEFORE, AND WE WILL SETTLE DOWN TO WAIT FOR SPRING AND MOST OF US WON'T REALLY BE CHANGED.
BUT A BABY IS MEANT TO CHANGE LIVES, AND THIS ONE IS NO EXCEPTION. HE WANTS TO DISRUPT OUR ROUTINE, HE WANTS TO SHAKE US UP. HE WANTS TO TURN A CHURCH FULL OF STRANGERS INTO A FAMILY, WHO SHARE EACH OTHERS' JOYS AND SORROWS, WHO CHEER EACH OTHER ON, WHO RUSH TO HELP FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE SUFFERING. HE WANTS YOU AND I TO BE HIS BROTHER AND SISTER, MOTHER AND FATHER; HE WANTS GENUINE AFFECTION TO FLOW FROM EACH OF US AS WE EXCHANGE SMILES AND KIND WORDS ON CHRISTMAS. BUT MOST OF ALL HE WANTS US TO GET TOGETHER EVERY WEEK TO SHARE IN THE BANQUET HE OFFERS, THE BANQUET OF HIS BODY AND BLOOD, THE FOOD HE GIVES US TO MAKE US A FAMILY, WITH A FATHER WHO LOOKS ON US WITH LOVE.
MY GRANDSON GABRIEL NOW TEN MONTHS OLD, IS THE HEART OF HIS FAMILY. HIS BROTHERS AND SISTER HOLD HIM AND PLAY WITH HIM; HIS MOTHER WATCHES HIM WITH JOY IN HER HEART AS HE DOES ALL THOSE SILLY THINGS THAT BABIES DO. HIS FATHER THROWS HIM IN THE AIR AND LAUGHS AS HE SQUEALS WITH DELIGHT. AND JACK, ONLY THREE MONTHS OLD, CAN'T DO MUCH YET, BUT HE SURE CAN SMILE, AND YOU SHOULD SEE HOW HARD HIS FAMILY WORKS TO GET THOSE SMILES. NEITHER FAMILY CAN EVEN IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE WITHOUT THEIR BABY. GABRIEL AND JACK CHANGED THINGS FOREVER IN THEIR FAMILIES. BABIES CHANGE LIVES.
REAL CHANGE IS HARD. NEW BABIES BRING SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND DIRTY DIAPERS AND OLDER SIBLINGS SOMETIMES SHOW A LITTLE JEALOUSY, AND EVERYONE HAS TO MAKE A LITTLE MORE ROOM AND A GIVE A LITTLE MORE TIME. BUT THE CHANGE IS SO WORTH IT. AND THIS CHRISTMAS, DON'T LET THINGS GO BACK TO NORMAL. GIVE BIRTH TO THE CHRIST CHILD IN YOUR HEART AND LET HIM CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER. A BABY MAKES A FAMILY, A BABY MAKES A HOME, AND THIS CHURCH IS HIS HOME AND YOURS; THIS FAMILY IS HIS FAMILY AND YOURS.
I WATCH WHAT BABIES DO TO PEOPLE; HOW MUCH JOY THEY BRING; HOW GREAT THE REWARD FOR THE DISRUPTION IN THE LIVES OF THEIR PARENTS AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS. AND I WONDER HOW MUCH YEAR AROUND JOY THE BABY JESUS WILL BRING TO EACH OF US IF WE LET HIM CHANGE US ON THIS CHRISTMAS DAY, CHANGE US INTO A FAMILY THAT GATHERS EVERY WEEK AROUND THE SUPPER TABLE TO BE TOGETHER FOR A SHORT TIME BEFORE GOING BACK OUT INTO THE WORLD. BECAUSE BABIES CHANGE LIVES, CHANGE THEM FOREVER.
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