Thirteenth Sunday Ordinary

Thirteenth Sunday Ordinary
July 2, 2006

"God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are wholesome.." (Wisdom 1: 13-15) “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” (Mark 5: 21-43)

The book of Wisdom expresses delight at the goodness and beneficence of the Most High and the wholesomeness of creation. Remarkably, this idea that Divine Wisdom is a God of life and creativity, rather than death and destruction, is difficult for us to take at face value. We seem to want to project on to God our disappointments about how life turns out and our aggression toward those who may have hurt us or provoked our anger. How would things be different if we actually took this passage literally, and saw all of creation as wholesome?

The gospel passage presents stories of Jesus touching and being touched. He is going to lay hands on the dying daughter of a religious official. On the way a woman who has been hemorrhaging uncontrollably touches his cloak. Obviously desperate, she would have been considered unclean and untouchable and not permitted to approach Jesus directly to ask for help. She would have to be healed before asking! She chooses an approach that would not compromise Jesus' adherence to the law by asking him to touch her. He is not even aware of her touch until he feels something "go out" of him. She is terrified when he calls to her but he recognizes her great faith. Imagine the trust this required, that she would be OK without him even needing to know about it. As usual his chosen disciples, those closest to him, are the last ones to figure out what is going on.

The story reminds me again of the power of touching and being touched.
I wonder if we give enough consideration to this power to hurt and heal, to alienate and unite. Touch can bring life or death. God's touch brings only life. I am the fortunate recipient of touches from the moment I awaken until I go to sleep. These touches include those which quite literally keep me alive and well, and those which have no other purpose other than to express love and affection. There is no clear division between the two. I feel something very powerful go into my body and soul and return to the other person each time this happens. (I wonder if this was part of Jesus' experience when he felt the woman touch him.) Often I am not even aware of it until I think about it later. I am sure this touch accounts for the fact that I have lived this long. If this is true of human touch, how much more of the divine which it mediates. Others are waiting patiently for us to reach for them in ways that heal, and for the presence of God.

Twelfth Sunday

Twelfth Sunday Ordinary
June 25, 2006

"Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!" (Job 38: 1-11). "... the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." (II Cor 5:14-17). “Why are you so terrified?” (Mark 4: 35-41)

This passage from the end of the story of Job reflects his "conclusion" about where God has been during all of his suffering and losses. After considering all the possible theories, there really is no satisfying explanation for why people seem destined to undergo painful losses and life-threatening situations. Even the oceans with all their apparently limitless power and unpredictability are subject to the surpassing authority of God. The power and "reasons" of the most high are simply beyond us and we attempt to go beyond them to our peril. Life as we know it comes with named and unnamed terrors, and questions unanswered.

Jesus and the disciples are in a small boat together when a violent storm suddenly comes on. There are "other boats" out there with them. Jesus is sleeping peacefully as the boat takes on water and threatens to capsize The disciples are terrified and wake him up wondering why he has not done anything to help save them from drowning in the sea. At Jesus' command, the storm dies down quickly. They are of course impressed with his power. In spite of this miracle however, the disciples continued to encounter other storms throughout their lives. They must have wondered how Jesus could be so apparently unconcerned, sleeping through the storm. He later rebukes them for allowing their terror to get the best of them, their trust sinking beneath the waves. There must be something even more miraculous behind this command of Jesus to calm the storm than simply power over natural forces.

There is no avoiding the fact that we are all on dangerous crossings. We all sail precariously on our oceans of dread. Like ancient mariners we call out reassurances to our shipmates in our own and in other boats across the waves. The times of calm are sweet but fleeting. There is always something anxious "out there" waiting, threatening. We know all of these "somethings" by heart. How will we ever make it through safely? Why is God sleeping when I am in such danger? The real threat is our panic about being swamped beneath our fears and anxieties, about being left behind for dead. The most threatening storms are those of the heart. The spiritual task is to remind ourselves that the Holy Spirit is peacefully there close at hand. Here is where the most miraculous events occur. Jesus, completely possessed of the Spirit of the Most High, invites us into the world of calm, riding the waves of the storm instead of asking God to make them go away. As Paul says, perhaps something new will emerge out of the death of our old ways of life,

Body and Blood of Christ

The Body of Christ
June 18, 2006

"This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you" (Exodus 24:3-8). "Take it; this is my body... This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many." (Mark 14)

We are all familiar with the story of the Exodus, how in Egypt the angel of death passed over the houses of the Israelites which had been marked with the blood of the Passover Lamb. Yahweh thus forged another link in the chain of the sacred covenant of liberation with the people. Jesus, himself an observant Jew, was quite aware that his words reflected Moses' words. In a recent address after his visit to the site of the Holocaust Pope Benedict said, "Auschwitz must not be forgotten, and the other 'factories of death' in which the Nazi regime tried to eliminate God in order to take his place!"... We must not cede to the temptation of racial hatred, which is at the origins of the worst forms of anti-Semitism." How, in our day, a Christian could possibly be anti-semitic is a total mystery.

The gospel quotes Jesus at the Last Supper on the eve of Passover, giving the sacred bread and wine to his disciples, referring to it as his own body and blood. It is also a foreshadowing of Christ's bloodshed on the Cross, another chapter in this story of liberation The Holy Spirit makes this covenant present and available to all creation whenever this sacred meal is celebrated.

Here is one of the central mysteries of our faith about which we have uttered endless anathemas and shed rivers of innocent blood over the centuries in the name of God and truth. We have begun to realize how perverse this has been and to recognize that the Eucharist should bring us together rather than separate us. We take these words of Christ seriously. The Eucharist has an absolutely central and sacred place in our tradition of faith and worship. It is what makes us Catholics. It is true that we Christians disagree about the precise literal meaning of Jesus' words. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see which passages of the Bible we decide to take literally, and what we mean by "literal".

Some of the most significant spiritual events in my life have been participating in the Eucharistic with Christians of other denominations which take this mystery seriously. I recall with particular warmth preaching for and participating in Eucharistic services with Lutheran congregations on Reformation Sunday over the years. I also recall our own congregation participating with other local churches in a joint Eucharistic service on Palm Sunday some years ago. These religious experiences have brought me beyond the idea that we Catholics own the Eucharist. The body and blood of Christ creates unity when we allow it to do so. The blood of Christ, and of every martyr to God's faithfulness, is a pledge of our ultimate liberation from bondage.

Trinity Sunday

Holy Trinity
June 11, 2006

"Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? (Deuteronomy 4 32-40). "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but... a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!” (Romans 8:14-17). " I am with you always...." (Mt 28: 16-20)

Moses asks a rhetorical question expressing wonder and gratitude that the Most High would invite human beings to directly experience the power and love of God. The marvelous events of the deliverance of God's people from slavery have culminated in hearing the divine voice offering a new relationship based on mutual respect. Our God is not a capricious deity out to manipulate and frighten us into submission. We no longer fear being destroyed by hearing and seeing God. This is a revolution in religious experience previewing a second creation in the Spirit.

Jesus leaves the apostles with the promise that he and his Father will always be with us in his Holy Spirit. This is the "commissioning" of the church and its leadership and authority in it. Even more, it completes the promise given through Moses of a permanent and mystical relationship with the one and only God of heaven and earth. As St. Paul says, we now have the right to call on "My Father", and as we say in Jesus' prayer, "Our Father". God is ours. Adoption has all the rights of biological birth. It has the additional advantage of being a special kind of parental choice which brings unanticipated love to both parent and child. Here we have the fulfillment of that revolution in religious experience already given to us through Moses.

I was thinking about this as I was praying last night, using "Holy Father... Holy Son... Holy Spirit" repeated rhythmically with my breathing, as a background to going back-and-forth from God to the people I love. Not asking for anything in particular, praying with as well as to God. It is distracting trying to remember every little thing which I and everyone else needs and which the Spirit already knows about anyway. Much more comforting to just allow myself to imagine being loved, and loving in return with My Father. Not to suggest that God is limited by our notions of number or gender. We probably should not get too literal about this. There is a reason why the Scriptures have so many names for God. Each of them describes a facet of the limitless "jewel" of the Most High. They are all poetic approximations of a reality beyond rational conception. I sometimes pray with my divine Mother, Sister, Brother. Whatever works! The wonder is that God, love and creation know of no limits. The wonder is that we can do this with God without being annihilated, but instead re-created, brought directly in to perfect love, truth and beauty.