Thirtieth Sunday

Thirtieth Sunday Ordinary
October 29, 2006


"They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them. I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble." (Jeremiah 31: 7-9). "Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way." (Mark 10:46-52)
The prophet Jeremiah expresses the people's hope of relief from their captivity. These were dark days for our spiritual ancestors. The Temple was in ruins, their leaders dragged away in chains to a foreign and hostile land, all possibility of their return apparently gone. Jeremiah maintained his hope in deliverance, with nothing but the invisible presence of Yahweh.

In the gospel Jesus heals the blind Bartimaeus, an obscure beggar, who cried out to Jesus from his "home" beside the road. This poor man probably had very little reason to expect anything great to happen when he called out to Jesus. Perhaps he acted out of desperation rather than from any heroic faith. His deliverance came, as it did for the Israelites, because he held out for something better in spite of all the odds. This poor beggar was given his sight, but it seems that the physical miracle was the least important part of his whole experience. Like him we see without seeing. "Seeing" is realizing what has been right in front of us all along, although we could not recognize it because we were in the darkness of our desperation. This man's whole experience of life was changed by his encounter with God and there was nothing left for him to do but follow him.

Hope is as blind as faith can be. The most effective prayer may be just like the cries of Jeremiah and Bartimaeus, when we are at the end of our hope, but insist on continuing anyway. I remember as a young child being taught from the Baltimore Catechism that "the three theological virtues are faith, hope and charity". We had very little idea of what this meant, but the words were there for us to ponder later. My friend, Billy, the smartest kid in the second grade, could not pronounce "virtues". I have thought lately that hope is the most often neglected of the three. St. Paul tells us that "hope is the confidence in things unseen". Hope is what we have when there is no tangible reason to expect that things will ever be different than they are right now. Hope is what we have when nothing else is left. It is a sign of mature spirituality in every religious tradition. We are all blind. We all at sometime or other have had, or will have, experienced the desperation of darkness when we can only "hope against hope". It may be the only way that we can be brought to real faith by the touch of the Holy Spirit.

Twenty Ninth Sunday

Twenty Ninth Sunday
October 22, 2006

“Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days" (Isaiah 53:10-11): "We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens" (Hebrews 4:14-16) "Can you drink the cup that I drink?" (Mark 10:35-45)

The readings this Sunday suggest a meditation on the relationship between power and weakness in the kingdom of heaven. Isaiah articulates the disillusionment of the people with their priestly class, unable to lead them into anything beyond additional suffering and disappointment. After 2500 years of more of the same, "solutions" based on war and power politics, we are no closer to peace and security than we ever were. The prophet instead anticipates a different kind of high priest who will lead by submission and non-violence. God's self-sacrifice makes all other sacrifices meaningful. Together with the Son of Man, we the people of God become the high priest of renunciation and love.

Jesus' disciples ask him to grant them anything they desire. Instead of granting their wish he replies with a question. Are they prepared to participate in his powerlessness over pain, loss and death? They say they are and he tells them that nevertheless, their wish is not his to grant. Mature adult spirituality is less about asking for favors from God and more about living in God's life. Jesus again addresses the mistaken notion of his followers that their loyalty somehow guarantees a high place in the kingdom of heaven (as if there are "high" and "low" places there at all). Christ, the high priest, in a great reversal of the order of things, forgoes all divine power and authority to join the weakest and least of all. From now on this is the pattern for anyone who desires a place in the kingdom of heaven. There the powerful become weak and the weak become strong.

Our God is a God of weakness and love. We are reminded of this every time we see the innocent suffering, brutalized and sacrificed. God does not will this to "teach us something" as we often say, but suffers and grieves with us. Our pain and weakness are our redemption from the human condition, bringing our persecutors with us. There is no room in this new world for vengeance or retribution even if we often quite understandably desire this. I have had ample opportunity over the past seven years to think about this truth, observing myself and others attempting to assimilate the reality of advancing weakness and powerlessness of every kind. I have been tempted to strike bargains with God, wishing to be granted a return of former power and strength. This approach does not work any better in individual spiritual life than it does on a global scale. Most of us will have many chances to accept our weakness, and most of us will not do it until forced to by some "untreatable" circumstance beyond our control. Jesus' kingdom is ours when we like him participate in his renunciation of power, where true spiritual power is to be found. Easy to say, difficult to learn.

Twenty-eighth Sunday

Twenty-eighth Sunday
October 15, 2006

"I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me... I deemed riches nothing in comparison with her" (Wisdom 7:7-11). "Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." (Mark 10: 17-30).
Wisdom is more valuable than health, attractiveness, or wealth. More than learning, spiritual insights or technical training, it is divine "common sense", practical knowledge about living well. What or how much we possess is of little consequence without the generosity of heart and mind which accompanies wisdom. We often refer to people being "successful" or "doing well" when they are wealthy or famous and attribute wisdom to their opinions simply because of this. The myth of the "self-made" individual does not hold up to the scrutiny of God's wisdom.

Jesus meets this wealthy young man who thinks he has already mastered the challenge of living according to the commandments. Does he equate his wealth with wisdom? In any event he now inquires about what more he can do to make sure that he will inherit eternal life. Jesus looks at the man "with love" in spite of his obviously shallow grasp of what wisdom requires of the disciple. He tells him that he is "lacking only in one thing" and then proceeds to invite him to a more spiritual attitude than simply to obey the law. He must renounce the "one thing" to which he is overly attached -- his money. Oh, my, anything but that. Divine wisdom would have advised him that his wealth did not belong to him. Instead he "went away sad" that he could not possess the kingdom of God in the same way that he imagined that he possessed his wealth. All wealth is a gift, on loan for us to use to build the human community.

Yahweh's prophets, Jesus, and the church teach that property rights, individual initiative and the free market are meant to be exercised for the benefit of the whole human community. We have a sacred responsibility to make sure that our society is organized so that every person on earth, not just the clever "deserving" or fortunate, has their sacred right to freedom, justice and the necessities of life. This value is too central to be left solely to impersonal market forces. These powerful forces need to be used to accomplish the higher goals of the kingdom of God. The free market is for people, not people for the market. How we accomplish this is a subject for public debate. Whether we do it, at least for those of us who want to pursue a spiritual path, is not.

Whatever inordinate attachments keep us from wholeheartedly embracing the kingdom of God, need to be left behind. If not wealth, then perhaps other attachments: reputation, learning, looks, the admiration of others, being right. What stands between each of us and inheriting eternal life? It is easier to see it in others than to see it in ourselves unless we listen to others who love us.

Twenty-seventh Sunday

Twenty-seventh Sunday Ordinary
October 8, 2006

"This one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." (Genesis 2: 18-24) "But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female... the two shall become one flesh" (Mark 10: 2-16)

Genesis offers this beautifully poetic description of the beginning of the human race. God creates the first human and then realizes how lonely and isolated he is among all the other dwellers of the earth. The "suitable partner" can only be another of the same species, another human being: Sometimes when we experience the many differences between male and female we can forget that these differences are intended to be complementary. Human nature requires both male and female energies, thought processes and spiritualities. From the beginning neither was intended to dominate or be superior to the other. Neither is complete without the other. No wonder that this principle is the key to successful relationships of all kinds, but especially to marriage. Male and female do well together when each affirms and supports the strengths of the other rather than trying to "convert" the other into something neither was meant to be.

In the Gospel Jesus does not Institute marriage as a sacrament because it existed from the beginning of creation. Instead he brings it under the new rules for all relationships in the kingdom of God. The disciples were understandably puzzled because this contradicted Moses' law on divorce. Jesus' hard teaching about it expresses how radical our relationship with God should be. From now on marriage will express the inseparable relationship between us and God. The bond between married couples is as intimate and permanent as the bond between God and all creation. "What God has joined together, no human must separate". No other human relationship has the capacity to express this reality as clearly as marriage.

We know, of course, that in spite of all our best efforts, we sometimes are not able to live up to Jesus' teaching on divorce. He often, and with equal force, cautions us against passing judgment on those who for one reason or another have not been able to adhere to this teaching. It is possible to obey the letter of the law and let the spirit die by staying technically married in a lifeless and mutually destructive relationship. We all need to adapt to the changes in our intimate relationships which inevitably occur as aging and unforeseen events occur. Anyone who has endured the pain of marital separation and divorce will know that it is among the worst of life's experiences, the death of a dream which brings a harvest of guilt, sadness and anger. The healing process often takes many years, and depends on how well we avoid passing judgment. Our place is to reach out to one another across the gulf of loneliness, alienation and isolation, without judgment or condemnation.