This morning I was sitting in the kitchen, looking outside. I saw two birds struggling with each other, playing tug of war with a worm. Each bird was intent on capturing the prize. Each bird was functioning in the way God intended, living by their instincts, no thought. A little later a father robin was gathering up bits of dead grass, presumably to help in the making of a nest for his offspring. Again, no thought, no logic, only instincts directing him what he should do.
Then, we have man, who has been given the greatest gifts of all, intelligence and free will. What great wonders man has produced with his intelligence. Every invention from the wheel to the lastest aspect of technology, and everything in between have been designed, produced and marvelled at through man’s God-given abilities. How much we have to be thankful for. How much we have that has been given us.
And here we are, a few days after Easter. Once again we are given a gift, Salvation, Redemption and Unity with God. How wondrous is your mercy and love, O God! Like the Psalmist, we can say, “… what is man that thou art mindful of him, O Lord?” He has given us a mind, and an intelligence with which we can inspect, evaluate and make decisions about our actions, our life. And then, He went one step further. He not only, promoted us beyond our instincts, He has also, allowed us the ability to say, “Yes and No”. In giving us Free Will God has given us the authority to decide our future.
To decide what we will do next is both a wondrous ability, and at the same time, a frightening liability. Our decisions not only affect our current situations, but have ramifications in the future, as well. It is when our decisions address only our present needs, and give no thought to the consequences, their effect on the future, then is when they fail to fulfill the aspirations of Our Father, the Giver of Gifts.
The Christ came into this world, not only to redeem us, but to show us how to live. That we are capable of mistakes we already know, for we, all of us, have made tons of them. Christ embraces us and loves us. When a person offers his hand in friendship, we must extend ours to accept it. Jesus is showing us, again and again, how much the Father loves us. All that Jesus asks is that we love Him back. In order for us to show Him our love directly, we must show that we understand His message for us. We must extend our hand in friendship to the people that we meet, to Jesus. We must love one another. We must be concerned about the well being, the welfare of others.
This is the use of free will at its highest. We are concerned about people, not because they are pleasing to us, not because they can do something for us, but because Christ loves them, all of them. How can we love God, who we do not see, if we cannot love those, whom we do see? This love for our fellow man is such that we love the unborn, we love the sinner, we love the unwashed, and everyone that causes us to cringe away. We may not be happy with the responsibilities that the unborn cause. We don’t have to welcome the actions of sinners. We may wish that the unwashed were clean. But we must love them, all. If we do this, then we are embracing the love of Jesus. We are embracing His message that He extends to us.
Archive for April, 2011
Today, we celebrate. Today, we rejoice. The Christ, who suffered and died, has done what He promised. He has triumphed over sin and death. He has risen from the dead, as He said He would. This one triumphant act, this, the greatest of all of His miracles, shows to the world that His words are true. He IS lord and master of the universe. We CAN believe in Him. If we ever doubted, we have no reason to doubt any more.
But even now, in this jubilant and glorious victory, how does Jesus conduct Himself? He meets two strangers on the road to Emmaus and hides his identity from them. He quietly mingles with His apostles, continuing His teaching of them. If we were in the same position, would we not stand in the face of our enemies, gloating with every fiber of our body shouting out, “I told you so”? Thank God, we are not God!!!
So, today we have cause to celebrate. We know that our faith, our beliefs, do hold water. We are reminded, once again, that all mankind has been bought back, has been brought back to the loving embrace of the Father. (See the blog: Resurrection of the Body and Life Everlasting.)
Our struggles, our trials, our sufferings can be more than just some negative happenings that we experience in this life. We can merge our sufferings with those of Jesus. Together, we can offer them to Our Father in Heaven. At Mass, we say, “Through Him, With Him and In Him, all honor and glory is Yours almighty Father.” Attaching to the sufferings of Jesus, our own sacrifices, we acknowledge and recognize our own unworthiness and need for forgiveness.
So, we have been renewed. We have been exonerated. And, we didn’t even have to lift a finger.!?!? WRONG!!!! We may act like we have nothing further to do, we may live our lives as though nothing further is required from us, but that is terribly, terribly wrong. The actions of Jesus were for our benefit. But they were just that, actions of Jesus. We have a commitment to make and to live. Jesus said, “Unless you take up your cross and follow me…” He has shown us how to live, how to conduct our lives. His words, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”… are not just poetic niceties. He is showing us our commitment. In Matt, Chapter 11, 28 He says, “Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you”, and again in 30, “For my yoke is sweet and my burden light”. He is not asking us to die on the cross. He did that. He is simply asking us to love one another. And, in loving one another, in living in such a manner, we embrace Christ’s life, death and Resurrection. We will rise, as He has.
For some reason, prominent in my mind today is Jesus lying motionless in his tomb. The horrible events of yesterday are over. All the commotion and butchery, all the insults and pain have subsided. The coolness of the cave, probably even a little damp, seems to offer some comfort, some balm to the raw wounds of His tortured body. The deafening silence seems in awe of Him, Who is laid there.
He, who taught us every day of His life, who preached by word and example how our lives are to be lived, what does He wish to show us now, as He lies there quietly, motionless? Soon there will be the Resurrection. Soon there will be the proof that He would indeed rebuild the temple that was destroyed. But right now, as He lies there motionless, what lesson, what insight can we glean?
By dying yesterday, by willingly giving up His life, He took upon Himself all the sins of the world. Everyone’s, yours and mine, He shouldered. This is what redemption required. One sacrificial lamb, the Christ, would be offered up for the sins of mankind. By our Baptism into Christ, we acknowledge that we are sinners. And, bearing the stains of sin we needed to be washed free of the effects of our misdeeds. Regardless of when the baptism was, when we were young, or in the recent past, every day we live we acknowledge our indebtedness to Jesus.
Today, though, right now, there is no movement, no preaching, and no miracles. He lies there still, as though He is waiting for something to happen. Maybe today is for us. Maybe, today is our day to feel the pain, the sorrow, the shame, that our lives have caused. Maybe today we are to focus on where our lives are headed, to recognize that there are areas in our life that need to change. What has transpired over these two days was necessary because of mankind, us. Use this time to contemplate where your life is going. How important are these events to us? Do we really see and understand that Jesus is dying for US? His conquering evil and death is so that we shall be able to rise with Him tomorrow in glory?
After reading this, close your eyes. Picture yourself there in the small cave with the buried Jesus. It is just you and the lifeless body of Jesus. There is no noise, very little, if any, light. You have witnessed the Last Supper, the agony in the garden, the mock trial, the scourging, and the crucifixion. What do you feel? What are your thoughts? Here is a man who died for you! He suffered intensely, so that you would not. Does the direction of your life change? Does it need to change? What one thing can we do to unite ourselves completely with Jesus? What will show our total acceptance of Jesus? It is to have the same love and concern for others that Jesus has for us. Then, and only then, do we reflect Christ. Then, and only then, can we consider ourselves ready for the Resurrection.
Leaving the Last Supper, the twelve, Jesus and the remaining eleven, walked to the Garden of Gethsemane. Here, the Christ was reduced to tears and fear. His humanity was once again evident. Why a man? Why this man? Was it really necessary that He die? Is God so demanding? What would be accomplished? To answer these questions, let us step back and quickly look at what has led to this state.
Someone, (Our first ancestors, Adam and Eve), defied the will of God. Using the free will that God had given them, they chose to use it in defiance, as we do, even today. In so doing they paved the way for a weakened mankind to defy God. This action brought evil, sickness and death into the world. Throughout time this evil, this cancer grew and continues to grow and spread. To restore the balance in the universe, to restore justice, a sacrifice has to be made. What could offset the evil, the hatred, the murder, the lust, the continuing disregard of God and His Goodness, all of which built up over thousands of years? A god must suffer and die. But, then, God would not be God, if he could suffer and die. A man, a God-man, a person so perfect that He knew not sin would have to the sacrificial lamb. He would have to be the sacrifice. And so, from all eternity we have Jesus designated for the task of saving mankind from itself.
All of this defies logic. It sounds like a fairy tale. But here is where our faith must bridge the gap. A loving, caring God wants man to freely love Him and so gives him free will. That it is possible that man can choose to turn his back on God, and does, is the price of free will. We have been given a gift. How we use it is totally dependent on us.
The sad part of this is that we, all of us, have sinned. Maybe it was a slight disagreement, or a heated argument, or a murderous attack. Maybe it was stealing a nickel, or something of much greater value. Maybe it was a desire, a lust, an adulterous relationship. Small or big, our sins are added onto the heap of mankind’s willful self-serving. Restoration of order in the universe must be accomplished. If it is not restored, if it is ignored, then God could not be perfect, could not be just, could not be God.
So, here we are in Gethsemane, the apostles , asleep, Jesus, afraid and in tears. We gather our clubs and go after this Man. His agony, His scourging, His pain and torture, and ultimately His death will all take place very soon. Which of these things are we responsible for? Surely, my evil was not this huge. I am not a mass murderer, like Hitler. Mine was just a small, minor transgression. But, Jesus is suffering for ALL mankind. You and I are part of that group. Our transgressions, big and small are part of this trash heap that He is paying the price for. The pain in His muscles, the flesh being torn, the punches, the insults, the mockery, the nailing to the cross, we are responsible for these. And his response to all of this? “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing”. He makes excuses for us.
It is much easier to think of all of this as a fairy tale. It didn’t really happen, so I don’t have to be concerned about it. Let me shove it to the back regions of my mind, where my thoughts rarely go. … But it did happen. We are responsible. For us to make amends we have to honestly look at Jesus and see what He did for us and why. Realize that He did this for us. Our free will must again come into play. We must use it now to recognize our guilt, our complicity in this tragedy. With our free will, Jesus wants us to recognize and admit our guilt, accept His act of Love and freely give our love and concern to the rest of mankind. If we do this, we show our love to Him. We give back to God our love using our free will.
The Gospel of today, (John 13, 1-15) recounts the washing of the Disciples feet. The last three verses, pretty much say it all what Jesus is teaching us. “You call me, Master, and Lord: and you say well, for so I am. If I then, being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet: you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also.”
The foot is considered by many to be the most ignoble part of the body. It trudges heavily in the dust of the earth. Because of its distance from the hands, it is the hardest to clean. Its sole purpose is to take us from one place to another. Unlike the hand that creates and sculpts, or the tongue that sings and praises, or the eyes that see the wonders of the world, or the ear that hears the birds sing, the foot is our beast of burden. It takes us where we want to go.
To wash another’s foot, their lowliest part of the body, is to show that person that you hold them in higher regard than yourself. What is Jesus telling us, by washing His Disciples feet? This is not what we would call grand-standing. If we know Jesus, nothing He does is just for show. A message is being sent to them… and to us. If He is willing to wash our feet, to suffer and die for us, how are we to regard each other? Who among us is greater than Jesus? Later on in the chapter, Jesus tells them that He has given them a new commandment; they are to love one another as He has loved them.
The last Supper was truly a most memorable event. We are told to treat others with love and respect. We are told to love them as Jesus loves us. It is demonstrated to us to what lengths we should be willing to go for others, even to the extent of washing their feet. This is to let us realize that we cannot put on airs. We cannot look down on anyone, even those that have (in our opinion) made a mess of their lives. Again, we hear Christ’s words admonishing us that he, who is without sin, cast the first stone.
When will we get it? When will we understand that all of us are struggling, all of us have problems or pasts of which we are ashamed. We don’t want anyone to know how ugly we can be, how ugly we have been. Instead, we do everything in our power to appear “normal”, to have people look up to us. Beware of pride. It has taken down many before us. It is so subtle we don’t even realize that it has taken hold of us.
The people that we meet and greet are struggling like us. Don’t look at their clothes. Don’t be judgmental. Don’t wonder about their cleanliness. Look at their eyes. Their eyes are the windows to their soul. They are people, as lonely, as confused, as hurting as you. They are trying, like you, to understand where their lives are going, where it all fits in. Love them. Be kind to them. We are to love them, all of them, as Jesus has loved us.
The Gospel today, focuses squarely on Judas Iscariot. Why? Why not Peter, as well? Both men turned their backs on Jesus. Peter with his denial and Judas with his betrayal, both spurned the Christ. In effect, both men wanted nothing to do with Jesus either out of fear or out of greed.
The only difference between the two is faith. Though both had fallen, as all of us do, Peter never relinquished his faith in Jesus. The realization, of how great his offense was, reduced Peter to tears. And in his sorrow, in his time of trial, he fled back to Jesus who was waiting for him. Judas, on the other hand, on his realization of the magnanimity of his offense, despaired. One, relying on his faith in Jesus, returned with sincere sorrow, grateful in that faith that he would be forgiven. Judas had no such strength to fall back on. His faith in material things delivered no such solace. With no reliance on Jesus, his life proved to be empty, meaningless and he sought the coward’s way out, he hung himself.
No one is perfect. Neither you nor I can point our incriminating finger at Judas without turning that same finger back upon ourselves. Christ said it, Himself, “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone…”-1 This is not an attempt to soften our own negligence, to make light of our own capricious living. We are all struggling to bring our lives into accordance with God. Yes, He understands our frailty. But our weakness cannot be our excuse. Our lives will always be a continuing struggle. Life is a struggle to excel, to succeed, to grow.
In what are we struggling to excel? To succeed? To grow? That is the important aspect of our lives. If material things are of paramount importance to us, then in that, we have placed our faith. What occupies our main focus during the day? Then in that, we have placed our faith. It is not rocket science. What do we want? What do we desire? What moves us, and motivates us? That, and only that, will show us what our primary concern is. Yes, we should be attentive to our finances, our children, our home, and our jobs. But these concerns must always be placed within our trust in God, our faith in a loving, caring God. We can, like Peter, place our trust in Jesus. Or, we can place our trust in things. What will warm you the most? Which will comfort you in your time of need?
-1 John, 8, 7
Continuing our look at Jesus’ humanity, we see in today’s Gospel Jesus revealing to the Apostles that one of them will betray Him. A friend, a follower, not only walks away, but is the mechanism that enables Jesus’ enemies to capture Him. Someone who Jesus walked and talked with, someone he had taught for three years, they ate and laughed together; Judas turned his back on Him and wanted to be with him no more. How this must pierce Jesus’ heart? The ache inside, the need to cry, the tightness in His throat… how this betrayal must have hurt Him.
We can look on this and say it was a necessary evil. It had to happen. Judas made a mistake. He thought he was doing something that would eventually advance the cause of Jesus. But, we really cannot explain it away, nor, should we. If we explain this away, then we will explain away our own failings, our own betrayals, our own “necessary evils”.
This is, however, one more time that Jesus shows us how we are to deal with the trials of our day. He could have thrown up his hands and shouted, “This is useless”, “Nobody seems to care”, “The heck with him”. But no, all He says is, “What you have to do, do quickly”. No verbal assault. No recriminations. No judgment. He sees the weakness, He understands the weakness, and yet He loves. In spite of the human hurt that must have been felt, He loves.
Each one of us has played the role of Judas at some point in our lives. It may not have been as drastic, or maybe it was, but the point is that our lives are full of hills and valleys. We valiantly strive towards our God and then again, we flee Him. Through all of this, He loves us, He understands. He patiently waits for us to return to Him.
We, all of us, every person that we know and meet have turned our collective back on Jesus. We do this time and time again…and we don’t even realize it. “Yes, I know I have sinned, but look at THAT person…” We just did it again! We turned our back on Jesus. We sit smugly, with moral superiority, judging others, while refusing to look within, at ourselves. In that judgment, we are saying we really aren’t that bad, at least not as bad as that person. If that is the case, then there must be levels of redemption. Some need it more than others? Are we not saying too, that we don’t need Jesus, as much as other people do? We don’t need salvation, redemption as much as others? The other person does, but we don’t.
This obviously, is false, but our actions, how we live our lives, how we treat others seems to point in that direction. Each time a son or a daughter, a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, a neighbor, a co-worker, a person that we see on the street, each time we make a judgment on any one of these, we deny them the love of Jesus. We deny that Jesus’ way of life is anything but a pipe dream. Once again, we betray Jesus.
