Do Not Be Afraid
I love the feast of SS Peter and Paul. The stories offered to us on the 29th June are prison stories, one in Jerusalem the other in Rome. Read them and reflect (Acts 12:1-11 and 2 Timothy 6:6-8. 17-18). Indeed, they are powerful.
Peter guarded, watched, bound in chains, sadly reminiscent of the experience of many a captive and hostage. In the story Peter is presented as at ease with the situation, asleep in fact, and as in a dream the chains fall from his hands, the doors open, his guards utterly unaware of what’s happening and he walks free. Did it really happen? Or Are we offered a profound insight into the nature of the Church at its best. The truth that nothing, not even being tied down, watched, guarded and chained, similar to the story of the Gerasene Demoniac, can stop the good news of the Gospel from being preached and lived. A sign that we as members of the Church should never out of fear attempt to tie down, bind, chain, watch or silence those with whom we might disagree.
Paul also in prison, awaiting execution, totally free in himself, reminiscent of some of the greats of our world, people who have the ability to put terror into me, at any rate. Free people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, St Thomas Moore, Dorothy Day, Edith Stein, Nelson Mandela and others: Those who hold up the possibility of internal freedom, of being truly human. Those who force me to look deep into myself and recognise the compromises, rationalisations and half truths I hide behind. Who make me wonder if there is any other way to achieve that kind of freedom than the way of the Cross. The image of Jesus on the Cross hands stretched out, blaming no one, holding all, compassionate to the end, forgiving and reconciling all comes to mind and is echoed in Paul and those other greats of our world. For myself I find a tendency to find fault and blame, though at my best, I know that it shows a lack of true freedom.
My own favourite stories of Peter and Paul are:
A) Peter on the Via Appia running away from the persecutions and meeting the Risen Christ on his way into the city. The great question Quo Vadis (Where are you going?) resulting in Peter’s return to the city of persecution and solidarity with the suffering where in fact he becomes the Rock wherein the Church and even the Vatican are built. A legend certainly but then again legends are profound conveyors of truth, like grass through concrete, they never quite go away and haunt the imagination. Where are you going? - a great question for anyone involved in the RCIA.
B) Paul responding to Peter’s compromise with the more traditional group of Jewish Christians operating as he was out of fear as described in the Letter to the Galatians 2:11-14. “I opposed him to his face”. In our terms serious debate and strongly held views are to be encouraged and treasured in a search for what is genuinely true and authentic:- A model for Church and Parish and Society!
Ah yes! Peter and Paul you invite us to listen to the words which are found around 365 times in the Bible “Do not be afraid” and not just to listen to them but to allow them to find a home within the heart.
An Outpouring of Generosity
A conversion moment took place in Lourdes a number of years ago. I was there with a group of young people from St Bernadette’s Parish in Scunthorpe and our pilgrimage coincided with a Diocesan pilgrimage from my home county Kerry. My mother Julie was one of the pilgrims. The first evening I went down to her hotel to have a chat. As I came into the front room of the hotel I saw Julie and another woman talking thirteen to the dozen, fully animated and obviously fully at home with one another. When I came up to them I was taken aback because my mother was speaking English and the other woman speaking Spanish. When we were alone I said to Julie “you don’t speak Spanish”. She looked at me as if was totally stupid and said. “What’s that got to do with it? We were talking about our families and showing pictures of our children to one another. What’s language got to do with it.” It was a Pentecost moment. Language was not a barrier, a spirit of openness and care for one another overcame apparent difference. What was held in common was greater than what might separate. It just took people of deep humanity and spirit to take the risk of reaching out to the other.
Pentecost is a many layered feast. It has deep roots which lie in the Jewish celebration of the feast of Weeks (Shavuoth), remembering the giving of the Torah (the Law) to Moses at Mount Sinai. It is also a feast of celebrating the gift of the first fruits of harvest, a new beginning with the sense of jumping for joy and entering into the dance of plenty along with the birth of the people of the Law of Moses. It is little wonder that the early Church community celebrated this day, the new first day of the Lord– 50 days (7 weeks + 1) after Easter as the birth of the new community of Jesus of Nazareth. A celebration full of joy (drunk with joy no less) and new possibilities uniting the rich diversity of many peoples ‘from every nation under heaven’ in one great moment of unity celebrating the richness of different languages and cultures in an experience of common humanity and grace.
Behind the story of the outpouring of the Spirit lies the story of the Tower of Babel with its emphasis on humankind’s tendency towards hubris:- The desire to be our own god, along with the tendency towards uniformity and conformity. In the story all speak the same language and attempt to reach beyond ourselves, to the very heavens. At Pentecost Hubris and the desire for power is turned totally upside down. Diversity of language and culture become a sign of the deeper unity of humanity under God. A God who is lavish in his creation who in the words of the poet Brendan Kennelly “goes about his work, Determined to hold on to nothing. Embarrasses at the prospect of possession, He distributes leaves to the wind, And lets them pitch and leap like boys, Capering out of their skin. Pictures are thrown behind hedges, Poems skitter backwards over cliffs, There is is a loaf of bread on Derek’s threshold, And we will never know who put it there.”
Pentecost is a great feast of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. It warns against the tendency to uniformity and conformity while celebrating the rich diversity of God’s creation. It is an invitation for us to share in that lavish generosity, to let go for the good of others, to be big of heart and to give freely of our gifts and talents. A launch pad for a life of discipleship:- walking confidently and courageously with the One who is with us to the end of time.
Unbind him and set him free
If you ever find yourself in Oxford make your way to the chapel of New College. There you will find a truly remarkable statue of Lazarus by Jacob Epstein. It is in white marble. As you look you will see the bands of death being stretched round the body of Lazarus almost to breaking point. He is being dragged reluctantly from the grave. This reluctance to come forth from the place of safety and death is further emphasised by the fact that his head is turned backwards as he is being pulled back to life. That beautiful piece of sculpture offers a profound insight into the story of Lazarus found in John’s Gospel:- Resistance to true freedom.
To get inside the story we need to identify our own resistance to removing the stone covering the cave where the body lay buried along with our resistance to believing the word of Jesus that endlessly gives life.
Having taken the stone away listen to the word spoken in a loud voice “Lazarus come out”. A loud voice reaching down into the very depths of all that is life taking: That echoes through the ages and that cannot be resisted. The command “Unbind him and let him go” reflect the word spoken to Moses from the Burning Bush:- “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt” – the house of slavery.
These images form the basis of the Third Scrutiny as the Elect prepare themselves within their parish communities for the Easter Vigil. In fact for both the individual and the community the questions raised are demanding indeed and reach into the psyche of both:
- What am I reluctant to reveal about myself or my community?
- What in my life am I reluctant to change?
- What do I or we want to keep hidden away?
- What do I or we need to do to set others free?
- What word or command of Jesus do I most resist?
- What word or command of Jesus echoes deep within me?
- From what do I or my community need to be unbound and set free?
The prayer prayed over the Elect and on behalf of the community has much to offer to these reflections. The prayer is geared towards those who are preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil but can easily be adapted for those already one with us through baptism or for the community as a whole. The lines or words in italics are offered as a possible adaptation.
“Father of life and God not of the dead but of the living,
you sent your Son to proclaim life,
to snatch us from the realm of death,
and to lead us to the resurrection.
Free these elect (us)
from the death-dealing power of the spirit of evil,
so that they (we) may witness
to their (our) new life in the risen Christ,
for he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
(Then with hands outstretched)
Lord Jesus,
by raising Lazarus from the dead
you showed that you came that we might have life
and have it more abundantly.
Free (us) from the grasp of death
those who await your life-giving sacraments
(as we celebrate your life-giving sacraments)
and deliver them from the spirit of corruption.
(and continue to deliver us from the spirit of corruption)
Through your Spirit, who gives life,
fill them (us) with faith, hope and charity,
that they (we) may live with you always
in the glory of your resurrection
for you are Lord for ever and ever. Amen”
A thought!
“Sickness struggles to own the world. I want you to live.
Live, do you hear me? Half-living is a safe hell.
The house I build is for souls who would be well.”
‘The house I build’ by Brendan Kennelly
What’s in a Family Tree?
Monday the 17th December marks a change in the journey towards Christmas or perhaps more correctly it marks a moment when the birth of Jesus comes to meet and remind us that we are all part of his family tree.
Matthew's Gospel begins with the family tree of Jesus the Christ, son of David, son of Abraham. It is beautifully put together, neatly divided and very often missed out as the list of names has a tendency to confuse rather than inform. Yet it is worth looking at and reflecting on.
Genealogies tell us where and who we come from, they give us a sense of identity and point us in a direction. Really good genealogies include even the skeletons we would like to keep in the cupboards of our lives. A bit like Harry Potter hidden away under the stairs.
The genealogy of Jesus goes a long way to telling us who he is, where he comes from and where he's going. He is a carries in his genes the blood of Abraham and the blood of David. It is important to remember that when Abraham began his journey from the ancient city of Ur, near modern Basra, he was a gentile. As King Hussein of Jordan reminded us when he spoke at the funeral of his friend Yitzhak Rabin's funeral "we are all the children of Abraham". If only we could take on board the implications of that word. The radicalness of us all being children of Abraham is found in the words of John the Baptist when he says "God can raise up children of Abraham from these stones". See the world through inclusive rather than exclusive eyes.
Jesus also carries the blood of David, the great King,who reigned over the Israel at a time when they were at their most powerful, a kingdom that stretched from Dan to Beersheba. A Kingdom which didn't last long, became divided and eventually became totally destroyed resulting in the deportation of the people to Babylon. The exile in Babylon makes a key moment in the history of Jesus' people. When all is lost and there appears to be no future, how can we and even God stay faithful to us?
A truly terrible time. Akin in the gospel story to the disciples facing the crucifixion of Jesus. All is lost, there is no future. How can we go on? Should we give up?
The Exile and the Crucifixion of Jesus amazingly become the great moments of Hope rather than despair. A miracle indeed!
The family tree of Jesus tells us that he carries the whole story of his people and not just his people in a narrow way but the story of all of us. The skeletons in the cupboard come in the names of the women mentioned in the otherwise more normal list of men. They are to say the least foreign and to a greater or lesser extent involved in rather dubious behavior even though they are undoubtedly very strong women who despite the unquestioned difficulties which face them come out with great integrity and wholeness.
Tamar: Who uses all of her cunning and skill to get her rights: Genesis 38
Rahab: of the scarlet cord hanging from the window: Joshua 2
Ruth: The Moabitess who becomes the Great Grandmother of King David: Book of Ruth
Uriah's wife: The unnamed Bathsheba who is simply taken by David and whose husband, the honourable Uriah the Hittite is murdered on David's orders. 2 Samuel 11
And finally Mary who is found to be with child by the Holy Spirit and whom Joseph takes home as his wife and who is named Jesus but will be called "Emmanuel" a name which means 'God is with us'.
The family tree of Jesus is definitely worth more than a glance or two. Also of course our own family tree whether that tree be biological or of our faith journey carries much that can enlighten, enrich and even challenge our lives. It is always good to remember that we are all in one way or another members of the family tree of Jesus.