Tags
“Flight by Rose Datoc Dall
Have you ever noticed that there is a lot of walking and journeying in the Christmas story? We have the calm and silence of the manger scene but before, after and all around that is almost constant movement. The angel Gabriel is sent to announce God’s plan to Mary. Once Mary gives her “yes” we are told that she sets out “in haste” to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Joseph and the very pregnant Mary have to journey to Bethlehem to register for the census and because of Rome’s census the whole world seems to be in movement! Then, once the child arrives, the small family has to flee to Egypt for protection! The shepherds are told to leave their flocks in order to see this newborn child and the three magi arrive from the east searching for the newborn king of the Jews and once they encounter him they are told to return home by a different route. The only one who seems incapable of movement is King Herod sitting on his throne and grasping onto power in suspicion and fear.
Here is a quote by Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, “Brothers and sisters, break free from whatever ruts you have settled into! Whoever does not want to be set free – well, suit yourself – but don’t say you are living in Christ’s spirit. You can continue in the old ways and be a part of Christianity, but not of God’s kingdom. You can live in Christianity but not in Christ; the gulf between the two is great. You can settle down and feather your nest and think, “Now I’ve got it made,” but you’ll never win eternity. That is something altogether different. The “city” we have now does not interest us; it cannot last. Instead, we seek the future city – the one God sets before our eyes – of which Christ is ruler.”
“Instead, we seek the future city – the one God sets before our eyes – of which Christ is ruler.” In the prophet Isaiah, we hear these words, “Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you … Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance … (but then the prophet goes on to add) … Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow …” If there is a glory to the Christian it is not in our own merit nor is it in chasing after what the world holds and values – our radiance and our glory as Christians is found it what we see and what we seek – the future city, our true home, the Kingdom of God which God has set before our eyes.
So, the life of the Christian must then always be a life of movement and journeying by its very nature! The Christian is not allowed the luxury of “settling down” in this world with it’s limits. Herod was quite content to settle down in the limits of this world and he committed atrocities.
“Rise up in splendor!” the prophet proclaims to us. Rise up in the grace of Christ! Rise up in your worth as a child of God! Set your life by that worth and nothing else! Rise up in defending the dignity of all our brothers and sisters against the “Herods” of our time with all their sad thoughts and fearful plans! Live by what God has set before our eyes – the future city where Christ is ruler! Don’t just take the name “Christian” but live in the Kingdom, live in Christ!
Walk! Walk with the angel Gabriel and the shepherds and the magi! Walk with Isaiah and the prophets and the great company of saints! Walk with Joseph and Mary! Walk with our Lord himself! We are meant for the Kingdom of God and only there alone will our hearts find rest.
Rise up in splendor! You shall be radiant at what you see!
Scholars suggest that by the time Luke composed his gospel the temple had already been destroyed. This grand edifice, seemingly unmovable, adorned with costly stones that people were admiring in this passage was, by the time of Luke setting quill to parchment, just a heap of ruins. It demonstrates how quickly things can change and also how little we really know about what will happen tomorrow. We like to think we are in charge … but we are not.
One of the truths revealed in today’s gospel (Lk. 15:1-10) is that our God is not a God content to let people remain anonymous. The shepherd goes out in search of the lost sheep because that one sheep truly matters to him. The woman turns the house over searching for the lost coin because that coin is of real concern to her. We are of concern to God. We are not alone in a vast universe governed by random chance. We do not have a God who does not care. God is willing to seek each one of us out, willing to even enter the darkness of sin and death, to find us and then rejoice in the finding!
Jean Vanier is the founder of the L’Arche communities where mentally handicapped and non-mentally handicapped people live together and he is a prolific writer and speaker. He has gained great insight and wisdom from his years of working with people who are often excluded in our society. In his book Becoming Human reflects on the truth that “being human” is not just a matter of being born but rather is a process of becoming that extends throughout our lives. Learning from those who are excluded is part of this process. Vanier writes, “…the excluded live certain values that we all need to discover and live ourselves before we can become truly human … It is not just a question of performing good deeds for those who are excluded but of being open and vulnerable to them in order to receive what they can offer; it is to become their friends.” If we do this, then “they will change things in us.”
It is not just what we say but it is also how we say it that is important. This is one of the many lessons I have learned from St. John Paul II. Like so many others I have found great insight and wisdom in the writings of Pope John Paul II. I first began to read the writings of this holy man during my time of seminary studies and his writings continue to inspire and challenge me to this day. John Paul II certainly pointed out and challenged the errors and falsehoods of his time but he never fell into nor immersed himself in negativity and I believe that this is an important point. St. John Paul II was always willing to point out the good in culture and in the world. He did this time and again in his writings just as much as he challenged falsehoods. This ability to recognize the good gives his writings and teachings an authenticity that others are often not able to achieve. 
Here are a few lines from the song “Awake My Soul” by Mumford and Sons.
You may be aware that World Youth Day is occurring in Krakow, Poland. World Youth Day is a gathering of the Church’s youth and young adults for days of catechesis, worship and prayer. The event culminates on Sunday with a Papal Mass. Pope Francis is in Krakow with the world’s young people. I have been viewing different images via social media from the gathering but what has struck me most is a six minute video of Pope Francis visiting the concentration camp at Auschwitz and taking some private moments of prayer in the cell which housed St. Maximillian Kolbe before his death. St. Maximillian Kolbe was a Catholic priest who volunteered his own life in order to let another prisoner live who was a husband and father. The video, which is all in silence, is almost surreal. (I have posted the video on our parish Facebook page.)
Pope Francis arrives simply at the cell as is his wont. He first peers into the darkened cell then steps in. A chair is brought in and the Holy Father sits and we are given this amazing image of the successor to St. Peter clad in white sitting in a darkened cell with his head bowed in prayer in this place of unimaginable horror.
“Who do the crowds say that I am?” “Who do you say that I am?” These questions of our Lord have continued down through history ever since he first asked them to that small group of followers. Every age has to pick up the question and find the answer. Every disciple has to answer the question and, I think, even in the life of disciple the answer shifts as we come to know more and more who Jesus is. (I know that it has for me.)