The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today remind us that we choose imperfect authority of law, religion, or logic to act to resolve difficulties that demand love for satisfaction.
 |
| Looking to logic |
The passage from the First Book of Samuel relates that Israel’s request for a King is granted.
* [8:22] To your own city: Samuel will later reassemble the people at Mizpah (10:17) to acclaim Saul as their king.1
Psalm 89 narrates how God became king of the divine beings.
* [Psalm 89] The community laments the defeat of the Davidic king, to whom God promised kingship as enduring as the heavens (Ps 89:2–5). The Psalm narrates how God became king of the divine beings (Ps 89:6–9) and how the Davidic king became king of earthly kings (Ps 89:20–38). Since the defeat of the king calls into question God’s promise, the community ardently prays God to be faithful to the original promise to David (Ps 89:39–52).2
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus heals a paralytic.
* [2:5] It was the faith of the paralytic and those who carried him that moved Jesus to heal the sick man. Accounts of other miracles of Jesus reveal more and more his emphasis on faith as the requisite for exercising his healing powers (Mk 5:34; 9:23–24; 10:52).3
Molly Mattingly observes in the Gospel today, the true king heals and forgives rather than leading people into battle. And yet, there is no doubt that the king rules.
Jesus makes it clear that he has the ultimate authority needed to heal and forgive sins as he sees fit. In this instance, Jesus heals and forgives not based on the paralytic’s faith, but on the faith of the friends. The community’s faith and love moved Jesus to heal. I find this greatly consoling, that my community can carry me to Christ when I can’t quite make it there myself, and that their faith and love can be enough when mine is running low. Put that together with a healing, loving, forgiving king, and I feel very well cared for.4
Don Schwager quotes “Reverse your relation with sickness,” by Peter Chrysologus (400-450 AD).
"Take up your bed. Carry the very mat that once carried you. Change places, so that what was the proof of your sickness may now give testimony to your soundness. Your bed of pain becomes the sign of healing, its very weight the measure of the strength that has been restored to you." (excerpt from HOMILY 50.6)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 2:1-12 comments what a beautiful image for intercessory prayer! When we intercede, we bring ourselves into the presence of Jesus—and we bring the person or situation we’re praying for right along with us. Filled with hope that Jesus can do anything, we lay the person at his feet and ask him for help.
But how do we get ourselves into the presence of Jesus? One way is to start your intercessory time with worship. Set aside everything else that’s on your mind and focus on how wonderful Jesus is. Praise him for his power and mercy and love. Thank him for everything he has done for this person or in this situation already. Fix your heart on all that is good and holy and beautiful about Jesus, and you’ll drive out the fear, doubt, and anxiety that can keep you from knowing his presence.6
Friar Jude Winkler examines the need perceived by the tribes of Israel for a king to better prepare them for attack from their neighbours. Healing episodes in the Gospel are characterized by description, appeal, action, and reaction. Friar Jude reminds us that only Love, constant and true, can heal our spiritual wounds.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, has witnessed how many of us attach to contemplation or action for the wrong reasons. Introverts use contemplation to affirm quiet time; those with the luxury of free time sometimes use it for navel-gazing. On the other hand, some activists see our call to action as an affirmation of their particular agenda and not much else. Neither is the delicate balance and art that we hope to affirm.
We never could have become the organization that so many of you trust if we didn’t continually return to Love as our source. It is where we rest in times of anxiety, find strength in times of trouble, discover joy in good times and solace in bad ones. “Love never fails” to help us grow, question, and forgive—both ourselves and others.
The only way out and through—for either side of any dualism, including that between action and contemplation—is a kind of universal forgiveness of Reality for being what it is; it thus becomes the bonding glue of grace which heals all the separations which law, religion, or logic can never finally or fully restore.
We are all on this journey together and we are all in need of liberation (which might be a better word than salvation). God’s intention is never to shame the individual (which actually disempowers), but solidarity with and universal responsibility for the whole (which creates healthy people). That is an act of radical solidarity that few Christians seem to enjoy but to which the CAC is committed to fostering.7
Our King calls us to Love as the action that resolves our difficulties.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment