The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of our experience in dealing with the storms of separation from Love in our lives.
 |
| After the storm |
The passage from the Second Book of Samuel relates the repentance of David before Bathsheba’s child dies.
* [12:6] Fourfold restitution: David’s judgment foreshadows the deaths of four of his own sons: the child born of his adulterous union with Bathsheba (v. 18); Amnon (13:28–29); Absalom (18:15; 19:1); and Adonijah (1 Kgs 2:24–25).1
The second part of Psalm 51 seeks something more profound than wiping the slate clean: nearness to God, living by the spirit of God, like the relation between God and people described in Jer 31:33–34. Nearness to God brings joy and the authority to teach sinners.
* [Psalm 51] A lament, the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms, prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought. The poem has two parts of approximately equal length: Ps 51:3–10 and Ps 51:11–19, and a conclusion in Ps 51:20–21. The two parts interlock by repetition of “blot out” in the first verse of each section (Ps 51:3, 11), of “wash (away)” just after the first verse of each section (Ps 51:4) and just before the last verse (Ps 51:9) of the first section, and of “heart,” “God,” and “spirit” in Ps 51:12, 19. The first part (Ps 51:3–10) asks deliverance from sin, not just a past act but its emotional, physical, and social consequences. The second part (Ps 51:11–19) seeks something more profound than wiping the slate clean: nearness to God, living by the spirit of God (Ps 51:12–13), like the relation between God and people described in Jer 31:33–34. Nearness to God brings joy and the authority to teach sinners (Ps 51:15–16). Such proclamation is better than offering sacrifice (Ps 51:17–19). The last two verses express the hope that God’s good will toward those who are cleansed and contrite will prompt him to look favorably on the acts of worship offered in the Jerusalem Temple (Ps 51:19 [20–21]).2
Jesus stills a storm in the Gospel of Mark.
* [4:41] Jesus is here depicted as exercising power over wind and sea. In the Christian community this event was seen as a sign of Jesus’ saving presence amid persecutions that threatened its existence.3
Ed Morse comments that as king, David could have lashed out at Nathan and defended his royal prerogatives. We face a similar temptation in trying to justify and excuse our wrongs, suppressing the truth instead of submitting to it. The verses from Psalm 51 reflect humility, contrition, and the heart’s cry for mercy from God who hears us – which are rooted in a deep faith in God’s love for us. This is the path out of the confusion, alienation and darkness. It may not be easy, but it is better than taking more of those poison pills! Faith, however weak, leads us back to the goodness of God who made us and loves us. Today’s gospel presents yet another faith challenge for the apostles. In this story, fear had clouded their thinking – guilt apparently does not have the monopoly on that power.
We all want to be free of guilt and fear, and we need divine help to navigate out of the traps that keep us guilty and fearful. Let us choose the good medicine of love of God and love of neighbor, not the poison of self-love that feeds upon desires that distort and disrupt our relationships with God and neighbor. And when we choose wrongly, let us draw upon the gift of faith to turn to God for the antidote. Mercy follows repentance; love casts out fear. We can trust God to heal us and to accompany us on the journey. He created us, and He is Lord of all. His love never fails. Thanks be to God.4
Don Schwager quotes “Awakening the Christ asleep within you,” by St. Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"When you have to listen to abuse, that means you are being buffeted by the wind. When your anger is roused, you are being tossed by the waves. So when the winds blow and the waves mount high, the boat is in danger, your heart is imperiled, your heart is taking a battering. On hearing yourself insulted, you long to retaliate; but the joy of revenge brings with it another kind of misfortune - shipwreck. Why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? I mean you have forgotten his presence. Rouse him, then; remember him, let him keep watch within you, pay heed to him... A temptation arises: it is the wind. It disturbs you: it is the surging of the sea. This is the moment to awaken Christ and let him remind you of those words: 'Who can this be? Even the winds and the sea obey him." (excerpt from Sermons 63:1-3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 4:35-41 urges that we take our cue from Jesus, who went “just as he was” and brought peace as soon as he woke up. Maybe we won’t have to face a tempest at sea, but perhaps we can bring peace to a tense meeting at work, or to a grocery store when we hear a baby wailing for a nap time delayed. Or to the grumpy or fearful person seated beside us on an airplane.
That moment, whatever it is, is the right time to say to the turmoil, “Peace! Be still!” It may not be the time to shout it out, but you can speak it quietly in your heart and ask the Father to bring his peace. Perhaps the Spirit will give you courage or a comforting word to share or a reminder of God’s love that can help still the storm before you.
“If only” will never go away. But neither will the Spirit. Let him equip you, just as you are, to deal with the squalls of today.6
Friar Jude Winkler reviews the confrontation of David by Nathan. The sea to the Jewish culture was a reservoir of evil. Friar Jude notes the awe, or fear of God, in the response of the disciples to Jesus action.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, invites us to try a practice leading to embodied knowing. He discovered an especially good one in The Book of Privy Counsel, a lesser-known classic written by the same author of The Cloud of Unknowing. This practice is so simple, and for Fr Richard, so effective, even in the middle of the night when he awakes and cannot get back to sleep during what some call the “hour of the wolf,” between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. when the psyche is most undefended.
First, “take God at face value, as God is. Accept God’s good graciousness, as you would a plain, simple soft compress when sick. Take hold of God and press God against your unhealthy self, just as you are.”
Second, know how your mind and ego play their games: “Stop analyzing yourself or God. You can do without wasting so much of your energy deciding if something is good or bad, grace given or temperament driven, divine or human.”
Third, be encouraged and “Offer up your simple naked being to the joyful being of God, for you two are one in grace, although separate by nature.”
And finally: “Don’t focus on what you are, but simply that you are! How hopelessly stupid would a person have to be if they could not realize that they simply are.”
Hold the soft warm compress of these loving words against your bodily self, bypass the mind and even the affections of the heart and forgo any analysis of what you are, or are not.
“Simply that you are!”7
Our tempests disturb our connection to the promise of Peace with Us from Jesus. Contemplation of His Presence opens a path to overcome the evil of our self focus.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment