The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to embrace awe and surrender as attitudes to reveal consequences and cures that result from our actions toward others.
Consequences and cures
The reading from the Book of Genesis is the story of the first sin and its punishment.
* [3:1] Cunning: there is a play on the words for “naked” (2:25) and “cunning/wise” (Heb. ‘arum). The couple seek to be “wise” but end up knowing that they are “naked.” * [3:5] Like gods, who know: or “like God who knows.”1
Psalm 32 praises the joy of Forgiveness.
* [Psalm 32] An individual thanksgiving and the second of the seven Penitential Psalms (cf. Ps 6). The opening declaration—the forgiven are blessed (Ps 32:1–2)—arises from the psalmist’s own experience. At one time the psalmist was stubborn and closed, a victim of sin’s power (Ps 32:3–4), and then became open to the forgiving God (Ps 32:5–7). Sin here, as often in the Bible, is not only the personal act of rebellion against God but also the consequences of that act—frustration and waning of vitality. Having been rescued, the psalmist can teach others the joys of justice and the folly of sin (Ps 32:8–11).2
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus cures a deaf man.
* [7:36] The more they proclaimed it: the same verb proclaim attributed here to the crowd in relation to the miracles of Jesus is elsewhere used in Mark for the preaching of the gospel on the part of Jesus, of his disciples, and of the Christian community (Mk 1:14; 13:10; 14:9). Implied in the action of the crowd is a recognition of the salvific mission of Jesus; see note on Mt 11:5–6.3
Julie Kalkowski is reminded about using rationalizations to do what she wants to do instead of what she should do. Many times, thinking critically may have helped her avoid problems in the first place.
To drive home this insight, the Gospel tells the story of Jesus curing a man so that he could hear and speak clearly. “Be open” Jesus groaned. How is Jesus challenging me to “be open”? Open to seeing my rationalizations for what they are? Open to thinking critically about whether a particular action would serve God or just me? These are trying times that we are living through, but they are also an opportunity to fix some problems in our communities and country. If I can ‘be open’ and leave behind my fears and rationalizations, I can choose to take actions that serve God’s people instead of my own narrow interest.4
Don Schwager quotes “The touch of the Lord,” by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD).
"That power which may not be handled came down and clothed itself in members that may be touched, that the desperate may draw near to him, that in touching his humanity they may discern his divinity. For that speechless man the Lord healed with the fingers of his body. He put his fingers into the man's ears and touched his tongue. At that moment with fingers that may be touched, he touched the Godhead that may not be touched. Immediately this loosed the string of his tongue (Mark 7:32-37), and opened the clogged doors of his ears. For the very architect of the body itself and artificer of all flesh had come personally to him, and with his gentle voice tenderly opened up his obstructed ears. Then his mouth which had been so closed up that it could not give birth to a word, gave birth to praise him who made its barrenness fruitful. The One who immediately had given to Adam speech without teaching, gave speech to him so that he could speak easily a language that is learned only with difficulty (Genesis 1:27-28). (excerpt from HOMILY ON OUR LORD 10.3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Genesis 3:1-8 urges us to spend a little time looking back over the past week with this passage in mind. Recall one or two times when we did something or said something that was especially wrong or hurtful, something sinful.
But don’t stop there. If you haven’t already, confess these sins to the Lord, along with any others that you recall, and ask for his forgiveness. Just remember that God is rich in mercy. He wants to redeem you and lift you up, not hold you back. He sent his Son to set you free, not keep you bound in guilt. Our first parents fell because they didn’t trust in God’s love. You don’t have to make the same mistake! “Father, teach me how to trust in you no matter how many lies the devil tells me.”6
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the role of exaggeration in the dialogue between Eve and the serpent. This episode in Genesis points to our rejection of the gifts and weaknesses that God wants us to have as part of our life. Friar Jude recalls “ephphetha”, an Aramaic word that means “Be opened,” addressed to the child in the Baptism rite to speak godly words and hear godly words.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes the spiritual journey as a constant interplay between moments of awe followed by a general process of surrender to that moment. We must first allow ourselves to be captured by the goodness, truth, or beauty of something beyond and outside ourselves. Then we universalize from that moment to the goodness, truth, and beauty of the rest of reality, until our realization eventually ricochets back to include ourselves! This is the great inner dialogue we call prayer. Yet we humans resist both the awe and, even more, the surrender. The ego resists the awe while the will resists the surrender. But both together are vital and necessary. Barbara Holmes expands and strengthens his thinking. She names this moment of awe “Joy Unspeakable.”
We are not headed toward a single goal: we are on a pilgrimage toward the center of our hearts. It is in this place of prayerful repose that joy unspeakable erupts.
Joy Unspeakable
erupts when you least expect it,
when the burden is greatest,
when the hope is gone
after bullets fly.
It rises
on the crest of impossibility,
it sways to the rhythm
of steadfast hearts,
and celebrates
what we cannot see.This joy beckons us not as individual monastics but as a community. It is a joy that lives as comfortably in the shout as it does in silence. It is expressed in the diversity of personal spiritual disciplines and liturgical rituals. This joy is our strength, and we need strength because we are well into the twenty-first century, and we are not healed. How shall we negotiate postmodernity without inner strength? [1]7
The joy of Eden is included in the fullness of life promised us in Christ as we journey with moments of awe, surrender, healing, and consolation.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment