Jesus grieving

During virtual Vigil Mass with St. Francis Community yesterday (check them out, they are mystic, holy and welcoming!), Fr. Ken proclaimed the Gospel in which Jesus dramatically raises his friend Lazarus from the dead.   I'm a lifelong Catholic, so this reading is "old hat", usually comes up around the tail end of Lent.  But Fr. Ken and Fr, Michael made me think a bit more about it this weekend.

And Jesus wept.

John 11:35.  One of the shortest versus in Scripture.  And it punctuates the humanity of Jesus above most others, in my opinion.  How well we all know the sadness that engulfs us at loss of a loved one, and to be overcome with grief when the reality of their death is final.  Not only that, how the grief of others may indeed feed into our own. Seeing my sister sob at the memorial of my our dear cousin poured into me; I knew her pain and she knew mine.

How Jesus must have felt, knowing that he did not get a chance to say goodbye to his friend, knowing he missed him (regardless of what His plans were for him).  Then the added burden of both Martha and Mary, seemingly all but blaming Him for Lazarus's death, by insisting he wouldn't have died, had Jesus only come sooner.  When Jesus saw Mary, Martha and the mourners weeping, Jesus "became deeply troubled", and finally broke down with them after they brought him to the grave.  He knew He would raise Lazarus up.  But as He grieved as any man would at the death of his friend.

As He would during Passiontide, Jesus first entered into our human suffering before raising Lazarus.  This helps me know Him as my brother and my friend, aside from being my Lord and my God.


Daily Mass Readings
Ezekiel 37:12-14
Psalms 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
Romans 8:8-11
John 11:1-45

Imagining Mary...

Today the Church recognizes the Solemnity of the Annunciation; when the Archangel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her she would conceive, bear a son, and that he would be God.

Talk about adjusting to a new normal.

Whenever I come across this reading, I feel TERRIBLE for Mary.  She just got betrothed to Joseph the carpenter, she's going about her business and... well that information is a game-changer, isn't it.  Mary has been told (by someone she rightly suspects is no normal 'messenger' that she will have a child out of wedlock, not by her husband, that they will raise as their own.

Having children out of wedlock bu someone other than your spouse was... frowned upon in ancient Galilee.  Joseph had the right to have her brought up on charges of adultery (death) or cast her aside at the very least, leaving her to raise this "Son of the Most High" on her own.  In short, due to the nature of the messenger AND the message, Mary must have been terrified.

And then...

"May it be done to me according to your word."

Mary says YES.  The very model of faith and discipleship.  The entirety of salvation hinges on what this poor Nazarene girl chooses.

THIS is why Catholics (even dissenters like myself) believe what we do about Mary; that she is venerated above all other saints, that she is to co-redemptrix along with Christ, having her own
special role in humankind's redemption.  Because Christianity doesn't happen, indeed CHRIST does not happen, with her allowing it to happen.

What folks in my lifestyle call consent!

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
Lectionary: 545

Daily Mass Readings

Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10
Psalms 40:7-8A, 8B-9, 10, 11
Hebrews 10:4-10
Luke 1:26-38

Letter of the law

In the Gospel today, we read about Jesus healing a lame man at the pool of Bethesda in the Temple.  A beautiful gift a healing, yes?  To be sick for so many years...and a man whom you've never met says to you "Take up your mat and walk."  And to BE ABLE TO DO SO!  I simply cannot imagine the shock and joy this poor man felt at that moment; maybe a contemptuous second of  "Yeah, RIGHT..." in his mind, and then suddenly legs that hadn't worked in God knows how long...moved.  Bent.  Supported his weight as he STOOD.  Seeing the world from the height of a healthy man instead of on the ground like a cripple.  What a moment!!!

Except it was the Sabbath. The priests and the scribes berate the man for "working on the Sabbath" by carrying his mat.  They begin to plot and plan against Jesus for daring to heal the man on the Sabbath.  The man just says to them "Look this guy told me to get up and walk...and I got up and walked.  Something that was impossible for me to do.  If he tells me to carry the mat, that's what I'm going to do!"

And they still don't get it.  Yup, according tot the law of the Sabbath, work is forbidden; which includes carrying stuff and healing the sick and carpentry.... wait go back one.  Healing the sick.  A man was lame and now can walk.  The Letter of the Law was broken. And the Spirit of the Law, that the Sabbath is a good blessing and is a gift to all, remained rock solid.

In our churches/synagogues/temples today, we can see this type of thing playing out all the time.  Since it is Lent and I'm Catholic, I think of the rule abstaining from meat on Fridays.  I can go go to an Italian restaurant (or order in, taking the corona virus into account) and sit down to a sumptuous shrimp parmigiana dinner.  And I will have followed the letter of the law.  I will have "abstained".  But isn't the SPIRIT of the abstention law to do without a luxurious meal (which historically speaking was meat), in solidarity with the poor and destitute?

Would not the spirit of the law be better served by having a plain bologna sandwich instead???

The Roman Church likes her letters of the law.  It is up to each of us to follow the SPIRIT of them.  That spirit ought ALWAYS to trace back to God is LOVE.

Just a heretic's perspective... ;)

Daily Mass Readings
Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
John 5:1-16

Thinking of the new normal...

Feeling a bit isolated out of necessity due to the "shelter in place" orders from various levels of government.  Working from home has been a challenge for me, but looking at the bigger picture:

I HAVE my job at the moment.  My wife works for the state, so her job is secure.  Hair salons/barber shops, event planning, tattoo parlors, dine-in restaurants etc. ad nauseum,  are effectively shut down indefinitely.  Friends who work in the airlines are worried for their jobs as well.  I am filled with an almost guilty gratitude that my family is financially OK right now.  That could change, but it is our reality; we actually are OK. 

May those of us who are able be the presence of the Holy Spirit to those who struggle.

Daily Mass Readings

Isaiah 65:17-21
Psalms 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a, and 13b
John 4:43-54

Back...

My journey has let me back here.  Back to a blogspot with a religious twist.  Who would've thunk it?

I'm still Catholic, even though I have left the Roman Church.  I am in an interfaith seminary (www.1spririt.org) and will be ordained in June (albeit virtually due to the virus: that's another story altogether).  The independent Catholic community I have been lucky enough to stumble upon has virtual Mass due to the aforementioned virus.  Bishop Ken informed me after Mass that he would recognize my ordination from One Spirit... and would consider me a priest.

I have been pretty much floating on air since then.  Finding a path to what God has been calling me my entire life is no small thing.  Falling asleep so I will sign off here for the day.

Daily Mass Readings
1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Psalms 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41