When’s the last time you had a good cry? There is something healthy about crying I have decided. It’s a cleansing experience. What makes us cry? We cry when we are in pain, physical or emotional. We cry when we are overwhelmed with happiness, and we cry when we are overwhelmed with sorrow.
Some contemporary empirical research would argue that sometimes we cry simply because we need hug. This modern research explains how a part of our humanity is our connection with others, our natural drive for community. Crying is a part of an expression of desire to connect to that community, a need to recharge, which is perhaps why so often our tears tend to slow, if not completely stop, when they are met with an embrace from someone we love.
Today is the Feast of Mary Magdalene. Mary was one of Christ’s followers while He was on this earth. Everyone seems to have their own take on this woman. Some tradition simply speaks of her colorful past from before meeting Jesus, some say she was a prostitute, and a movie produced in the late 90’s claimed she was a source of sexual temptation for Christ even as He hung on the Cross. Whatever her history was, the morning of the Resurrection, we know that she arrived at the tomb with two of the Apostles, and upon discovering that the tomb was empty, the apostles ran to tell the others, while Mary stood and cried. She cried because in that moment all she needed was Jesus. It was bad enough He was dead, so He wouldn’t be able to hear her, comfort her, or advise her as He previously had, but now even His body is gone. All she wanted and needed was a few moments with the only person who ever REALLY knew her. The result; she sees the Risen Jesus, who stands before her and asks why she is “seeking the living among the dead”.
I think we are in many ways a lot like Mary Magdalene. We go through our daily lives doing the best that we can, we are good people who pay our bills, go to work to make an honest days pay, we seek companionship in friends and lovers, we try to save for the future, and strive to reach our goals. In the meanwhile everyone else seems to have their own take on us. People construct their own opinions, and like the historians who wrote extensive pieces justifying their opinions on Mary Magdalene, when our name comes up in others’ conversation people promulgate the opinion they have constructed. History records its own many variations of our story; none of which ever seem to capture the real story of us.
I had the honor of presiding over a funeral yesterday for a man who was with his partner for 33 years. As the new widower stood at the casket of his beloved, he put his hand on the hand of the deceased and as a tear rolled down his cheek he offered a silent goodbye to the person with whom so much had been shared over the course of three decades. I was reminded in that moment of the scene a few days earlier in his Hospice Care Facility, as he who is now deceased lay on his bed, with tubes connected to his nose, breathing his final days breath. His partner held his hand that day too, as he said to me, “Father we had our ups and downs, but we always worked through it. I am just so grateful.”
I know I have those moments, we all have them. We all face those moments where for whatever reason, and in response to sometimes unknown stimulus, we get that feeling inside of us that says, “no one understands me.” We have moments where we feel so upset, and if only someone could live inside of our heads for just a minute, and feel what we feel, and look at life through our eyes they would completely understand our pain – but when asked to put it into words we can’t, or when we try, it doesn’t communicate to the person who is listening. That’s because often life’s burden is so personal, that if given the opportunity to allow someone else to help us carry it, we wouldn’t even know how to distribute the weight to those who were willing to help. There is no sense in trying, because each of our individual crosses is fashioned for no other shoulder but our own.
The lesson of Mary Magdalene is that there are going to be times that we run to the tomb and find it empty. There are going to be those moments when we are going to turn to that which strengthens us and be unable to find it, for the Christian that strength is Jesus Christ, and there will be times where even He will be seemingly absent. In Mary’s case the Risen Christ was hidden in the form of who she thought was the groundskeeper. Where is Christ hidden waiting for us? I can’t answer that question, for each of us it is different. What I do know is that for Mary step one was a good cry, then she was able to recognize the Risen Lord. So when we feel the tears coming, we need to let them flow. Allow yourself a good cry. Then after it’s over, embrace that feeling of release, that consolation that we find somewhere deep inside of us when its over, that sense of relief as though those tears were each weights that were adding to life’s burden.
Enjoy your next good cry, it’s God’s way of cleansing the heart and soul, so that like Mary, we can see the Risen Christ among us, and hear Him when inquires; “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
Friday, July 22, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Oh Say Does That Star Spangled Banner Yet Wave
The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday – bar none. When I was growing up, we didn’t really do a WHOLE lot for the big day. My dad’s birthday is the day after, and my best friend’s birthday is the day before. We usually had a family cookout somewhere near the day, and did the whole fireworks thing. My best friend would have his Birthday Party every year, and the Fourth of July burned itself into my memory as a time of celebration.
When I was in the summer after my first year of Seminary, Father Bert Richman, my Pastor, inspiration, and very dear friend was called home to the God who made him. He closed his eyes to this world, on July 3, the same day as that friend’s birthday (who was also good friends with Fr. Bert). For me, in that moment, the Fourth of July stopped being a cause to celebrate.
The next year, as I grew further and further away from those things of my youth I made friends with someone new, who introduced me to the world of the Fourth of July Bristol style. He allowed me a glimpse each year on July 3rd and 4th into a world of nonstop cookouts, the Parade, Fireworks, and the town of Bristol in a whole new light. Who knew that the laws of the State that applied everywhere else stopped applying on those days.
After leaving Seminary I found myself again growing further and further away from the world I knew, as my priorities changed yet again, but with it came a certain emptiness on the Fourth of July. A day that had formerly been about friends and family had become a day that only reminded me of the reality that my life was a mess, and if I was going to make something of it, I had to do something soon.
This year the Fourth of July really touched me. I had the pleasure of officiating at the Marriage of two Military personnel, who due to their service to this Nation had been forced to reschedule the event multiple times. At the Parish Mass on Sunday we celebrated the great gift of Freedom. The true freedom that is only found in Christ – and the debt of gratitude we owe to our military for establishing, and defending our freedom to worship and grow with Christ however we find most suitable. I thought to myself tonight, while watching the fireworks that I had the joy and honor of being engaged in ministry all weekend long – and the freedom to do so is only possible because of the service and sacrifice of so many in our Armed Forces, and indeed even the hard work of our fore fathers who set that wheel in motion.
I thought about my own life. I thought about how all the things about the Fourth of July that I have loved through the years as they have come and gone have been a testimony to who I am, and key in making me the person I am today. Maybe that’s why we as Americans relate so well to the Fourth of July. It’s the epitome of American optimism.
The Star Spangled Banner tells the story of the American Flag flying proud the day after a long battle. We go through life fighting to stay a step ahead. We try to stay a step ahead of the bills, our boss, our family, our friends. We try to keep our head above water, and when Summer comes we grasp at the opportunity to embrace a well deserved rest. The Fourth of July comes, and we gather with friends and family and watch fireworks, and hear the Star Spangled Banner in the background and we cant help but feel proud, and grateful. We are proud of ourselves for being survivors, and proud that we live in a Nation of such opportunity. We are grateful for the successes we have seen in our own lives, and grateful for the success of those before us that provided the possibilities that are available to us. Despite everything, after the long night’s battle…the flag was still there. We too will make it through the long dark nights filled with “rockets red glare”, and “bombs bursting in air”. We too will “give proof through the night”.
So my friends as this Fourth of July comes to its close all I can really say, is “God Bless America”.
When I was in the summer after my first year of Seminary, Father Bert Richman, my Pastor, inspiration, and very dear friend was called home to the God who made him. He closed his eyes to this world, on July 3, the same day as that friend’s birthday (who was also good friends with Fr. Bert). For me, in that moment, the Fourth of July stopped being a cause to celebrate.
The next year, as I grew further and further away from those things of my youth I made friends with someone new, who introduced me to the world of the Fourth of July Bristol style. He allowed me a glimpse each year on July 3rd and 4th into a world of nonstop cookouts, the Parade, Fireworks, and the town of Bristol in a whole new light. Who knew that the laws of the State that applied everywhere else stopped applying on those days.
After leaving Seminary I found myself again growing further and further away from the world I knew, as my priorities changed yet again, but with it came a certain emptiness on the Fourth of July. A day that had formerly been about friends and family had become a day that only reminded me of the reality that my life was a mess, and if I was going to make something of it, I had to do something soon.
This year the Fourth of July really touched me. I had the pleasure of officiating at the Marriage of two Military personnel, who due to their service to this Nation had been forced to reschedule the event multiple times. At the Parish Mass on Sunday we celebrated the great gift of Freedom. The true freedom that is only found in Christ – and the debt of gratitude we owe to our military for establishing, and defending our freedom to worship and grow with Christ however we find most suitable. I thought to myself tonight, while watching the fireworks that I had the joy and honor of being engaged in ministry all weekend long – and the freedom to do so is only possible because of the service and sacrifice of so many in our Armed Forces, and indeed even the hard work of our fore fathers who set that wheel in motion.
I thought about my own life. I thought about how all the things about the Fourth of July that I have loved through the years as they have come and gone have been a testimony to who I am, and key in making me the person I am today. Maybe that’s why we as Americans relate so well to the Fourth of July. It’s the epitome of American optimism.
The Star Spangled Banner tells the story of the American Flag flying proud the day after a long battle. We go through life fighting to stay a step ahead. We try to stay a step ahead of the bills, our boss, our family, our friends. We try to keep our head above water, and when Summer comes we grasp at the opportunity to embrace a well deserved rest. The Fourth of July comes, and we gather with friends and family and watch fireworks, and hear the Star Spangled Banner in the background and we cant help but feel proud, and grateful. We are proud of ourselves for being survivors, and proud that we live in a Nation of such opportunity. We are grateful for the successes we have seen in our own lives, and grateful for the success of those before us that provided the possibilities that are available to us. Despite everything, after the long night’s battle…the flag was still there. We too will make it through the long dark nights filled with “rockets red glare”, and “bombs bursting in air”. We too will “give proof through the night”.
So my friends as this Fourth of July comes to its close all I can really say, is “God Bless America”.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
True Freedom
Homily from Sunday, July 3,2011
________________________
The story is told of an elderly priest who had taken up his residence at a local Parish upon his retirement. Adjacent to the Parish was the Parish school, where he would frequently go and visit the classes. On one occasion he wandered into a History class, and asked the kids if they were able to name the 50 states. The class struggled to come up with about 35 or 40 of them, and the old priest shook his head and said, “when I was your age, we would have had no problem naming every state.”
To which one young man replied, without missing a beat, “Father that’s not fair, when you were our age, there were a lot less of them.”
I think that many of us here present are from a generation that placed a heavy value on things like history and social studies. We learned the States and Capitols. We learned things like the text of the Gettysburg Address, the Preamble of the Constitution, and the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence, and in fact with the help of Schoolhouse Rock, we even learned the process of signing a Bill into a Law.
The sad reality is, that in 2009 when surveyed less than 50 percent of students could identify the origin of the sentence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” as being from the Declaration of Independence. In fact, when asked to match it with the appropriate historical document, many even claimed that it was taken from the Communist Manifesto. That’s why days like the Fourth of July are so important. Young people will sit and watch the events from Bristol broadcast on television tomorrow, and see the bands, floats, and the many participants dressed as Uncle Sam, George Washington, and so many others, and they will receive a visual, albeit not terribly accurate, lesson in American History. Celebrations of the Fourth of July ensure that the words of people like Ronald Regan don’t come to pass when he said, “I'm warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit”.
The core of our American values is freedom, and this idea that all men and women are created equal. The freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the American dream that we hear quoted so often by so many people. In the political arena we hear about so many people who are fighting for these rights. Immigration, same sex marriage, abortion, and so many other political entanglements are fought over with each side arguing their interpretation of the words “freedom” and “equality”.
Jesus gives us in this weekend’s Gospel the true definition of freedom, which may come as a bit of a surprise when we first read it. He says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves; for my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
A yoke is a symbol of submission. A yoke with a plow was attached to oxen. Farmers used the oxen to plow their fields. So Jesus is telling us that in finding rest, in finding freedom, we do not cast away everything, he is saying that taking on HIS yoke is an easy burden. He is saying that in being submissive to HIM instead of the world, we will find rest, we will find true freedom.
It’s freedom because submission to unjust authority is oppression. Living a Christian life entails taking on burdens and responsibilities, but the yoke of Jesus is far easier to bear than the yoke of sin and guilt. The yoke of Jesus is far easier to bear then the yoke of the world, of work, of earthly respect and rank. Christ promises that true happiness will be ours in heaven, where the yoke of this world will matter no more, and where the only thing that will matter is him, where HIS yoke, will be the only one to bear. This must be, then true freedom, submission to Christ.
America cast off the yoke of England, an unjust authority. Those early free states then came together, and formed a union. A union that was dedicated to this idea that all were created equal, and that all deserved the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This freedom they found was not free, rather it came at a great price. It came at the price of many lives, and since 1776 there have been the loss of so many more lives, given to defend that freedom, given so that we could have the freedom to gather here this morning and celebrate these Sacred Mysteries, given so that we could gather in the same building as men and women of a different faith as they worship the same God differently two flights of stairs away, given so that no matter what the law says about things like civil rights, immigration, taxes, government spending, or any other thing - we can come here, and take comfort in the only freedom that matters, the only true freedom, the only yoke we have any interest in bearing.
The freedom promised in bearing the Yoke of Jesus also comes at its own price. It comes with its own responsibilities, sacrifices, losses and gains. So now its our turn. Countless lives have been given in the name of this ‘Great American Experiment’. Countless lives have been given so that you and I can have the freedom to enter into our experience of God however we want, so that we can experience the freedom Jesus has to offer in the way that suits us best, in short; men and women have died so that we can have the freedom to pick up that yoke. Don’t we owe it then, to do our part, and pick it up? The greatest gratitude we can show, is to lay down our lives to Jesus Christ, and bring to fulfillment the freedom whose foundation was laid centuries ago with the proud declaration, “We the people of the United States..”
God Bless You
And May God Bless America
________________________
The story is told of an elderly priest who had taken up his residence at a local Parish upon his retirement. Adjacent to the Parish was the Parish school, where he would frequently go and visit the classes. On one occasion he wandered into a History class, and asked the kids if they were able to name the 50 states. The class struggled to come up with about 35 or 40 of them, and the old priest shook his head and said, “when I was your age, we would have had no problem naming every state.”
To which one young man replied, without missing a beat, “Father that’s not fair, when you were our age, there were a lot less of them.”
I think that many of us here present are from a generation that placed a heavy value on things like history and social studies. We learned the States and Capitols. We learned things like the text of the Gettysburg Address, the Preamble of the Constitution, and the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence, and in fact with the help of Schoolhouse Rock, we even learned the process of signing a Bill into a Law.
The sad reality is, that in 2009 when surveyed less than 50 percent of students could identify the origin of the sentence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” as being from the Declaration of Independence. In fact, when asked to match it with the appropriate historical document, many even claimed that it was taken from the Communist Manifesto. That’s why days like the Fourth of July are so important. Young people will sit and watch the events from Bristol broadcast on television tomorrow, and see the bands, floats, and the many participants dressed as Uncle Sam, George Washington, and so many others, and they will receive a visual, albeit not terribly accurate, lesson in American History. Celebrations of the Fourth of July ensure that the words of people like Ronald Regan don’t come to pass when he said, “I'm warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit”.
The core of our American values is freedom, and this idea that all men and women are created equal. The freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the American dream that we hear quoted so often by so many people. In the political arena we hear about so many people who are fighting for these rights. Immigration, same sex marriage, abortion, and so many other political entanglements are fought over with each side arguing their interpretation of the words “freedom” and “equality”.
Jesus gives us in this weekend’s Gospel the true definition of freedom, which may come as a bit of a surprise when we first read it. He says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves; for my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
A yoke is a symbol of submission. A yoke with a plow was attached to oxen. Farmers used the oxen to plow their fields. So Jesus is telling us that in finding rest, in finding freedom, we do not cast away everything, he is saying that taking on HIS yoke is an easy burden. He is saying that in being submissive to HIM instead of the world, we will find rest, we will find true freedom.
It’s freedom because submission to unjust authority is oppression. Living a Christian life entails taking on burdens and responsibilities, but the yoke of Jesus is far easier to bear than the yoke of sin and guilt. The yoke of Jesus is far easier to bear then the yoke of the world, of work, of earthly respect and rank. Christ promises that true happiness will be ours in heaven, where the yoke of this world will matter no more, and where the only thing that will matter is him, where HIS yoke, will be the only one to bear. This must be, then true freedom, submission to Christ.
America cast off the yoke of England, an unjust authority. Those early free states then came together, and formed a union. A union that was dedicated to this idea that all were created equal, and that all deserved the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This freedom they found was not free, rather it came at a great price. It came at the price of many lives, and since 1776 there have been the loss of so many more lives, given to defend that freedom, given so that we could have the freedom to gather here this morning and celebrate these Sacred Mysteries, given so that we could gather in the same building as men and women of a different faith as they worship the same God differently two flights of stairs away, given so that no matter what the law says about things like civil rights, immigration, taxes, government spending, or any other thing - we can come here, and take comfort in the only freedom that matters, the only true freedom, the only yoke we have any interest in bearing.
The freedom promised in bearing the Yoke of Jesus also comes at its own price. It comes with its own responsibilities, sacrifices, losses and gains. So now its our turn. Countless lives have been given in the name of this ‘Great American Experiment’. Countless lives have been given so that you and I can have the freedom to enter into our experience of God however we want, so that we can experience the freedom Jesus has to offer in the way that suits us best, in short; men and women have died so that we can have the freedom to pick up that yoke. Don’t we owe it then, to do our part, and pick it up? The greatest gratitude we can show, is to lay down our lives to Jesus Christ, and bring to fulfillment the freedom whose foundation was laid centuries ago with the proud declaration, “We the people of the United States..”
God Bless You
And May God Bless America
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