Homily:
2nd Sunday in Easter – Cycle A
Friends, as we come to this
second Sunday of Easter, the eighth (or octave) day since we celebrated
our Lord’s resurrection, I’d like to take some time to reflect on a few scenes
from the video series titled “The Chosen”.
Most of you have heard me refer to this series already, but they
recently made the whole first season available through “livestreaming” events,
the recordings of which can still be found on their YouTube channel. I made it a point to watch one of the episodes
each day this week and every one of them was very moving. In my opinion, the producers have done an
impressive job portraying the truths of the Gospel scenes while giving each of
the “players” very well-rounded personalities.
In other words, for me, the writing, acting, and production have all
helped me to see into the hearts of these persons, which in turn has helped me
to enter into these Gospel scenes a little more deeply.
I bring this up today because
I think that there are three scenes from these first eight episodes that can
help us to interpret and enter into this our celebration of Easter amidst these
very unique circumstances. The scenes
are these: the Shabbat dinner, Nicodemus the Pharisee, and the Samaritan woman
at the well.
One of the early episodes,
perhaps the second one, begins nearly 1000 years before Jesus’ birth, showing a
family, living in tents out in the countryside, who are preparing for the
Shabbat dinner (“Shabbat” being the Hebrew word for “Sabbath”, the day of
rest). A child, probably the age of 8,
is questioning his mother about the Shabbat meal: why are they doing this (and
why every week!), why are all of these extended family members invited,
etc. The mother’s responses are both
generous and instructive: God commanded that we rest and so remember and give
thanks for all that he has done for us, all are invited because in God’s eyes
we are all one family, “peculiarly chosen to be his own”, etc. The episode continues to show the different
ways that the Shabbat dinner was continued in Capernaum in the time of Jesus:
showing the very elaborate dinner hosted by the Pharisees, the simple dinner of
Simon Peter, his wife, and his brother Andrew, and the awkward dinner provided
by Mary of Magdala for a disparate group of people in town.
What struck me about this
episode was that the dinner was liturgical. What I mean by this is that it had a form
that was to be followed, but which also allowed for adaptation to the means of
the household and the circumstances under which it was performed. It also meant that this was not just a dinner
party, but rather a sacred event: a meal consecrated to giving thanks. Beyond being liturgical, however, what struck
me was that it was celebrated in the home.
This latter part is why I am sharing this with you today. I see in our current circumstances a great
opportunity to grow and develop liturgical prayer in the home,
especially around meal times. Parents
(or elders in a household), during this time, be intentional about setting
aside at least one time a week to engage in liturgical prayer with your family
or those in your household. This could
be done around a meal, by using one of the meal blessings meant for households
that can be found online and then having each person speak of what they are
thankful for, or it could be taking time in the evening to pause and read from
scripture and to talk about it with each other.
If you are a household of one, I encourage you to seek ways to do this
virtually through the many video conferencing programs available on the
internet. The point being: that we apply
ourselves during this time to making our homes into sacred places for prayer
once again.
Throughout these first
episodes, we are introduced to Nicodemus the Pharisee. Honestly, he’s my favorite person throughout
these episodes and I’ll show you why. Nicodemus
was a leading Pharisee: kind of like an Archbishop for us—a “teacher of
teachers” among the Pharisees. At first,
he seems like the consummate “corporate man”, holding the corporate line and
managing the “politics” among the other Pharisees. We discover in this portrayal of him that he
is also a man of deep faith. He knows
the Law and he teaches it faithfully.
But he also knows that the Law is not an end in itself, but rather the
means that God had given them to keep them in right relationship with him, lest
the people fall out of favor with God.
We see that he believes that God is a living God and, thus, looks for
him to work in the world around him.
Finally, we see that he is someone who is truly awaiting the Messiah,
but yet still surprised when he appears.
In our circumstances I see an
invitation to be like Nicodemus. Most of
us have a great desire to serve God in the way that he has laid out for us in
the Church: daily prayer, worship in community on Sundays, and the works of
mercy. As we are deprived of some of
those things, we are being called to trust that God is still working around us
and that he is ready to make himself manifest to us in ways that we, perhaps,
are not expecting. It might be as simple
as an insight about God spoken by one of your children or a friend who calls
unexpectedly; or it could be something bigger, like a healing that has long
been prayed for. If we get caught
yearning only for things to go back to the way in which we’re comfortable, then
we may miss the ways that Jesus wants to share his resurrection joy with us here
and now.
In the last episode of this
first season, the scene of the Samaritan woman at the well is portrayed. It is presented really well as it first gives
us a glimpse of this woman’s life before she meets Jesus, and it “fills-out”
the interaction between her and Jesus at the well. The exchange, as it is portrayed, is a rather
argumentative one as the woman wants nothing to do with this Jewish stranger
while Jesus wants nothing less than for her to see him for who he is and, thus,
to be set free from her past and so live in the freedom of the children of
God. In the climax of the scene, she
accuses the Jews of keeping God for themselves because they claim that worship
can only be done in Jerusalem at the Temple (a place where Samaritans are
forbidden to go). Jesus speaks the
famous line: “The hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will
worship the Father in Spirit and truth...”
He tells her that he has come to make it so that true believers won’t be
limited by mountains and temples in their desire to worship, but rather will
worship in the freedom of the spirit. She
is overjoyed by these words and, having come to believe that he is the Messiah
because of how he revealed his knowledge of her heart to her, she runs off to tell
whomever she can in the city.
In our present circumstances,
I see that we, too, are being called to this kind of worship: that is, to
discover (or re-discover) our capacity to worship God right from where we are;
and to do so “in spirit and in truth”, which we are capable of doing because of
the Holy Spirit who dwells in us who have been baptized. In other words, while we cannot worship in
our churches (as we’d prefer), we have not been prevented from worshiping God
with our hearts and our voices. When we
sing hymns that we know or even just read the Psalms out loud, we praise
God. When we kneel in prayer from
wherever we are, we praise God. When we
console and support one another, we praise God.
My friends, now is a time for each of us to worship God “in spirit and
truth”.
In our Gospel reading today,
Jesus declares those “blessed” who have not seen his resurrected body, but who
yet believe that he is the Messiah, who died but now lives. We who live today and who believe may count
ourselves among the “blessed”. More than
that, we have been given a share in his Spirit which enables us to worship God
from wherever we are “in spirit and truth”.
Let us be grateful for this gift.
And let us increase our trust that God is with us in this time of
isolation, turning towards making our homes sacred places in which every day
occurrences can become liturgies in which God is praised, thus opening
ourselves to encountering our Lord in new ways.
Finally, let us commit ourselves to rejoicing, so that, as Saint Peter
wrote, “the genuineness of our faith... may prove to be for praise, glory, and
honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
My brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is alive and we have life in
him. Let us rejoice and be glad!
Given
at Saint Mary’s Cathedral: Lafayette, IN – April 19th, 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment