18th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
Have
you ever lost your mind and wondered where you put it? Have
you ever changed your mind and wondered if you are now another
person? Ever have something on your mind and wondered if the
weight of it was showing up on the bathroom scale? What is the mind
anyway? Most contemporary philosophers have accepted that the mind is
simply the work of the brain and that when we use “mind-terms” to
describe mental activities and states (sadness, confusion, insight),
we are really just talking about neuro-chemical activity in the
brain. “Happiness” is just this amount of serotonin and these
neurotransmitters firing. Nothing more. Most modern psychological
theories of mind tell us what the mind is; how it works with memory,
perception, learning, and will; how we use it, and how we lose it.
So, when Paul writes to the Ephesians, “I declare and testify in
the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the
futility of their minds; that is not how you learned Christ...,” we
much ask: have we learned Christ, or do we live as the Gentiles do in
the “futility of their minds”?
By
the third time I attempted college algebra—having dropped it twice
out of abject fear—I concluded that my brain was not wired to
comprehend the occult lore of math. To my mind, geometry is an
ancient magical system for plotting an eternity of suffering.
Calculus is a demonic wisdom that tricks us into giving our souls to
the Devil. Confronted by the squiggly gibberish of numbers in
formulas, my mind freezes in fear and then flees to poetry where
nothing can hurt me, or make me hurt myself or others. I failed to
learn math as a kid, and now, as an adult, I will not put on the
mind of math because such a renovation project seems to me be
utterly futile, hopelessly empty of promise. So, along with all the
number-challenged souls in the world I rejoice to hear Paul say,
“...truth is in Jesus...” Alleluia! This truth is the one truth I
do not fear. Though I seek this truth, there is some question about
whether or not I have learned it. This is a judgment to be made at
the conclusion of this world, the Mother of All Final Exams. I hope
Professor Jesus allows us all a crib sheet!
Desperate
to witness signs of wonder and learn the mysteries of salvation,
crowds follow Jesus around throwing questions at him like paparazzi
after Beyonce. On occasion, Jesus obliges the crowds by healing the
blind, the demonically possessed, and even the dead. He teaches his
Father's mercy and calls all to repentance and a new way of living
life toward a glorious end in heaven. He even demonstrates his
command of math by multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish into
enough food for five thousand. Impressed but unfulfilled, the crowds
demand more and wait on the next miracle to confirm their faith.
Jesus tells them that they are asking him to teach the wrong lesson:
“...you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because
you ate the loaves and were filled.” They are lead by the stomach
not the mind; hunger-pangs brings them to Christ not the pangs of
ignorance. Though the bread they eat fills the belly, it does not
fill the soul. Therefore, Professor Jesus concludes, “Do not work
for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal
life. . .”
What
do you hunger for, thirst for? What do you need to see, to learn, to
feel before you can say that you are filled-up, completely satisfied?
If you were in one of those crowds following Jesus around, what one
gift would you beg him for; what one question would you ask him? You
might say, “I only desire to do the work of God!” Do you know
what that work is for you? Have you read the job description for
being a good Christian? Have you learned Jesus as your one truth,
putting “away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted
through deceitful desires, and [been renewed] in the spirit of your
minds”? If you have, then you have done the work of God. Jesus
says, “ This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he
sent.” First, believe; then think, feel, act, be always out of this
belief in Christ and your life will be a sign to others that you have
“put on the new self, [and have been] created in God’s way in
righteousness and holiness of truth.” You will be a sign of hope to
all those who seek the truth that Christ is the truth they seek.
Though
we have a long, long history of exploring the philosophical,
scientific, and theological nature of the human mind, we do not need
a philosophical or scientific theory of consciousness in order to
comprehend and live the mind of Christ. We do not need a clear and
distinct idea about the structure of memory or perception, or a
fulsome argument for the nature of thinking, or the workings of
emotion and will. If mind is simply the neuro-chemical activity of
the brain, fine. Do your dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine
belong to Christ? If mind is the rational faculty of the soul that
allows us to abstract ideas from sense experience, fine. Does your
reason belong to Christ? Do you see and hear and touch Christ first?
And if mind is a reflection of the One Mind corrupted by the body, so
be it. Are you receiving God's graces to perfect your body and
elevate your mind? If not, Paul reminds you, “...you must no longer
live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” For Paul,
the Gentile mind reaches for knowledge and understanding without
first having grasped Christ. This is utterly futile because “truth
is in Jesus.”
You
might be the one in the crowd who yells out to Jesus, “OK! The
truth is in you. What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in
you?” Jesus says to you, to all of us, “What can you do? Our
ancestors ate manna in the desert...it was not Moses who gave the
bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”
You look to the sky. Glance around at the ground. Your stomach
rumbles a bit. “Well, sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus
smiles. This is the perfect set-up, the best of all segues. He takes
the moment in hand, pauses just long enough to build an arc of
anticipation, and then teaches the crowd, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me
will never thirst.” Never hunger. Never thirst. First, believe;
then think, feel, act, be always out of this belief in Christ and
your life here and now will be a reflection of your promised life at
the foot of the throne. You will be the only sign any of us will need
to believe, the only miracle any of us will ask for.
Have
you learned Christ? If so, then be Christ for us! If not, then let
the Body and Blood you take this evening be your food and drink for
the pilgrimage to heaven. Receive him as you would a rescuer come to
take you from the wilderness. He will bring you to a far holier land.
_________________________
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