21st
Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell OP
St. Albert the Great,
Irving
Jesus
says a lot of crazy stuff in three short years. He's not afraid of
offending delicate sensibilities. Nor is he all that concerned about
disagreement. When faced with offended objections or outright
dissent, he replies – more or less – “It is what it is.” He
is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, so getting all wee-wee'd up
about folks grumbling and walking away isn't worth his time. In fact,
saying crazy stuff – crazy-true stuff – serves a useful
purpose: it sets a standard for believing, for trusting his Word –
if you think my mere words are crazy, what will you think when you
see those words come to life? If I can't handle true-words, how
can he expect me to handle true-deeds? Maybe it's better for me to
walk away now. It's better that I don't commit myself to the Way
until I'm mature enough to see and hear what must be seen and
heard. Last Sunday, we heard a series of true-words about what it
takes to be saved. Jesus told his disciples that they must eat his
flesh and drink his blood – true bread and true wine – to attain
eternal life. This Sunday morning, some of the disciples describe
this teaching as a “hard saying.” He asks them and us: “Does
this shock you?”
Of
all the crazy-true things Jesus has said over his three years among
us, this is definitely the craziest. Not the most shocking. That
prize goes the time he said, “I AM,” quoting God from Exodus and
laying claim to being God Himself. But telling folks that they must
become cannibals is right at the top of the most shocking list. We're
not shocked by this teaching. We hear it read at least once a year,
sometimes twice. We get that he doesn't mean literal cannibalism. We
know he's talking about the Eucharist. We have a whole philosophical
and theology edifice built around what it means for Christ to be
present among when we worship. So, no, we're not shocked. But his
original listeners were. So shocked in fact that many of them walked
away. Were they disgusted? Confused? Fed up with Jesus' crazy? All of
the above? Regardless, they abandoned him. NB. what Jesus doesn't do.
He doesn't rush after them with excuses. He doesn't quickly explain
himself or change the teaching to keep them happy. He doesn't
accommodate the truth to their already established beliefs. He
doesn't conform his Way or his Life to the crowd's expectations. He
speaks his true-words. Lets them fall on those ears ready to listen.
Watches some leave and some stay. And then he asks those who
hesitate: “Do
you also want to leave?”
During
my novitiate back in 1999-2000, my novice brothers and I got into a
really bad habit. Anytime the novice master announced an upcoming
activity or event, we'd ask, “Is this mandatory or optional?”
This happened a dozen times before the novice master – fed up and
very irritated – yelled, “Brothers, it's all optional! Everything
we do here is optional! You don't have to be here. The doors aren't
locked from the outside. If you want to be here, then be here!
If you don't – God bless and good bye.” We got the message loud
and clear. This is who Dominicans are and this is what
we do. If you can't or won't be or do this, then don't waste
your time. Go. Be and do something else. This is the choice those
walking away from Jesus make. And he lets them go. That's the freedom
God's infinite love for us provides. We trust, or we don't. We love,
or we don't. We listen and obey, or we don't. We believe. Or we
don't. The how/why/when/who of it all comes with patience, time, and
contemplation. But there is no start to understanding w/o trust. Does
this shock you? Do you also want to leave?
No?
Well, if you will stay, then hear again what Jesus says, “The
words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
. .I
have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by
my Father.”
And who has been granted this gift? Anyone who receives the Father's
gift of mercy, repents, and comes to love sacrificially as Christ did
on the Cross. NB. that nothing here compels compliance. Nothing here
forces one's will to bend or break. Nothing here punishes or
threatens. The doors are not locked from the outside. There's no one
waiting on the other side to cuff you and haul you off to Church
prison. You've heard Christ's true-words. And you have witnessed his
true-deeds. Now, if you are free, you can confidently say with the
Church, “I believe.” And you can do this w/o any mental
gymnastics. No silent corrections or euphemisms. You can come forward
and eat his flesh and drink his blood. Without hesitation. Without
anxiety. Like Simon Peter, you can proclaim: “[Master,] you
have the words of eternal life. [I] have come to believe and are
convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” And if you are free
and truly believe, then you can go out there, being and doing and
speaking his Word.
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