I came across an article about a parish in Lafayette section of
Jersey City. They were involved in an unusual Good Friday procession.
The parish wanted to connect the sufferings of Christ to the sufferings of
their neighborhood. Several of the 14 stations in the outdoor procession
were at the homes in the neighborhood where muggings, fires, murders,
had taken place over the last year.
The station where Simon helps Jesus carry his cross took place
at the home of a teenage boy who risked his life to help a man
who been mugged and left for dead.
The 12th station marking the death of Jesus, was held in the
front of the house of Francis McMahon, an 84 year old woman
who was murdered in her own home 3 weeks before Good
Friday.
I thought to myself what a creative and powerful way to link
together the suffering, pain and death of Jesus with the suffering, pain
and death of the world you and I live in today.
I also thought to myself about a follow up article, about real living
Flesh and Blood experiences of Easter Resurrection today! What would
I write about? What would you write about?
I would write about the very old women I visit occasionally
who is not able to do much except sit and rock: who was given
up for dead at least 3 times by the doctors and family: yet every
time I go there to bring her Communion, this woman’s faith in a
living God, her spirit and joy in the face of pain and loneliness
inspired me. I leave having received more than I gave her.
I would write about the 18 year old young man who died of
Aids recently. He developed Aids because of a blood
transfusion. He was dealt a very unfair and unjust hand in life.
He could have chosen to be bitter and angry and feel sorry for
himself, but instead he taught me and others some powerful
lessons about compassion, mercy, and forgiveness.
I would write about many of you, yes you! You who have had
to face tragedies, sickness, deaths, divorces, loss of jobs, family
problems, crisis of your children, becoming parents of your
parents; various addictions, the list goes on and on.
In the face of all these dark realities, I see and I hear you complain,
you struggle, you get frustrated, you get angry, normal things human
beings do. Yet I see you also continue to try to live your lives like there
is some good news of hope and joy. You remind me and others that
Jesus Christ is not a memory from the past generations. Jesus Christ is a
living presence and surely as he walked with those first disciples on the
trails of Palestine, He goes with us on the modern streets and freeways
of our life.
Easter People. That’s what I would entitle my article. To be Easter
People, the challenge, not just today, but every day. People whose lives,
not just their mouths (in church) radiate (not perfectly but as best we
can) the living presence, the hope, the joy, the peace of Jesus, risen and
alive right here right now. Let us recommit ourselves to being Easter
People. Renew Baptism Vow
Archive for the ‘Easter’ Category
Easter People 3-31-2024
Friday, March 29th, 2024Feast of the Ascension 5-21-2023
Thursday, May 18th, 2023Jesus spent a good part of the night wrapping the packages. Each
had a carefully tied bow and a name tag attached. When his last earthly
task was completed, he packaged his bags and went to sleep for what
little time was left of the night.
The next morning he gathered his disciples around him in one of
his favorite garden spots. He surprised them by telling them he as
leaving them for good. They were shocked! There was no time to say
all they wanted to express. Even more, there was no time to figure out
what they would do without him. He resolved the latter by handing out
the gift packages, each with the instruction, “Do not open until after my
ascension.”
When the last gift was handed over, Jesus bade farewell and
disappeared into the clouds. When he arrived in heaven, God gave him
a welcoming hug and led Jesus to his room.
“Looks like you left them kind of bewildered down there”, God
said, glancing down at the outstretched necks.
“They’re a bit scared, but I had to leave sometime. The longer I
stayed, the longer I delayed them getting into action.”
“Do they know the meaning of your leaving? What they’re
supposed to be doing?”
“Sure, I gave them each a gift that would give them the clue.”
“Tell me what you gave them”, God urged.
“A mirror on a chain to be hung around their necks”.
“That’s supposed to be a clued to getting over you?”
“Absolutely”, Jesus insisted.
“How do you figure that?” God asked.
“Each time they ask one another, who’s going to feed the hungry,
visit the sick or help the lonely, they won’t see me, but the reflection of
themselves! Then they can get right to work!”
A Martyr of our time 5-14-2023
Friday, May 12th, 2023Sadly, the age of martyrs is not over. In our own time, men and
women of faith give their lives for the cause of justice and mercy.
A few years ago the world witnessed just such martyrdom two
days before Valentine’s Day. Sister Dorothy Stang was a Sister of Notre
Dame de Namur from Dayton, Ohio. The 74-year-old nun had spend 35
years in Brazil, the last 22 living and working among 400 poor farmers
and their families in Anapu, Para, a section of Brazil’s Amazon rain
forest. A slight, unassuming woman of boundless energy and
irrepressible joy, Sister Dorothy had become an effective advocate not
only for the poor but for the rain forest itself, one of the world’s most
important environments that is being destroyed by powerful economic
interests.
But the nun’s work with the landless and her efforts to preserve the
rain forest proved too much for the wealthy logging and ranching
interests. On February 12, Sister Dorothy was ambushed by two men
contracted by a local rancher. Witnesses said Sister Dorothy, when
confronted by the gunmen, took her Bible from her bag and began
reading aloud. The two listened for a moment, then stepped back and
fired. She died instantly from six gunshot wounds.
Sister Dorothy knew that her work was dangerous but refused
police protection for herself.
“I don’t want to flee, nor do I want to abandon the battle of these
farmers who live without any protection of the forest. They have the
sacrosanct right to aspire to a better life on land where they can work
with dignity while respecting the environment.”
Our scriptures today remind us that the Spirit of God speaks in all
that is just and right, in every word of compassion spoken, in the
simplest acts of reconciliation. The Spirit spoke clearly and eloquently
in the courageous voice of a slight 74-year-old woman who dared to call
powerful interests accountable for their immoral treatment of the poor
and their abuse of God’s creation.
The Risen Christ’s promise of the Paraclete/Advocate is a
bittersweet blessing: God’s Spirit is often difficult to accept,
challenging our lives and lifestyles, confronting us at times with our
irresponsibility and culpability. May we possess the integrity and
courage to hear the Spirit of God in the many voices in which God
speaks and to allow that Spirit to transform our skepticism, self –
centeredness and blindness to the things of God, things like justice,
forgiveness and the peace of the Easter promise.
I leave you with this: “I don’t want to flee, nor do I want to
abandon the battle, these people have the right to aspire to a better life.”
The words and the actions of a modern martyr living among us. Thanks
be to God.
