Third Sunday of Easter 'C'

Sunday April 22, 2007

The Greatest Story Ever Told ...

must be told over and over again through the lens of our own human experiences both joyful and tragic.

It was a cold, snowy weekend in February of 1974 — Presidents’ Weekend, I think. I had been invited numerous times to make a Cursillo (pronounced ‘cur-see-yo’) weekend but for several years, I ducked it. I heard a great deal about it from others; I knew it was special kind of retreat but I couldn’t get anyone to fill me in on the details. I wasn’t a high risk-taker in those days. All they would tell me is, “You have to experience it to understand it.” I had heard rumors about long talks called ‘rollos’ (pronounced ‘royos’) and late night discussions, lively music, good food and lots of laughs. Sounded like a great weekend but not much of a retreat. After running out of excuses, I finally mustered up enough courage to risk it and despite some residual reluctance arrived at the portals of St. Bonaventure Friary on Ramsey Street in Paterson. A team of hospitable men of different shapes and sizes and personalities greeted me warmly. I was not much into this ‘touchy-feely’ stuff and certainly not ready for men hugging one another!

It turned out to be one of the most significant weekends of my life. More than a retreat, it was a journey for the soul and left me with the feeling that I had experienced Christ in a new way in this very diverse group. Appropriately enough, the theme song for the weekend was “The Lord is Risen to Life!” I can still hear the sound of our voices around the Eucharist table.

The weekend was very structured with no detail left unattended. At the closing, in the presence of family and friends who came to welcome us back to the real world, new ‘cursillistos’ (pronounced ‘cur-see-is-tos’) were invited to offer a public witness or testimony to our experience, if the Spirit so moved us, of course. Several testified, I among them, and made a commitment to continue giving witness to our experience by living the Gospel more faithfully and more fully whatever our call and career.

Incidentally, strange as it may sound today, this was my first experience of such deep faith sharing with laypersons.

Although the theology of those days was rather simplistic in hindsight and although my spirituality has changed dramatically, the experience still energizes me today.

The twenty-first chapter of John’s Gospel is a culmination of the journey of Peter and the other disciples with Jesus. I suppose one might call it an extended three year “Cursillo” with Jesus in the lead. In the mind of many biblical scholars, this chapter was not part of the original composition but was added later as an epilogue to the other twenty chapters. It is what is called a ‘post resurrection story.’

The appearance of Jesus on the beach, the sharing of a meal and the triple confession of Peter’s love for Jesus are constructed by John to suggest the important connection between the historical Jesus and his risen presence among the early Christians. By the time John wrote his gospel, believers were many. The Eucharist was being celebrated on Sunday—the day of resurrection. He was writing not to convince believers but to affirm their belief.

The continuity between Jesus’ mission and ministry and the mission and ministry of the disciples extends to the mission and ministry of the Church to this very day. That’s why we refer to the Church as an apostolic community.

This is what John the Evangelist wanted us to know: As a rabbi and itinerant preacher, Jesus drew the disciples into the circle of God’s love and sent them out to draw others into the circle of that love by breaking the bread together and telling the Jesus story over and over again, living the Jesus story and then lowering their nets, as it were, for a catch.

The annual liturgical cycle which begins each year at Advent, culminates with the Easter feast but continues to germinate through the period of ‘mystogogia’—a Greek term meaning absorbing the mystery—until Pentecost at which time we are be invited to commit ourselves once more to the witness of our faith in the Christ living in our community and within our Church. As with Peter, there is much to forgive within each of us as individuals and within our Church as a worldwide community. Peter’s triple denial is dissolved by his triple confession of love and loyalty. All was forgiven and Peter’s love made stronger by his own weakness — so much so that he will be crucified for his crucified Master.

The invitation is extended to each of us again and again, to break the bread and tell the story “using words only when necessary!”

Last week I came across an article in The National Catholic Reporter entitled, “Church doors closed, so congregations take to the streets.” It was reported that Chicago Baptist pastor, Rev. James T. Meeks shut the doors of his church Easter weekend and told his parishioners to get into the streets, the hospitals, and the homeless shelters of Chicago. “Church has become a football game that’s never played,” said Meeks who is also a state senator. “Imagine the frustration fans would feel if their favorite football team suits up for the game, goes into the huddle, give the pre-game interview but never steps on the field to actually play.”

Right enough, Reverend Meeks may have over-dramatized the message to make the point. However, in the light of last weeks’ massacre and the daily diet of massacres in Iraq, one has to wonder at the impact of incessant sex and violence on and off the screen. (And for what it’s worth, the media blew it big time with its relentless, nonstop analysis amounting to the exploitation of violence and grief, virtually turning a troubled mass murderer into a ‘paperback’ hero.

Faith is not fanaticism and there is fanaticism at the extreme to the left and to the right. Faith is balanced and demands a listening ear and a listening heart. The response of faith is never barbaric.

I like what retired Bishop John Spong stated this week in his website commentary:

“Faith ultimately has something to do with being, with embracing the unknown, with a willingness to step into the future and with the ability to live each day with integrity, even in the face of the anxiety of humanity which we never escape. Both human insecurity and our ability to live with it become our glory when we have the courage to be all that we are capable of being in the face of it. By faith, Abraham left the security of his known home in Ur of the Chaldees. He journeyed into the wilderness and into an unknown future, but in that process he discovered his destiny and his purpose.”
“If the Virginia Tech tragedy and the 9/11 tragedy can create in us similar faith that enables us to leave the known for the unknown, the secure for the insecure and thereby to embrace more of what it means to be human, this tragedy can perhaps become an occasion for growth.” For a fuller reading, cf
A New Christianity For A New World, John Shelby Spong.

In a world which increasingly says more is better and do what you want no matter what the cost—just don’t get caught, we need some folks who will stand up and shout, “no—less is more!”

How appropriate that John’s gospel should conclude with the words, “There are still many other things that Jesus did, yet if they were written about in detail, I doubt there would be room enough in the entire world to hold the books to record them.”

How about we give life a new try this week with a turn of faith instead of a twist of fate.

____

Please check website bulletin board (click on header) for recent postings. In particular, I call to your attention, ‘pastoral comments’ on the third anniversary of the dedication of the Millstone Monument on the campus of St. Joseph Parish, Mendham, NJ

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