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Daily Scripture

+ Ascension Thursday

There is no proof; there are only witnesses.

Readings: Acts 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:14-23 Luke 24:46-53

You are witnesses of all these things. And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high. [Luke 24:50-51]

In an age of technology and scientific progress, we have an explanation for everything or at least the promise of the same. Yet, there are still truly human experiences – both positive and negative—that defy human explanation. Death is one such experience. Doctors know the medical reasons for death but an autopsy doesn’t tell the whole story. Conversely, who can explain the field of energy that binds lovers for life?

During his life on earth Jesus created a field of energy that changed the course of history and it did not cease at his death or even at his resurrection. It continues to this day – locally and globally. Or else how explain the heroism of the saints of yesterday and the saints of today? Women and men, energetic witnesses who have said ‘yes’ to unconditional love under any and all circumstances continue to change the course of history in the face of those who attempt to chain the Word of God. No, most of them are not formal preachers or even religious teachers per se, but people who live the message of the Gospel of Jesus day in and day out.

The gospel today is typical of the departure of a hero. We might even consider it the conclusion of a hero story. Jesus assures his disciples that he is not abandoning them. Not only that but he will send an advocate who will empower them to continue his mission. “You will be clothed with power from on high.” They will be clothed with the mantle of Christ just as the ancient Elijah was clothed in the mantle of Elias before Elias departed in his chariot to the heavens. It’s metaphor and allegory, of course but the underlying truth of Jesus mission will continue to be proclaimed as Good News for all.

But hang in there until Pentecost when the gifts of the Spirit will be renewed and we will be empowered once more to preach the Good News—using words only when necessary.

First Sunday in Lent 'A'

Saturday February 9, 2008

A Time of Grace and Blessing

Can you remember a time in your life to which you might refer now as a time of blessing? Perhaps it was in your childhood years, if they were happy times, during which you felt loved by mom and dad and by all who called you friend. Or perhaps it was in your late adolescent years, when you were breaking out and away from what you may have considered a repressed childhood.

For some, it might be the first love or the lasting love to which you committed yourself in a mutual exchange of eternal promises, an enduring covenant never to be broken.

Of course, the good ole’ days are good in part only because our memories tend to hold on to the good times. Our lives have moved beyond them but the memory of these ‘original blessings’ sustains us in the challenges that sometimes cloud these memories of ‘paradise lost;’ temptations that weaken our resolve to remain faithful to original blessings when everything seemed right. But happy memories remind us of what is still possible not because we can ever go back but because the combination of the qualities that made life worthwhile in the past can occur again in the future. This is the substance of our hope.

The authors of the Book of Genesis were not scientists or historians, but wise sages with creative minds and rich imaginations who were able to combine ancient stories to describe the origin of the human race before the invasion of sin and human warfare; to explain, in part, the chaos that tainted humanity constituted by sin and punished by death. Biblical scholars refer to this stories as ‘midrash’ or ‘sacred myths,’ that is, stories designed to explain hidden truths or mysteries that stretch the imagination beyond the purely rational intellect and scientific exploration and explanation.

The doctrine of Original Sin is a theological ‘construct’ based on this story of disobedience toward God in which Adam and Eve, standing for all humanity were tempted by the talking serpent, borrowed from prevailing pagans myths, cunning creature of the earth, who deceived two originally beautiful people into thinking that God was their jealous rival, not their undying friend and partner in the work of creation.

Their offense of course was not the eating of fruit from a forbidden tree or their desire to be like God but the failure of humanity to recognize that we are already like God, created equal in God’s image and likeness, male and female. It was about suffocating the breath of God thinking that we could breath on our own.

The ‘garden,’ symbolic of all creation, did not belong to Adam and Eve. It was created by God to be shared by all of humanity to be used to enrich and enhance life, not to be abused and exploited for selfish interests.

Their shame was not about sexual attraction or their embarrassment about nakedness. These were merely indicators that human pride in the face of uncreated love is doomed to humiliation.

But original sin did not completely destroy the original blessing. The wise sages did not leave their audience without hope. God could not or would not abandon what he had set in motion but instead would remove their blindness and restore the original blessing, and not only that, but would make it possible for every man and every woman to overcome sin and be reborn anew; to co-create with the Creator and renew the face of the earth.

In the words of St. Paul, “Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us all into trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many people in the right.” Paul’s accent is on the positive—on the impact of God’s saving grace through Christ.

Jesus is the one who set things right but he didn’t do it as an outside agent as one unfamiliar with the way things are in humanity, with you and me. Instead he did it by assuming the very human nature that moved Adam and Eve to listen to the serpent. And so the God-man was led by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted as we are so often tempted not only as individuals but as a church, as a nation and a global race.

His hunger disposed him for the test and the devil was ready to administer it. The temptation was not just about bread but also about spiritual sustenance, and so Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. “We must break open the bread of God’s word as God’s revelation continues to unfold.

But one temptation was not enough; it never is, and so Jesus was given a second opportunity to fail. “Since you are God’s Son, jump. The angels will catch you…” but Jesus countered with another quote from Deuteronomy:
“Don’t you dare test the Lord your God.” God is not a magician or a fool. And then a third encounter to test his thirst for political power: “Look around you, all the earth’s kingdoms, they’re all yours—lock, stock and barrel. Just kneel down and bow before me and they will be yours.

And Jesus responded: “Beat it, Satan.” And again in the words of Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and only God. Partner with God with an undivided heart,” and you will have all you need to be happy.

These scripture readings remind us that we were not created for sin and death but for goodness and life. God is not our rival but our partner and friend.

Lent is a time for us to be reminded of our original blessings; that we are called to revival by the breath of God’s Spirit which still pervades the universe and is available to us whenever we pray and is in fact within us.

Lent is a time of remembering the power of God’s love manifested in the Holy One of Israel, who clothed himself in our humanity that we might be clothed in his divinity.

Lent is a time to recall that the earth is not ours to possess or exploit, but ours to enjoy and shape in such a way that all people may enjoy its fruits.

Lent is an opportunity to go into the desert not to be tortured by temptation
or punished by the memory of past failures but to be uplifted by the holy angels of God who are always at our side and to know the forgiveness of God’s endless compassion and love.

We fast from food and little pleasures not to punish ourselves but to free up time and talent and resources for those whose hunger knows no end.

We are called to remember our original blessings and celebrate the goodness that Jesus came to proclaim. We do this in solidarity with one another within the family of the Church. So let us continue to hunger for the Word of God that we might satisfy the hungers of the world.

Let us know ourselves as we are known by God and trust more fully in God’s tender mercies so that we might extend that mercy to others. And let us open ourselves the abundant graces of this season so that we might become a channel of grace for all those who are searching for a God with skin. There are many such people, and some of them may be among us.