Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Saturday July 2, 2005

Now Hear This!

Back in the days of yore when the clergy lived like kings—some think we still do—rectories were staffed with a live-in housekeeper, a cook and a part time laundress. Of course, in those days, it was not unusual for a parish to be staffed by three or more priests.

Rectory housekeepers and cooks were in a league of their own. Countless jokes have been told for years about who was really running the parish, the pastor or the housekeeper.

The story is told about an Irish pastor who took leave for his annual retreat during which the retreat master cautioned pastors about overbearing housekeepers who made the rules for the parish and for the pastor. It is time, he warned, that pastors stood up to them and took back their rightful authority.

It happened that Fr. John was not permitted by his housekeeper to use the front door of the rectory. So on his return from retreat, he decided to send a clear signal of his restored by entering the front door.

Who was there to meet him but the housekeeper who said, “Who told you to come in the front door?” He said, “I did and I’ll be using it from now on. Our retreat master told us it was time we took back our rightful authority in the parish.” To which the housekeeper responded, “That’s the last retreat you’ll be making for sure!”

By the time I was ordained, fulltime live-in housekeepers had all but disappeared but here and there part-time housekeeper-cooks could still be found.

Our part time housekeeper at the rectory in which I resided many years ago was called ‘Dee.’ She was one of a kind. There was no doubt about who was in charge of the parish but she ruled in the kitchen. Every so often she would command our attention with the words, “Now hear this!” I believe her husband was a retired navy officer.

When Dee spoke, everyone listened, including the bishop who happened to be at our table one evening after Confirmation.

When the prophets of the Old Testament used the words, “Thus says the Lord!” they were in essence saying loud and clear, “Now hear this! I mean business!” or in the lingo of the youth leader, “Okay, listen up!” What I have to say is not only important, but it may be lifesaving.

Addressing himself to the Israelites still in utter despair over the destruction that surrounded them during their occupation by the Persians following the Babylonian captivity, Zechariah issues an oracle intended to move them from despair to hope. However, his message was different from the oracles of the sages and soothsayers of his time.

I might paraphrase it in these words:

“Now hear this! Listen up! Let your hearts sing out, O people of Jerusalem because I’m telling you that your ‘king’ is coming. However, he will not be like the other kings. He will be like a shepherd who feeds his flock. He will be a savior, that is, a man of God, but know that he will not appear on a warrior’s horse or in a limousine but on a donkey, a colt the animal of a lowly one. And this is what he will do when he arrives. He will banish tanks and weapons of mass destruction and he will stand up for peace among all the nations. His domain will be from east to west and from pole to pole.”

In the face of the threat of conquest by Alexander the Great, they had no king. How odd that Zechariah would issue this oracle of hope instead of a call to war.

Despite frequent references to war and the necessary response to aggression in the ancient biblical writings of our Jewish ancestors, this is one of several notable exceptions that assure us that God has something else in mind as an alternative to war.

Although the people envisioned the messiah as a divine potentate or warrior, Zechariah predicts that in fact the he will be gentle in spirit and humble of heart.

Zechariah was working from a different paradigm of what life could be in a kingdom without war or weapons, a kingdom in which integrity would be the great equalizer and peace the common denominator.

It is no coincidence that in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday on a donkey as the humble prophet reaching out to the lowly: “Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matt 11:28]

Matthew introduces Jesus’ message with the words, “At that time Jesus exclaimed” which is an alternative to “I solemnly assure you!” or again, “Now hear this!”

In this same gospel, Matthew points out that this wisdom is not what the world teachers. Evangelical extremists please take note. It is the wisdom that is given only to the simple. “I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to the merest children.” [Matt 11:25]

This is wisdom for the simple, not for the simplistic. In a world of extremism, war may be inevitable but woe to those who trample on the innocent or become enslaved to a violence that begets violence.

However the underlying message of the texts is not about war but about civility and gentleness of heart and the underlying elements within the human heart that lead to war.

Over the past few decades we’ve lost the gift of civility and the appreciation of genuine engagement with our neighbors. The news has turned to irate editorial commentaries for one or another cause and despite the claim of and commitment to fair and balanced reporting, the spin is obvious. Neither the left nor the right is exempt from this petty warfare of words. The content of campaign speeches is very weak. Instead, they are replete with personal innuendos against an opponent rather than substantive content about the root causes that divide citizens and nations.

Truth has become the victim of empty rhetoric and integrity the victim of the will to power.

Again this week, I turn to the wisdom of Rachel Remen in her book entitled, “My Grandfather’s Blessings” in which she offers this little meditation on an ancient Buddhist teaching:

“Life offers its wisdom generously. Everything teaches. Not everyone learns. Life asks of us the same thing we have been asked in every class: ‘Stay awake.’ ‘Pay attention.’ But paying attention is no simple matter. It requires that we not be distracted by expectations, past experiences, labels, and masks. It asks that we not jump to early conclusions and that we remain open to surprise. Wisdom comes most easily to those who have the courage to embrace life without judgment and are willing not to know, sometimes for a long time. It requires us to be more fully and simply alive than we have been taught to be. It may require us to suffer. But ultimately we will be more than we were when we began. There is the seed of a greater wholeness in everyone.”

Retreat master and spiritual writer Richard Rohr calls this the soul work that truly makes a difference in the heart and soul of believers and because it does, it can also make a difference in our world – whatever and whoever makes up that world.

So listen up!

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