Coming down from our perches

 ‘…For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost....’ (Luke 19:10)

Luke 19:1-10 (Year C: Advent-4)

For some reason this story, from Luke, about Zacchaeus who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus reminds me of Saturday 29^th September 1979 for reasons I will explain later …..  Over a million people were on the move in the very early hours of that day on the streets of Dublin. They carried little fold-up seats, baskets and other items. It might have been a mass evacuation ahead of a major hurricane or invasion. Then a large Boeing 747 jet appeared over the skies of Dublin flying at an extremely low attitude and proudly accompanied by Irish air force planes and swooped around the city moving from east to west over the liberties area (from where I remember first seeing the plane) and circling around the Phoenix Park over a crowd of well over a million and landing in Dublin airport a few miles to the north. Unless you happen to be from Mars you guessed right – it was ‘The Year of the Pope’. 

It is estimated that one in ten boys born in 1980 were named ‘John Paul’ (births peaked in absolute terms in the two years following the Pope’s visit …. but statistical causation is not proven by statistical correlation I should add! Indeed as illustrated here the birth rate actually continued to decline after the Pope's visit to Ireland and the only reason absolute births rose was due to there being relatively more women aged between 20 and 40 - which goes to show that what makes for a good modern story may not be based on facts!).  Perhaps something between a quarter and third of the population of the Republic of Ireland ‘were in the park’ that day.  It is likely that two out of three living in the Republic of Ireland at that time attended at least one of the seven ‘visits’ made over a long weekend (the late Pope John Paul now recognised as a saint in the Roman Catholic church got a lot in over a single weekend from Saturday to Monday!). Including the faithful from across the border where the ‘troubles’ were in full swing it is likely that a majority of persons living on the island of Ireland, at that time, were present at one of the 7 key events.

The year, 1979, was a landmark in many respects. It marked the high point of ecclesial influence which has already been waning since the 1960s (and not all because of TV let it be said). It also marked a time in between the old and the new. Innocence and deference was yet to be lost and the world was a more predictable and stable place albeit overshadowed by the ‘cold war’ and all the anxiety that goes with that.

What has any of this to do with the gospel story about Zacchaeus and, moreover, with my own memories of that time long past? Well, you see, like Zacchaeus I am short of stature.  In order to get a glimpse of this new and unusual celebrity Pope from Poland I positioned my bicycle beside a lamp post on High Street just opposite Christchurch cathedral and climbed up on to the saddle of the bike to get a glimpse of the Man. Let me add that I was far removed from church and Christianity at that stage in my young adult life. I had spent that Saturday at a political meeting in the Liberties area while all the excitement was in full swing outside.  (The last time I got to see the Pope live was while standing in a field in the sweltering August heat in Paris on 24^th August along with my family and with over a million people at the 12^th World Youth Day mass.)

Everyone wants to see a star or a famous politician, singer, guru or artist as the case and preference may be.  It is no surprise that many people living in a backwater of the Roman empire 2,000 years ago wanted to see in the flesh this extraordinary man they had heard of who worked miracles and preached a powerful message. However, Jesus came not to be adulated or lifted up on human pedestal. The only pedestal he would be lifted up on was the Cross after most of the people had abandoned or condemned him. Jesus came with a radical message that associated him with outcasts, the poor, the despised and ‘sinners’.  To see God’s love Jesus points us to these because what we do to others, what we see in others and what we receive in others is our way of ‘seeing Jesus’ (Matthew 25:45). It is, perhaps, one thing to ‘see Jesus’ in those we like and resemble us. It is another matter to ‘see Jesus’ in those most unlike us by virtue of belief, culture, opinions etc.  All the more is it difficult for us to ‘see Jesus’ in those most despised and hated such as, in this story from Luke, the ‘tax collectors’ (or ‘publicans’ according to some translations).  Luke tells us on more than one occasion that such persons were referred to by Jesus in examples of how God’s mercy and salvation extends to all – even ‘tax collectors’. Why were such persons resented and shunned by ‘respectable’ society at the time? Tax collectors were seen as dishonest and extortionate go-between people who did the dirty work of the Roman authorities even though they were Jewish and, at the same time, made lots of money out of their occupation partly by cheating and driving a large margin between income received and money paid into central coffers.

Luke tells us that Zacchaeus ‘came down at once and welcomed him gladly.’ (v.6).  We, too, can respond to the invitation of Jesus in the here and now.  To welcome Jesus ‘gladly’ and to know that we are welcomed by him in the first place spells an extraordinary freedom including for those us who may sense that we are out of place and not entirely welcomed or accepted by the community gathered in the name of Jesus.  Like Zacchaeus, we too are ‘children of Abraham’.  Not only is Abraham father, in faith, to Jews, Christians and Muslims but all human beings are children of the one God and Father of all, in all and over all. If we only knew and recognised this more fully!

We might be perched on some object cut off from the others and straining to see above and beyond the crowd. Yet, the way forward for each of us is to come down to ground level from our self-appointed perches and recognise the brother and sister next to us in this moment of life. In this way, to borrow a leaf from the Methodist tradition, we recognise our deepest need to be saved and that all around us can be saved and that all may know themselves saved and that this saving reaches to the very depths of our hearts, our relationships and our societies.

Postscript

On May 23^rd 2015 I stood in the midst of a huge crowd around Dublin Castle to witness the historic results of the marriage equality referendum. Ireland has matured somewhat in 40 years and many of the children of the John-Pauls born in the early 1980s are helping to construct a new world.  Young people of Ireland I, Zacchaeus, love you and welcome you with joy!

Just who do we think we are?

‘…God, be merciful to me, a sinner...’ (Luke 18:13)

Luke 18:9-14 (Year C: Advent-5)

If we hear Luke 18:9-14 this Sunday then we might stop and listen again.  Where is the ‘tax collector’ today? Am I feeling superior in my devotion? Or, do I feel unworthy and hypocritical to be here? Feelings are important. We can spend a lot of our lives denying them, fighting them or surfing them.  They are signposts to Attitude with a capital A.  Feelings don’t own us but we can decide how to respond.  Note that the Pharisee felt and thought in his heart that he was superior to that miserable sinner – the tax-collector (translated as publican in some versions of the Bible but indicating someone who collected taxes). We might also conjecture that the tax-collector felt quite miserable and inferior to the devout company of Pharisees and others around him. Today, we may carry an Attitude of crippling guilt, inferiority, judgment and blame towards ourselves.  We may even despise ourselves as much as we think others do.

Regarding others with contempt is not uncommon. Others, after all, are not ‘us’. They believe, think, pray, vote, look, talk, play etc. differently.  There can be a smug sense of collective egotism because we ‘know’ that we are in the One True Community of whatever. We have the full riches of a particular system of belief and practice while ‘they’ are deficient. Moreover, ‘they’ are responsible for any historical rift but we have been ‘saved’ or we have the full means of grace and they don’t.  Many Christians who claim to be disciples of Jesus are expert at this sort of collective egotism and, by implication, mild and not so mild disdain and contempt for others.

Collective Attitude is a close relation of individual Attitude that resides somewhere at the back of our thinking.

Attitude says a lot.  Attitude speaks without speaking and acts without acting.  A look, a silence, a little piece of cutting sarcasm or a staunch refusal to listen or understand can say more than a thousand words or actions.  In our attitudes we rehearse and reinforce our view of the world and people around us. However, in the first place we have inherited an attitude towards ourselves. Without realising it we have soaked in attitudes of others about ourselves for better or for worse. Possibly the best investment in a child’s future is positive encouragement and gentle direction.  Many carry the wounds of hurt from a distant past without realising who or how or why. It’s called ‘baggage’.

‘Two men went up to the temple to pray’, so the story goes. They brought with them Attitude.  To be fair to the Pharisee, he was not incorrect in saying what he said. Yes, he did pray regularly and fasted twice a week and refrained from murder, robbery and adultery and gave away one tenth of all of his income (which we assume was not too limited). We will take his word for all of this!. The point is that the Pharisee had an Attitude characteristic of people who ‘trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt’. This Attitude is one of entitlement based on personal merit and effort and a feeling of superiority over others.

When we arrive at a place we bring our Attitude towards ourselves and others present or absent.  We have little or no idea what other people bring with them to the gathering.

We might find ourselves on our way to mass or morning prayer and see scores of people driving to the sports field or shops or gym as the case may be while many more are somewhere asleep or engrossed in the Sunday papers or online gaming. Attitude springs to mind. We might find ourselves a few minutes early. Pick up the newsletter. Notice who is present today. ‘Haven’t seen so-and-so for a long time’. ‘Who is that with her? I wonder are they married?’  ‘That family from abroad – I wonder are they here just to get their child into the parish school?’ ‘And those two men together at the back of the church – they are always together - one wonders why?’ ‘Why is that child allowed to wander around the pews and creating havoc when we are all supposed to be concentrating on the sacred mysteries?’ And then the mind wanders through the hymns, readings, sermon and time of communion. ‘What was that sermon about again?’ ‘What a bore...’ ‘Oh yes, I am supposed to be praying and not thinking about the row I had with so-and-so last Thursday’.  It’s all over in 45 minutes. ‘What was that about again?’ A hand shake, a smile and away we go for another week.

The mind of Christ

We ought to cultivate Attitude but Attitude based on the mind of Christ.

‘For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.’ As Paul writes to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:16).

We do well to heed the words of scripture where Paul writes:

Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. (Romans 14:10)

The next time one might enter a place of prayer or a gathering of people how about a silent little prayer along the lines of:

“God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (v. 13)

We need go no further than our very own hearts

 ‘…Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. ...’ (Luke 18:1)

     

Luke 18:1-8 (Year C: Trinity+21)

A natural thirst

These days, praying is rarely if ever listed under ‘hobbies and activities’ at the bottom of someone’s CV. Yoga, meditation or something similar might very well feature. Somehow praying, going to Church and related matters is spoken about as a very ‘private’ matter and, in many cases, not something to be flaunted or, worse still, pushed upon others. Yet, the periodic special novenas and similar events attract huge numbers in various parts of this country. Young and old (although in all likelihood proportionately more of the latter) soak in the atmosphere, togetherness, sacredness, humaness and comfort from pouring out one’s soul with others or, indeed, to another in the context of spiritual friendship or sacramental reconciliation (‘confession’). Old habits die hard and even when new forms of spirituality arise along with re-discoveries of ancient wisdom from the East many people still cling to the traditional and the familiar especially (but not exclusively) at times of personal or community crisis.

The story of the widow and the ‘unjust’ judge found in the gospel of Luke reminds us that human need pushes many to ask and to ask again.  Luke inserts an explanation as he recounts the story from Jesus:

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.(v.1)

Losing heart can happen at any time in life as we struggle with various challenges. To keep heart even through the most difficult of times is a blessing. It is possible. Temperament, upbringing and circumstances outside our control can have a major impact on our behaviour and thinking through our predispositions. However, we also have freedom and choice to modify our outlook and actions. By feeding on positive thoughts we can, with God’s help, move into a space where we keep going, keep hoping, keep trying and staying of good heart.

Prayer, or should I say prayerfulness, is key to this.  Prayer is the means by which we can rest our cares with Another and, at the same time, find the courage and strength to keep going on.  Prayer is more than persistent asking and begging as the widow in today’s story adopted. She did not give up on the first refusal. We, too, can keep asking for that grace, that peace, that strength to deal with a difficult situation. The ‘Serenity Prayer’ is well known to many:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

The evangelist, Luke, is strong in his emphasis on prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit. In relation to prayer there are many, many references including those in the following specially composed list (courtesy of Lectio Divina – Order of Carmelites):

Lk 2:46-50: When he is twelve, he goes to the Temple, his Father’s house
Lk 3:21: He prays at his baptism and when he takes on his mission
Lk 4:1-2: At the beginning of his mission he spends forty days in the desert
Lk 4:3-12: When he is tempted, he faces the devil with texts from Scripture
Lk 4:16: On Saturdays, Jesus goes to celebrate in the synagogue
Lk 5:16; 9:18: He seeks solitude in the desert to pray
Lk 6:12: He spends the night in prayer before choosing the Apostles
Lk 9:16; 24:30: He prays before meals
Lk 9:18: He prays before speaking the his passion
Lk 9:28: In a crisis, on the Mountain to pray, he is transfigured during prayer
Lk 10:21: When the Gospel is revealed to little ones he says: “Thank you, Father...”
Lk 11:1: As he prays, he inspires the apostles the desire to pray
Lk 22:32: He prays for Peter, that he may have faith
Lk 22:7-14: He celebrates the Paschal meal with his disciples
Lk 22:41-42: He prays and sweats blood in the Garden of Olives
Lk 22:40-46: In his agony, he asks his friends to pray with him
Lk 23:34: When he was being nailed to the cross, he asks pardon for his torturers
Lk 23:46; Ps 31:6: At the moment of death he says: “Into your hands I commend my spirit”
Lk 23:46: Jesus dies with the cry of the poor on his lips

And if that is not enough consider the list at the end of this blog (without the hyperlinks) from Acts. The Acts of Apostles is thought to have been written by Luke.

Jesus is presented in Luke at prayer sometimes alone but often with others and for others.  Prayer is the oxygen by which he lives in communion with his Father. At the heart of this is the Holy Spirit – that love which circulates between Father and Son and spills out into the world continually seeking to bring all things and all peoples into communion.

A practical guide

We do well to pray often and especially early and late each day since prayer is the bolt of the night and the key to the day. It might be best for us to seek out a regular quiet place and time each day alone or with others. Perhaps a sentence or two of scripture might suffice to feed our minds and hearts for 5 or 10 minutes at first (and a bit more if possible).

• No analysis.
• No commentary.
• No busy ‘chatting’.

Just relax there for a while in silence slowly letting the words gently still your heart and mind (some Christians find it useful to use a lit candle, or an open book of scriptures, or an icon or the reserved sacrament of the sick since we are all in need of healing in some way). It might be that a spontaneous prayer of praise or thanksgiving or request rises up. We should neither force anything or resist anything. We may discern the Holy Spirit at work and we ought not be afraid to share some of this experience with a wise and trusted ‘soul-friend’ – when appropriate. This spells the potential for growth – human and sacred – because we are sacred and precious just like that widow who never lost persistence. We can take this very Ignatian line to heart:

pray as if everything depends on God, work as if everything depends on you …

If we sense the presence of God ‘where two or three are gathered’ whether that be in a pub, a church, a kitchen, a factory or the village green then we are already at the threshold of prayerfulness.  Life is a flow of action and prayerfulness and our times of specially dedicated prayer are all the richer and fruitful for that no matter how we might feel at the time. The way ahead may be unclear and frightening but fortified with a mustard seed of faith, a discipline of quiet prayer and a word of scripture we can face each day with courage and love.  And Love will find faith on the earth (verse 8). We need go no further than our very own hearts. That is where prayer begins.

Postscript

References to prayer in the Acts of the Apostles:

Act 1:14: The community perseveres in prayer with Mary, the mother of Jesus

Act 1:24: The community prays so as to know who will take the place of Judas
Act 2:25-35: Peter quotes from the Psalms in his homily
Act 2:42: The first Christians are faithful in prayer
Act 2:46-47: They go to the temple to praise God
Act 3:1: Peter and John go to the temple to pray at the ninth hour
Act 3:8: The healed lame man praises God
Act 4:23-31: The community prays under persecution
Act 5:12: The first Christians stay at Solomon’s gate (temple)
Act 6:4: The apostles devote themselves to prayer and the service of the word
Act 6:6: They pray before imposing hands on the deacons
Act 7:59: When he is dying, Stephen prays: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”
Act 7:60: Then Stephen prays: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”
Act 8:15: Peter and John pray that the converts may receive the Holy Spirit
Act 8:22: The sinner is told: Repent and pray that you may be forgiven
Act 8:24: Simon says: “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves so that none of the things you have spoken about may happen to me”
Act 9:11: Paul is praying
Act 9:40: Peter prays for the healing of Tabitha
Act 10:2: Cornelius prayed constantly to God
Act 10:4: Cornelius’ prayers are heard in heaven
Act 10:9: At the sixth hour, Peter prays on the roof of the house
Act 10:30-31: Cornelius prays at the ninth hour, and his prayer is heard
Act 11:5: Peter tells the people of Jerusalem: “I was praying”!
Act 12:5: The community prays when Peter is in jail
Act 12:12: Many people are gathered in prayer in Mary’s house
Act 13:2-3: The community prays and fasts before sending Paul and Barnabas
Act 13:48: The pagans rejoice and glorify the Word of God
Act 14:23: The missionaries pray to appoint the coordinators of the communities
Act 16:13: At Philippi, near the river, there is a place of prayer
Act 16:16: Paul and Silas were going to prayer
Act 16:25: At night, Paul and Silas sing and pray in prison
Act 18:9: Paul has a vision of the Lord at night
Act 19:18: Many confess their sins
Act 20:7: They met to break bread (the Eucharist)
Act 20:32: Paul commends to God the coordinators of the communities
Act 20:36: Paul prays on his knees with the coordinators of the communities
Act 21:5: They kneel on the shore to pray
Act 21:14: Before the inevitable, the people say: God’s will be done!
Act 21:20: They glorify God for all that Paul has done
Act 21:26: Paul goes to the temple to fulfil a promise
Act 22:17-21: Paul prays in the temple, he has a vision and speaks with God
Act 23:11: In the prison in Jerusalem, Paul has a vision of Jesus
Act 27:23ff: Paul has a vision of Jesus during the storm at sea
Act 27:35: Paul takes the bread, gives thanks to God before arriving in Malta
Act 28:8: Paul prays over Publius’ father who had a fever
Act 28:15: Paul gives thanks to God on seeing the brethren in Pozzuoli

Grace without boundaries and preconditions

 ‘…Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well...’ (Luke 17:19)

Pic:  discilplebits        

Luke 17:11-19 (Year C: Trinity+20)

Hanging out with the other side

Jesus was skirting the borders of Samaria and Galilee. This was troublesome territory on the borders between two very similar but ethnically, religiously and politically hostile communities. It was as if Jesus were walking up the Garvaghy Road in Portadown Northern Ireland or along the international frontier at Aughnacloy some miles to the West! We humans, like to mark out our territories, our identities and our values.  Boundaries offer security, clarity and a sense of place when anxieties and lack of familiarity with the ‘Others’ press in upon us. And, in case we were to stereotype our sisters and brothers in the ‘North’ we might reflect on the significance of Jesus walking today, along one of the major dual carriageways here in the ‘South’ around Dublin and Cork that mark out diverse social communities by virtue of income, wealth, employment and status.  Witness the postal numbering controversies over the years! And, as is widely known, ethnicity and migrant status is often correlated with concentrations of wealth and status in the labour market.

Healing of leprosy is referred to many times in the scriptures. In today’s ‘advanced economies’ leprosy has been abolished.  A few centuries ago leper hospitals and colonies were common.  Here, in Dublin, Townsend Street is translated as ‘Sráid na Lobhar’ where, it is believed a place for lepers (lobhair) used to be.  Note that when the new arrivals took over they just named it ‘Town’s End’. That sounds better. Further east the natives were removed to, literally, ‘Irishtown’ beside An Rinn – land’s end.  All societies, tribes and in-groups know how to include and to exclude.

Leprosy has been abolished in most parts of the world today. Yet, needlessly, large numbers suffer from this disease notwithstanding the dramatic improvements in recent decades according to World Health Organisation statistics here.  The horrors of leprosy both in Jesus’ time and in the current world provide some of the most disturbing images to us. This is a preventable disease.

What is the point of this story about Jesus walking the border where a group of lepers approach him and yet kept their distance?  In the first place, Jesus was not supposed to be hanging around people like theies and in places like that. In the second place it appears that among the lepers were people from ‘the other side’. Yet again we see and hear Jesus going beyond the boundaries of acceptable religious custom and regulation. As might be heard in respectable ecclesiastical, administrative or political circles today, Jesus was a ‘troublesome sort’.

A troublesome sort

Being regarded as ‘troublesome’ did not stop Jesus from reaching out to the stranger and the outcast. Yet, one is struck time and time again in the gospels, including that of Luke which was probably written for the new gentile Christians of the 80’s, that Jesus very much sticks with custom and tradition when the occasion demanded it. Hence, he follows the counsel of Leviticus 14:1-9 in saying to the lepers to ‘go and show yourselves to the priests’ (v. 14).

We may note that the lepers followed this advice instantly even though they had leprosy. It was in going along in trust that the healing happened. The lepers had to make that move first in response to the call and grace of Jesus. First, there was a call of despair (‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us’ in v. 13) followed by a brief exchange in which Jesus bids them to show themselves to the priests. Then came the miracle ‘as they went’. We might add ‘as they went in trust and faith’. Nine of them continued on their way while one turned back to say thanks (translated from the Greek word eucharistōn). This was more than a mere courtesy.  The ‘so what’ of this story was the way in which a ‘foreigner’ and a leper at that was filled with praise and thanksgiving for God who had worked in and through Jesus (a echo of this episode may be found in 2 Kings 5:15 where the foreign leper Naaman visits the Israelite prophet Elisha). Luke seizes the moment to make an important theological point: healing and salvation are for everyone – everyone.  The grateful Samaritan leper took it upon himself to prostrate himself at the feet of Jesus and thank him.  Later on, others would find themselves prostrated at the foot of the cross where the feet of Jesus were raised above them on high. ‘Truly this man was the son of God’ as John Wayne once said in quotation of the Roman centurion in the gospels!

In Luke we find a special place for prayer in the life of Jesus and of his disciples. The prayer of the lepers is what, today, is called the ‘Jesus prayer’. The Jesus prayer – ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner’ is on the lips of many outcasts, excluded and sick persons. In the times and culture of Jesus, sickness was sometimes understood to be a sign of sinfulness (if not on the part of the sick person then on the part of someone else from whom the sickness was inherited or deserved as the thinking went). How fitting that a simple and powerful prayer such as the ‘Jesus prayer’ so popular among Christians in the East, today, was first composed by the excluded including, in this story, the marginal and outcast ‘stateless’ persons in a wilderness beside a border somewhere.

In the saying ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well’ we are encouraged to rise from our worries and lows and be ‘on our way’ – a way that is unique to each of us who is called.  It is faith and trust that make this possible and we are the better for it.

Many are those from diverse backgrounds and conditions of life entering the kingdom of heaven today with hearts of praise and thanksgiving. We do well to make a list of 10 things to be genuinely thankful for every day before breakfast starting with ‘I am alive’ and hopefully we can say ‘I am healthy’, etc., etc.

Two words

Might we find ourselves just some of the time as types of ‘inside-out lepers’ – all squeaky and shiny on the outside but all wounded and deeply hurt on the inside and excluded from the normal society of normal persons and far from God – so it would seem? This is a time of healing when Jesus sees us from what seems afar. At this time two words suffice: ‘Jesus Mercy’. A glance, a breath, a pause and go on our way. It is enough…