Back to the Garden

"Father if you are willing, remove this cup from me;

yet, not my will but yours be done..." Luke 22.42

Gospels for Passion Sunday:

Entry into Jerusalem: Luke 19.28-40
The Passion: Luke 22.14-23.56

We have now entered Holy Week, the high point of our lives as Christians. This Sunday prepares us for the Triduum - literally, the "three days of feast" that is Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. On Passion Sunday, the assembly gathers in procession, carrying blessed palms and singing songs of praise for the "Son of David, the King of Israel". During the liturgy of the Word, we encounter the Passion of our Lord.

Things are different on this Sunday. We have two Gospel readings. The long narrative of the Passion does not begin with the usual assembly response " Glory to you O Lord" or end with "Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ" Just as Lent has separated us from Ordinary Time, Passion Sunday moves us into something different...

Moves us into the destiny of Jesus

Moves us into our destiny 

I admire any of our homilists who try to sum up the Passion in ten minutes. In former days, no homily was given- only silence. 

Not a bad option! 

So rather than trying to reflect on all of it, I decided to focus on Luke 22.39-46- Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, after the Last Supper, and before His arrest.

For a wonderful, comprehensive, and deep reflection on this, and the whole  Paschal Mystery, read Pope Benedict XVI's  Jesus of Nazareth Part Two: Holy Week from the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2011.) 

Back to the Garden.....

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Flashback to the 60's...
 Do you remember the song Woodstock by Joni Mitchell (made famous by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)? The chorus was profound, especially the last refrain,  although I don't think Joni was writing about Christ's Passion:

We are stardust, 
(Billion year old carbon)
we are golden

(Caught up in the Devil's bargain)

And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden... 

Of course, this song was written in the height of the peace and love of the 1960's, celebrating the Woodstock nation "half a million strong" Going "back to the garden" implied that we need to regain the innocence that was Eden, and somehow, the Woodstock music festival was a symbol for the return to innocence. And the "Devil's bargain"? I guess anyone who "sold out" to the "establishment", and got caught up in the Vietnam war, constrictive social norms, older generation hang-ups etc. This was a very groovy song, man.

I listen it to it differently now...

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All four Gospels proclaim the Garden

 After the Last Supper, Jesus went to an isolated place to pray:

Mark and Matthew:  They went to a place called Gethsemane ("Gethsemane" refers to a place where olives are crushed to make oil)

 Luke: He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him

John:... he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered .

 We see then, that our tradition brings the four Gospel account together, and we remember Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, even though John's Gospel is the only one that describes a garden. As the Gospel of John was written around the year 100, a certain depth of theology is found there.

The image of the Garden, and Jesus' prayer to the Father are critical to our understanding of who we  are as disciples....

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 It all began in the Garden
 As in Joni Mitchell's song, the use of the term "garden" in John's Gospel triggers the image of the beginning of time, and the Garden of Eden. 

We are reminded of our first parents, who made the decision to disobey the Father in order to become gods themselves. The fall, our fall, is the temptation for humanity to become divine without the Divine Godhead.

And now the Son, both truly God and truly Man, enters the Garden for our fallen sake. He cries out in anguish of the horror that is our sin, as he would take on the shame of our sins, only to suffer and die for our sake. 

For the sake of our own destiny. 

He died and rose that we might live. 

The Good Shepherd leads his flock through the valley of death

 to the pastures of the Heavenly Kingdom 

The "new Adam" (as St. Paul calls Christ) through total obedience to the Father, makes up for the disobedience of the "old Adam".

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Why are you sleeping???

In Luke's version of Gethsemane, Jesus speaks three times:

"Pray that you may not come into the time of trial" (Luke 22.40)

"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; 

yet, not my will, but yours (Luke 22.42)

"Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that 

you may not come into the time of trial ."

Notice that, like every moment of Jesus' life, prayer is at the heart of who He is. His own prayer of supplication and obedience his bracketed by his plea to the disciples to pray for vigilance in prayer.  This is his prayer for us!! We are constantly sleeping, even though we are awake!

As Pope Benedict XVI notes in his Jesus of Nazareth:

"Across the centuries, it is the drowsiness of the disciples that opens up the possibilities for the power of the Evil One. Such drowsiness deadens the soul, so that it remains undisturbed by the power of the Evil One at work in the world by all the injustice and suffering ravaging the earth. In its state of numbness, the soul prefers not to see all of this; it is easily persuaded that things cannot be so bad, so as to continue in the self-satisfaction of its own existence. Yet this deadening of souls, the lack of vigilance regarding both God's closeness and the looming forces of darkness, is what gives the Evil One power in the world... (pg 153) 

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Love's New Name...

 I once heard Fr. Ron Rohlheiser talk about Gethsemane and the importance of the garden.
"Gardens", Father Ron said, "are places where lovers meet."

Love, now met through the anguished tears "as of drops of blood", has a new name.

No longer just "eros" - the passion of lovers and the energy that drives all creation;

No longer just "filoque" - the love of sons and daughters, fathers, mothers, and friends

Love's new name is "agape": the self-sacrificial love, the love of one not served, but one called to serve.

But...

 Love's new name will be even greater than agape.

Love's new name is...

Breaking Free

Breaking Free

"Unbind him and let him go." John 11.44

Gospel of the Fifth Sunday of Lent (Third Scrutiny):  John 11.1-45

I had the good fortune to be by a television on Wednesday when "Habemus Papem!" was announced.

It was quite an emotional moment. Thunderous applause and cheering from the people gathered in St. Peter's Square, followed by a confused hushed when the prefect continued:

Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Georgium Marium
Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Bergoglio

qui sibi nomen imposuit Franciscum 

Who? Who is Cardinal Bergoglio? He was not one of the front-runners! 

Then the cheering grew when it became apparent that the Holy Spirit had directed the College of Cardinals to do what the Holy Spirit always does- surprise us! And what a surprise- a South American of Italian descent, 77 years old, a Jesuit who chooses the name Francis...

And whose first words as Pope were "Brothers and Sisters, good evening!"

We are so foolish! Why are we so bound by our preconceived notions of what the Church should do, or who our Shepherd should be? Can we not be free to trust in the Holy Spirit who always guides the Church, even in times of struggle and darkness?

Binding and freedom 

are two themes found in this past Sunday's Gospel. I chose the Gospel of the Third Scrutiny, although the other Gospel (John 8 1-11, the story of the adulterous woman) has those themes as well. 

John 11.1-45 begins with the news that Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, had taken seriously ill. Jesus decides to wait until Lazarus has been dead for three days ( note the symbol) until he decides to go to Bethany in Judea. At this point the disciples, with their preconceived notions of Jesus, assumed that he would have gone to see his friend sooner to cure him. Some must have thought that Jesus delayed because he was afraid of going to Judea.

Jesus tries to unbind their thinking. He was going to raise Lazarus as a sign of the  Father's glory,  not because Lazarus was a personal friend.

And he would do it at the risk of his own persecution.

As the story continues, it is clear that Martha, Mary and the onlookers were bound by their expectations of Jesus. "Where was he? He could have saved him."

Jesus weeps.

 Usually the explanation for the weeping Jesus is that he is showing his humanity for the loss of a friend. I think that is only part of it. Perhaps Jesus also weeps in frustration that, after so many signs and wonders, the people need to see someone raised from the dead. And even after that, there will be rejection of the Son of God. John may also be reflecting Jesus' agony in the garden, which is not detailed in his account of the Passion but placed here in the context of the death and resuscitation of Lazarus.

The Call

 Jesus, as He always did, prays to the Father before acting. His prayer, directed to the Father, asks that His will be done, not for Lazarus, and not even for Jesus. Jesus asks that the will of the Father be done "for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me (John 11.42).

Jesus then says two things:

First, to Lazarus: "Come out!"

Secondly, to the crowd: "Unbind him and let him go free!"

The sign of the raising of Lazarus, is not about a special privilege of a close friend that Jesus had in Bethany. This is about the special privilege we have of hearing the call of Jesus. In order to hear that (loud) call, we need to be unbound, free of our sinfulness, and our preconceptions, biases and prejudices. We need to be set free of our egos. And we need to trust in the Holy Spirit who continues to pour out the graces we received in Baptism and Confirmation. We will be set free through our participation in the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.

As we enter a new moment in the life of the Church, let us be open to the light of the Holy Spirit, who brings us ever closer to the Father through our life in Christ Jesus.

For this week...

If you are work in a Catholic school...

Many of the Catholic school districts will be having march break during Holy Week, so this will be the last week before the glorious Triduum. Make sure you take the time with your students to explore a few of the many beautiful signs and symbols around Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. If you are getting ready to welcome new members into the Church, get to know them. Have your students write cards of encouragement as the elect and the candidates begin their new lives in Christ.

For all of us...

• Ask the Holy Spirit to keep you open to the Father's will. 
• Get to know Pope Francis, not from the secular media, but through his own words. Read his first homilies and speeches on the Vatican web site:http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm 

Blessings and Peace

Michael

 

God Comes Running...

"...But while he was far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him..." Luke 15.20

Gospel for the 4th Sunday of Lent: Luke 15.1-3, 11-32 (http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=49&bible_chapter=15)
 
Growing up in Brampton Ontario in the 60's, there were limited options for parents who wanted to send their kids to a Catholic school. For the Marien boys, it meant a trek of a couple of miles from the newly developed suburb to St. Mary's elementary, closer to the downtown. The trek was not uphill both ways, we had shoes in the dead of winter, and we were never attacked by wild animals. For little kids, it was long, but never a hardship.

One fall day, there was a little bit of a communication mix-up. My two older brothers had, for reasons that escape me, left their six year old brother at the school. After waiting around for a half an hour, I decided to start heading back home by myself. I knew the way, and from my six-year old perspective, didn't think much of what lay ahead. I was simply miffed at my brothers. 

About twenty minutes down the road, I see Mom running (!) towards me. With tears in her eyes she hugged me tight and kissed me. I still wasn't sure what the big deal was about, but I was glad that Mom was with me for the rest of the way. It was only later that I realized that she must have run at least a mile and half to get to me so quickly. As for my brothers, well, they never forgot me at the school again!

The parable of the Prodigal Son and the Forgiving Father reminded me of my little adventure. Take a look at the image at the top of the page once again. When you Google images of the Prodigal Son, you will find many of father and son in embrace, but this was the only one that I could find which shows the father running to the son. I'll come back to this image, but first, some reflections on the parable. Remember that Jesus' parables are not merely stories, or symbolic riddles to "figure out". They are multilevel narratives that will reveal many meanings to us when we are open to receiving them. Here are some meanings around the characters for you to consider:

The prodigal, at one level, are the ones such as the sinners who Jesus associates with in Luke's Gospel. The Pharisees condemn Jesus for his table-fellowship with tax collectors and prostitutes. Jesus is reminding the Pharisees that these sinners are on the path to conversion, and are going back to the Father. After squandering all that Father has given them, they recognize their sinfulness and look for mercy. 
As always, we see ourselves as the prodigal, when we open ourselves to God's mercy and ask for forgiveness of our sins.

The older brother are the Pharisees, and the whole of Israel, who cannot stand the fact that Father would love sinners that much. In a sense, they condemn themselves by "refusing to go in" to the banquet (15.28). The older is angry, and we start to wonder just how much he really loves the Father at all. Notice when the older brother says "Listen, I have working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command, yet you never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. (15.29-30). He doesn't want to celebrate with his Father?? He sees himself as a slave?? 
We see ourselves  as the older brother, whenever we become self-righteous, whenever we feel that God "owes us", and whenever we harbor ill feelings and jealousy towards our neighbor.

And, the true central character of the piece... 

The forgiving father, who, after being completely wounded by the prodigal runs to greet him, and not only forgives, but celebrates with all the riches he has to offer. For Jesus' audience, and for most of us, this is sheer madness! What, no punishment? At least give the boy what he expects! Make him a slave so he can "pay back"!

Jesus reveals the truly unbelievable mercy  of the Father, a Father who rejoices when the son comes back...

Back from the dead. The parable now has a powerful new twist. Jesus is the prodigal, although without sin, suffers and dies for the sins of the many. And now he "celebrates" with the Father, and is "seated at His right hand". 

Do we see ourselves as the forgiving father? Do we show the mercy and forgiveness that our Father has for us? After all, isn't that the core petition of our greatest prayer- "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..."???

Read and pray over this parable again.

 Remember that when we turn back to God, God will come running like a loving father. 

Or mother :) 

  

For this week

For Catholic educators "on the School Bus to Emmaus"

Talk about the discipline policy in your school with your colleagues, and talk about it with your students. Does the discipline your school and your classroom reflect the mercy of the forgiving Father?

For all of us

Pray the "Our Father" slowly and carefully. Pause when you reach the part about forgiveness. Ask Jesus to help you forgive those who have wounded you. Reconcile yourself with them.

Second Chances

" A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard..."

Luke 13.6-9

Second Chances

 Gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent: Luke 13. 1-9

As the husband of a very serious and avid gardener, this time of year is filled with anticipation, excitement, and occasionally, frustration. You see, our sun room is now a nursery, slowly filling up with germinated seedlings and transplants. I love going in and smelling the soil and seed - a preview of spring.

It can be, as I said, a little frustrating, especially when you do the exact same thing as you did last year, but instead of 70, 80 or 90% germination, you can get zero. Is the seed? The soil? A temperature change? Bacteria? Whatever the case, if you want those petunias, you have to start all over again, and try to eliminate the unknown factor.

 

This is why I generally stay clear of this part of the production- I'm all for taking the plants and putting them in the ground. But germinating and transplanting? Everything is just too tiny and delicate! 

 

From the many years we've done this, I have to say that I very much admire Shirley's patience and tenderness. It actually saddens her when seedlings die...

 

In today's Gospel we hear the parable of the Barren Fig Tree, which expresses the patience, tenderness and mercy of the Father through the salvific actions of the Son. 

 

First, Jesus sets up the parable by revealing to the crowds the misguided notions they had concerning God's judgement. He talked to them about the recent slaying of some Galileans at the hands of the Romans. The Jewish mindset at the time was that they must have been most sinful to have to undergo such a horrible death. Not so, says Jesus. In fact, 'unless you repent, you will all perish as they did." Jesus of course was not referring to their physical death, but to the death of their eternal joy with God. Jesus was turning their whole notion of God's judgement upside down.

He then tells the story of the Barren Fig Tree. The details in this parable, like all the parables, are worth exploring. 

 

First of all, a man plants a fig tree in his vineyard. Why the vineyard? Obviously not for profit, but for the sheer pleasure of enjoying the tree and its fruit. So it is with God, who created us not for any other purpose than for the sheer love of being in relationship with Him. No hidden agendas. Just love.

Then, he came looking for fruit on it and found none.. Does this remind us of a time when God "went looking in the garden" and could not find Adam and Eve?

And so he speaks to the gardener and says he has been looking  for three years and their is no fruit. Time to cut it down. "Three years" is the time it actually takes for a fig tree to bear fruit, but "three" is also an eternal number. We see here a connection between the fig tree and the whole history of Israel, the nation who would turn away from God, and return to Him over and over again...

The gardener then speaks up. "Let it alone for one more year. If it bears fruit, well and good, if not, cut it down." The gardener, Jesus, offers himself for the sake of the tree. It is our second chance. The owner relents.

The parable's "punchline" (they all have them) is about the bearing of fruit. You see, Jesus wants to make the point with us that it's all about the way you live your life that's important. Too many times we think we're all OK with God because, after all, we haven't killed anybody, or broken the other 9 commandments. So come on! We haven't done anything wrong...

 

The fact remains- have we done anything right? Right with God and our neighbor? Have we done anything to help the poor and oppressed? Have we done anything to bring the Reign of God closer to the full glory of justice and peace?

Have we bore any fruit?

For this week:

 

For those of us who are educators, take time with your students and colleagues to make a plan to hep the poor and oppressed. Work on projects that are mlore than just cash donation drives.

 

For those of us who are Catholic in the Archdiocese of Edmonton: This Wednesday March 6th, every priest in the diocese is available to hear Confessions all day, and into the early evening. His Grace has asked us to take advantage of this day of Reconciliation, to celebrate the Church's Year of Faith, and the Archdiocese's 100th anniversary.

Make every effort to receive reconciliation on March 6th. Your spiritual life will bear much fruit.