In the gospel according to Luke we find that beautiful passage of Jesus speaking inthe synagogue at his hometown of Nazareth . Jesus steps up in front of the assembly. He rolls open the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and he reads from the 61st chapter of the book, "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners." (Is. 61.1-3) After reading this passage he sits down. The evangelist tells us that all the eyes of the synagogue are fixed on him. He says to them, "This passage is fulfilled in your hearing." This is a stirring story as we hear about Jesus' boldly beginning his ministry.
This morning, though, I want to focus on a text that introduces this wonderful story to us. The story begins with the words, "Jesus came to Nazareth , where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day." Very simple phrase and could pass without notice. Please think about this for a moment. Jesus was in the custom of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Why? The Lord Jesus was a good, pious Jew. He was practiced in his faith. It is his piety and his devout practice of the faith of his forefather Abraham that was the context and indeed the motivation for his ministry.
Jesus did these things because he was the Son of His Father in heaven. He also did these things because he was the Son of Mary, under the careful and devoted eye of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Jesus possessed a divine nature but he also possessed a human nature. He was fully human like us except that he was without sin. Being human meant that he had to learn. Though he was God, he shared in our humanity and part of being human is learning to be human. We do not often reflect on this with
regards to Jesus. We can assume that he did things naturally, but that is not human. We learn to be who we are. Sure, there are certain things that are part of our nature. There are particular things about each one of us that gives our own nature a unique character. Yet we all learn a language, a culture, manners, habits, tastes, and beliefs that make us who we are as men and women. Jesus did the same thing.So in this reading from Isaiah, Jesus went to the synagogue because he learned it. Mary and Joseph taught him the importance of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath. He probably chased after Joseph on his way to the synagogue. He read from the prophet Isaiah because someone, perhaps Joseph, or maybe the Rabbi in his village taught him to read the Law and the prophets. He even knew how to speak publicly. He probably learned that too.
Think for a moment of the few glimpses we have in the Gospels about the young life of Jesus. The gospel according to Luke reminds us that the child Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. If we take a moment to imagine this familiar scene we can see the child Jesus wrapped in the typical clothing that Mary would have prepared for her Son. He would be dressed as a Jewish infant boy.
He is later presented in the temple of Jerusalem . Though he is not fully conscious enough to know what was going on. Still all that goes on, all that whirls around him, all that is being said about him begins to shape his human mind and his heart for the divine mission His heavenly Father has prepared for him.
The habit of going up to the temple was also a learned activity. The same gospel tells us about one such occasion when the Holy Family goes up to Jerusalem as they were in the habit of doing. The young Jesus loses himself among the chief priests and the scribes as he listens and learns from them. The gospel tells us that he asked them questions. Jesus was inquisitive and curious. He had a love of learning. He loved the
temple. It is perhaps for this reason that he was reluctant to find his parents because he was wrapped up in the beauty, wisdom, and ritual of the temple life. That as an adult he would go back to the temple, even if it was a dangerous risk for him, should not be a surprised because he had learned this. He was in the habit of doing so and habits, especially good habits, are hard to break.
I share this with you this morning because we are all involved in a preparing young hearts and minds - and perhaps not so young hearts and minds - to do what Jesus did. He learned how to be human. In learning as Jesus did we hope to share in the divinity of Jesus as he shared in our humanity. We are all learning who Jesus is and to do so we must learn as he did. We must learn the customs, wisdom and ways of Jesus so that we can become accustomed to him. We become part of him and he becomes part of us.
We can marvel at all Jesus said and did. In all that he said and did we recognize the glory of his divinity. This is all revealed to us through the ordinariness of his humanity, a humanity that was given to him by Mary both through birth but also through example and instruction. We prepare the followers of Jesus in the same way. When we do this and when we do this well, our humanity can reveal the same divinity of Christ.
Look and listen closely to the stories of the miracles of Jesus and the teachings of Jesus. The grace and beauty of God are revealed through the manners and habits that Jesus learned. Notice how often Jesus is in the synagogue. Mary and Joseph inculcated this pious habit in their son. That he could read is not a demonstration of divine power. He had the opportunity to learn from Joseph or from the local rabbi. He knew the law and prophets well enough that he quoted them often in his teachings and he practiced them as a pious Jew. Even with the Pharisees he was a skilled, persuasive debater. He had good teachers. Perhaps he learned this from watching Joseph in the synagogue or listening to Mary and Joseph share the scriptures and discussing the meaning of the text. Jesus was good, kind, tender with the sick, the poor, and the forgotten. He probably followed the example of Mary and her husband Joseph. They taught him the importance of charity and not neglecting the poorest members of the community. He knew how to sacrifice for the sake of others. He saw this in the joyful generosity of His mother, Mary. He saw this in the sacrifices that Joseph made to provide for them. He heard about the suffering servant in Isaiah and began to identify with the role of the prophetic servant. When Jesus gathered his disciples around the table for the Last Supper, he followed the gestures he had learned from Mary and Joseph. None of this reflection is intended to detract from the divinity of Jesus. This is only to show how much he humbled himself so as to become part of our humanity. It also shows how much we can become part of his divinity by learning his wisdom and allowing ourselves to be accustomed to his ways.
The work before us is very human and very ordinary but it also shares in the divine work that began when the Virgin Mary wrapped her divine son in swaddling clothes, started to teach him the language of hope and joy by singing him a Jewish lullaby and softly cuddling him in her arms. With these lessons learned, he would wrap the world with his outstretched arms on the cross and we would come to recognize his glory.
More than just teach the faith, we are called to teach the practice of the faith. It is the practice of the faith, the habit of the faith that brings us and our children into contact with the living Jesus. By our work we continue the marvel of the Incarnation. Jesus continues to incarnate his divine love, wisdom, and ways into our humanity and the humanity of those who come to us for instruction.
When we read the scriptures, especially the prophets or the psalms, the words we say were once on the mouth of Jesus. When we read the gospels and take a lesson from Paul we are being inspired by the same message with which Jesus first inspired them. When we participate and share in the sacred rituals of the sacraments many of these words and gestures were those of Jesus. When we care for the poor or visit the imprisoned we are standing right where Jesus use to stand. When we stand with those who are oppressed and speak for those who are forgotten we risk knowing the same scorn afflicted on the Lord.
All this does not have to be extraordinary or exceptional for us. When we truly understand the Incarnation, we will see that it should not be. Far better - more in keeping with Christ - that it should be learned, practiced, and habitual. We should be in the habit of following Christ. As we imitate his humanity we also begin to reflect his divinity.
For this reason, I would encourage you to do more than teach the faith. Please practice the faith and teach those under your instruction to do the same. Practice implies repetition, doing things over and over again, repeating words over and over again, making routine the rituals of our faith. At first this may appear clumsy but with time it brings grace and makes our lives graceful. More than just a cognitive grasp of the faith, we must be grasped by our faith. The customs and manners of Jesus take hold of us. They become habitual so that we truly walk the talk. We walk in the ways of Jesus.
What are those graceful habits that we should practice and that we should
teach?
Sunday.
As bishop, I look forward to Confirmations. There is a great deal of excitement about the ceremony and ritual that accompany the arrival of the bishop to the local parish. As bishop, I enjoy the momentary and whimsical encounter with each young man and woman who approaches me for the anointing of holy chrism. There is a curious instance when I match the name of a saint with the young person in front of me. Why did this young man choose the name Francis of Assisi? Why did she choose St. Cecilia? What was the reason that he would choose Saint Toribio? What is there about St. Francis, St. Cecilia, St. Joan of Arc, St. Maximilian Kolbe, or St. Sebastian that might be in this young person's heart? Whatever that may be, or for whatever the reasons, it is clear to me that the faith is lived. Young people do not choose a doctrine or a commandment, or a lesson they learned. They choose a life, a particular life that was lived following Jesus. The Christian life is more than a summation of all that is taught and learned about the Catholic faith and tradition. It is a life of discipleship, a life given to imitating the Lord Jesus. As I anoint each young person, this is my fervent prayer that their life too might also take on Christ, that they might be Christ for others.
As the Holy Father, Benedict XVI told us, in his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, "Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction." (DCE, n.1) This encounter with Christ needs to be more than occasional or accidental. This
encounter must be habitual. It must be ritual. As Jesus taught us in the gospel of Luke, daily we must be in the custom of meeting him.
No comments:
Post a Comment