Reflections on the Octave of Irene
One of the most unique Catholic Church edifices in the USA is the Cathedral in Los Angeles. People either love it or hate it. If you are ever visiting LA, check it out for yourself. (If you want, you can probably do a virtual visit online as well.)
Tapestries cover the two walls on either side of the worship space, the nave, facing the altar. The tapestries present a mélange of the saints all looking in the direction of the altar as they are participants in the liturgy celebrated there. For example, you might have St Francis of Assisi and St Elizabeth Seton of New York standing on either side of a young Asian child looking to the sanctuary. You might have Blessed John XXIII and St Mary Magdalene standing on either side of an Hispanic little girl holding a doll as they all look to the sanctuary. You might have St Peter and St Joan of Arc standing on either side of a Black professional person as they all look to the sanctuary.
The artist’s idea is that we are to be reminded of the words of the New Testament, “As we gather in worship, we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses.” It is a first century anticipation of what we know today as the relativity of time and space. God is beyond space and time and within space and time at the same time. In our finite way, we experience space and time in a limited way. Hence, we do gather in an eternal act of worship, although it may not seem that way to us.
Last week, Pope Benedict celebrated the Eucharist in the presence of one million and a half people in Madrid. Last weekend, as well, in the midst of Hurricane Irene, one intrepid worshipper came here for the 8.30 Mass. Whether there were a million and a half people there in Madrid or just two here in Armonk, we were all surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. As Jesus tells us today in the Gospel, “wherever 2 or 3 gather together in My Name, I am present in the midst of them.” The tapestries from the Cathedral in Los Angeles suddenly make a great deal of sense. As Teilhard de Chardin wrote in the last century, “there is really only one eternal Eucharist, whenever and wherever we say thank you to God for the gift of life in Christ Jesus.”
The parishioner and I both sat on the altar for our Eucharist and called to mind our sins and experienced a reality check that we all need God’s forgiveness and that God forgives us as we began our “Attitude Adjustment Hour in Christ Jesus”. We next heard the Scriptures which reminded us, “God’s thoughts and human thoughts are not always the same, as we hear Jesus put Rocky Bar Jona (aka St Peter) in his place when Rocky states that Jesus should not experience the pains of the cross. (In a form of compensatory time, the worshipper promised faithfully that he would read the weekend bulletin from cover to cover.) We used the short form of the creed. We offered our prayers of intercession particularly for the people in Libya and Syria and Afghanistan and those suffering from the hurricane. We prayed as well for our church as we try to face the disconnect, the dysfunction, the elitism and the narcissism that has accumulated on the Jesus Movement for two thousand years. The action then shifted as we faced the altar and we celebrated the Eucharistic Prayer and Holy Communion. After Holy Communion, we prayed in silence for five minutes in which we agreed not to think any thoughts if possible. The catchword, “If you have thoughts, it’s you, not God.” At the end of the contemplative time, when I opened my eyes, the first thing that I saw was a jar of peanut butter and a box of Cheerios, left the night before by a worshipper at the Vigil Mass. All the food that the Assembly brings is presented to the poor. We try to keep authentic traditions alive around here.
Some things become clearer as God continues to purify and transform our Church. Father Karl Rahner, and others including Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict, who adopted Rahner’s words, remind us that each individual Roman Catholic has to recognize his or her personal transcendental orientation, viz., we become conscious at times that we are dependent up and different from Something Other. They teach us that silence, solitude and slowing down are a path for the intrepid to walk on this journey. Periodic reflection on one’s transcendent orientation is a sine qua non for the Catholic of today. As philosopher Buckminster Fuller put it, “Don’t think, just be!” Or as a Catholic bumper sticker puts it, “Let go, let God.”
Another thing that is becoming clearer as we experience God’s purification and transformation is the realization that compassion for others is a common pillar of the global ethic that Jesus first and now the Dalai Lama encourages for all. Basically, one way to experience a bit of compassion is the honest exercise of saying to oneself, “I’m neurotic and I need a pass sometimes.” Then, say to one self, “They’re neurotic and they need a pass sometimes.” Then say to one’s self, We’re all neurotic and we all need a pass sometimes.” There is my view, their view and finally, God’s View of things. Frequently, they differ from one another. Guess Who is always right?
It makes the implementation of the Golden Rule a little easier. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is always worth it to try to achieve a win-win scenario. It works for me and it works for you. At the very least, the seventh commandment is a real implementation, “Thou shalt not steal”, as is the perennial statement that children make, but adults don’t make (unless it affects them personally), that’s not fair.
For 2000 years, the Jesus Movement gathers on the Lord’s Day and recall the subversive memory of Jesus Christ, crucified and rejected by both church and state as a threat to the patriarchal Systems in place. As Jesus told Rocky (and all of us) last Sunday, “God’s ways are not human ways.” Jesus does not say so, but we know that He is smarter than we are. What does Jesus know? Why do the Systems continue to co-opt Him to say what they want? Do the math.
One theologian recently said. “Jesus is what God looks like and what God wants us to look like? And “ Jesus does what God wants done and what God wants us to do as well.”
“Wherever two or three gather together in His Name, He is present in their midst”. Whether it was the million and a half in Madrid , the artful Cathedral in Los Angeles or the two in Armonk, we were all surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses offering thanks to God in Christ Jesus. Two or three or a million and a half, we all praised God for what God continues to do in Christ Jesus. In this psychological new year, in Christ Jesus, let us try to do the same. 090411AD jfq
