A Regular Joe

Monday, March 30, 2015

THE MYSTERY OF THE FOUR PASSOVER CUPS

Scriptures: Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47

Last Sunday during the homily I made mention of the four cups of Passover, which sparked a few to ask about these four cups and their significance.

Jewish tradition has it, as the Lord spoke to Moses; He revealed to him the plan by which He would redeem the children of Israel. In a prophetic sense, God was also revealing how He would redeem His elect to become His children. The four cups of the Passover feast stand for the four “I wills” that are recorded in Exodus 6:6-7. The Passover feast is an ancient Jewish liturgy that is celebrated in four parts, with a cup of wine shared by all after each part.

· The Cup of Sanctification – based on God’s statement, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” the cup is drank after the blessing of the feast.

· The Cup of Deliverance - based on God’s statement, “I will deliver you from slavery to them” is shared after the Passover story is shared.

· The Cup of Redemption – based on God’s statement, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm” follows the main meal, the unblemished lamb and unleavened bread. This is the cup Jesus is most noted for sharing at the last supper.

· The Cup of Restoration/Consummation – based on God’s statement, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God”[1] With the meal done the Great Hallel is sung (Ps 114 to 118) by all and the fourth cup is shared marking the climax of the meal and Passover.

Once again using Henry Nouwen’s book, Can You Drink the Cup? Let’s explore the cups deeper.

The first cup is the Cup of Sorrow (I will free you from your Egypt). We look upon the man of sorrows, a spectacle of agony for the entire universe to watch. Jesus took his closest disciples to the garden and said “My soul is sorrowful even to death.” (Mk 14:34) His friends said they could drink His cup, but they had no idea what He was talking about. The Cup of Sorrow is a cup full of physical, mental, and spiritual anguish. It is a cup of starvation, torture, loneliness, rejection, abandonment, and immense anguish. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mk 15:34) It is a cup of bitterness. Who wants to drink it? It is the cup that Isaiah calls, “the cup of God’s wrath. The chalice, the stupefying cup, you have drained to the dregs” (Is 51:17).

Inconceivable as it seems, the Cup of Sorrow is also the second cup, the Cup of Joy (I will delivery you from slavery). Returning to his disciples for the third time, he announces, “the hour has come.” You can hear it in his voice fulfilling the words of Isaiah, “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced, I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” (Is 50:7) In the midst of the sorrows is consolation, in the midst of darkness is light, in the midst of despair is hope, and in the midst of Babylon is a glimpse of Jerusalem. “Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may be white as wool." (Is 1:18)

Many people are challenged in their ability to see this; they feel cursed—cursed by God with illnesses, losses, handicaps, and misfortunes. They believe their cup doesn’t carry any joy. It is only the cup of God’s wrath. It is not surprising that no one wants to get close to a vengeful god. But when Jesus takes the cup on the evening before his death and gave it to his disciples to drink from, it is not the cup of wrath but the third cup, the Cup of Blessings (I will redeem you with outstretched arms). It is the cup of the new and everlasting covenant, the cup that unites us with God and with one another in a community of love, in an intimate covenant relationship. Jesus took upon himself all our sufferings and lifts them up upon the cross, not as a curse but as a blessing. That’s the mystery of the Eucharist! Jesus died for us so that we may live.

And so we’re right back to last week’s questions: “Do you want to see Jesus” and “Can you drink the cup?” When we contemplate this world’s challenges; war, genocide, abortion, unemployment, homelessness, challenging family relationships and losses, we wonder why anyone would want to hold the Cup of Sorrow. Yet God promised, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” and trusting He will not let us be put to shame, we must engage in the worldly dialog, taking firm action to be in relationship with others in need and acknowledge our own vulnerabilities as we cling to the Cup of Sorrow, and thus it becomes the Cup of Joy where God “will deliver us” from the slavery of sin. For the “Lamb of God: you take away the sins of the world.” My friends let us acknowledge what St. Paul, the teacher of the nations, acknowledged so exultantly: “This is a saying worthy of trust, worthy of complete acceptance; Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.” God’s compassion for us is all the more wonderful because Christ held and lifted the cup, not for the righteous or the holy, but for a people of sorrow, the broken and lost, us, sinners.

As we gathered around this Eucharistic table, we enter into the Passover meal, first shared over 2000 years ago, to peer into and hold the cup of sorrow, which is the cup of joy, where the cup of blessings, the cup of the new and everlasting covenant is lifted and offered to each one of us; as our Savior redeems us with His outstretched arms.

[1] The Four Cups of Wine of Passover, by Mike Ratliff. https://mikeratliff.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/the-four-cups-of-wine-of-passover/ Posted on March 26, 2008

Monday, March 23, 2015

WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE JESUS

“WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE JESUS”

Scriptures: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33

On March 25 1965, Martin Luther King led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, where local African Americans, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had been campaigning for voting rights. King told the assembled crowd: “There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes.”[1]

The campaign in Selma and nearby Marion, Alabama, progressed with mass arrests but little violence for the first month. That changed in February, however, when police attacks against nonviolent demonstrators increased. On the night of February 18^th, Alabama state troopers joined local police breaking up an evening march in Marion. In the ensuing melee, a state trooper shot Jimmie Lee Jackson, a 26-year-old church deacon from Marion, as he attempted to protect his mother from the trooper’s nightstick. Jackson died eight days later in a Selma hospital.[2]

For all the progress we’ve made in race relations this world just does not seem to be any more simple or just. Violence dominates the world, national, and local news: racial violence, religious violence, domestic violence, youth violence! It is often way to close to home. When do we get to see Jesus?

Jesus’ response to the two Greeks who request to see him, or lack thereof, is an interesting shift. Recall when Jesus’ mother requested his aid at the wedding at Cana, his response was, “my hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). When the religious authorities wanted to arrest him, they couldn’t because, His “hour had not yet come” (Jn 7:30). Today, the response is, “the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified…” (Jn 12:23). It is time to consummate the new covenant. A covenant that will be written; not on stone tablets, not on scrolls or in new rule books, but on our hearts. A covenant so intimate it demands the rigors of a deeper relationship response.

Throughout Lent our preaching has been focused on a Battle Plan with the tools and outlook necessary to be in an intimate covenant relationship with God and his people. Shared were the tools of fasting and prayer; seven steps in seeking the wisdom of God, we talked about looking inward and taking on the necessary task of cleaning our house and the importance of communion. It is here that we seek to satisfy our request to see Jesus AND contemplate the question “Can You Drink the Cup?”

“Scholars commonly refer to Jeremiah’s new covenant oracle as ‘The Gospel before the Gospel’ because it finds its fulfillment in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant. Each evangelist and the author of Hebrews portray Jesus through a slightly different lens. Mark is concerned with discipleship; Matthew stresses doing God’s will; Luke recognizes the agony as a test; Hebrews emphasizes Jesus’ humanity and the purifying potential of suffering in the context of faith; John portrays Jesus’ willingness to give his life.”[3] “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” (Mk 14:24)

If you want to see Jesus, you have to pay attention to his Death & Resurrection. Do you want to see Jesus? … Then let’s talk about the cup he had to drink. Henri Nouwen in his book Can You Drink the Cup poses the question this way. “Can you drink the cup? Can you empty it to the dregs? Can you taste all the sorrows and joys? Can you live your life to the full whatever it will bring? I realized these were our questions. But why should we drink this cup? There is so much pain, so much anguish, so much violence. Why should we drink the cup? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to live normal lives with a minimum of pain and a maximum of pleasure?”[4]

Jesus wrestled with this same question, “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? Father save me from this hour?” (Jn 12:27) Yet we know and celebrate with each Eucharistic feast how Jesus held the cup, how he lifted the cup to his friends, and drank the cup to the dregs from the cross. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13)

· Do you want to see Jesus? Look to the persecuted Christians in the Middle East who courageously put their lives on the line for their faith. Many have drunk the cup to the dregs.

· Do you want to see Jesus? Look to our all-volunteer military forces and first responders within our communities, who willingly hold, lift the cup to be ridiculed and shot at, yet they are willing to drink the cup to the dregs for our safety.

· Do you want to see Jesus? Look to your parents, family members, and friends who recognize the four cups of the Passover: the Cup of Sorrow, the Cup of Joy, the Cup of Blessings and the Cup of Salvation as they sacrifice their own desires and needs for the development and care of their children, aging or sick family members and/or a friend in need.

The new covenant, written on our fleshy hearts begs us to pay attention to Christ’s death and resurrection, it challenges us to be the image of Christ for others and it invites us to drink His cup to the dregs.

[1] Martin Luther King Jr, “Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March” 121

[2] Webpage: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_selma_to_montgomery_march/

Monday, January 5, 2015

HAVING A GOD TYPE VISION

Scriptures: Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12

"One night there went out over the stillness of an evening breeze, out over the white chalk hills of Bethlehem, a cry, a gentle cry. The sea did not hear the cry, for the sea was filled with its own voice. The earth did not hear the cry, for the earth slept. The great men of the earth did not hear the cry, for they could not understand how a Child could be greater than a man. "There were only two classes of men who heard the cry that night: Shepherds and Wise Men. Shepherds: Those who know they know nothing. Wise Men: Those who know they do not know everything. The Shepherds found their Shepherd and the Wise Men discovered Wisdom. And the Shepherd and the Wisdom was a Babe in a [manger]." ~ Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“The word “epiphany” which means a shining forth of light, has slipped from its religious use into secular usage to indicate any sudden flash of insight. First used in this sense by the writer James Joyce, the term has degenerated to the point where “Epiphany” is even the name for an integrated suite of customer relations management software. Presumably using this software will give one striking new insights into how to manage one’s customer relations.”[1]

Throughout the Advent & Christmas seasons Fr. Jeremiah has been encouraging us to re-appropriate/reclaim our Christian traditions from the secular world. For me, this also means re-appropriating our sacred language. For the distance between the secular usage of the term “epiphany” and what we celebrate on this feast can be seen in the fact that we do not celebrate a flash of insight, but the shining forth of God’s light in our world through the person of Jesus. It’s about having a forward seeking vision.

Having vision is powerful. But how do we overcome the inertia of existing perceptions, patterns and ways of being? How do we get beyond fear, doubt and resistance? You’ve got to have a God type vision.

Let’s return to Isaiah’s Advent message of faith, written during Israel’s Babylonian exile. Isaiah is communicating a vision of the dreamed Jerusalem. It is a big picture vision that gives the people hope to perceiver during their current situation. Today’s readings were written when the nation of Israel returns to Jerusalem, but the glorious city envisioned is not yet to be realized. The exiles will have to rebuild the city and the temple. Isaiah encourages them by sharing the vision that one day Jerusalem (and they as a people) will rise up in splendor, for the glory of God shines upon them.

The Gospel message communicates a vision bigger than just the nation of Israel. It communicates the vision that Christ came for all people. It is no mistake that the birth announcement of Jesus is given to the shepherds: Those who know they know nothing and the Magi, wise men who know they do not know everything. Each “… saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” Knowing something significant has entered the world, which set them aglow with a vision to the great things to come.

Christmas is a time of giving gifts and for the most part we have that down well. We even stress over having the right gift to communicate we know and care about the receiver. December is the time of year that charitable contributions are at their peak; toys, food, clothing, money flow into not-for-profits assisting the poor. Unfortunately the needs of the poor are year round. We live in one of the world's wealthiest nations. Yet 14.5% of U.S. households—nearly 49 million Americans, including 15.9 million children—struggle to put food on the table. In the United States, hunger is not caused by a scarcity of food, but rather the continued prevalence of poverty. More than one in seven people in the United States lives below the poverty line, nationally, more than 44% of children live in low-income working families (families who earn less than twice the poverty line). Both issues must be addressed in our continued efforts to help those Jesus called "the least of these" (Mt 25:45).[2]

We need to “Have a God Type Vision” to respond to these needs. God wants us to go beyond charity and give one another the gift of justice. Both charity & justice are necessary. Charity to assist in immediate crisis needs, justice asks WHY?! Why are there people begging in the church parking lot, why do we see the same families regularly at St. Vincent DePaul, why is it that in the land of plenty people going hungry?! The gift of justice means making a conscious choice to act!

Like Mary, we need to open our eyes to see what is going on around us, especially to the needs of the poor and invisible people and contemplate them in our hearts.
It is assessing our God given gifts and making the conscious decision to put them to use for the good of others;
It is engaging the poor and invisible people, treating them with dignity and respect. It is getting our hands dirty and “having the smell of sheep on us” as Pope Francis puts it.
It is looking beyond the quick/temporary fixes that form dependency and questioning the systems that create barriers for the poor desiring to climb out of poverty; and
It is educating and cultivating the next generation, our children and grandchildren, to be socially conscious citizens.

Years ago, Dr. Howard Thurman, theologian, civil rights activist, and Dean of the chapels of Howard and Boston Universities penned these beautiful lines:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among brothers,

To make music in the heart.[3]

[2] Webpage: http://www.bread.org/hunger/us/facts.html