MIRROR MIRROR

(Rom 12:9-16; Lk 1:39-56)

So, I’m going to make some assumptions this morning on how you began this day.  Some assumptions are very obvious, others based on what I perceive to be basic human routines.  First assumption, you woke up and got out of bed.  Go ahead, some of you may need to pinch yourself to make sure.  The rest of my assumptions are common and not necessarily in order: you had at least one cup of coffee, went to the  bathroom, bathed, brushed your teeth, had breakfast, and by observation I notice some were even motivated to either had done or are going to workout, but at some point during your morning routine, you looked at yourself in the mirror. 

This is where it gets interesting.  Often, we stop to take a close look, which produces certain spontaneous response like: Vanity, “Wow, I’m looking really good!” or Depression; “Damn, I’m looking old.” or Thanksgiving; “Thank you Lord for another day.”  Our response often sets the mood for our day.   This is what others will see no matter how good we feel we are at masking it.

Yesterday we celebrated the Ascension of the Lord, we’re commissioned to “go into the world and proclaim the good news to all creation.”  Today, we celebrate the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Is it a coincidental flow of events that these two great feasts are next to each other?  Reflecting on its significance helped me realize that the Visitation is a gesture of manifesting the Spirit and the Ascension message: to proclaim the good news.  We are celebrating life in many ways in our feast today.  It’s a celebration of life among us, a celebration of love.  Mary is carrying the good news in her womb.  We carry the good news in our being.

In the first reading, we heard Paul saying, “Let love be genuine” (Rom 12:9) … “Love one another with mutual affection”; “outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom 12:10) … “Rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom 12:15).  This all needs to begin with the person you met in the mirror this morning.

Sharing the love of God is not limited to words, even more it is manifested in actions and loving service, seeing Jesus truly present in ourselves and others.

Does our:

• heart leap for joy in greeting the person in the mirror or at greeting of another? 
•  soul spontaneously proclaim the greatness of the Lord? 
•  spirit rejoice in God’s gift of another day?

Looking to Mary to be our model, our guide, and inspiration let us celebrate life.  Let us in humble service, sing with her, our own praises to God, who will always lift up the his lowly servant in the mirror.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13) Every time I hear or read this passage I can not help but think of my fellow service member's sacrifices.  It is especially true for me as we’re about to move into the Memorial Day weekend. 

Most people are excited for the three-day weekend away from work!  They’ll be gathering with family and friends for to celebrate the beginning of the summer season, picnics, vacations, no school.  Yet for some of us this tends to be a more solemn time as we remember a family member, a friend of the family, a comrade in arms who has paid the ultimate price.  Some will ask why, why does a young man or woman join the armed forces knowing the potential price?  I did a little research on why young men and women join the military, and to be honest my heart sank as I read the reasons.  I had visions of the love of country, family tradition, all for one and one for all, but the reality is it seems to be all about the first steady job, the trades training, the benefits to take care of their families, escape from poverty, travel, and adventure.  It was a this point I had to be honest with myself.  The later motivations are where I most fit at the time I joined the service.

However, what I learned over my 22 years of active service was how to love.  Yes, it’s that simple, at the core of it all the laws, the regulations, the disciplines were a lesson in how to love another who was often a stranger.  A love that called for putting someone else ahead of self.  A love so strong that you could find the supernatural strength to carry unthinkable burdens, the physical, psychological and spiritual wounds.  A love so pure that you’d be willing give up your very life for another human being.

This is the love that Jesus had for his disciples.  This is the love Jesus has for us as His chosen and beloved friends.  He chose us first!  He tells us two things in scripture today: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you." [you really must think about the level of this kind of love.  The Father is the Son and the Son is the Father.  It is a perfect union of being.] So he continues: “Remain in my love.” (Jn 15:9) Then he talks of our relationship with one another saying, “Love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12)

What a challenge it is to do those two things in our daily lives!  It’s really easy to forget that Jesus loves us as the day becomes intense.  The minute we forget we must remain in his love, subtly, we lose touch with His compassionate, His mercy.

When someone hurts or annoys us, when we’re dealing with a difficult person or someone who has made us angry, often we try to command the situation on our own, much like the disciples who went without mandate, to explain the law, the rules of the faith, only to the point of upsetting the gentile Christians of Antioch.  This behavior only blinds our ability to see people with Christ’s loving understanding.  When we stay in touch with God’s love, we can have empathy, forgiveness, and mercy.

It’s a giant step forward when we accept Jesus’ invitation seriously.  Can we stop just long enough to realize how blessed and loved we are, despite our own failings?  Even the stoniest heart melts in the face of such unconditional love.  Nothing else feeds our souls the way God’s love does.  Nothing can make us happier than abiding in the self-giving love of Jesus and sharing His love with others.

A PLACE OF BELONGING

Creating the perfect home means different things to different people, but for most of us, our domestic surroundings are where we can truly express ourselves. 

What makes a house a home?  A straw poll of friends threw up similar themes: ‘it holds all my favorite things and my favorite person in one place’, ‘it’s about having cool, smooth sheets but also feeling free to make a mess’, ‘it’s the place I retreat to for peace from the hectic, bossy outside world’, ‘it’s where I can spend the whole day in my pajamas watching the Golf Channel, QVC, Star Wars Trilogy, or HDTV if I so choose’.

It seems for many, creating a home is less about the building itself, its look or the area it is in, and more about the emotional connection and sense of comfort we’re able to create behind closed doors.[1]  It’s about having the space to be, to live out our own identity, a sacred space of security, love and belonging.

Paul is fighting an uphill battle: trying to convince an audience of Jews that Jesus is the fulfillment of their history, even though their religious leadership in Jerusalem do not accept Jesus.  He relies on his interpretation of the tradition and Scripture sacred to the Jews.  Jesus fulfills God’s promises and the enduring hope of the Jewish nation. Rejection of Jesus and his mission is rejection of Yahweh’s plan for his people.

As important as it is to have our sight on the event of Jesus’ Easter resurrection.  John’s Gospel focuses more on who Jesus is than on what Jesus did.  Christianity is not so much a religion as it is a relationship.  Jesus describes himself in ultimate terms: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6) All our rules, rituals, and writings are geared toward deepening our intimate relationship with Jesus the Christ.

Thomas’ melancholy question reflects the slowness of the disciples to understand. They have deciphered neither Jesus’ true identity nor the intimacy between the Son and the Father.  The disciples still do not know who Jesus is, but we do!  Jesus’ answer significantly focuses not on geography but upon a person, upon himself.

As we partake in this mystery, is knowing the way to the Father’s house, to the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us, to our true heavenly home, with all that a home means to us, the way is with, in, and through Jesus: this is the ultimate meaning behind his initial invitation, “Follow me” (Jn 1:43)

which leads us to a place of belonging.

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[1] “How to make your house a home” by Kara O’Reilly. June 11, 2012 Psychologies