How Does This Work ? (Holy Thursday, 2017-04-13)

13 April 2017, Holy Thursday

•  Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14  •  Psalm 116    • 1 Corinthians 11:23-26  •  John 13:1-15 •

[__01__] It is natural and logical for us to compare what we do not know (comprehend) with what we do know (comprehend).  What is unfamiliar is compared with the familiar.

          The disciples, at the Last Supper, with Jesus, are experiencing a familiar ritual, a celebration  - the Passover. They are devout Jewish believers.  Peter, James, John and the rest …they know Passover.

          However, in this new Passover, Jesus says – this is my body, this is my blood.

          St. Paul writes, reflecting on this that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)

          Christ died, sacrificed for us, so that we might also do the same. We know what true sacrifice is. It is, for example, the moment when we do something because we love another person so much, so unconditionally that only his or gladness matters. Even if the person did not about our action, we would still make the effort at something kind or honest or merciful.   In a sacrifice, we may lose something or surrender something, but we believe that someone else gains or wins something much greater or more important.

          Jesus gives us a model of sacrifice. So that we will know what sacrifice is. We need reminders.

[__02__]  I have a college classmate, a doctor/physician now, who tells me that he found medical school easier than college. I think it is because he was so well-prepared for medical school, based on his studies in college.

          He also told me that he found medical school “easier” because he recognized medicine - being a physician - as a calling.

          He met his future wife in medical school. His wife is also a doctor and tells him – Victor, you are the only person who thought pre-med (“college”) was tougher than medical school.

          So, there are times – in my friend’s case – when a previous experience helps us or makes easier the next challenge. Or, our sense of commitment – of being called – makes our work easier.

          It’s nice when it happens. It does not always happen.

[__03__]    Whenever we are uncertain or in unfamiliar territory,  we ask “why?”  or “how does this work?”

          Interrupting, Peter says, “Master, are you  going to wash my feet?” (John 13:6)

          The reply of our Savior:

“What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.”  (John 13:7)

          Peter protests, being quite unfamiliar with the proceedings.

          Discovering his calling and how he would be called to follow God’s commandments on the way to heaven, he felt unfamiliar.

          How does this work?

         

[__04__]  In my own journey to consider and study for the priesthood, I was also moved by this question. And, the questions – as we know – in any commitment of family, marriage, service, love … will come up again and again.     

          Nevertheless, we have a desire for predictable results for clear plans and schedules.  

And, in some cases, this does NOT  work out as it did for my friend in medical school.

          That is, we may face, so to say, a curveball. That is, we do not recognize what is coming. We have not seen this pitch or pitcher before. We do not know how he or she operates. We do not know whether we should take or swing.

          When I was in the seminary, studying to be a priest, I observed that my classmates, my brothers in the seminary and had a desire for predictable results.

          There were classes, papers, a timeline. How does this work? We knew … or we thought we know.

[__04.01__]       When I was in second year of the seminary, of studying to be a priest, there was such a curveball.

          My classmates and I were required to participate in a summer institute for Catholic ministry and spirituality at Creighton University in Omaha. The distance – it is so far !! --  from our regular home base and the time caused concern and questions. We had been studying at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall, South Orange, NJ 07079. Now we were to travel, to fly to Nebraska. 10 weeks in Nebraska ?

          This took place in the summer of 2003. The 2002 group had just returned; faculty members from the seminary had been to the Nebraska program.  From these, our brothers in the seminary, we had some intel on the program.

          Yet, some of us expressed dissent and anxiety about the Nebraska requirement, articulating familiar questions –

·        Why do we have to do this?

·        Will we enjoy this?

·        How does this work?

·        Where is Omaha?

          How does it work? We wanted to figure it out before it started.

          By the way, we are also told that we would have to – at Creighton University -- study, go to class, write papers --- hand in our work and be graded – but that Seton Hall University/Seminary would not give us any academic credit.

          So, how does this work?

[__05__]   Nebraska was one of the moments in my life – though not the only – which reminded me of the importance of silence, meditation, in order to build a relationship.

          Of course, relationships – human and personal – are based on words. But, are they not also based on what we do not say, by what we perceive, and what we can transmit and receive in silence?  Do not 2 spouses or 2 family members communicate with each other in ways that are beyond words?

          How does it work, we would wonder at the beginning of any such relationship, before, say entering into a loving relationship of matrimony, or having a child, or the religious life of a priest or sister or brother?

          Did not our mothers and fathers have conversations – in full sentences – with us before we could speak?

          How does it work? I don’t know how that all worked – neurologically or mentally – but I know that it worked.

          And, it still works in the nursery, in the home …it works for teachers who do manage to get through to children who may not seem receptive to instruction.

[__03__]    In Nebraska, there were these moments of silence which were also times of community with each other and with God.

          And, I truly believe that our spiritual guides were not simply preparing us for the priesthood, but for a life of prayer and relationship that did not end at the terminal station of ordination at the cathedral.

          As one brother priest told me recently, if your only goal in the seminary – or in life – is to be a priest, you could end up unsatisfied. Your goal – my goal – is not then simply to attain a vocation – matrimony, motherhood, fatherhood, priesthood, religious life – as our trip to the Final Four. These are paths, not destinations.

          Yes, there is a “calling” to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders and there is a calling to be married, to have children… a calling to serve in many different ways.

          However, isn’t it true that the calling continues – and our hopes also continue to build – as we live out our calling and relationships.

          The destination, then, was not priesthood. The destination is heaven.

          The priesthood is a path. Marriage or matrimony is a path. Motherhood and fatherhood are paths.  These are paths which involve a lifetime commitment.           Nevertheless, they are paths,  trails, not destinations, not terminal stations.

         

[__04__]     NEW YORK CITY.

          Three years before Creighton, Omaha, and Nebraska, I was at a different station on my journey.

          I was working for Deutsche Bank at 31 West 52^nd Street (or for Deutsche Bank on 52^nd Street)  in New York.  And, then, I was also praying and trying to be aware of God’s presence in my life.

          At the time, I observed that my boss and other superiors several of my colleagues were very successful, very intelligent. They were going somewhere.

          How does this work?

          I knew something about how it would work, the career.

          The hours, the expectation of performance, the ability to lead (or not). There would be evaluations, deadlines, bonuses.

          And, while I was blessed to be part of a great team with people of genuine character, I wondered how long it would last. For me, it was three years.

          I came to understand and believe that this career was not my calling.  For some persons, a career might be their calling to be integral part of their calling and following of  Christ.

          And, all of us have a calling that may have nothing to do with salary or benefits, a calling to be a daughter or son to our mother/father, a calling to be a mother or father or grandparent, a calling to be a brother or sister, a calling to be husband or wife, a calling to lay down our lives for our friends. There is no greater love than this.

          Gradually, in New York, I began to pray more about the priesthood.

          How does this work ?

          Of course, there were priests I knew who tried to explain things about their ministry. I asked questions about the seminary.

          “So, I guess it is like graduate school …. ?”

          He smiled. No, my friend, it is not like graduate school because your journey is not based on your Grade Point Average or test results alone.

          Yes, the seminary is, at times, numerical. But, the end, in the seminary and beyond, life’s journey is personal.

          And, are not personal relationships based on something beyond what is material, or what we can see and recognize visually.

          I don’t trust a person simply because of what he or she says, but because of who he or she is.

          I don’t trust a person simply because of his or her words or actions, but because of character, presence … I may not agree with you, I can still trust you.

          How does this work?

          It is mysterious, it is a mystery, and it is based on the love which we have in our hearts and the love we can perceive in another person’s heart.

          We learn about this, profoundly, through the Gospel and through Christ.

[__05__]    JERUSALEM.

          Of course, long before there was Nebraska or New York City, there was Jersualem. And Jesus visits Jerusalem with his disciples for the Passover, for the Last Supper.

          And, what our Savior comes to institute – or build – is not simply a program of formation or the education of priests, or a program of study for First Communion, but rather to build a relationship of trust that will lead to heaven for his disciples, for you and for me.

          This is our calling, our vocation, our destination, to reach heaven and to help others to do so.

           Jesus is not only teaching them about “priesthood”  or “communion” but about the sacrifice that will sustain them.

          And, we do know that we are sustained because of those who lay down their lives for us. We know that we ourselves grow when we can lay down our lives for each other. In giving, we also receive.  

          We are sustained by the sacrifice by those who loved us, even though we did not know how it all worked.

          But, we know that it works.

          We are also receiving this sacrifice to reach heaven, to be in God’s presence which not be as far away as we think.    

 [__fin__]