2020-05-24 _ 7th Sunday
/ Ascension
●
Acts 1:1-11 ● Psalm 47 ● Ephesians
1:17-23 ● + Matthew 28:16-20 ●
Title: The New Normal
[_01_] In 2003, for eight days, I
was not allowed to talk, not permitted to talk. Conversation was prohibited. It
was a silent retreat.
I was on a silent retreat in which the only conversation I had was
with a priest for confession or spiritual direction. My seminary classmates and
I took this retreat together.
We were also required to turn off our cell phones for the
whole week and not make any calls. It was an adjustment. It felt, in the first
few days, to be very difficult, unusual, abnormal. Then, I got used to it.
For me, by the end of the eight days, I was used to the
silence, and very gradually – re-entering “normal life.”
The technology and
television were not so important to me at that moment.
My classmate and neighbor on the other hand was very eager
to socialize, to see people, to talk. I recall that as soon as the retreat was
over, he was sitting in a common area, watching TV, talking on his cell phone
and talking to people as they walked by.
[_02_] We all have different
ways of adjusting to what is supposedly “normal”.
Some of us may use – and may find it absolutely necessary
to use – technology, social media, our phones – to stay in touch with people
during this time of the pandemic and isolation.
What I experienced in Omaha was, of course, quite a
different scenario from our current one.
I was isolated only for 1 week and did so voluntarily.
As a result, we hear people talking about what is
supposedly a “new normal.”
[_03_] Something that is a
“new normal” is …. a previously unfamiliar or atypical situation that has
become standard, usual, or expected.
A pleasant “side effect” and side effect that is not
medically caused of the pandemic is that some families come to know each other
better.
A child now knows better about how hard his or mother or
father works, whether that work is in the home or outside the home.
A parent may know better what the teacher-student
relationship is like for the child.
Husband and wife – under the same roof – come to know each
other better.
[_04_] One thing we all could remember to practice is this… that even if
we have spent the all morning, noon and night together even if we are a little
frustrated with certain details… even if we think we know exactly what
transpired during that day ..is there not value in saying to the other person à how was your day? How
do you feel right now?
In this “new normal” of being together so often, we may forget
about the basic courtesy and communion of asking the other person about
feelings, and experiences, and sharing our own.
If there is a benefit to the “new normal”, does it not remind us
that everyone has an interior, independent life with God and personal
relationship with God and Jesus.
[_05_] On this feast of the
Ascension, we read about a “new normal” for the disciples of our Lord and
Savior.
The Ascension is a feast that marks 40 days since Easter
Sunday Resurrection. Now, Jesus is lifted up from the earth.
What is the meaning and the new normal here?
Benedict XVI wrote that this reminds that Jesus – in his
full humanity and divinity – is now united with God the Father.
There is a place for our humanity as well in God.
Now, for many of us, whether in a pandemic or not in a
pandemic, we may prefer to experience God from a distance, virtually or
remotely.
But the Ascension reminds not just of a departure but also
of a future reunion for you and for me with God.
It is also reminds us that Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit
so that we can be united with God right now. That’s a new normal.
He lives in our interior life.
God is in charge.
[_06_] This Sunday and the
Ascension feast also coincides with Memorial Day. This
Sunday is Memorial Day Weekend and we certainly recall the bravery and courage
of soldiers, sailors, warriors and also the sacrifices and mission of so many
of our trained first responders among our
police officers, emergency medical technicians, and firefighters, as
well as nurse and doctors and medical teams.
It takes bravery not only to save
lives and protect lives but also bravery and faith to recognize that God is the
lord of all life.
At the end of his life, St. Paul
summarize this in his statement to the younger Timothy:
“For we brought nothing into this
world: and certainly we can carry nothing out.” (1
Timothy 6:7)
[_07_] Those we honor this Memorial Day remind us that life is not only
worth living for, but also worthy dying for.
This was also the witness of St. Damien of Molokai
who was sent to the leper colony on the island of Molokai in the 1800’s, to a
people living not only in misery due to their health but also in misery due to
abandonment in so many ways. One of the ways Damien lifted their spirits
significantly was by making sure they had a proper burial.
“This had a
remarkably uplifting effect on the community.” (Brandon Vogt, Word on
Fire, Damien of Molokai and Solidarity,
May 10, 2016)
The normal thing for Christians – both old and new – is to
remember that God is in charge of us in life and in death.
[_08_] It’s also the new
normal to realize that we are cared for and connected. Sometimes, we resist
this. We think that is not normal for us to rely on our need the love others.
We may think we need to earn the love of others or at least make sure that we
don’t take up too much of it.
It might run out, like the all the other supplies. Love is
purifying but it’s not like hand sanitizer.
[_09_] A few years ago, my
sister and brother-in-law had some difficulty getting their daughter settled in
elementary school, kindergarten.
The child was anxious about the new habitat and new normal:
classroom, teacher, classmates, et cetera et cetera.
[_10_] And, does not every
person experience this at some critical juncture, some critical point? It might
not be the first day of school in kindergarten or first grade, but might be the
first day in a new school, or high school, or college, at any age. Omaha?
It could be the first day – for any of us – the first day or first
few days of a new job, or the first few days or years of being retired.
After several months of this, my sister’s daughter (niece) began
to feel more comfortable, happier, more peaceful about the PRESENT MOMENT, and
could see that going to school was worth it. I will pay the price of going to
school, it has VALUE. I’m on board with this.
And, she announces to her mother, very independently, a
can-do attitude - “Mommy, I’m OK at school now. I’m OK, you don’t have to worry
about me anymore.”[**pause**]
That’s independence. She was 6 years old. But, true
stability and value is not something we turn ON or OFF independently at 6 or 76
or 96. We don’t grow out of it.
Because God does worry about us, Jesus is concerned about
us, and we benefit by God’s love and concern.
Heeding this concern, we learn things. And, we learn things by people
being concerned about us. Their concern helps in our conversion.
That’s the normal of being new in our relationship with
Jesus Christ.
[__fin___]
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