Lights (2012-11-04)

This is my homily for 4 November 2012 (Sunday). I am a Catholic chaplain in Teaneck at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) campus and for the FDU Newman Catholic Association and at New Jersey City University (NJCU) in Jersey City. We celebrate Catholic Mass - during Fall and Spring semester - every Sunday Evening (5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.) at the FDU University Interfaith Chapel, 842 River Road, Teaneck, NJ.

4 November 2012  -  31^st Sunday (B) -  [ Deuteronomy 6:2-6  | Psalm 18 | Hebrews 7:23-28 | + Mark 12:28b-34 ]

[__01]    For what and for whom do I stop, do I look and do I listen?

When we are learning to drive an automobile, ride a bicycle, or glide on a skateboard, or cross the street, we also learn many RULES about signs and signals -  STOP, YIELD, SPEED LIMIT, RIGHT ON RED, and others.

These rules apply on Midland Ave, River Edge, and  Madison Avenue, New York City,   //// apply on River Road, Teaneck and Riverside Drive, New York.

And, at any single moment, we are not just following one law but several. This is what we are taught to do, to follow for our good/well being/sake and for the good/well being/sake of others.

[__02]   In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus and a scribe – a scholar of the law – discuss the laws of God.

Both the scribe and the Lord agree that the --- greatest and first commandment is this: Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

My behavior – my actions – in a car or on the street – will demonstrate – in some sense – my love of neighbor.

Perhaps, at any one moment, I am not so focused on loving my neighbor as I am interested in passing my neighbor.

At times, I will use all of my mind and strength to get around a slow moving vehicle.

And, in most cases, this is also within the rules of the road. I can do so safely, without trouble or incident or having to show any police officer my license and registration.

 

[__03]    But, times have suddenly changed… if only temporarily.   The rules are different, are they not , when I now have to use all my mind and strength to cross the street at a point where the traffic light is not working, say at Kinderkamack and Main Street ….  In River Edge …or at River Street and Anderson Avenue in Hackensack.

 

In these geographic locations, I cannot rely on RED LIGHT/GREEN LIGHT to enforce the law or to keep everything orderly and safe.

 

Now, I am called to use more of my understanding and strength to anticipate what another driver may do and also to use my willpower to cross myself, without causing accident.

Suddenly, on Kinderkamack Road or on River Street, I am16 and 17 years old with permit or new driver’s license, trying to enter traffic, to pass the test.

[__04]   The recent storm [i.e., Hurricane Sandy of October 2012], the outages put all of us to a test of understanding – to anticipate the needs of others.

Perhaps, we are anticipating the needs of our our children – out of school, the needs of a neighbor, the needs of a friend.

We are also at a crossroads without lights.

And, in this crisis, many of us have had to be more aware of what the rules are. We are called to use our minds for safety, security… and to respect our own lives and the lives of others.

Also, we use our hearts to love, to wait patiently when we would rather pass.

This is an opportunity to look and listen with all of our strength not because of rules enforced legally but because our faith tells us to love – to seek the way of charity at every turn, every encounter, every intersection.   [___fin__]