2021 January 10 _ Baptz Lord _
[_01_] I have an uncle who is really into maps and geography and where places and cities are located.
Once, when my uncle was in the
hospital, he had an operation due to a broken leg. We were worried about him.
He had just come out of surgery. I wanted to know how he was and the first
thing he told me was that his attending physician was from Illinois, outside
Chicago.
That was really key information for my
uncle.
And, before the availability of GPS on
the phone and computer and car, I would rely on him for directions to places in
and around NY and NJ. One time, I was driving from Ohio to Michigan and he gave
me very exact roadways and
directions. He lives in NYC, but he
knows the roads and maps everywhere. And, even if I did not ask him for
directions, he might give them anyway.
[_02_] The Catholic philosophy professor, Peter
Kreeft, write our Catholic morality and the commandments of God’s Word are like
a map of what to do, where to go, what to do and not to do. However, the map of
the streets to your home is not equal to your home. It only tells you how to
get to your home.
We do not live in the street;
some people – tragically – live in the street. In poverty and homelessness,
they live in the street. But we are not supposed to live in the street, but to
reach home.
[_03_] So,
the map helps us and the streets help us to reach the destination of home. They
are not our home
Following the commandments – about honesty
and respect and love for each other – helps us to be in loving relationships
with each other.
The commandments are not EQUAL to the
relationship itself. They are street maps – they are GPS – to a relationship,
love of God and love of neighbor.
My uncle’s apparent observations and
obsessions with maps – while endearing and quirky – were are also signal of his
desire to know you better, to connect with you, to be at home with you, with us
in our family.
[_04_] This Sunday is the feast of the Baptism of
the Lord, reminding us of our Baptism brings us into communion with God, our
forgiveness from sin and original sin.
Being in a covenant or committed
relationship means that we are following certain principles and beliefs – laws
and a “street map” rules of the road – together.
Regarding, for example, the the
covenant of marriage, Peter Kreeft, the rules of the road give the marriage a
structure. Nevertheless, it is LOVE that enables husband and wife to observe
the “rules”… it is not the rules that force them to love.
Also, husbands and wives love each
other – not only face to face when they are physically together. They love each
other even when they distant. They love each other when they are “out in the
street” and cannot see each other.
The love helps them to find their way
home.
Catholic morality helps them to remember
not only the “rules” but also the person of Jesus Christ who gave himself to
us, and the person of our neighbors.
Love of God and love of neighbor go
together.
[_05_] This past Wednesday, January 6, out in the
street, something happened. Not around here, but in D.C. District of Columbia
the Capitol. Big news.
Of course, the event – the storming of
the U.S. Capitol – was not the only time in history that something went wrong
“in the street” or that the rules of the road were broken. Not the only time a
protest has turned violent. Not the only
time this has ever happened.
And, not everyone in D.C. on Wednesday
was involved. Hundreds of thousands of people were NOT involved.
A group “within the group” of people
stormed the Capitol and committed these crimes that led to such chaos and
injury and deaths.
[_06_] St. Augustine, in his “Confessions ” autobiography, tells of an event of vandalism
by himself and others as a young person.
He and his friends broke into a
privately owned orchard – an orchard where there were fruit trees and pear
trees – and they stole the pear fruit from the trees.
In the case of Augustine’s “crime” of
his youth which he regrets – there were no deaths or injuries, no clashes with
police officers.
Nevertheless Augustine points that in
all of our sins or temptation to sin – to lie or cheat or steal -- we are often
following– a false or fake – or counterfeit beauty.
When we say we are following God’s law
– the rules of the road – we not simply trying to avoid what is bad, but also
to choose what is good and beautiful.
[_07_] Sometimes, we are led astray – led astray
by the crowd – Anybody remember “peer pressure”?
Peer pressure does not just exist at
West Orange High School or Seton Hall Prep or Mt. St Dominic Academy or the
local middle and high school. Peer pressure existed on January 6th
at the Capitol. Bad peer pressure.
[_08_]
And, sometimes, we
are
led astray by our own desires.
Why did people break into the D.C.
Capitol building and Congress?
They were led astray by a certain gang
mentality or herd mentality, like a herd of sheep.
Augustine wrote this about the fruit
trees, the pears.
“I most certainly would not have
stolen into the orchard and stolen the pear fruit, if I had been by myself. I
already had better tasting pears than in the orchard. But, I loved the
camaraderie with my fellow thieves. In other words, the pleasure was not in the
pears stolen but in the company of others who shared in the sin.”
Sometimes others lead us astray.
[_09_] Being baptized into the church we are
acknowledging our ability – with God’s grace – to resist what is bad and choose
what is good.
We need God’s help and truth and
direction of the commandments to find our way home.
My beloved uncle knew how to find his
way home from many places in the tri-state area and beyond.
He could find his way because he knew
the streets and maps so well.
He could separate himself from the
crowd to find his way.
And, we are called – at times – to
separate ourselves from the crowd – to connect in relationship to Jesus our
Savior – to follow God’s way and always come home. I pray that at this time of
distress and division in our country, that we may find our home at our church
and in home with and for each other in contemplation and community.
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, Queen of
Peace, Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for Us !
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