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.
[__03__] Whenever we are uncertain or in unfamiliar territory, we ask “why?” or “how does this work?”
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
52nd Street (or for Deutsche Bank on 52nd 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__]
