News & Notes: Feb. 2, 2010

February 2, 2010

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

In reflecting on the gospel passage from last week, I found myself in the temple with Christ as he unrolled the scroll to read the words “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…to bring good news to the poor…to proclaim release to captives…and recovery of sight to the blind…to let the oppressed go free…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

This proclamation brought him adulation. Those that surrounded him were in awe of his wisdom…and what’s more… He was one of them! How proud they were of him… for his ability to heal, for his profound thought, for the recognition he would receive. All this and the possibility of receiving recognition as a town because he was a native son! This acceptance was not long lived, however. The passage continues…

Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did in Capernaum.’”

And he said, “Truly, I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown…When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”

What caused his own people to move from praise and hero worship to condemnation and rejection? Perhaps the answer lies not so much in what Christ said…as to whom he said it. Christ did not come for the Jews alone, much less for his own hometown… He came for all people to be liberated… for all people to hear and live the good news. It seems the citizens of Nazareth would have been more than content to keep him as their own…but Christ belongs to all humankind.

So what implications remain for us in our time…in our lives? What good news do we wish to keep for ourselves? For our family? For our hometown? For our country? When we horde…when we become self righteous…when we begin to cling to things that are not ours exclusively… we diminish our power to know joy and goodness.

Why do we live with the fear that if we are generous with others, we will have less? Why was I born here in this country and not in Haiti? Why do I have a roof over my head and others don’t? Why can I walk down the aisles of a supermarket and be overwhelmed by choices when others have little to eat? The feeling that the response to these fundamental questions evokes seems to be the same feelings that stirred the hearts of the people of Nazareth and drove them to attempt to throw Jesus to his death. What do these questions stir in me?

If I have been given much… much is expected of me. I need to recognize that I am truly blessed to be able to extend a helping hand to others…not just in the support I am able to offer…but also in the experience of knowing that regardless of my place of birth, my economic status, my ethnic background… all are my brothers and sisters…all are one with me in Christ. I am, then, called to share what I have for the good of us all.

While in Mexico I met a young girl named Beatrice. She had a gift for art, and although she lived in a poor corner of the world, I wanted her to have a chance to develop that gift so I took the opportunity to gather some simple art materials at a near by store. I gave them to her in the hope that she could create some beauty in the midst of so much poverty. When I returned the following year, I brought some more art materials with me. When I found Beatrice it was a joy-filled reunion. Neither of us spoke each other’s language, but we managed to connect and communicate simply through the joy of meeting again. Eventually I shared the gift of the art materials with her, and when I gave them to her I noticed that the look on her face was rather perplexed. Knowing that I could not understand what she was feeling without the help of someone who knew the language, I engaged someone to speak to her for me. Her reply was a simple one… “I already have some of the things you gave me last year… so is it ok to share these with others?” Her first thought was of others… She didn’t run home and stash away these gifts for another time… she didn’t show others what she received to make them feel less and herself more important. She shared the little she had, and the joy that was hers was tangible… That joy was a gift for me. It was a reminder that joy does truly come through giving…through sharing…through the recognition that all I have is gift…is grace.

What moral obligations do we have to share what we have? How are we called to treat those who do not live in our “village”? How are we called by Christ to share what we know to be the “good news” with others? What brings us true joy in our lives?

May we find time this week to ponder and to recognize our call as Christians.

In prayer,

Sr. Maureen