Today’s words of the Psalm and Alleluia Verse: “Let the peace of Christ control your hearts; Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; Alleluia, Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son; Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways”. The peace of Christ is real, and it happens when we are ready for it. But also, the word of Christ at times tells us what we don’t want to hear. This certainly has been the case for me in so many ways over the years. Yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.” This is the basic prayer of any of us who are serious about ongoing transformation and conversion so we can live as disciples of Jesus in our lives today. Am I willing to be open, or do I insist Abba’s word only confirm what I already know? It’s worth remembering that Jesus spoke of God as Abba, Daddy. He knew a kind and loving Abba, not a threatening, judgmental, punishing God. We pretty much made that god ourselves. When we choose to open ourselves to Abba’s word, we might ask the gift of knowing this Abba in our own life and so recognizing him in the lives of others whom we don’t understand, and so often fear and judge.
We can be sure that, as we are trying to live open to the Spirit we are going to believe in ways that others are not going to like. I’ve heard many times, “that Gospel stuff is okay for Church, but don’t you try to tell us how to live, this is the real world and not fantasy”. Variations of this is what we read in the headlines every day.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart; for the word of God is alive and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12). It speaks to me how I am called to live, not how I am to demand others live so I can feel comfortable. There’s enough of that sort of thing going on already. The word of God is speaking to us all the time — in our imagination, in the people we meet every day both up close and personal and in the news far away, in every situation. Rarely does it make me feel comfortable, because more often than not it is asking me to do something, and it’s not always clear what that something is.
Jesus said several times that how we treat other people is how we are treating him: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40). I ought to pay more attention to this in my everyday living. How I treat anybody is how I treat everybody. Many of us will not apple these words to our immigrants, and feel pretty good about doing this. We don’t trust in the Spirit. Yet the Story of the Holy Family includes, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him; Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt”(Mt 2:13-18). They were dark skinned immigrants fleeing for their lives.
Is there a parallel among our immigrant families today? This question often generates a violent and angry response, especially these days. Can I honestly say there is no connection or similarity, that it’s perfectly ok to treat migrant families as undesirable, and to separate and abuse them, to put them in conditions and situations that reflect what they are already fleeing from? And how much of how these families are treated is alleged to be done in the name of Abba? And this is not happening only in my own country, but it is also happening just about around the world. Would the Holy Family make it past immigration today? One thing we can be sure of, Abba is with these suffering families, especially in the persons who are trying to help. But, Abba is also with the people causing the suffering with everybody on all sides of the situation. Part of the mystery of grace which we can experience but not explain.
Dare I really and seriously ask what Abba is saying to me in all this? I’m well past the age where I can do anything practical to help my brothers and sisters here. Maybe I’m being asked to write about it and be ready to deal with the backlash, because that is what I’ve had pretty much any time I mention it in a homily. Jesus shows us a kind and loving Abba. The god presented by folks in this issue is anything but. This god favors the powerful, ignores the suffering, promises an easy life if money is given to his supporters. I need to remember that everything in my life is a gift from a loving Abba. Everything. I face these concerns and questions because they are of Abba to me for some reason, although I don’t know what it is. My responsibility as I try to live as Jesus’ disciple in my circumstances is to be open to the Spirit as She leads me along, offering me insight as to how I am asked to live as Jesus’ disciple. This demands a certain openness which isn’t always easy, and often I’m kicking and screaming.
The word of God is living and active, as is the peace of Christ. Both involve openness and trust on my part. I don’t need to know a lot, I just have to trust and go where it takes me, do what I’m called to do, say what I’m called to say, and stay out of Abba’s way. If I move in a direction that is not of Abba, may he please stop me. Not always easy. Just sayin . . .