| Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time | Father Tim Lemlin |
A few minutes before the church services started, the people were sitting in their benches. Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church. Everyone started screaming and running for the front entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from evil incarnate. Soon everyone had exited the church except for one elderly woman who sat calmly in her bench without moving, seemingly oblivious to fact that Satan was in her presence.
So Satan walked up to the old woman and said "Don't you know who I am?"
She replied, "Yep, sure do."
"Aren't you afraid of me?" Satan asked.
"Nope, sure ain't." said the woman.
"Don't you realize I can kill you with a word?" asked Satan.
"Don't doubt it for a minute," she returned, in an even tone.
"Did you know that I could cause you profound, horrifying, AGONY for all eternity?" persisted Satan.
"Yep," was the calm reply.
"And you're still not afraid?" asked Satan.
"Nope," said the old woman.
More than a little perturbed, Satan asked, "Well, why aren't you afraid of me?"
She calmly replied, "Been married to your brother for 48 years."
We are incomplete. Yet, often we act as if we aren't. We develop ways to make ourselves feel complete. We determine that power, prestige and wealth make us complete. We establish ways of thinking in our heads that tell us if we live by these laws, or if we attain these goals, we can prove that we are worthy. Then, our body betrays us. Our minds can lie, but our bodies can't.
There are two pathways to God and they compliment each other. Both spirituality and sexuality are needed. The former relates to that which is unseen. The latter relates to matter - that which is seen. Our Catholic Tradition connects the two stating clearly that the spiritual (the soul) can only be seen through the physical (the body).
We tend to separate the two, making the spiritual good and the physical bad. This separation has brought us to a way of living that prevents us from seeing God where God can only be seen - through the physical. The end result is that many of us simply live in our heads (our minds).
Every healthy relationship has two elements present: union (connection) and detachment (disconnection). It is only when we draw our true identity from God that we gain the freedom to relate in a healthy way. Often, we tend to over-emphasize one element over the other. We see this happening in our gospel story today.
The Pharisees have bought into the way of thinking that they can make themselves complete. They can prove their holiness. They live in their minds (detachment) and have lost the freedom for union (connection). Jesus rejects their point of view, telling them that their hearts are hard (cold).
Loving relationships are a gift that offers us an opportunity to glimpse our true desire - union with God. Our first reading from Genesis is the second creation story in our scriptures. The first speaks of God creating the human being "in God's likeness, male and female God created them." We come forth from God. The imprint of God is within each one of us because God chooses to share with us God's "is-ness" not because we earn it. The second creation story begins, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him." We are not complete in ourselves.
The separation of spiritually and sexuality has caused us to disconnect ourselves from reality. Couples find it difficult (sometimes impossible) to relate with each other in a way that helps the other glimpse their ultimate desire - union with God. Relationship has come to mean a contractual agreement that is based upon similar goals and achievements.
Relationship, as described by the scriptures, is having enough room within oneself to invite the other in (union), and the ability to go outside of oneself to see the image of God within the other (detachment). Many of us can't do this because we carry so many hurts (things done to us and things done to others) that we don't have room within us. We are too busy proving our worth, making it necessary to compare ourselves and being in competition with others. When we are comparing and competing we become unable to see God.
Ironically, our path to God is unique and individual and can only be discovered when we enter a lasting and loving relationship with another human being.
