She offended my youthful sensibilities... which, in fact, needed to be offended. Back when I was fresh out of Theology school, brimming with zeal and ignorance in almost equal parts, my good friend Emma and I were talking about lofty theological concepts. I suspect we were too-much loving the fact that we had a whole new language, and we could talk like "religious adults" and say important stuff. Her mother, who singled-handedly supported their family as a housekeeper at the local hotel, and witnessed God's love to, oh, just about everybody she met in one way or another said: "Words, words, words. I don't know about all these things. I just love God and pray." The two of us, so full of words, were struck to silence. And rightly so.
I've noticed that there are a lot of words in our culture, not all of them true, but all of them tirelessly persisting. Miserable young adults singing songs about their feelings and their misery, wallowing in their "lostness" and trying to pretend they are cool and trendy - they make my ears hurt. Characters on television shows and in the movies justifying their immoral behavior with back-asswards, worldly logic appall me. People repeating whatever they hear on the news as if it were gospel-truth, and then holding to their views because it's what their "team" stands for make me nervous. Words, words, and more words.
When the homilist/preacher steps up to the ambo, or takes up a position on a street corner, he/she needs to have a sense of mission. As the Blues Brothers said, "We're on a Mission from God." Yes, it's that important. So be clear about the words, what the message is, and for crying out loud, relate to the sheep.
What did you hear in "real life" this week that can help someone sort out the word-soup of life? "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (Ephesians 4:29) Another translation says: "Don't let worthless stuff come out of your mouth, but say things people need to hear, things that will really help them." In order to really help people, you need to know their reality, their real-life needs and struggles. This means that you need to relate to the sheep, so to speak.
Years ago one of my student's brains got commandeered by an animal rights group of some sort. She came up to me, pamphlet in hand, and told me sheep farmers were cruel, that they cut off the tails of sheep and sold them as delicacies (yak!) and the sheep were left maimed ... I asked her one simple question: "Do YOU know any sheep farmers?" City girl that she was, she did not. I proceeded to tell her that I know some monks that raise Scottish blackface sheep ... and when their sheep are in lambing season, they talk to them with the affection one reserves for a girlfriend, very sweetly indeed. And, to whit, that anyone who was raising his own sheep would know better than to take away their tail which is their defense against flies on the back-end. Good grief.
The other point I could make here is the value of One Great Question. Sometimes the best way to move people forward in their spiritual life is to place a question or concept in their head that tips their world upside down ... or causes them to lose sleep at night. If conversion begins with change, then I think that change begins with challenge. Jesus asked One Great Question of His disciples: "Who do you say that I am?" His lead-in question was just to start the engine: "Who do people say that I am?" And St. Peter piped up with, "Some say you are Elijah come back from the dead; some say John the Baptist; others one of the prophets." He did not say, "Oh super. Everybody gets an A+ now, let's go grab a burger!" His lack of response to their opinions indicates that those answers were insufficient, unacceptable. He leaves it, and then focuses the laser on: "But who do YOU say that I am?" In other words, "Do you get it yet?" I would propose to you that in all of Scripture, THAT is the most important question. And, consequently, in all of history, THAT is STILL the most important question ... because the answer to that drives our moral behavior. And our moral behavior drives the world.
But back to the sheep for a moment. Is the reality of clerical or ministerial life so far removed from the reality of the common person? It should not be. Perhaps that is one thing that married clergy have going for them: amidst shuttling kids to soccer practice, getting the groceries, and checking in on the in-laws, there is quite a lot of reality. And you are in the thick of it. Someone who is celibate, non-parental clergy can, hypothetically, badge-in and badge-out. In other words, you can have meals with your family of origin, or your close friends, but it is always the option to play the clergy card and get a pass. It must be stressful and I am sure it puts them amidst difficult choices.
I stood at the bedside of a man who had a critical injury. I was performing a notarizing of a legal document at the time. This man, perhaps close to death or not, was in significant physical pain. It intrigued me that all he could muster to say was, "Will my brother take my house? Will my brother take my model planes?" He was in a world of hurt and, to the end, he was still worried about having his "toys" stolen by a sibling. Amazing.
And yet, there it was: humanity in all of its rawness. One would think the goal would be to get to the later stages of our lives and care a whole lot less about the "things" of this world. So I would propose a homily/message should reach into people's reality and address those kind of things.
Over thirty years ago, I was aware of the Catholic bishop of one major diocese who told his young priests that they should not make it a point of driving their personal luxury or sports cars around town a lot. (It set an image of clergy that seemed kind of worldly.) For those of you who are unaware, priests who answer to a diocesan bishop do NOT take a vow of poverty. Monks and some religious orders, however, do take a vow of poverty, so they are more modest in their purchase of communal property. On the other hand, a diocesan priest CAN own and drive a sports car but I think that sends an odd message when he stands before a congregation to preach for holiness, and against "worldliness." The Rolex watch also throws people off. Just sayin'. Maybe your dying grandfather gave it to you, but unless you are prepared to take out a newspaper ad to that effect, you are going to have people around you who look at you and think, "I'm barely scraping by on my salary, you want me to contribute to the capital fund to build a bigger church or whatever, and the priest is wearing a Rolex.... what is wrong with this picture?"
Authentically relate to the sheep. It will give you credibility and open a lot of doors. You will be surprised.
##############################
No comments:
Post a Comment