3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A

A few months ago, I went to see one of the more intriguing movies released during the past year. It was “Gravity”, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney and it is the story of two astronauts stranded in space after an accident during their spacewalk. Now, its not so much the story that makes this movie remarkable; rather, it is the method of filming the scenes, a ground-breaking method in its realism. The director spent some five years filming and getting things right, down to the smallest detail. He makes you feel like you are weightless in space and immersed in its silence. He also makes you feel the enormity of space, the darkness of its infinite void and its ability to simply swallow the human person, without their ability to fight back. In the midst of incredible beauty and silence, there is also terrible loneliness and danger. If one were to get untethered from the space station, he would slowly float away into the dark void, unable to stop the spinning and drifting. If one were to be outside the spacecraft too long, his oxygen would run out and he would drown in the lifeless ocean beyond our atmosphere. The movie thrusts you into the midst of this beautiful danger and it is an intense 90 minutes. Most of the film focusses on Sandra Bullock’s struggle to stay free of space debris and keep her cool as her resources dwindle and she looks for a way back to earth. One of the most powerful scenes comes in the beginning of the movie, when Bullock is separated from the space station, her fellow astronauts, and is spiraling into the dark void of oblivion. With little more than her astronaut pal, his stories and her will to survive, you can’t help but hope for her to make it back to the safety of earth.  

Now I give you this movie review, not only to encourage you to see this fine movie when it comes out on DVD in about a month but also because it illustrates a spiritual dynamic found in our second reading and gospel…

+Second reading is St. Paul scolding the Corinthians.

-They were generally good people but they had gotten caught up in pride and comparing one another. Asking ?’s like who was better based on who baptized them. Rating themselves according to the apostle who brought them into Christianity and arguing amongst themselves about these petty details.

-Though they shared the one faith, they are being divided, separated by sin.

-These arguments and sins, if they are not addressed quickly, will tear the community apart and isolate each person or family from others who could help them to live a good christian life.

+and this is the danger of sin, it isolates us and cuts us off from the source of life, joy, peace, happiness, and grace that we all need to stay alive in our faith as Christians. 

-Sin sets us on a spiral of loneliness, darkness, and destruction that we are unable to stop on our own.

-sin untethers us from the safety of Christ and his Church, it slowly robs of us of the things that nourish our souls and keep us alive spiritually, and sets us adrift into the dark void of evil that threatens to swallow us up. 

+all sin has this effect in some way, although some sins do so more quickly or dramatically.

-There is no such thing as a private sin or an offense that only affects us.

-every sin, in some way, even if it is not immediately obvious, separates us from others and distances us from God. Every small sin robs us of a little spiritual oxygen or damages the tether that keeps us anchored to Christ and to each other. Serious sins cut that line completely.

+This is what St. Paul is pointing out to the Corinthians in our second reading. He is highlighting the division of sin and showing the people of that local church the damage being done. 

+Now contrast this with the gospel, that familiar story of Christ calling the first apostles. 

-Whereas sin divides and separates, Jesus unites and brings together. He calls James and John, Peter and Andrew to himself. And what does he teach them to do?

-to go out and bring more people to him, to draw more people out of the isolation and darkness of their sin and into the light and life and union of his love!

-We will see this wonderful reality happening over and over again in the scriptures and hopefully, even now in our lives and in the Church.

-And when we live out our faith, we will see a greater cohesion and integrity in our family, marriage, parish, school, friendships and every other dimension of our lives. 

-As much as sin threatens to separate us from God and each other, Christ is even more present reaching out to us and working to bring us back before we float away into the abyss of evil, despair and self-hatred. 

+As we consider the powers at battle within us, the draw of sin and the pull of Christ’s love, let us resolve to look carefully and honestly at the parts of our souls that have drifted away in sin. Nothing is beyond saving and Jesus never stops reaching out to us, extending the lifeline which will save us and reunite us with him and with his Church. Let us not fool ourselves about the danger of sin, ALL SIN, large and small, as a force that draws us away from life and happiness and union with all that is good and lovely. Let us be filled with hope, that any isolation or darkness we are feeling now can be taken away by a closer relationship with God and a more holy relationship with the people he has placed in our lives. Allow Christ to draw you in by fighting sin and weakness; let him be the air you breathe and the tether you cling to in every struggle. Know that as you come nearer to him, he will also use you to reach out to others who are lost and drifting. He is our safety, he is our life, he will bring us together in a unity that will last for all time; May we never stop striving for that!

Baptism of the Lord, Cycle A

On this feast of Our Lord’s baptism, there are many different directions to take the homily. Perhaps the most obvious would be to explain Jesus’ baptism, with its theological and historical implications, what it means for us and our own baptisms, and how it is the beginning of his public life and ministry. All good points and helpful teachings. But today I want to take another direction, based on the observation of a Christian minister, which spends some time considering the act of affirmation, present in the baptism of Christ. 

Listen again to that beautiful moment when Jesus emerges from the water:

     “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”.

What powerful words of affirmation! What a way to begin this new stage of his life! What a way to feel before setting out on his public ministry! What a thing to know before any special act has been undertaken, anything accomplished!

This is a perfect opportunity to reflect on the act of affirmation, something I’ll admit, doesn’t come easily to me. This feast gives us a chance to consider what it is, how special it is when God affirms us and in turn when we might affirm others.

The word affirmation means to state positively or to assert some truth; especially some truth concerning the nature of another person and the relationship one has with them. The person who affirms something or someone stands by his word. They put their conviction, their care into what they are saying. They invest themselves and all that is true into their speaking. To affirm something means to value it.

  But all too often when we affirm someone, we follow with: "Don't you think you could have done a little better, don't you think if you had taken more time, or if you had put more effort into it, you could have won first place, or made it perfect?"

No matter how tough or independent we are, we all long for affirmation. We long to be praised. We long to be valued and considered worthwhile, especially by those whom we love and respect. All of us long for affirmation but too often, it seems, those words come too late, after we have gone out from our homes and families, after we have struggled with things, winning some and losing others. Too often they come after some victory or in the midst of some crisis, as if we had to prove ourselves worthy of them, or in desperate need of them. This is the experience in many people's lives.

Fortunately, God’s affirmation of us as his children is different.

The whole story of Jesus' ministry begins with affirmation. Even before Jesus had told a single parable, even before he had healed a single person, there is affirmation. God speaks those beautiful words, "With you I am well pleased." while Jesus is still coming forth from the water.

If we think of our own experiences of giving and receiving affirmation, it usually comes after doing something well. In this case however, Jesus has done nothing to merit the profound words of love and respect that God grants him when he says:  "With you I am well pleased." God speaks them before, to Jesus and to us. He speaks them before any action which might lead us to think that we have earned the affirmation, before any action or event that might be interpreted as cause for us to receive or not receive affirmation.

This is the cornerstone of God’s love and the gift of his grace. And it is when we come to understand that we are children of God, that we can receive this grace, this affirmation, this love that can soothe our soul and empower us for charity. This is what our baptism is all about; reminding ourselves and others that we are indeed children of God. It is about affirming the inherent good of each and every person, seeing the good in them that God does.

Since the day that Jesus was baptized at the river Jordan, baptism has become a sign and sacrament of God's unconditional love for us. In baptism, by the water of new creation, by the faith we profess, and by the action of God, we are marked as God's forever. In our baptism, as in the baptism of Jesus, we celebrate God's welcoming love, a love that comes prior to anything we may have done or will ever do.

The wonder of it all is that each day God renews his loves for us as he speaks tender words in the scriptures and the sacraments about who we are and what we can do. God's love always remains unconditional; it always affirms us, it always nurtures and encourages us to practice a similar love.

Brothers and sisters, God loves each of you, right here and right now. Turn anew to God and to his Word. Turn each day to your brothers and sisters in the faith. Turn to worship and prayer and feel within, God’s affirmation concerning you. Then show forth the love God has for you by affirming one another as God does: before being asked, before the other has done good or bad, before they deserve or do not deserve your favor and your encouragement.

And after affirming others, after creating an atmosphere of encouragement, praise, fairness, acceptance, and charity; pray and thank God, and do it all over again, knowing that this is how God greets you every day. Only good can come of it. The good that we all seek, the good that we all need.