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!
