In You I Take Refuge

In the Office of Readings today, there is a selection from the Church in the Modern World, formulated during the Second Vatican Council.  The text speaks about a Church which recognizes the needs and concerns of the world around it, and responds with the same prophetic vigor as Jesus did.  Of course yesterday and today we have Jeremiah lament his difficult position as a prophet.  The unrighteous and evil-doers assail him.  He complains to God that this prophet task is most difficult.

About two weeks ago, a woman religious, a Sinsinawa  Dominican to be exact, died in the nursing center at the "Mound."  She had been at my home parish in Rockford while I was in college and seminary.  Her ministry was to the elderly and the sick.  I remember her well because she would visit my maternal grandmother on a regular basis.  Just a wonderful woman.  And just yesterday I ran into another woman religious at one of the nursing care centers here in DeKalb.  I cannot remember where she is now, but it is nice to see her still very active, visiting the nursing center residents.  I consider these scenarios especially when parishioners thank me profusely for visiting the sick and home bound.  This is part of what the Church does in the modern world.

When we were taught about Jesus as children, we were told the stories of his healing and miracles.  It was too early for us to begin to comprehend everything about the Paschal Mystery.  Unfortunately some of us remain with the children's stories rather than to begin to embrace the ramifications of the cross.  So we do not always understand the challenges of our faith, or the teachings of the Church.  In seminary we had the litany of non-negotiables.  These were actions and activities that were not commensurate with the seminary lifestyle.  Having dates with woman woman was one of them.  There was not an equal list of exceptions.

When Jesus teaches about the cross we would sort of like to have a listing exemptions.  But as we see in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus reflects, when I was thirsty, in prison, naked; what you did for the least of my brothers and sisters you did for me.  Carrying the cross has a lot to do with the direction of lives take and the choices that we make.  Being clothed with Christ means that we stand for the values and virtues contained in the Sacred Scripture, and conveyed by the teachings of the Church.

The Body of Christ is a sign and symbol of Jesus in the world today.  Sometimes it is a Body that stands alone because of what it believes.  Early in the Gospel of Mark people are overwhelmed by Jesus' teaching because he teaches as one with authority.  In all of the noise that surrounds us, and even in our own consternation, we have to work at hearing the voice of Jesus.  Then we have to pick up our cross and walk.