Reflections on Spirituality
St. John Vianney, Churchtown, NY, Jan 14, 2007
Scriptures: Isaiah 62:1-5, Psalm96, I Corinthians 12:4-11 and John 2:1-11
| I say “Yes,” my Lord, in all the good times, through all the bad times.
Digo “Sí,” Señor, en tiempos malos, en tiempos Buenos. |
| I say “Yes,” my Lord to ev’ry word you speak.
Digo “Sí,” Señor a todo lo que hablas. |
Today’s Gospel story is about saying “Yes” to God’s call, even when we can’t foresee all the consequences. I just sang in English and Spanish, Jesus and his mother said their ‘yes’ in Aramaic, Paul said it in Greek, Isaiah said it in Hebrew.
Jesus at first said that his ‘hour’ had not yet come, but then he said his ‘yes’ with his actions, by changing water into wine. When he spoke of his ‘hour’, what he was talking about was the journey which would lead him to a cross and beyond. Mary made a choice to express her concern for a human need, even when she did not know how her son would respond, and where it would finally lead her. Her yes took her to the foot of that same cross and to a community gathered to receive the Spirit of her Son. A young couple said ‘yes’ to each other (and to each other’s families), without knowing that they would run out of wine at their wedding feast, and without being able to foresee the times in their married and family lives when they would be at the end of their rope, without the resources they thought they needed to get through some crisis.
In 1967, I said “yes” to a life of relationship with a community of brothers who try to live in the spirit of Francis of Assisi. That was the year I joined the Franciscan Community as a novice. I had no idea of where it would bring me as I have lived that life. I have had to go to Jesus many times with the same words Mary had, “they have no wine.” For me that often meant, “These people I love and am trying to help have no resources, they are hungry, they are rejected, they are afraid, they are being treated unjustly, they are oppressed and I don’t know how to help them.” Or, “I have no wine, I am powerless over this situation, this depression, this illness, this financial crisis in my own life or ministry.” I remember a time when I was visiting an old Italian woman during a Parish Mission. She was vocally distressed – “O Di! O Di! I canna do anything any more! I canna hardly walk! I canna take care of my family, I canna cook!” She went on and on and on, and I felt for her pain. The only way I could get her to stop talking was to play my violin. That quieted her down. Then I prayed with her, anointed her with the sacrament of the sick and gave her communion. That gave her some peace, but I could not think of anything I could say to her to help her get through the transition from an active life to a life when she would have to rely on others, rather than be the one who fed and helped her family. As we left her house, I thought of something I wish I had thought of when I was with her. They have guided my own life ever since, when I listen to them.
“I can’t do everything I want to do, but I can do everything God wants me to do.”
Jesus let his actions speak, changed water into wine, and gave a gift to that couple, and their families and friends who were gathered at that wedding. He gave them 150 gallons of fine wine (do the math, 6 jars holding around 25 gallons). His gift was both unexpected and excessive. It was more than they needed and beyond their power to provide. He still gives gifts to us, as St. Paul reminds us in the 2nd reading. And the gifts he gives are given not only to individuals, but to families and communities, to parishes and dioceses. But they are not given for the private good of any individual or group. In today’s 2nd reading, we hear the words: “the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit” In the original Greek, the last few words could also mean: “for the common good.” The sense of what Paul is saying, in the context of the whole letter to the Corinthians is clearly: “the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
What gifts have you and I been given as we walk our own paths? How does God want us to use them for the common good? I truly believe that God’s gifts are enough for me, and for us, to do whatever Jesus wants me and us to do. I also believe that God’s timing is perfect. I have had that experience more times than I can count over the course of my life journey, even though many times I have not realized it until after the fact.
This parish of St. John Vianney exists because you have chosen to come together in this place to worship on weekends in a Lutheran Church until your new church building is completed. The parish community continues to thrive because you continue to support each other in this time of transition. You remind me of the people of Israel in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land; or the Apostles and Mary between Calvary and Pentecost. Yet both of those times of exile were times of great joy for the Israelites and the disciples of Jesus. God felt even closer to them in many ways.
You ran out of wine when neither Holy Cross in West Taghkanic nor Sacred Heart in Philmont could sustain itself alone, and you are, in a way, the water which Jesus is changing into a wonderful new wine. I believe that your journey itself is a gift, which you are sharing with the church in Columbia County and the Diocese of Albany, of which you are a part.
Tomorrow we celebrate the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a gift given not only to his own race, but to all Americans. The movement he embodied is not just for some people, it enriches us all. I remember how depressed I felt in 1968, when he was killed, but if he had not been assassinated, we might not have received and valued that gift. His life and words remind us that the same problems St. Paul was facing still need to be confronted. Corinth was an extremely diverse city (perhaps like the U.S. today). Many of those who began to follow Christ were very gifted. Paul names some of the gifts: faith, wisdom, healing, discernment. But some of the people he was writing to thought their gifts made them better than others, and put down those who did not have, for instance, the gift of tongues. Some of the words of Dr. King re-state and re-enforce what Paul wrote, “I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the way our world is made. No individual or nation can stand out boasting of being independent. We are interdependent.”
The gift of marriage, celebrated in today’s Gospel, is a gift of relationship given to couples for the common good. This gift recalls the truth that we all need each other, whether we are married, widowed, divorced, single or members of religious communities. We are all called to bring life into the world, we are all called and empowered to be the instruments of the peace and love of God described by Isaiah in the first reading. “You shall be called by a new name … No more shall people call you ‘forsaken’ or your land ‘desolate,’ but you shall be called ‘My Delight’ and your land ‘Espoused.’” The prophet is writing about Israel’s return from exile. The gift of new name is a call to live in a new way to be a new reality.
Like the people in Isaiah’s time, you have been called by a new name, St. John Vianney Parish. You have been given the gift and responsibility of becoming a new community. [response-ability, or the ability to respond]. The story of Cana is really about the formation of a new community, as new wine replaces the old ways of living represented by the water used for Jewish rites of purification.
I’m sure you have made mistakes, as a community, as couples, as families and as individuals. I know I certainly have. We will run out of wine again and again, and we will get tired of the journey. But a few more of Dr. King’s words express the hope Jesus lived and preached, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” There will always be some tension in our individual and communal lives, but there is no need for condemnation of one side by the other. The tension itself is a part of God’s way of keeping us alive and growing. There needs to be both devotion to Mary and commitment to justice in our Catholic spirituality. Opposition to abortion on demand and to pre-emptive war are both rooted in the same Gospel that Jesus preached and lived. Both, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict have consistently affirmed these truths.
There is diversity, among people, parishes and political parties, but there is no need for division. I voted for a man for state assembly who belongs to a party in which I am not registered. I voted for him, and attended his swearing in, because he reflects the Gospel values of the common good, of respect for life in all its stages and conditions, and of care for the poor which Jesus lived and preached and which guide my life and choices.
The words of the mother of Jesus in today’s Gospel story give us the wisdom we need to discern our gifts, and to decide when and how to use them. Listen to them well: “Do whatever he tells you!” Listen to them deeply, listen to them together.
Our call and our responsibility is to trust that the Spirit of God will give us the ability to respond to the call of Christ when we hear it, and to sing:
| I say “Yes,” my Lord, in all the good times, through all the bad times.
Digo “Sí,” Señor, en tiempos malos, en tiempos Buenos. |
| I say “Yes,” my Lord to ev’ry word you speak.
Digo “Sí,” Señor a todo lo que hablas. |