Have you been watching the situation in Egypt closely? If you've signed up to go on the trip to the Holy Land with us in November, do you wonder if we'll be going there? Certainly not, if it's dangerous, at the time of the trip. We can take more time in Israel, I suppose, or go to Jordan and see Petra and Jerash or to Greece and visit Corinth and the Delphic Oracle. But let's not think of US, right now. Let's think of a suffering world.
Cairo is in chaos. Angry people are screaming all the pain of their lives on international TV. I remember when our streets were filled with students demanding the resignation of a president--then it was Lyndon Johnson over the Viet Nam war. Next it was Richard Nixon over the war, the economy, dissatisfaction at life. Most of our lives, we just live with whatever is dealt us. We don't make a sound. We just move through our nights and our days, trying to laugh a bit, joke a bit, make it all liveable, but then, every once in a while, it's as if the planets have lined up and a VOICE is given us and there we are, in the streets, shouting and screaming out our pain. I don't have the answers for Egypt. You don't. But, I can empathize with the pain of living that they are expressing.
You know, I've been a priest for over 35 years--going on 40--that's older than many of you are. And one thing I've learned is that most of us are the walking wounded. We sense that there's something wrong with us, that we are in some sense damaged--it may be wounds that our parents inflicted, or teachers, or girlfriends we once had--but people have done a number on us, and we bear the scars. There's no one in this room that doesn't bear all sorts of scars from what others have done to us.
That was part of what Isaiah was speaking of in the first reading. He said, "when you share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and homeless, clothe the naked and stop turning your back on your own, THEN YOUR WOUND SHALL QUICKLY BE HEALED. What wound? Did the nation, as a whole, have an open, bleeding wound? No. Nations don't have wounds, people do.
The wounds of the nation in time of the first reading were the wounds of personal grief at the heavy losses they had suffered in a national defeat, much like many of the Iraqi people must be feeling, now. A war had come and gone, people were deported and suffered the humiliation of slavery, rape and murder. They had returned to find their homes destroyed or occupied by interlopers. They were living on the ragged edge of nothing, and they felt personal grief, and deep resentment at what had been taken from them. The task of rebuilding seemed too large. They felt despair and bitterness. They couldn't see a reason for going on. Maybe life wasn't worth it. Maybe it would never get better. Maybe death was easier.
Not ever human being has gone through national defeat, exile, slavery and personal bodily threat, coupled with the total loss of family, wealth and property, but every human being has been in a dark enough place that we've wondered that life might never ever get better. Maybe it was the loss of our first girlfriend, maybe it was being cut from a team, maybe it was not being accepted by a group of friends or associates we thought was necessary for us. Maybe it was at the failure of a marriage, or the death of a child, or the loss of a livelihood. Maybe it was or is a life-threatening illness that could rob us of all we hold dear. There is no human being alive who hasn't suffered, and there is no human being alive who hasn't felt some form of hopelessness and despair. Those emotions go hand in hand with being a human being. We don't have the mind of God, we don't see far enough into the future to see how things will begin to turn for the good. And fear and hopelessness rush in to fill our every waking moment, robbing us of moments of peace and pleasure.
Isaiah knew this. He lived it, himself. And, he knew what to do about it. If you want to bring healing to yourself, and make your situation better, then help somebody else who is in difficulties like or worse than your own. Share your bread (at least you have that!) with someone who doesn't have a crumb! Give shelter (at least you have that!) to someone who doesn't have a welcoming home. Clothe the naked--and the naked don't have to be taken literally. There are so many people we all know who have been ripped apart publicly, and their lives made an open book--they are "naked" before everyone they care about, and everyone is talking about them. THEY need friends, too. Shelter them with your care. Isaiah said, "Do these things, and your own sense of helplessness and hopelessness will vanish like dew in the morning sun."
St. Paul tells his congregation that he did all that he did in the time he was with them NOT for himself, but for THEM. He had learned how to care for others to heal himself.
Jesus calls us "salt of the earth." Salt doesn't do anything at all for itself. It is only useful when used on something else.
He calls us the "light of the world." Light is what makes activity possible. If you've ever been in a black out, you realize how quickly you don't remember your own living room...as you trip over the coffee table, and step on plate of food you just set down when the lights went out. Light isn't much good in and of itself....it just IS. BUT, it allows us the ability of movement and action.
We are BEGGED in today's readings to place our lives in the service of others. The needs of our world are almost infinite. The needs of our neighborhoods are a microcosm of our world. Today's readings hope that we, as His Wounded Broken Disciples, will be helping to heal both ourselves and the world. May we each use the Grace we receive in the Eucharist, today, to make of our lives a benediction of goodness for someone in distress, this week. And may God bless you all. +
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