Reflection

Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem.

Fr. Jeremy Tobin, O. Praem.'s Aug. 31, 2008 homily, based on the readings, Jer 20:7-9, Rm 12:1-2, and Mt 16: 21-27, is timely as we acknowledge the beginning of a new Presidential administration and Dr. Martin Luther King Day (Jan. 19, 2009).

There is no denying it. We are living in historic times. August 28, 1963, Doctor King gave his historic speech at the Lincoln Memorial before thousands. 45 years later the first African American nominee for President of the most powerful nation on earth gave his acceptance speech before thousands, the preamble to a new movement for change and recovery for this nation. We cannot pass over the significance of this, even in church. Both of these events were blessed, and both herald a new liberation, letting in the healing light of truth and freedom. August 28, 1963, the Feast of St. Augustine, 11 men entered the Norbertine Abbey in De Pere Wisconsin on a spirit led life influenced by Dr. King and the civil rights movement, the Second Vatican Council, the movement to end the Vietnam War and work for peace. A whole generation, now graying, were shaped by these forces. I am part of that, and that is part of me.

None of our heroes of the past ever said that they accomplished their goals. They all talked of beginnings, and a vision. Dr. King’s most famous speech is precisely a statement of the vision, knowing full well it was far from reality, knowing full well there would be set backs and defeats. At the same time the vision will keep people getting up. Success is not measured by accomplishments, it is measured by how many times you keep getting up.

August 29, 2005 the greatest natural disaster laid waste the Gulf Coast and a great city. Neither have recovered. Just this past Friday in a church in South Jackson, Katrina survivors and I remembered and nurtured a vision. Despite it all they keep getting up. Success is keep getting up. Now another hurricane, Gustav has the potential to wreak more horror on an already wounded region. We pray. We stay fixed on the vision. We are ready to keep getting up.

That is what life is about, keep getting up. Today we read the Prophet Jeremiah, overcome with failure, awash in cynicism, blaming God, “You tricked me!” How many times have we said that. “I’m going to trick him!” “Don’t be a trick.” “I’ve been tricked! I will get even.” These and more feelings about trick and being tricked are part of our language and experience. When God tricks me it hurts. Then comes the pity party. Then it’s me-me-me! Cynicism saps energy. Paranoia leads to paralysis. You don’t get up. You lie down and wallow in self pity.

You see, Jeremiah was wrong. God did not trick him. He misunderstood God. God never tricks anybody. Don’t blame God for what God didn’t do. Jeremiah was beaten down by his opponents. No matter what he said, what oracle was given to him, they would not listen. Jeremiah did what we do. “Why, God when you called me to this life do I feel hung out to dry. You tricked me.” No, God didn’t trick anybody, we do not read the signs of the time. We do not recognize what is sent to help us.

Jeremiah lost sight of the vision. Oh, worse happened. They threw him down a well, but he lived.

When opponents surround us we need a vision. We need to know that we never control the agenda. Doctor King did not control the agenda. Plans were made, but plans were scrapped. We do not control the agenda. What we do is to read the signs of the times.

You see, when John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council, he said that you must read the signs of the times.

Now these days are much like the late 50s and early 60s. We live under a long conservative regime wreaking havoc on the country and the world. We see people with vision being suppressed. We see the largest immigrant raid in history right here in Mississippi, and hatred and division smell like rotten eggs. Read the signs of the times.

Jeremiah got off the pity pot. He withdrew and shut up. He let God talk to him. He began to see the vision clearly. The word of God spoke to him. When he spoke they laughed at him. But the message was too powerful. It was a message of deliverance and liberation, of conversion and hope. It became fire in his heart, he could not hold it in.

This is a lesson for us. Prophetic figures are compelled to do what they do. They get a vision. One day they say out loud, “Now is the time! Now is our time!” People around them only see the dullness of repression, of sameness, of conformity, but prophets see walls crumbling and freedom coming. Even if they are killed. They must do what they do.

We need prophets. We give thanks to God that all through history he raises up prophetic leaders to move us forward, to help us rediscover our vision, to discover our strength, to fill us with hope. Prophets are to call us to unity. Unity is strength. Unity is focus on the vision. The vision sustains our hope, and unity blossoms into love. John the Baptist, the greatest of prophets points us to Jesus Christ, “Behold the Lamb of God, the deliverer and savior of the world!” To sustain us in difficulties, Jesus left us a sign of his presence and source of strength.

If the Eucharist means anything, it is the expression of profound unity between the believers and Jesus Christ and between each other. When we pray the Creed we tell one another, “Yes, I believe what you believe! We believe these things that make us one in Jesus Christ. We are the Body of Christ.” Before we receive Communion, that expresses our oneness with Jesus Christ and with one another, we exchange a sign of peace, a sign of unity. This is not a gesture. This flows from the Creed we just proclaimed. We recognize that we are one. Jesus said, “Before you go to the altar, make peace with your brother and sister.” This is the significance of this sign of unity. This is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church fully present. The Eucharist makes us Church. It expresses our unity.

As one group is manipulated to attack another group over crumbs, we need unity and a vision that sees beyond the conflict, that assures us that there will be justice. This Labor Day we have much to pray for. Workers are oppressed and manipulated more than ever. At this significant time in our history, when a clarion call for change is given, we pray that we may be agents of unity and workers for peace.