JASON'S REFLECTIONS
Warning: I'm a little whiny in my reflection. I think it has something to do with the extended darkness and recent weather--and especially the gray clouds. :)
I really want to be comforted by St. Peter's claim that "with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day," but to be very candid, I'm not. It's not that I don't accept the holy math (or rather the non-earthly experience of time and space). I think the reason for my somewhat callous response to the message in today's text is the reality of 2,000 years that the church has been waiting: That's a long time--for us here on earth!
That's a long stretch of history in which the world has been allowed to construct a society that is in some ways antithetical--at least, I think--to the Sermon on the Mount. Why would Jesus allow this? Why would he allow all of this to take place? Is it really, as St. Peter suggests, from a place of divine mercy? Oh, how I want to truly see the delay of Jesus' return from the perspective that St. Peter suggests!
And then I think of all the inspiring and amazing people that have emerged over the last two thousand years, people of great faith and tenacity who have made the love and grace of Jesus known and real here on earth, in our slow and tedious experience of time and space.
And I am reminded of all of the beautiful and enriching experiences that come in the experience of waiting. And I am reminded of just how present and real Jesus can be in the waiting, in the silence.
Today is the feast day of Francis Xavier. All of us in Cincinnati are familiar with the name Xavier because of our great Jesuit university named after him. Back in the 16th century, Francis Xavier and his friend Ignatius Loyola are responsible for forming the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), a society that is renowned for advancing the light of faith and of reason in our world. But their works of charity (borne out in great patience and endurance) over the last 500 years have been remarkable and truly the embodiment of Christ in the here and now.
I encourage you today to take some time to learn more about the Jesuits and the current work they are doing to make the love and grace of Jesus present among us. You can read one of my favorite Jesuits, James Martin Jr. But most importantly, as we faithfully wait for the coming of Jesus, I encourage you to think about how you can make the love and grace of Jesus present in your life and in the life of someone else, especially in the life of those on the margins in our society. Let the following prayer be an inspiration:
In the beginning, it is dark, cool, and quiet,
and we ask you:
Invite us into your presence, O Christ.
We do not know your works, Holy One,
yet we still ask you:
Invite us into your presence, O Christ.
We look to the rising sun and trust that you
Invite us into your presence, O Christ.
You are our Shepherd, and we need nothing more.
We rejoice in your presence with us in all of creation.
Amen.
