They'll know us by our love??

The readings this week were profoundly sad for me. Not because they dealt with issues such as sickness, dying and death, but because Christians once were known by ‘how they love each other’ (Cooke and Macy 149). There is still much being done in the world for good by Christians, but our hatred and judgmentalism of others overshadows everything we do. At a time when the whole world is reeling from horrible violence against innocents, when the earth itself is growing frail, we are spending more time and money here in the States on our election battles than on caring for the poor and the marginalized – it is estimated that over $5 billion will be spent on the 2016 presidential campaign. But it’s not just the money, it’s the pervasive attitude. Christians are still on the front lines when catastrophe happens. Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, Texas Baptist Men, World Vision – and on and on. These agencies are known for their swift and merciful help, as well as the day to day sustenance they provide. Christians are not really known ‘by their love’ anymore, though. What happened to us?

 

Cooke and Macy noted that we live at a “time in history when medical professionals have unprecedented ability to deal with human diseases” (153). At the same time, however, they note that we no longer have adequate rituals in place to help those who are suffering, such as the caregivers or the aging. Our communities are built for those with mobility or an agile intellect – it often takes a car to buy groceries; a computer to complete almost any form; cable or satellite to listen to the news or weather. How many of us still write letters or notes? We take meals after a funeral, but what about in the 10^th month of a long-term illness such as dementia? I don’t remember to do this. I rely on my pastor to remind me of those who are homebound or ailing. I leave it to the elderly in the church to care for the other elderly. What rituals do we actively need to start now in order to better care for each other? To keep people from being invisible or, worse yet, forgotten completely? How long will it be before I can sing ‘They will know we are Christians by our love’ and not cringe at the hypocrisy?

Cooke, Bernard and Macy, Gary. Christian Symbol and Ritual: An Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/230318-the-5-billion-campaign

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The Second Coming Comes About with Community

            The common thread running between the healing in the Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick sacraments is the increased awareness of our human frailties, desire to return to or remain in the good stead of the fold of the human community and God, and humble receipt of expressions of compassion by those we have harmed or those to whom we entrust our care, both humans and God. Both sacraments assume a posture of humility that requires an emptying of one’s ego and any assurance of control over one’s life and receiving the protective embrace of God’s forgiveness and acceptance offered while alive and in death. The healing offered by both sacraments is restfulness and reunion with humanity and God when our weaknesses and vulnerabilities are exposed, even to the point that we may receive pity from another for our deteriorating physical, emotional and/or spiritual states. Through these sacraments, God invites us to expose our needs and even our baseness. Our human conditions are not something of which to be ashamed; they unite us and bring us into the body of Christ; all of humanity; all of creation. As such, following the Second Vatican Council’s decree, the new Rites for Penance and Reconciliation were “drawn up to emphasize the relation of the sacrament to the community” (Johnson, 283).

            The very act of love is painful as “friends suffer when they see their friends in pain…” (Cooke and Macy, 159). The discipline of psychology suggests that to live or be in mercy of one’s limbic system (emotions) keeps one self-absorbed, so that we “suffer” in our own or another’s illness. The Christian message of love offers redemption in that suffering when the very act of love here moves us from our limbic to frontal lobe when we choose and accept to love that draws us out of ourselves and toward another. Love becomes the source of creativity with which we perform corporal works of mercy through understanding in efforts to be compassionate, to forgive, or to comfort. Someone who loves, who moves beyond and outside of themselves in relationships, will suffer pain, which may bring them closer to God and others when they accept that being in right relationship is the point of being a Christian, not being righteous (“I/You don’t deserve this.”) Redemptive suffering is the pain of working, creating, constructing, building – a community job. We are only saved with community. Participating in the formal and informal public rituals of healing display “the community’s love and support and … belief in the risen Christ’s triumph over death” (156). The Second Coming comes about from community