Saturday, March 12, 2016

Mob Mentality


5th Sunday of Lent
Cycle C

That was some mob that day. They had her dead to rights and the bloodlust was rising. I imagine there were three types of people in that mob that day. There were the self-righteous Pharisees all puffed up with moral indignation, trying to trap Jesus. There were the law-and-order types who felt it was their duty to uphold the law, especially when the case was cut-and-dried. And there were the majority who heard the commotion and got caught up in the moment. They joined the mob for the same reasons people join in looting and rioting everywhere. Because in a mob you can get away with anything, even murder.

It’s easy to hide in a mob. You can be anonymous in a crowd. It’s exciting to feel the rush of emotion in the shouting and shoving. It’s exciting to feel you’re part of something important, something big. Mobs and riots make for great stories afterwards, don’t they?

In any case, nobody in the mob really cared about the woman. She was just the catalyst, the tool, the excuse. It could have been anyone, any reason, any excuse. She was just the one who got caught. She didn’t matter to anyone…except Jesus.

Sadly, we have been experiencing mobs a lot lately, haven’t we? Just this week there has been a lot of pushing and shoving at campaign events. Racial protest groups interrupt gatherings and hold demonstrations in the streets. Student groups protest all sorts of things on college campuses these days. We haven’t seen protests like this since the 1960’s.

We are dragging people out into the public square for judgment a lot these days. But the mobs are not just in the streets, are they? And the violence is not all physical, is it? Today, if we disagree with someone’s politics or religion or even their Pinterest choices, we can easily let them, and the world, know about it. We have become social detractors. We no longer simply disagree with a person’s positions, we have to attack them personally. We have to drag them out into the open, throw them down into the dirt, and pick up our stones.

We detract from people all the time, don’t we? The mob today is often not in the streets but on social media. We can hide in the mob online. We can post whatever we want; we can comment on things we know little about, going along with the crowd. We hold up the person caught up in a moral failing, no matter how small, to derision and mockery. But just as often the person holding to a moral principle is also dragged out into the public square and mocked for being so out of touch. Things have been turned upside down. The person espousing high moral values is often shouted down, called a bigot and a fool, while the person living an openly scandalous life is held in esteem, someone to be admired and emulated.

Detraction, like its counterpart gossip, is actually a sin. And the Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses it.

“Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.”

That last phrase is the key. “So that he may be saved”. The job of the Christian is not to detract or to condemn. The mission of the Church is to save souls, and we approach each and every person from the standpoint that they have inherent dignity and worth. We are not to automatically think the worst of people but the best. We are to give each person the benefit of the doubt and not jump to conclusions or question their motives. Because we love them. We are called to strive to understand their intentions. Because we love them. We are called to gently correct them when we see that their beliefs and actions may jeopardize their salvation. Because we love them.

That’s what we do with our children, isn’t it? If we see that their behavior will cause them harm, we correct them. Not because we have the power to do so but because we want what’s best for them. Jesus treated the woman with mercy. His condemnation would have cost her her life. All the mob was waiting for was a signal from him. He had power over her very life, and he showed her mercy.

His simple statement, “he who has no sin throw the first stone”, showed mercy not only towards the woman but to the mob as well. He taught them a very important lesson when he shifted the focus back on them. They were shamed by his comment, and because of that were saved from committing an even bigger sin.

Mercy is holding power over someone and not exercising it. Mercy is not punishing someone even when it would seem like justice to do so. Mercy is compassion. Mercy is treating someone with dignity just because they are another human being. We often think of mercy in terms of crime and punishment. Spare someone their life when they are helpless. Not treating them as they deserve to be treated.

But most times it’s the small mercies that make the most difference.

Mercy is when you keep your sarcastic comments to yourself, even though you think they’re really clever. Mercy is letting it slide when someone says something that offends you, because your relationship with them is more important than having the last word. Mercy is giving them a hug and forgiving them when they apologize. Mercy is not posting that comment on Facebook or Twitter, just to make yourself feel superior. Oftentimes mercy is not what you do but what you don’t do. Sometimes it’s showing restraint.

Mercy is letting go of your stone.

Mercy is a gift we give to one another. Mercy doesn’t always require the sinner to make the first step, but there must always be repentance. The woman never asked for forgiveness. She never asked for mercy. She seemed resigned to her fate. Jesus never addressed her particular sin. He wasn’t concerned with her past, only her future. He was concerned with her salvation, and that required her to change her behavior.

Many people have used this passage to say, “See, Jesus didn’t condemn her adultery. Jesus isn’t about sin, he’s all about love,” and they use it to rationalize all sorts of bad behavior. Because to them, love means accepting people, no matter what they do. But Jesus did acknowledge that what she had done was sinful. He said, “Go and sin no more”. But he wasn’t talking just about her adultery. He didn’t say, “Don’t do it again”, but a more general “Do not sin anymore.” He was requiring a lot more than the avoidance of this particular vice. He didn’t want her to sin in any way anymore. He was calling her to repentance and conversion. He wanted her to change her life. He was accepting of her as a person, but he wasn’t accepting of her life choices. Jesus is all about love, and love is oftentimes telling people that what they are doing is jeopardizing their chance for salvation.

We can show mercy to ourselves as well. And we should. Mercy is moving on and not dwelling on the past. As we heard in our first reading today, “Remember not the things of the past. See, I am doing something new!”

And from St. Paul,
“forgetting what lies behind 
but straining forward to what lies ahead, 
I continue my pursuit toward the goal, 
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.”

Showing mercy to yourself means you don’t hang onto your mistakes. Just as we shouldn’t hold grudges against others, we shouldn’t cling to our guilt. We must forgive ourselves and always look forward.

Experiencing Jesus Christ in our lives, especially when we feel the lowest and most worthless, is an uplifting thing. He never condemns us, but he knows how we feel when we sin. He knows our shame. He more than anyone else knows the reality of sin and how deadly it can be. He gently corrects us and sees beyond our behavior, because that’s what you do when you love somebody.

He takes our face in his hands and lifts it up to his. He looks into our eyes and shows us the depths of his love. Think of how that woman must have felt that day. Think of how Jesus’ mercy must have not only have saved her life but transformed it. Think about that the next time you are given the opportunity to show mercy to someone. Will you be Jesus to them?

Think about that the next time you require mercy. Will you be willing to change?

 

Burning Bush


3rd Sunday of Lent

Cycle C

How did you first encounter God?

Everyone at some time or another experiences the presence of God in their lives. Even atheists do; they just don’t recognize or acknowledge it. Sometimes it is a strong, life-changing experience, like Moses experienced in today’s first reading. God does reveal himself to us boldly and miraculously. Moses saw God face-to-face, and it caused him to turn away in fear and awe.

For Moses, this encounter with God for the first time changed the direction of his life forever. No more would he be a simple shepherd in the desert, worried only about his family and surviving day-to-day in the desert. God called Moses to a very important task. He was to change the course not only of Hebrew history, but ours as well. Moses was called and he could have said no. But his yes to that call has had repercussions for thousands of years.

These types of experiences are actually not that uncommon. We read all the time about people who allow God to change the course of their lives. St. Francis of Assisi’s vision in the chapel of San Damiano. St. Juan Diego’s encounter with the Blessed Virgin. The election of Pope Saint John XXIII. There are thousands of stories of people who have literally been forced to see the face of God, and all are given a choice at that point. Do they answer that call or go on with their lives as before.

We remember those who have answered yes because they go on to change the world. There are probably many, many more who turned away from God’s call and we may never know the consequences of their refusal for their or our lives. I believe that each and every human being will encounter God is some meaningful way in their lives, and all of us will be given the choice of what to do with our lives afterwards.

I just saw the movie, Risen. I highly recommend it. It is a story of miraculous encounters with the risen Christ. Each of the characters, from the apostles to Pontius Pilate to the Roman tribune are touched by the reality that the Nazarene has been raised. And it is life changing for each of them in different ways.

You see, once you experience the reality of the risen Christ your life will never be the same. Even if you reject him you will feel the effects of that rejection. One path leads to joy and peace, and sacrifice and usually suffering. The other leads also to sacrifice and suffering, but without the joy and peace.

For over 25 years I have had the privilege of walking alongside over 150 adults who have answered the call to become Catholic. Each of them has a unique story of their call. Some are dramatic. Some have gone through some horrific experiences. Some have battled some pretty strong demons. But all have one thing in common: they all were looking for that personal encounter with God. Something had called them to the Church, but it wasn’t until they experienced the touch of Jesus that they felt they had made the right decision. It wasn’t until then that they felt at home.

We may call these encounters conversion experiences, and they are, but for most of us our conversions are much more subtle. We encounter God in the stuff or our everyday lives, many, many times, and each encounter requires a response from us to God’s outreach.

Most of us experience God in the simple things all around us. A newborn child, a lover’s kiss, the awesome beauty of a landscape, a sunrise or sunset. Most of us don’t have life shattering encounters with our God. Most of us encounter Him in countless little ways throughout the days of our lives. I think actually those encounters are the most lasting and the strongest. Because they build upon one another.

You know what we call these daily encounters with God? Grace. Grace is simply God touching our lives in some way. Sometimes His grace is strong and obvious, like on your wedding day or when you held your firstborn for the first time. Sometimes it hits you over the head like a rock. We can be shaken, like Moses was, when we encounter God for the first time. It can be life-changing and can re-direct our lives in ways we never imagined.

Has that ever happened to you? Has something soul-shaking ever happened to you? I often see it in families who have suffered the sudden loss of a loved one, or who have sickness thrust upon them. Times like that force us to focus on the fact that we are ultimately not in control of our lives, no matter how much we want to believe that. But what usually happens is that when we finally release our grip God takes over. We each have or own burning bush. We each have that one encounter that changes everything. The call of God burns like that bush, but while it may consume us, it never destroys us.

Grace builds upon grace. It never diminishes, it only gets stronger. Just like the road to perdition is built upon many, many small rejections of God’s grace. Most of us are never given a single opportunity to accept or reject God. We are given thousands.

Lent is the perfect time to encounter the risen Christ. How have you been preparing for that encounter? Have you taken the time to pray, fast and give alms this Lenten season? Have you taken advantage of the most awesome example of God’s grace, to see the Lord face-to-face in the confessional? You see, the most obvious result of saying yes to God’s call is to change your life. We are all called to repentance, each and every day. Conversion requires repentance. We must first see ourselves for who we truly are, coldly and honestly, before we can accept the burning fire of God’s love in our lives.

And while that conversion experience is a very personal one, it will also affect those around you. Like Moses and all the saints, once they said yes they changed. They changed their view of themselves, they changed their view of God, and they then went out and changed the world. Will you do the same?