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Sts. Joseph & Paul Catholic Church |
Homily Archives | |
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Mary, Mother of God –
Solemnity This past Thursday, just two days after Christmas, dozens of Orthodox and American priests came together in Bethlehem at the Church of the Nativity, which is thought to stand over the birthplace of Jesus. At first, we may think they came together to pray, but, in reality, these two groups hold long-standing rivalries, and prayer is far from their historical experience together.
But traditionally,
during the first week of January, these two groups gather in this church
to celebrate Christmas and commemorate the birth of Jesus. To prepare for
these celebrations, these groups of priests come together to clean the
church after the thousands of tourist had been there for the Christmas
Masses. But instead of using their brooms to sweep the floor, and their
mops and buckets to wash it down, they turned their brooms and mops on
each other, as violence erupted during this holiday cleaning.
Over the centuries, great tension has existed in this church between the different parties who celebrate mass there, and any perceived intrusion from one group onto another can ignite terrible feuds and even fights. This is exactly what happened as 50 Greek Orthodox and 30 American priests threw brooms, mops, buckets and even rocks in this holy place. The brawl was so intense that the Palestinian police, armed with batons and shields, had to be called in to separate the two sides and bring about enough peace so that the cleaning could continue. As the story ends, four priests, with blood running down their faces, were wounded in the fighting. I am proud to report that, in the days after Christmas, vacuums, brooms and mops were used to clean up after the hundreds who worshipped in our church during Christmas, and the post-holiday cleaning has been relatively peaceful. However, as we gather at the end of an old year and the beginning of a New Year, churches, communities, governments, and nations look to gain new insights on peace. Is peace just another buzzword that leaders use today to gain national or political notoriety? Is there any hope left for peace in a world that is rocked by deplorable bouts of violence almost daily? A violence that we see not only in foreign lands on the evening news, but a violence that we see in our own land in the forms of homicide, poverty, intolerance for people of color, a prejudice against immigrants, an unwillingness to slow consumerism and conserve the earth’s natural recourses, a self-centered desire to improve our own lives while we let the needy fall between the widening cracks, and a selfishness that accepts the termination of a child’s life through an abortion. Traditionally at New Year’s, we make resolutions that are intended to improve our lives. I wonder, though, if the word resolution has become just another buzzword to have something to talk about with others at this time of the year? Many of us make resolutions, but do we really intend to keep them? As church, we gather at New Year’s to celebrate the solemn occasion of the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God. Mary is an unassuming, but faithful, disciple of Christ for us to look towards to find true peace in this New Year. She not only surrendered herself to God’s peace, but she brought forth our peace as she gave birth to Jesus, the one who would save the world and bring peace and good will to all. The word January comes from the Roman god Janus, a god who had two faces: one faced the old year, and one faced the New Year. In looking back at the old year, we see many places where peace was disrupted by violence; in looking ahead to the New Year, what do we see? If we desire to see peace, then that must be our resolve. We must become more like Mary in this New Year. She looked back and reflected on what God had done for her, but she also looked ahead to see the great potential that her son, Jesus, would bring to the world. The true church is not the buildings, or the stones, or even the holy places in history. A true church is not one that brooms and mops keep clean and neat. A true Church is the people who gather in them today, be it American or Greek Orthodox priests, or us, who not only celebrate in them and keep them clean, but who also worship in them and keep alive the promise of peace in word and in action and resolve through our reception of Jesus Christ to live as people of peace.
sdrose@bellsouth.net |
