The Penitent Man Shall Pass

One of the most memorable scenes for me in the movie Indiana Jones The Last Crusade was the one where Indiana began to figure out the first trap.  The tension had built to a climax as his father lay dying on the ground from a gunshot wound, the Nazi antagonists were waiting in the wings to kill

him, several of the corpses of those who had attempted this quest laying on the ground around him.  As the air begins to swirl again, Indiana began to mutter to himself over and over, "The penitent man shall pass."  It was only when he realized that a penitent man was one who was on his knees before God, that he dropped into a humble position, quickly dodging the nearly invisible saw blade, performed a back flip, and then snagged the whole apparatus with a very conveniently placed rope. 

As I meditated upon the readings for tomorrow (Oct 14th, 2015), that word impenitent jumped out at me reminding me of this heroic scene.  In both the first reading and the gospel we see people being reminded of the need for not just justice, but also for mercy.   That the core of Jesus message is to bring about a metanoia experience in which the person turns from their former ways and experiences true conversion.   True conversion brings about not just a spiritual, internal change, but an outward change expressed in and through good works.

Then Jesus hears from another voice crying out, but Lord your word cuts me to the quick, surely you don't mean me as well?  To which Jesus quickly affirms "Woe also to you[..]! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them."  Jesus makes sure to call out to all of those in his audience who aren't living an authentic life, one tempered in covenantal love.  He calls out to us to express our relationship with God in good works, in loving one another, in being merciful because we remember the mercy with which God has already showered each and everyone of us.

As I watch the news and read my different social media, I see so much going on in the world that shows not only a lack of justice but also a great lack of mercy.  We see refugees being expelled from their country, Christians being martyred and crucified, fleeing refugees being refused entry and even basic necessities out of the inconvenience that might cause any nation that chooses to accept them.  We see people proclaiming each and every immigrant to be a thug, a vandal, a radical adherent to a religion... guilty of some subterfuge or plotting to destroy the nation from within.

Maybe some of them are indeed that sort of person.  What though of the women?  The children?  The

young?  The widow and the orphan?  The broken and down trodden?  How do we justify the refusal to feed and clothe the least of these while also proclaiming to be Catholic? Then again do we have to look so far from home and into such an extreme to find the lack of justice?  What of the man on the corner who asks for money?  Have we not become so jaded that often we don't give him money, money that is only ours by the grace of God, because we fear what he might do with it?  Do we fret over the neighbor who parked his car in front of our drive? Or the team mate who did not pass the basketball but scored his own basket?  

There are too many missed opportunities out there to show God's mercy and justice to others.  We have a lot of work to do in this world.  We pray daily that His kingdom come and His will be done, but do we truly mean it?  After all, as Mother Teresa said, “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.  We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.”   I pray that we will open our hearts to God's mercy and justice, that we might hear "Well done my good and faithful servant," and not  “Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”

In Christ,
Brian

The Last Supper

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1 Corinthians 11 -
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes

I was reading last night as I was trying to find sleep, and I turned to one of the more famous instances in the New Testament. When Jesus was breaking bread at the last supper, and passing it out to his disciples. I began to meditate on what it meant and exactly how we were to think of it. Of course I realize this is the basis for Communion, and I find that a beautiful thing. However, my mind begin to mull over other things as well.

When we look at this many of us just see it as institution of Communion, but there was so much history behind the event that we often overlook. The Last Supper was actually passover, and as such they were eating the unleavened bread that the Israelites had to quickly make when fleeing from Egypt. They were celebrating their liberation from Egypt! They were now free. Yet they were also slaves of another sort, slaves to the law. The law was our way of being like God. He showed us right and wrong in 10 simple commandments. Yet, as the Bible tells us, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We have trouble with our flesh and often sin against God. We are slaves to sin.

So how does one rectify this? Jesus did that for us. You see when the angel passed over the Israelites in Egypt it knew the people not to touch, based on the blood of a spotless lamb, whose bones had not been broken, painted on the door frames of the home. The angel of the Lord did not pass judgment on the people who were covered by that innocent lambs blood. Jesus then went to the cross to provide for us that same covering. Now when the we are standing before God in judgement, he passes over us because we are covered with the blood of the Lamb (those of us who choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour).

Thus the Last Supper becomes a celebration of a Christian Passover. We know that the body and blood was shed for us, that the meal we are partaking of is a celebration of our liberation. Liberation from what? From the Law! We are no longer slaves to sin, God has freed us from that. We are now beings of the spirit, that live based on what is good and right! Does that mean that we can break the 10 commandments? No. The 10 commandments are still God's judgment, and we are to live as close as we can to them, not because we have to, but because we love Him and want to be holy and sanctified before him. We however have a savior who will carry that weight of addiction, that weight of lustfulness, that weight of gluttony. He will help us to overcome the flesh, because we definitely aren't doing such a great job on our own.

Then it struck me. There was another message in Jesus' offering. He said as often as you do this, do this in memory of me. Many of us take that to mean that communion is done in his memory, and every time we do communion it should be done with great honor and reverence to God for his gift. I agree. However, we should also see that Jesus wants us to be ready to give our body and our blood for our brothers and sisters, not of our own accord but in memory of him, for God's glory. You and I should love one another enough that if it were possible, we would go to the cross for each other. That we would spill our blood to save one another. That we would live as a living reminder to all others, not of ourself, but of Jesus. Walking in active Communion with God at all times, not just once a week or however often you may celebrate this sacrament.

That opens my eyes to a reality, that I may not be able to live up to that standard. That I may not have the courage to step in front of a gunman to protect someone else, that I do not even know. That I may not have the nerve to dive on a bomb, to protect a crowded subway from it's detonation. It is then that I realize the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. The sacrifice where he went to the death of a sinner, of a thief, for people he didn't even know. People who weren't even born yet. It is then that I realize that I need the blood of passover more than ever.

I pray that each of you are richly blessed, and that God will look on you with favor.

In Christ,
Brian