Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
A story that came to mind when I read the Scriptures of this day. I so wish it was a happy story but it is not. Still, I will tell it. A close friend of mine passed away several years ago. He had an older brother and a younger sister. Their parents, staunch evangelical Christians, decided they were called to be missionaries in South America when their three children were teenagers living in a Midwestern town. They decided to leave the kids in their family home and move to South America following what they felt as their 'call' from Jesus. The eldest brother was barely 18 years old and charged with the care his two younger siblings. While I do not want to pass judgement, I have always found myself doing so. These three young people suffered greatly; their lives reflect the pain of their abandonment. I am completely baffled by how they reached their decision. From whom did they seek counsel and how did they justify such a grave decision? More than that, I am haunted they made their decision based upon their Christianity and in the name of Jesus.
In today's Gospel, Jesus heals a man, possessed of many demons, who was unable to live in his community. The nearby swineherd came to a terrible end by leaping off a cliff to their death as the demons Jesus withdrew from the man entered those swine. The man Jesus healed pleaded to 'remain with him'. Jesus told him 'Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you'. Jesus knew how this man was called to faithfully witness to Jesus; he knew this man was meant to serve his immediate family and within his immediate community. Jesus knew precisely how this man was called to serve the Kingdom and Jesus told him so.
When we recognize our call from Jesus, we can become very zealous, just as the cured man in the Gospel. Not always,
but sometimes our zealotry can lead us astray. We may find ourselves saying 'yes' indiscriminately to whatever appeals or seems urgent at the moment. The intense joy and conviction of the man cured by Jesus needed firm direction and Jesus knew this; he told the man his place was exactly where he was—with his family and in his community. Rarely are any of us called to faraway places or even religious life. Most of us are called to serve, in love, exactly where we find ourselves in the ordinary circumstances of everyday life.
A few years ago, my precious friend passed way due to complications related to alcoholism. His younger sister took her own life before the age of fifty and the oldest son struggles with substance abuse and ongoing relationship problems. While I realize this story is extreme, it does demonstrate the point that when I turn my life over to Jesus, it no longer matters what I want…it is only about what Jesus wants. I am no longer in control. Just as critical is the involvement of my faith community is in my discernment process. This day I pray we all be guided by the Lord and only by his love and truth. May we also remember that following Jesus, though radical, is always expressed within the context of community.
--Gail Lyman