A homily for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 21, 2020
Jer 20:10-13, Rom 5:12-15, Mt 10:26-33
It’s officially summer. It’s Father’s Day. The Church has returned — for a long stretch — to Ordinary Time, a quieter time in the liturgical calendar. The green vestments are back indoors, just as green leaves are back outdoors. (The pollen too, but oh well.)
All’s right with the world. There’s joy in Heaven and on Earth.
Oh, wait.
These are not ordinary Ordinary times.
Yes, in New Jersey and other states, the economy and life in general are awakening from their enforced springtime hibernation. But nothing is — or ever will be — the same as it was before.
Except with those people we’re most intimately related to, we stay two meters apart (see how international that is?). Handshakes, which were invented to prove men were not holding swords or daggers, and which for many people morphed into macho power displays … passé. Even gentle grips and loving hugs are out, and a recent poll of epidemiologists found that almost 10% of them will never shake or embrace again.
Wow.
Elbow-bumps and nods indefinitely.
The ankle-clack from Asia didn’t catch on, but the Far Eastern deep bow makes tremendous sense now.
All because the coronavirus is still running rampant, and far more people have it, or have had it, or will have it at some point, than we can count.
Everyone speaks of a New Normal, but more and more the New Normal looks like an Evolving Normal, a Frontier of Normal. That is, at the very, very, very least, unsettling. People may say Change is Good, but few people really believe it.
For us in the parish, the most obvious changes come in how we gather for Mass and other liturgies. Fewer of the faithful, physically distanced, a little less in emotional or social communion with each other. Our Amens cannot resound and thunder; our hymns and songs stay in our hearts. The love we share must be displayed in our eyes and in how our ears rise a little when we smile.
And that’s OK. We are Church, and after a 100-day lockdown, we know how to touch each other’s hearts without touching.
We’ve received the Holy Spirit anew at Pentecost, and daily through our increasingly private prayers. Our Eucharist was spiritual-only for three or four months, and may remain so for a while longer until we are comfortable with being in an indoor gathering space. Or we may share communion again, masks off briefly, receiving the consecrated bread that is the body and blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The New Normal, for individuals. But what of our call to evangelize?
Fortunately, we have the technology that let us work from home and brought Amazon to our front door every other day. We FaceTimed, Skyped and Zoomed with friends and family occasionally, but did we talk about our Triune God with anybody?
Or did we obey the “no sex, religion or politics” rule in our conversations?
When we posted or reposted or retweeted, were any of the items of a spiritual or religious nature? Cats, dogs and rabbits snuggling don’t count, though that is a glorification of God’s incredible Creation.
What are we doing to root out systemic racism in the areas we have influence over? Or even the areas where we have little influence at all?
Remember, Jesus was not a member of the Sanhedrin, but he made disciples where the Jewish elites could not. And he has told us to go and do likewise.
Was every post or repost or retweet during the stay-at-home charitable? Kind? Did we think through the total meaning and consequences, looking for hidden agendas that fail miserably the WWJD test?
With this reopening, we have come to a fork in the road. If we liked the way things were, we can try to reset the clock and forget everything we may have pondered in the last 100 days. Or we can choose a different direction, to weed and prune and plant afresh and use this opportunity to literally renew the face of the earth. To renew our relationship with all of humanity and recognize everyone as a brother or sister. To renew our relationship with God.
To make Normal truly New. Because it’s a gift from God.
Another gift from God
Thank you, loving God, for all our fathers, grandfathers, godfathers, father figures and other men who have shaped our lives. Bless them and protect them, grant them love and joy on Earth, and welcome them home to their heavenly rewards when it is or was their time.
And if they do happen to be at the heavenly banquet with you, please mention to them that we miss them.
Amen.
