Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
Ps 19 8-15
I Cor 12:12-30
Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21
A basic truth when studying scripture is that one cannot understand the New Testament without first understanding the Old. It is impossible to know the New Testament without knowing the Old Testament, the long compilation of the history of the People of the Covenant and a rich treasury of prayers.
Nehemiah was written in the fifth century before Christ. The book details the story of a people returned from a long exile. They were confused. They had no knowledge of the Torah. They were oblivious of the covenant between God and his people.
When Nehemiah learned that the wall surrounding Jerusalem had been destroyed he vowed to rebuild it. When the reconstruction of Jerusalem's wall was complete, all the people: men, women, and children above a certain age, were summoned before Ezra who read and interpreted the Torah to them.
The people wept when they heard words of the Law. They wept because they realized their guilt in not upholding the law of the Lord. They were overcome with sorrow. However, Ezra did not condemn them. In his mercy he told them not to weep. but to eat, drink, and celebrate for the day was holy to the Lord.
Paul's letter is important, particularly when one considers today's hysterical and occasionally delusional social climate. Each of us has been given unique gifts. We have not been given identical gifts. Our task is to discover and develop the gifts unique to each of us rather than pining for those we do not have and will never be able to develop.
“. . . a body is one though it has many parts . . .” This is an important idea to which Paul will return. Certain sectors of society deny the possibility, to say nothing of the reality, of differences and distinctions. Indeed, there are concerted attempts to erase them, even when those difference are biologically determined
and cannot be legitimately modified or maintained. This mode of thinking is nothing more than an extreme version of particularity with a grandiose and narcissistic sense of specialness. Each individual or faction insists that his, her, or its specialness is the most special of all specialness and thus deserves precedence if not pride of place. Statements to the contrary generally result in the equivalent of a shrieked, "My equality trumps your equality" followed by the invention of a new 'ism' or 'phobia' to throw about. This may be followed by a ranting talk show appearance demanding an apology with public penance.
As recent events have shown, we have made no progress since the Salem Witch trials that took place a mere 73 miles north of Boston. Indeed, American society
seems to be regressing to the same mean as the hysterical accusers of 1692.
When feeling is allowed to trump fact, when political correctness is given precedence over basic science and reality, we are in serious trouble as a society. And we are.
Medical students hear amusing anecdotes about the struggle for supremacy within the body. Most of these can never be shared in sacred space or in front of one’s parents. The general outline is a debate in which each of the body's organs or organ systems is arguing about which of them is the most important;
to the life, comfort, and well-being of the individual. But you know what?
There is no supreme organ or organ system. No capo di tutti capi. There is no pope of the body. Each of the body's organs and systems is equally necessary for normal function and survival. The lungs cannot do the work of the liver.
The liver cannot do the work of the heart. The pancreas cannot do the work of the kidneys no matter how much it might want to identify as a kidney. And nothing can cover and protect the body except the skin. If any vital organ or organ system is seriously damaged or malfunctional, the entire body is at risk of death. It really is that simple.
None of us is the social or biological equivalent of a stem cell that is pluripotent.
None of us can be anything he or she wants to be, depending only upon our dreams, our passions, or, to use an unfortunate term from the past, following our bliss. We cannot decide to be whatever we "identify ourselves to be" particularly when that violates both natural law and the dictates of human physiology. The saying "you can be whatever you want to be" is one of the greatest lies in the long history of lying.
We all have specific genetic endowments. We all have unique cognitive strengths and weaknesses. We all have assets and liabilities. We are all limited in some ways and strong in others. The only thing we have in common is that we are sinners. No exceptions.
The comforting news is that we are sinners equally loved by God. That is the only equality any of us will ever know.
___________________________________________________
There was a period when I was covering a parish down near the Rhode Island border. It was not far from Horseneck Beach,a beautiful Massachusetts State Park. The photos below are from November several years ago. November and beyond is my favorite time on a beach.
Fr Jack, SJ, MD
No comments:
Post a Comment