November 30, 2022 at 6:53 p.m.
Dance into the fire!
Dance into the fire!
The devil is always at work in the temptation to quit, to give up on a good thing. There is a story from a mid-19th century band of pioneers, prospectors seeking their future in the West, whose remains were found in a cave where they despaired, literally moments away from finding their lode. Evidence shows that had they chipped through the wall only a few more inches, they would have discovered the gold ore they had been seeking.
This is no time to abandon our faith! Never has the joy and peace and healing union our faith offers been more needed. These are the fruits of Advent, the liturgical season we have just embarked on. The theme of Advent is, of course, patience – waiting for the Lord to manifest himself. This is so counterculture as to be almost revolutionary. Practically everything going on right now is a temptation for us to hurry up, rush the adornments, stuff every stocking and fill every quiet space with noise, breathlessly making “Christmas” happen, when the whole point of it is the One who comes to us unexpectedly, humbly and in the lowliest places, a manger, surrounded by animals, seen only by those among the lowest classes of society, the shepherds of the fields.
This is the same One who said, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing” (Lk 12:49). What is this fire of which our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, prophesies? Is it the rage of a crazed revolutionary who wants to “burn the house down?” Such aimless and destructive passion is more reminiscent of the loser apparent in a children’s game who, realizing he is sorely behind, decides to self-destruct and mess up the whole board, preferring to end the game rather than admit defeat. Jesus did not come to tell us everything is over, but rather to inspire us to rise up with new hope that victory is within our reach. He is the restorer of lost hopes and the fulfillment of our deepest longings.
In this week’s edition of The Evangelist, you will find an article by Bishop Robert Barron entitled “4 ways to grow the Church.” (See story at r.) You may be surprised that his suggestions are so simple, even inclined to say, “why didn’t we think of that sooner?” — though you probably did. What he offers is more of a reminder of what we sense is true but are often afraid to admit. Our faith — the Gospel message — is incredibly attractive!
I remember, in my early priesthood, a man approached me after a funeral and said, “don’t just keep the faith, spread it!” He went on to observe that Jesus must have been a very joyful person to be near because, as we deduce from his attractiveness to children (remember his disciples wanted to dismiss them), he must have been a very happy man: children do not follow cranky people.
In a recent interview, Pope Francis noted that our faith (to paraphrase) is not about pronouncing stern judgments on the world, denouncing people’s lives so much as presenting them with something wonderful to live for. It is not so much about what we are against as what we are called to live FOR. Jesus offers alternatives to a world that is so full of delusion, division and depression. This is not to say — need we be reminded? — that there are not many things that are wrong, even evil, in the world. Just pointing them out, however, without offering a way out will do little more than add to the discouragement and despair. This is exactly what the devil wants: to tempt us to give up, throw in the rag, and burn it all down. Sounds a lot like a description of hell!
What Jesus gives us instead is “a new commandment” — or the Beatitudes, the commandments as he teaches them. They are blessings instead of curses, each of them a vision of what the world would look like if heaven really came to earth. They are not devoid of awareness of the suffering and rejection that those who live them will encounter, but they are full of the certainty of the joy and victory that will come to those who persevere with trust and confidence. There is no better peace plan for the world than to live the Beatitudes.
A good Advent exercise would be to take a Beatitude a day and pray for the grace to live it. We can ask ourselves at the end of the day, what am I doing, what have I done to set this world on fire by preaching without words, showing the world what the light of faith looks like, incarnate in the flesh. Just like the faith that is perhaps more effectively caught than taught, fire is something that spreads. You feel it as it approaches. Its warmth is contagious, like a hearty laugh, a rollicking song or an exhilarating dance. Something you want to be near on a cold night, that attracts like that lamp which Jesus called us to, set on a stand like a lantern and not hidden away. Our faith is an invitation to dance into the fire — the fire of God’s passion for a world awakened from its addiction to the lethargy of sin and filled with the fire of God’s empowering love. Everyone is invited to come in from the cold and join in the dance.
I have heard some people complain that “the Church” is not welcoming, not inclusive. I do not want to disparage or deny that for some, maybe many, there have been real experiences in their lives whereby they felt disowned, rejected and excluded by others who call themselves Christians. As deeply as I feel moved to apologize and even confess to a feeling of shame about this – especially to survivors of various forms of abuse — I also feel just as deeply motivated to proclaim that no faith I know of is as inclusive as the one announced by One — a God man – who gave his entire life and death so that every single person might be saved, that is, find joy, healing and a fulfillment that He announces boldly as “eternal life.”
Jesus is everyone’s Savior, if we will only accept Him for who he really is: not just philosopher, a teacher, a good man, but a divine Person incarnate in human flesh who is able to reach the heart, mind and soul of anyone who confesses “Jesus is Lord.” No one will be lost who comes to the fire of this divine Love that burns away all that is deceiving us, imprisoning us or discouraging us.
Advent, too, is more than an idea, an empty series of rituals, albeit with touches of life. It is a way of being Christian — of being fully and freely human, actually. It is what happens when we dance into the fire of God’s love and discover that we are, after all, made of heaven.
Follow Bishop Scharfenberger on facebook.com/AlbanyBishopEd and on Twitter @AlbBishopEd.
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