Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

Good Question, Great Answer

Sunday morning I heard part of an interview on Krista Tippett’s program on National Public Radio. Her guest, Terry Tempest Williams, told about being asked by someone at a party, “And what do you do?” She replied, “About what?”

Intriguing answer. We all do a lot of things; that’s why a lot of us feel like there’s not enough time in the day to do it all. But is there a way to see if they tie together somehow, if all our doings are, in the last analysis, really about only one or two things? The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber wrote that living means being addressed by life, or God, or a combination of the two; and we respond by being “about” something. So, if we know what we are about, we’ll discover what we think we are being asked to do, and we’ll discover which inner or outer voice we are paying attention to.

As Lent gets gradually closer, I think I’ll give some attention to what I’ve been about. It’s also probably time to ask if God thinks I’d be better off being about something else, or the same thing but in a new way.

Traveling Together

The gospels tell us that when Jesus sent out the disciples, he told them to travel light and go in pairs. The first instruction makes sense. Don’t have a lot of things that keep you from being mobile and adaptable. Don’t take a lot of stuff with you because it will just slow you down.

But what about traveling in pairs? Can’t that sometimes slow one down, too? If your traveling companion is unpleasant, isn’t that a kind of baggage that you have to lug around? Why not get rid of that baggage, too?

Perhaps Jesus was teaching the disciples that the journey he was sending them on was one where the two people would have to learn to get along whether they naturally liked each other or not. They were supposed to be announcing the Reign of God, and one of the big things in the Reign is being open to everyone. He might have been showing them that, without living the message, there’s no point in talking about it to other people.

Winter Moon Rising

Thinking of Tucson

Now that the shootings in Tucson are playing themselves out in recoveries, hospital discharges, and (unfortunately) funerals and memorials, we may be tempted to close the book and move on. But that is most certainly a temptation.

Why? Because what happened is unfinished — unfinished in the sense that its ultimate meaning will come not just from what happened, but what we as individuals and as communities do with it. What happened lies beyond our control. What we will do is very much in our hands.

And it is there, as we make decisions about what we can do, that we will best look for God. He is part of the meaning of the Tucson events, not so much in what happened and certainly not in causing the bloodshed and suffering, but in what can come now. That is why prayer is so important for us right now and in the future, asking God that we may be open to possibilities that can come despite the evil that was done.

Post-Christmas Pondering

The liturgical Christmas season ended this year (2011) on January 9, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Lent doesn’t begin until March 9, so we have two months; but to do what?

How about doing what Mary did? According to St. Luke, Mary spent a lot of time pondering the events of Jesus’ coming. We can do the same, I think; and I suggest three things the Christmas season tell us and which bear thinking about and letting sink in.

First, Christ does come. Prophecies are fulfilled, God keeps his promises, and nothing can stop Christ from coming when the time is right.

Second, Christ can be found by those who seek him, whether shepherds or kings, rich or poor, mighty or lowly. He comes for all, not just some, and all are welcome.

Finally, Christ is often found in unexpected places like a stable, a house in an out-of-the-way village in an out-of-the-way part of the world, even in a group of people waiting to be baptized in the Jordan.

Ignatius Loyola said that it’s less important to know many things than to know a few things deeply. In the weeks before Lent, if you choose to ponder these three simple lessons, ask God to help you learn how they apply to you. And ask Mary’s help, too.