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» In Light of Faith
 
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A, April 20, 2008
by Ann Ruggaber
A friend bought an old rural house a few years ago. He set about refurbishing the inside and building an addition with more rooms as he envisioned a country manor that would offer hospitality to all.
Alas, well into the project, it was discovered that defective building materials had weakened the foundation, so that it could not support the building, causing walls to crack, floors to buckle, and the frame to sag.
The problem had to be addressed, or the whole house would eventually fall.
That unfortunate situation might serve as an image as we reflect on the readings for the fifth Sunday of Easter. We tend to think of the early Church as a harmonious group who shared all things and were known for their love of one another.
The first reading from Acts bursts the bubble of that idyllic picture as it tells of the discord between two ethnic groups of Christians caused by the perception that one group got more favorable treatment than the other. The apostles were distracted by the strife and had to stop their ministry of preaching to address it.
Energy that should have gone into the work of the Kingdom was spent instead on petty jealousies.
In the second reading, Peter tells the early Christians and us that we are to be as living stones, built into a spiritual house, the Church.
We are called together in unity to encounter the Risen Christ and carry his presence to the world. Peter reminds us of our high calling as those baptized into the life of Christ. We are “a chosen race, a holy nation, a people of His own.”
Why have we been called and chosen? So that we may “announce the praises of him who called us out of darkness into His own wonderful light.”
Inevitably tensions will arise in the Church and threaten the strength of the spiritual house, which, like my friend’s home, is only as strong as its foundation.
The Church today has its own rivalries, factions, and self-centered behaviors that threaten to tear communities apart. Members oppose one another; turf is claimed and protected; favoritism is charged.
Such divisions draw attention and energy away from the work of the Kingdom, just as in the early Church. Sometimes it happens within parishes, sometimes between parishes or ministries, as they compete for resources, favor, or prestige.
Peter clearly sees us as one spiritual house, not as separate parts, one pulling the other down as with my friend’s house.
We are not called into the light simply to save ourselves, to get our own place that Jesus is preparing for us.
No, we are called to participate as a community in bringing the Good News of new life to the whole world.
Whenever there is competition and divisiveness among us, our spiritual house is weakened and our mission unfulfilled. We are called to live as a people of the light so that others will be drawn to Christ’s light.
If we are to be the Church Peter described and the Church Jesus intended, we need always to keep ourselves focused on Jesus who is, as the Gospel reading proclaims, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If we lose sight of that, we will be poor stones indeed, damaging the whole house.
What kind of building material are we going to be for the spiritual house?
Will we be living stones, full of the Christ life, bonded together to bring the presence of Christ to a fractured world, or will we be cold, lifeless, misshapen stones that separate and weaken the whole?
Which way will we choose — the Way of Truth and Life, or the way of deception and destruction?
The choice is put before us in today’s readings.
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A savage act of cruelty
by Mary Hood Hart
My daughter Anna, 16, is on spring break this week.
Last evening, shortly after I said goodbye to Anna as she and some friends headed out the door to play laser tag, I went to the computer and read a news story about similar teenage girls, who, on their spring break in Florida, viciously attacked one of their peers and videotaped the assault with the intention of posting the video to their My Space pages.
Before reading about it on the Internet, I had heard about the assault and was disturbed by it, but what I hadn’t counted on was how horrifying I would find the video of the attack, not just because of the violence.
I was horrified because what would normally be an ordinary, typical gathering of teen-age girls was revealed to be a calculated, cold-blooded assault.
Included in the on-line story were mug shots of the young perpetrators, shots oddly reminiscent of yearbook photos. I haven’t read Stephen King’s novels, but the attack in Florida seemed like something his fiction might contain.
Indeed, the nature of horror is to take the mundane, the ordinary, and reveal a twisted, violent dimension. From that definition, the attack in Florida had all the elements of a horror story.
When a troubling event like this happens, I ask myself if it is an aberration or a symptom of something deeper, something seriously wrong in our society.
It behooves us all, but parents in particular, to reflect on this attack and how it may reveal to us problems we must address in the way children are being raised. We may comfort ourselves with the assurance that our own children would never commit such brutality, but that assurance rings hollows when we recognize that our children are part of a generation who commit acts that we as youth would never have dreamed of.
A sheriff in Florida described the attack as “animalistic” and that word when applied to teen-aged girls is particularly strange and frightening.
The word connotes acting from an instinctive amorality, responding more from impulse than reason. It’s clear from watching the video that the girls involved in the attack had no empathy for the victim.
They were more concerned with satisfying their lust for revenge (for a perceived wrong-doing) and the creation of an “interesting” video than in the injury and pain they were inflicting on a girl they once considered a friend. What makes this attack more than animalistic is that it was planned.
Since the incident, some blame has been placed on MySpace and Facebook and other Internet sites that can spawn a bullying mentality. No doubt, how our children interact on these sites needs careful monitoring. Yet we know that most young people, my own children included, who participate in these popular sites don’t become violent.
While it is tempting to blame technology and media for their damaging influence, I don’t see these Internet sites as the cause of our problems.
Rather they serve as avenues for the expression of a cruelty already present in the personality of some of our youth.
While it is of value to monitor these sites, our biggest concern should be in addressing why we are raising young people who seem to find nothing wrong with being cruel. Perhaps one of the causes of this cruelty is that some parents fail to form their children’s character because they do not see character building as their primary responsibility. They see their primary responsibility to be providers, instead of teachers and role models.
From this view, the members of the family are consumers, and they develop an “I deserve” mentality.
I deserve material wealth.
I deserve attention.
I deserve rewards.
I deserve good grades.
I deserve recognition.
I deserve respect.
I deserve …fill in the blank. (Note the emphasis on the pronoun “I.”)
This narcissistic way of viewing the world creates in young people a fierce and profound sense of entitlement (fueled by their parents, but permeating through all of our consumer culture). When someone or something gets in the way of what they are convinced they deserve, they lash out, sometimes to the point of violence.
Indeed, often they believe the victim(s) “deserved” the treatment they received. (Note the comments from a mother of one of the Florida perpetrators who, in an interview, said the victim was partly responsible for the attack)
This sense of entitlement has permeated every spectrum of society from those living in poverty to the middle class to the very rich (and famous).
While this mindset is revealed in cruelty and senseless violence, it can also be revealed in cheating, stealing, or doing whatever else it takes to get what they want and, sadly, have been convinced they deserve.
As Christian parents we are commissioned to be so much more than providers. We take seriously our role as teachers and offer our children a Gospel perspective. We know we must be countercultural when it comes to consumerism and the pervasive “me-first” mentality. We nurture empathy in our children, and we teach them self-giving over self-gratification.
Often we feel as if our efforts are being swept away in a riptide of consumerism and corruption, but, for the love of God and all His children, we persevere.
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Pruning shears and rain clouds
by Barbara Hughes
This week has been unseasonably cold for spring. On the heels of five straight days of overcast skies and intermittent rain, I woke this morning to a foggy mist that promised more of the same. Understandably, I found myself longing for a few rays of sunshine. However, after the draught like conditions of last summer, I overcame the impulse to complain.
Then, as I was driving home from church, I suddenly realized that the rain had brought the grass and trees to life. Red bud trees flaunted majestic flora and the forsythias dotted the landscape with splashes of gold.
It caused me to ponder the wonder of God. The divine gardener is at work bringing all things to the fullness for which they were created in the midst of the lovely and the not-so-lovely, the good times and the bad, the sunshine and the rain. In many ways nature reflects life, or is it that life reflects nature? Regardless of the sequence, there are similarities that can be drawn.
It’s easy to be upbeat, to praise God and rejoice when divine approval seems to smile on our every effort. But, where’s the faith and virtue in that? As the lives of the saints confirm, the storm clouds are every bit as necessary for spiritual growth as the sunshine. In fact, they are even more important for they strengthen our faith and lead us into the Paschal Mystery.
During the Easter season, the readings from the Acts of the Apostles play a dominant role in the liturgical readings. They invite us to journey with the early Christians in those post Resurrection days. As I reflect on them, one thing is clear. Suffering was not banished from their lives because Jesus rose from the dead. Danger and uncertainty continued to follow them. But what had changed was their understanding of the law of love that had preciously eluded them. And it’s the law of love that serves as a hallmark for the New Testament and a benchmark for spiritual growth.
Authentic love always contains a sacrificial dimension. Disappointment and suffering are to the spiritual life what grey skies and pruning are to plant life. The preverbal cloud that rains on our parade may cause some distress, but if we remain steadfast, it will ultimately deepen our faith, taking it beyond the level of emotion and transforming it into an act of the will.
When well orchestrated plans are cut short, they can be likened to pruning shears that cut away self-interest and cause us to re-evaluate our motives. Each cut is vital for they prepare the branch to support new growth. Unless a tree receives rain, it will dry up and unless a shrub is pruned occasionally, it may grow tall, but will lack the stature and fullness of one that is cared for under the watchful eye of an experienced gardener.
Jesus referred to us as branches and the analogy seems especially meaningful at this time of the year. As new shoots emerge from branches that were pruned during the latent growth stage and buds glisten in the rain, they serve as reminders that we are called to open our arms and receive in faith all that God gives, trusting that in time it will help renew the earth.
When the unexpected happens, when efforts are misunderstood or go unrewarded, rather than grow bitter, it can be a time to rejoice for the Master Gardener has something better in store for us. Like the plants that are being pruned in the winter, we are called to believe that God is inviting us to be part of a landscape that will make His love bloom and cause others to admire His work.
A pruned bush rarely causes people to stop and admire it along the way, but when new growth breaks forth and blossoms give way to fruit in due season, hearts rejoice. While it’s easy to be grateful when we experience the fruit of God’s love, being a disciple calls us to believe and give thanks when hearts are aching and when the clouds of doubt tempt us to walk away.
Life is cyclical, yet remains unpredictable. War and famine, financial insecurity and failing health remind us that suffering exists even during the Easter season. The empty cross may be draped with white and adorned with flowers, but it is still there, reminding us that it will always be part of the journey.
If we are faithful in good times and in bad, our cross, in due season, will become a sign of triumph. The seemingly dead wood will cause virtues of patience and compassion and perseverance to flower and in the process, we will bloom. The Easter Mystery reminds us that the best is yet to come, that summer is just around the corner and that the sunshine of God’s love may be hidden by a storm cloud or two but it is always there.
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