Growing up, I had a best friend who was into extreme sports:
BMX bikes, rollerblading, and skate boarding.
And of course, because he was my best friend, I too had similar
interests; EXCEPT for skate boarding.
I saw too many times my friend go one way, while the board went the
other. But alas, I cracked into peer
pressure when he asked me to try it. The ground was level, nothing tricky. But my
fear became a reality, the board went one way while I went the other with the
back of my head hitting the concrete ground.
It was the last time I stepped onto a skate board. It was also when I discovered the simple fact:
that separation can hurt; especially if you are being separated from something
you should really remain connected too!
I bring this because painful separations our involved in our
readings this weekend. The first
reading, which is quoted in our Gospel as well, is talking about two of the
twelve tribes of Israel: Zebulun and Naphtali.
They were the two furthest northern tribes of Israel and they were also
the first two tribes to fall away from Israel.
In total, 10 out of the 12 would eventually fall from their faith and
covenant with God. You can imagine terrible
pain that occurred from the separation which involved war, but also the pain of
a spiritual separation from God.
Division and separation wasn’t something that just happened
in the Old Testament either, it continued even into the New Testament. St. Paul warns the community of Corinth not to
be divided by leadership, but to be united by the Cross of Christ! Here is a community that just accepted the
great news of Jesus Christ and it didn’t take long for them to seek division
and separation. The thing is, if we are truly
honest with ourselves, we can see that the readings are speaking directly to us
today! We our being challenged to seek unity and healing in a world, nation,
city, family, and even within our own hearts filled with division and
hate. This healing can’t be done by us, but only
by the Love and the Cross of Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.