Saturday, 21 January 2017

HOLY PLACES

HOLY PLACES
Ninety years ago in Tong, a small village on Lewis, one of the outer Hebrides islands off the west coast of Scotland, the youngest of nine children of Mr and Mrs Macleod was born. Nothing unusual you say. But this child, like so many on the islands became a migrant and left her poor and remote home for the promised land of America and eventually married a man called John Trump. They had a son - yes, you have guessed right - called Donald and, as I write, he is being sworn in as the 45h President of the United States.
There are many “points” to all this but one we can dwell on for a moment is the names of places. Our home, however remote, has a name. And our district and country have names. And when we hear these names they warm our hearts and ring bells and bring back memories. In some way they identify us. I, for example, come from Tipperary and whenever I hear that name or come across it in print or hear the World War One song about it, it stirs my blood. I think that is the experience we all have. Our home is part of us and its name is a key to who we are. Names root us.  
They also launch us. Matthew opens his description of Jesus’ announcing of the arrival of the kingdom of God by saying where it happened: in the land of Zebulon and Naphtali, later known as Galilee. Galilee was the place where it all began. Jesus moved around from village to village proclaiming the good news and the people flocked to him. He backed up his words with signs, healing people and even on occasion raising them from the dead. He was intent on reinforcing the simple message that the time had come for people to change their stuck ways and embrace the full life for which they were made.
The word he used was ‘freedom’. “I have come to proclaim freedom to captives.” He reached out to people abandoned in their poverty, sickness and oppression and gave them a new hope, “Did not our hearts burn within us,” they said, “as we listened to him on the way.” This ‘burning within’ was the discovery of their own inner power to rise up in joy and lay hold of life. It is like young people stepping out of their formative years and seeing the world as full of possibilities. Jesus’ message was about us being fully human. That is what he wanted. And if we could be fully human we would be divine.
In other words what he really wants is for people to grow and develop the capacity to receive life to the full. This involves constant reflection on where I am now and where I need to change my way of thinking. I started in one place, which has a name. But where I am going is beyond names. It opens up so much that I cannot be limited by names or anything else.
22 January 2017          Sunday 3A
Isaiah 8:23-9:3            1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17                    Matthew 4:12-23   


No comments:

Post a Comment