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RETURN TO > SPEECHES > CONVENTION 2005 > HOME
Homily by Lourdes Rodríguez-Nogués, “Called to Be Whole and Holy” Liturgy — July 8, 2005
“And
the truth shall set you free.”
We have heard these words from the Gospel so many times. These words speak to us of a promise, a promise sealed by death and made real by the resurrection. These words have been a source of hope, encouragement, and comfort for many of us throughout our life. Lately, however, these words have proven to be very challenging for me.
So-called truths have been used by popes, bishops, politicians, and yes, maybe even by us at times, to enslave nations, to wage war, to crush spirits, to oppress and judge individuals, and to justify sinful acts. Some pronouncements proclaimed as truths have caused death instead of giving life.
And yet, I know that all of us who believe in that promise of freedom made to us by the One who loves us, continue to answer the call to be proclaimers of truth and bearer of Good News.
That is why we are here, isn’t it?
We have come looking for life-giving truth.
This afternoon we have begun our liturgy by listening to statements made by people in power, ordinary citizens, legislators, church officials, civil servants, heroes, saints.
We have cringed with every insult and breathed easier with every hopeful word. We have gone from anger and hurt to joy and pride in a matter of seconds, 4 times over.
And we wonder, in the dichotomy of good and bad created by these statements: what is the truth?
Is truth absolute? Or is truth in the eyes of the beholder, the mouth of the speaker, the ears of the listener?
Some people would like us to believe that what they say about us is the only truth -- that they know better. A minority would like to decide for others the laws that should rule their lives. Those who claim to have God on their side speak of a culture of life that denies just-living to many, and in doing so perpetuate and encourage a culture of violence.
Over the last year or so, gay marriages have become law in Massachusetts and gay marriage bans have become law in many parts of the country. Experiencing this dichotomy of good and bad, victory and defeat, I have struggled with anger and resentment, at times, even hate. I have been in the State House in Boston and have heard insults thrown at me in the name of morality and God; and I have spoken harsh words to others and about others in response. I have left the Catholic Church in my mind at least 3 times, only to return the next Sunday to find solace and comfort in my Dignity community.
It is so easy to fall into the trap of dividing the world in terms of them and us. Pointing the finger at the evildoers and the oppressors and vilifying them for what they do to us. How easy to think that I am better than them. It is so tempting to hate them and wish them ill. I have done it. Maybe you have too.How easy to point the finger, and call them names, and in doing so, become a little bit like them and continue to create a cycle of violence that although I could self-righteously say it did not start with me, I cannot say that it stopped with me.
Listening to these negative statements that have been said, and continue to be said about us has been a hard exercise today. How sad to be reminded about how unjust and not equal our world is. How frightening. But also, how challenging.
The first challenge we face is to be able to use this less than holy behavior and hold ourselves accountable to the times when we, in our humanness and in our sinfulness, have put on the cloak of the oppressor and in doing so have contributed, even if in a small way, to the hurt of one or many. For those moments, today we ask for God’s mercy and compassion and say “Kyrie Eleison.”
The other challenge is how to respond to all this evil, ignorance, hate. For that we look to ourselves, to each other and to our Teacher, Jesus.
We know that the truths of our life speak loudly about who we are. We know of our intrinsic goodness based on the fact that we were created in the likeness of God. We know that we can delight in being the beloved of God. We are certain the love we proclaim to each other comes from God and that God blesses and delights in our love relationships and yes, in our marriages. No one, no earthly king or worldly power can take that away from us. And yes, it is our responsibility to live that life out loud in the presence of God, our friends, our families, each other, the Church, and society. Our truth will set us free.
And if we forget, we can trust that our brothers and sisters in this living church called Dignity, will remind us. We need, now more that ever perhaps, to be for each other a source of strength and support; we need to mirror the face of Jesus to each other, and continue to be a voice of faith and hope to our wounded world.
Our world, ravaging with war, poverty, greed, injustice, abuse, and prejudice is hungry for peace, mercy, kindness, justice, and consolation. Where is that healing going to come from, we ask? It is going to come from you and me. It is going to come from all people around the world who believe in the healing power of justice. We are the voices that challenge.
The task looks enormous. But we are blessed to have a Teacher who calls us to greater things. Jesus does not leave us alone in this task. Jesus shows us how. Jesus shows us the way and gives us what we need.
I have heard the phrase “do not put a period where God puts a comma.” It took me a while to get it. But it has hit me with incredible power as I have been preparing for this liturgy during the last couple of months. I propose to you that this sentence is a shorthand way to understand the mystery of Easter; a response to the evil that surrounds us and a call from God to wholeness and holiness.
Christ crushed death and in doing so reversed the irreversible. He did not accept the period; he did not allow things to stand as they were. Not only did He challenge earthly powers, the status quo, the state; he challenged death itself and in his resurrection guaranteed for us life everlasting.
Christ’s life is a powerful statement: “I absorb all evil; evil stops with me so that you can be free.” Not that evil, injustice, abuse should ever be tolerated or be acceptable. That is not the message of Jesus. His message is: “for all a place at the table. The table of justice has room for all: oppressor and oppressed; abuser and abused; the just and the unjust. “
Jesus gave us the lesson to follow: be peacemakers, console all who need it; be kind and gentle; show mercy; work for justice. That’s how Jesus inserted a comma in his world and that is how he expects us to insert a comma now.
The Beatitudes are God’s answer, God’s comma, to all those negative statements we heard today. Not anger, not despair, not hate. The answer is the proclamation of the real truth of our very blessed lives. The answer is our commitment to justice and right-relation. The answer is the sharing of our privilege so that others might have their just fill. The answer is to cultivate a culture of peace with what we say, what we do, how we live our lives. The answer is our living in love, that others might know God.
This is a tall order. We know how hard it is to follow the teachings of the Gospel. We have been promised help, however. Jesus gives us what we need.
Today we will be anointed with oil that we will bless in a couple of minutes. That oil of gladness, as Isaiah called it, will replace our woundedness and our worry; our despair and our doubt; our tiredness and our confusion. The oil will be the symbol of that Sustainer Spirit that God promised us, and it will turn us into oaks of justice.
The message from God today cannot be clearer. God calls each and every one of us to come forward today and answer the call to wholeness and holiness; to respond to our oppressors with the truth of our lives; to live as peacekeepers and gentle people; to hunger and thirst for justice; to love wildly and faithfully; to hope for freedom and set each other free.
