Before Catholic seminarians can study theology in seminary, they take a ton of classes in philosophy. In fact, I took more philosophy classes in seminary than a friend of mine took as an undergraduate philosophy major when we were students together at Wake Forest. My favorite philosophy course was about the philosophers of the Enlightenment movement that included the philosophers John Locke, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant. Another philosophy class I loved was about the Existentialist philosophers and writers, which included Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Martin Heidegger. Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher and theologian from the first half of 19th century, is considered one of the Fathers of existentialism. He wrote a poem about the love of God that a speakers quoted at the National Gathering for RCIA that I attended in Chicago a few years ago. Kierkegaard writes: “You have loved us first, O God, alas! We speak of it in terms of history as if you loved us first but a single time, rather than that without ceasing you have loved us first many times and everyday and our whole life through. When we wake up in the morning and turn our soul toward you – you were there first – you have loved us first; if I rise at dawn and at that same second turn my soul toward you in prayer, you are there ahead of me, you have loved me first. When I withdraw from the distractions of the day and turn my soul toward you, you are there first and thus forever. And we speak ungratefully as if you have loved us first only once.”
No matter what, God is there. We may not see him. We may not recognize him. We may deny him. We may not understand him. But he is there. And he was there first, as Kierkegaard expresses so eloquently in his prayer.
I thought of this prayer from Kierkegaard today in connection to our reading from Paul, with the spirit of God that dwells with us as a part of our identity as disciples of Christ. Paul speaks about two yokes - the yoke of the spirit and the yoke of the flesh. Before our baptism in the faith, we are of the flesh and we are debtors to the flesh. With our discipleship in Christ, with the Holy Spirit working in our lives, we are set free from sin, from the yoke of the flesh to be reborn as new creations in the light of Christ. Yet, we continue to sin, we continue to be lured away from God and his laws. Yet, we are constantly called back to the love of God, the love of Christ, to the Spirit who will lead us back with God’s grace.
We have not had a lot of live sports since the COVID-19 crisis. We have not had the baseball season this year, but let’s talk about the Cubs. I think most of the parishioners know that I am a huge Cubs fan. I was over the moon when the Cubs won the World Series in 2016. Actually, four years ago to this very day, on July 4, I was in Chicago that week for a conference, and of course I could not pass up going to a Cubs game. The last time I had been to a Cubs game prior to that was in 1996 - twenty years earlier. I remember growing up, my mom and all my aunts and uncles, and my grandfather - they all thought the Cubs were the greatest thing ever. And you know, it did not matter whether the Cubs won or lost. They loved the Cubs. They loved watching the games on WGN. And as a child, even though I saw the Cubs having one losing season after another, I didn’t dream about rooting for another team. When I went to the Cubs game on 4th of July in 2017, it was the biggest home crowd they had at a regular season game in more than 4 years. And the Cubs were not having a good year that year - at that point they had lost as many games as they won. Not a great record. But that crowd at Wrigley field - oh my goodness. Everyone just so excited about the team they love.
I know most of you can relate, because sports are big here in Mississippi, whether we are pulling for Ole Miss or Mississippi State, or the Cowboys or the Braves or the Saints, the love we have for our sports teams, the sense of belonging we feel with the other fans, that is nothing like the love God has for us or for community we have in the in the community of Christ’s disciples. Nothing.
The Gospel today is one I have proclaimed as a priest as much or more than any Gospel, since it is the Gospel proclaimed during the anointing of the sick, a sacrament of mercy and healing. Compare today’s Gospel to the hard, challenging statement about committing ourselves to Christ without reservation that we heard last Sunday from Matthew, that “anyone who prefers father or mother… son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me.” We can still say that today’s Gospel demands a total giving of ourselves to Christ, but also, in today's Gospel, we are reminded of God’s infinite patience, compassion, and love as we strive in our faults and imperfections in an effort to unite ourselves fully to God. Jesus wants us to lay our burdens and troubles before him when we are labored and heavily burdened. Through Jesus, we find our comfort and our rest. The love and compassion of this passage is a comfort to those who are sick and who need healing, those who hear this Gospel proclaimed in the anointing of the sick. The Gospel message is not to be a burden to us, demanding though it is, but by being faithful disciples, Christ’s yoke is to bring us peace of heart and joy. It is in that spirit that God’s love calls out to us today. Not just today, but every day.
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