 |
| preparing to share |
The congregation for Ecclesia in Marcus Garvey Park has been smaller each week, Clyde tells me. Seems the NYPD has been doubling down on the drug business, pushing dealers into the park and then harassing anyone they find here. Busting people for minor infractions like feet on benches or open container. Feels like broken windows redux. (The Giuliani era policy of strict enforcement of minor infractions in order to prevent major crimes. As in Fix the first "broken window" or they'll all get broken...) Anyways, people have been staying away.
Lucy, a long time volunteer at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen Clyde used to run is in town for the holidays and has come looking for Clyde and Ecclesia.
 |
| Lucy and Clyde |
When it comes time for my homily, here is what I share:
Welcome to the 6th day of Christmas....we're halfway through....six more days to go..since the secular world has been in holiday mode since the day after Halloween, they're ready to be done. All the more reason for us to hold on to the religious/spiritual celebration all 12 days.
(On the 3rd day of Christmas, there was no star but the sky turned blue over Queens. Some thought it was aliens. Other terrorists. Some thought Jesus was coming back and tried to break into a locked church. And when Con Ed announced it was a transformer issue, some believed that changeling warrior robots were walking the streets. And so it is...)
Our gospel today takes us out of the Christmas narrative and into the only scriptural account of anything in Jesus childhood. His parents go to Jerusalem for a festival, head for home, after a day, figure out he's not with them, panic, go back to the Temple and find him engaged in dialogue with the Bible scholars. His parents are obviously upset. And his response is that he's in his father's house. (Sorry Joseph)
Usually when we read this story, our attention is on Jesus. (Naturally) At his wisdom. And self awareness of his mission. But this time I want to look elsewhere. And that's his parents. Let's leave aside for the moment why they would assume he was with relatives and not worry about his whereabouts for a day.
Let's think about how they feel when they can't find him.
So I'm thinking about other parents .(Thanks to Jill Duffield for this...)
+ Caal Cruz....29 year old father whose daughter Jakelin died in the custody of the Border Patrol after they had travelled from Guatemala and crossed into the US.
+Ali Hassan ...father of 2 year old Abdullah who is terminally ill whose mother, after having twice been denied a visa because she is from Yemen, has finally been allowed in, thanks to public pressure and Save the Children
and + Jazmine Headley, who we all saw have her toddler torn from her arms by the NYPD when she sat down after hours of waiting.
Parents worry about their children.
Well, Ok, not all parents. Some children are tragically left on their own. But no matter where we are, parents worry about us.
And so it is with Mary and Joseph. Jesus may be the son of God, but to them he is a vulnerable child they have been entrusted with for care and nurture. No wonder they are angry when he turns up...it's a sign of their care. Anger. And relief.
This story suggests several things to me.
1. We are all children of God. Even if our own parents left us or we left them or communications have broken off, our heavenly father (or mother) cares about us and worries about us, wants the best for us...loves us.
2. Like Jesus, sometimes being faithful may mean having to listen to a higher authority. And that is not always understood. (HInt: that's why communities are helpful...to help us figure that out...)
3. As God's children, we have a responsibility for ALL God's children. We are responsible for the Caals, the Hassans, the Jazmines....and the policies that affect their lives and their children's lives and put them into jeopardy....we are responsible to work to change those realities..
The Gospel tells us after this he went home and was an obedient child. And like a good mother, Mary keeps these things in her heart. And it tells us that :
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
We're also poised on the edge of a New Year. Another opportunity for a fresh start....yours if you want it ...and I don't say that casually...
In this new year, let us increase in wisdom and so may it be for us.
 |
| at Marcus Garvey PArk |
We share prayers together. For the two community members who lost their long running struggle to survive this year. For a man seeking stability and connection with his daughter. For other concerns. And we share Eucharist together.
And as always, we share a meal after. This week provided by Broadway Presbyterian. Lucy laughs when I say It's colder than it seems. Basically meaning we won't be hanging around much longer today. We're poised at the moment between the year almost finished and the one not yet begun.
Gospel Luke 2:41-52
41Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety." 49He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 50But they did not understand what he said to them. 51Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
52And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
No comments:
Post a Comment