WHY BARABBAS?

WHY BARABBAS?

Once again we find ourselves in first century Jerusalem during Passover. 

We witness the cure of the blind man at the pool of the temple.  We witness the totally unjust arrest of the man from Nazareth.  We hear of the betrayal of two of his disciples.  One turned him in to the authorities and the other denied even knowing him.   Then, at what his enemies expected would be a cut and dried indictment; Pilate refused to call him guilty even though they had offered him large bribes.  His meddlesome wife had interfered and warned him off and the superstitious coward knuckled under.  Then he brought out Barabbas and asked them to save the Nazarene instead of the zealot. The crowd wasn’t having any of that.  They had been encouraged and perhaps, even paid, to demand the death of the crazy guy from Galilee and they weren’t about to settle for less.

Why did the people choose Barabbas over Jesus? We, who know Jesus, join with the people of that time in asking that question.  The injustice done to a person whose whole life was dedicated to justice was unbearable.  However, the truth is most of the people in that crowd could have cared less what happened to Jesus. Most of them were street people who enjoyed the spectacle of someone being convicted and crucified who wasn’t them.  They yelled whatever they thought the powers-that-be wanted them to yell.  

Barabbas was a prisoner of the Romans for attacks on Roman soldiers.  This made him a national hero to the Jews.  If it came to a decision between a hero and this Galilean, there was no doubt which way they would go.  They weren’t choosing Barabbas over Jesus; they were getting a chance to put something over on the Romans. Pilate offered the deal because he did not think Jesus was guilty of anything and that the crowd knew it and so would choose him. He figured wrong.  Here was a golden opportunity and they took it, so Rome would blame him. 

It’s so easy to blame Rome and Pilate for this, but the sad truth is what Jesus fully expected.  He commented once that their own people had killed all the prophets and that is exactly what happened to him.  His last days as a human were filled with betrayal.  The physical abuse and the crucifixion broke his body, but the betrayal broke his heart.  

When we are betrayed by anyone, spouse, child, boss or friend, Jesus is there to comfort.  During his whole life he was immersed in humanity.  Nothing that happens to us is unknown to him.  His love goes so deep we could be lost in it, but we don’t trust it.  We treat him as though he were Santa Claus or an ATM.  We are meant to live with him and in him as he lives in us.  If we do what is necessary to know him, we will. It’s there for us. It has always been there since the first Easter.  But we are in danger of duplicating the mindset of the Pharisees; abandoning the love of God and for God in favor of control. Let this Easter be the time we wake up along with Jesus. 

Christos Aneste’, Joyeuses Pâques, Frohe Ostern, Wesołego Alleluja, Felice Pasquas

Happy Easter! 

Carol Lemelin OPA

HOLY FOOLS

HOLY FOOLS

If anyone among you considers themselves wise in this age, let them become a fool so as to become wise. (1 Cor. 3:18)

There are no definitions of fool that would encourage anyone to be one, and yet this is what St. Paul suggests.  The thing is a fool, as a rule, is usually someone who can’t control their actions. But a fool is also someone who is blind to the reactions of others.  Paul considers himself, and all the people of The Way, to be that kind of fool.  To preach and teach the lessons of Christ with total conviction no matter how people react.  Secretly, many people think you would be a fool to do that. 

In Russian, Yurodivi means Holy Fool.  Two shining examples of that are St. Basil, the Russian and St. Francis, the Italian. These men were both regarded as fools.  They had decided all the world’s trappings were keeping them from God, so they divested themselves of those distractions.  They did some outlandish things, but all the time they kept to their goal of convincing people that God is ever present and ever loving.  

Some people laughed at them. Some people wanted them locked up. Some people were terrified of them as though their behavior was catching.  Still, other people revered them and to this day, their names are written large in the litany of the Saints.  Basil once threw a slab of meat in front of ,no less a personage than, Ivan the Terrible during Lent.  The Tsar recoiled at meat being put in front of him.  “It is Lent,he cried.  Basil retorts, “Why do you quail at meat in Lent when you do not hesitate to murder your own people?” Through the grace of God, he was not beheaded on the spot.  Their dramatic gestures, no matter how shocking, always had to do with revealing Christ and focusing people’s attention on the Will of God. 

In the eyes of the world, a person would be a fool to believe that someone, out of the quintillion people who have passed away, actually died and came back. You would be a fool to think you should turn the other cheek. You would be a fool to believe that bread and wine could become body and blood merely by repeating words spoken 2,000 years ago.

But we do believe it. If that is what being fool is, so be it. We are fools for Christ. It’s the kind of fool you want to be, that you need to be.  

You begin by accepting Paul’s message that we must not think of ourselves as superior to anyone.  We should accept this truth in our hearts; everyone is of the same value to God.  Then follow the example of Basil and Francis- well, perhaps not all of their examples. Tell of Jesus, his love and compassion, which reflect the true nature of God.  If someone tells you that you are a fool, you will know you’re doing something right.

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA

TRYING TO UNDERSTAND

TRYING TO UNDERSTAND 

Life on this earth is nothing if not complicated. Add to that, the question of where God fits in, just muddies the water more.   If we say that God is responsible for everything that happens, we then blame or thank God all the time.  If we say that God is not meddling in our lives and making things happen, then God comes across indifferent.  

The problem stems from the human race’s efforts to explain God.  For the most part, those efforts have failed miserably.  When I read Genesis for the first time as an adult, I was struck by how punitive God appears. I thought, “Wait a minute”. God created the humans, gave them a test, which they failed, so they were summarily banished from Eden and that’s why women must endure the pains of childbirth.

What?  That made no sense to me whatsoever. 

Reading the other Hebrew Scriptures didn’t help much.  God, when speaking through the prophets, said things like, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”   But, in other passages, he supposedly says, “I will visit devastation on them.”

How are we supposed to know how to reconcile those things?  Christ is the only answer.  His presence among us brought the love of God to us in a form we can understand.  His compassion for everyone, regardless of their station in life or their past, is a reflection of how God regards his people. Jesus struck down all the superstitions of his people to bring them closer to God. The Pharisees continually condemned Him for associating with sinners.  That was the tenor of the cruel and despotic rule of law.  A sinner was anyone who wasn’t perfect.  Perfection was determined by the powers that be. When someone asked whose sin was responsible for the man being born blind. Jesus answered “Neither this man nor his parents sinned.”  On the Cross, he told the thief “Today you will be with me in paradise.” He did not ask if the man was sorry for his crime, or had made restitution.  He simply, compassionately, rewarded the man for his courageous kindness in coming to His defense.   

This is the image of God we must carry with us.  Our free will and the choices we make because of it, are the cause of most suffering.  Other things are just the accidents of life.  

God is with us through it all. His love sustains us through the trials of life, but most particularly when we are tempted to doubt it.  It takes time, concentration, prayer and hope to achieve this knowledge.  It is worth the effort because of the peace it brings. 

I’ve given up trying to sort out the contradictions, because I realized I was going at it in the wrong way. I was trying to understand God when I should have been trying to understand the men who wrote the scriptures. They were only human after all. 

So I depend on this: At the Transfiguration, God said,

“This is my beloved Son. Hear him.”

Carol Lemelin OPA

NOT TREADING WATER ANYMORE

NOT TREADING WATER ANYMORE

Some years ago I attempted to water ski.  I got up on the skis just fine, but after a very short time, I fell off.  Everyone was asking what happened when it seemed as though I was doing great?  I shrugged because I didn’t want to say what happened.

The truth was, I was afraid of being out on that lake in such a vulnerable way. I love to swim and I love Lake Michigan, but I never allow myself to be in a position where I can’t touch the bottom.

The first time I read something that contradicted a religious principle I had been taught, I suddenly felt as though I couldn’t touch the bottom.  I was confused and upset, but I had to know, so I went in search of an answer.  Honestly, I did a lot of praying to the Spirit, which at that time was rare.  Once I got an answer I could live with, I decided to press on and research other things.  For quite a while I was in deep water, but I kept treading.  I learned that, though not mutually exclusive, religion and faith are not the same thing.  The more I studied I came to the conclusion that faith leads one to religion, not the other way around.  At least not for me. I believe that questioning is not a sin, but is instead, the path to growth.

As I peeled away the layers of religious training I had had since I was a little girl, God and Jesus took center stage. I realized I was developing a deep and personal relationship with Jesus. I felt as though I were walking with Him, listening to Him and observing all the people around Him.  Now my feet were firmly planted on the bottom. That’s how I would explain how it feels when you know God is truly with you and helping you, you just know it.  

To maintain the metaphor, once I had a firm grip on my own spiritual life, it’s been like diving the Great Barrier Reef.  I found one beautiful thing after another.  The loving, patient, forgiving God has taken over my life.  The vengeful, terrifying God of the Hebrew Scriptures has faded away. 

God gave us our minds and intellect to use in his service.  Finding answers to questions does not diminish one’s relationship with God, but instead strengthens it.

Think of the earliest Disciples of Christ.  When they heard Jesus speak in such loving terms about the Father, it touched them deeply and they had to know more and so they stayed with Him.  We need to know more. We can’t keep going from Advent to Lent, Christmas to Easter and call that faith.  We need to dig deeper into the life of Christ and the work of his disciples, of which we are the beneficiaries. This will bring new meaning to our faith.  The bond, which God wants to form with all of us, will then be ours. 

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

In the Broadway show The Wiz, a re-imagined Wizard of Oz, the Witch sings, 

“Don’t nobody bring me no bad news!”

I daresay many people say that daily when they turn to the news channel.  The onslaught of bad news is not eased by the knowledge that, as a journalist once told me, it’s only news if it’s bad.  The assumption being that most things are good news. It would be hard to convince us of this when we read again that a number of people are dead because someone doesn’t like his own life.  Let’s face it bad news is just dark. 

There is a constant flux between good news and bad.  For example, the world seems a darker place when a baby is accidentally shot.  Then it brightens up when we see a child with no hair smiling as yet another doctor gives them a shot. They show a courage that makes First-responders feel inferior.  

Up and down go our emotions until we want to shut the world out altogether.  It would be a relief to say,that doesn’t concern me, but as followers of Jesus we know without doubt that we are connected to everyone else.  It may not seem so, but that idea is growing in popularity in this country despite, or perhaps because of, efforts to deny that. 

What are we to do? How do we get through each day with those dark events hanging over our heads?  We are helpless to change them.  Because of the 24-hour news cycle we can’t escape them.  We pray, but nothing seems to change. 

Human beings are not that crazy about the dark. Oh, we wax poetically about looking up at the stars, but we are more comfortable in the dark if we have the sources of light handy, like matches, or flashlights or light switches.  

We need that kind of thing in the darkness of this world and Jesus is it.  When Phillip asked Jesus, “How will we know the way?”  Jesus replied, “Iamthe Way, the Truth and the Light.”   

That Light is what we need to bear the darkness. Our prayer, when we feel overwhelmed, should be the words of this old hymn.

Longing for light, we wait in darkness

Longing for truth, we turn to you.

Make us your own, your holy people.

Light for the world to see. 

Christ Be Our Light.

 Shine in our hearts.

Shine through the darkness

Christ Be Our Light. 

Amen!

Carol Lemelin OPA

HEARING JESUS

HEARING JESUS

Imagine you are in Israel in the first century.  It’s Passover season in Jerusalem, but this year it is tinged with fear because Jesus has made some troublesome predictions.  Now is time that the mother of James and John, like any stage mother, decides to confront Jesus with her demands.  She may have misinterpreted Jesus’ mission, thinking he would become King of Jerusalem.  Be that as it may, she demanded that her sons be seated at his left and right when he came to power.   He replied, “You don’t know what you are asking.” He turned to the sons and said, “Can you drink this cup that I am going to drink?”  Of course, they replied that they could.  He told them that only the Father decides such things. Then, of course, the rest of the Apostles heard about this and were indignant.  (Matt 20:20-28)

Now, this is where I feel great sympathy for Jesus. I remember a day when my husband came home from work and said that the company was laying off men in his department. It felt like the bottom dropped out of everything.  In the next room, our boys were fighting loudly and near to exchanging blows over a baseball card!  I remember the absolute desolation I felt.  I know that’s how Jesus felt at that moment. 

But, because he is who he is, he takes an unexpected tact.  He says “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you.” 

It shall not be so among you. We should train ourselves to remember those words when we are tempted to judge, to criticize, to feel self-righteous or give in to hateful thoughts. It shall not be so among you. How easy it is to ignore those words and pretend they were only for the apostles.   It may be second only to Love Your Neighboras unheard. 

Jesus also said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”   We are expected to apply that to ourselves. We believe we are true followers of Christ and yet we fail to hear him.   Lent is the time to listen better and think more about what Jesus said and resolve to follow. 

May all our good works be anonymous and unrewarded.

Carol Lemelin OPA

WHAT'S GOD LIKE?

WHAT’S GOD LIKE? 

He is a God who always repays and will give back to you sevenfold. 

But offer no bribes; these he does not accept! Do not trust in sacrifice of the fruits of extortion.  He is a God of justice.  (Sirach 36: 13-15)

This book is called The Wisdom of Ben Sira or simply Sirach. It doesn’t really matter what it is called. What matters is that its message is as valid today as it was in its time. It begins “All Wisdom is from God.”  Further on it states, “The beginning of wisdom is awe of God.”  

When I was a child and first heard of fear of the LordI decided I didn’t want to have anything to do with God.  I never wanted to be frightened. I tried to avoid being afraid by being optimistic and careful.  Then I heard them say that God was our Father.  That made quite a difference, because my father was wonderful, so I thought, God must be wonderful, too.   As my life progressed I realized it was up to me to discover who God is and how Jesus fits into the picture. 

Some years ago seminary student Phillip Yancey stopped his studies and set out to find out who Jesus really is/was.  He went to the libraries of Divinity schools and universities and asked the librarians to show him the books about Jesus.  What he discovered is that there are thousands of them.   He then wrote a wonderful book called The Jesus I Never Knew, which was the first of many I have read on the same subject.  What I discovered is that God reveals himself to people in as many ways as there are people. I learned something from every book and still reached my own conclusions.

The whole point of this is to get to know God better for yourself.  Not the God you were taught, but the one to whom you pray and in whom you place your trust. You’ll recognize him in the works of others doing the same kind of searching. Our Christian society today has whittled God down to manageable size so that discrimination and exclusion and judgment are deemed righteous.  This cannot be true for us.  We are expected to know the immensity of God and yet know he is as close as our next heartbeat.  We are expected to live our lives in imitation of Jesus who lived his in imitation of the Father.  

We should pray for wisdom. We should read Sirach and the book of Wisdom. 

The lessons therein are shockingly similar to everything we know to be right and they were written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit thousands of years ago. More proof that God is ever present and ready to be revealed to those who seek him. 

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA