3rd Sunday of Easter - Fr Bob- Retreat or Run Away

The other day I was walking around Virginia Lake and a family was getting out of the car. They had a 2 to 3 year old child. She wanted something, and she apparently wanted it NOW. And was throwing a tantrum. I smiled as I walked by.

Haven’t we all witnessed that before. Children throwing fits, displays of anger because the situation does not go the way they expect. Of course, we adults never do that.

I am a Monty Python fan. I have been since I was a teen. One of my favorite scenes from their movies is from “Search for the Holy Grail”. The Knights, when confronted by danger such as a rabbit with big nasty teeth, yell “Run Away! Run Away!” But also imagine they are not on horses, but imaginary horses.

is tenacity? It is that quality of sticking with a situation when it is difficult so as to resolve it or comprehend it. It is not stubbornness, that is more egotistical. Tenacity seeks fulfillment, completion and understanding. Tenacity has a long view of the world.

Tenacity is when couples encounter difficulties and work to resolve them because the relationship matters most.

Tenacity is when parents work with their children, helping them with projects, helping to make sense of this crazy world, because it will help the children in the long run.

Tenacity is when people work day in and day out to build up peace in this world, who work to alleviate the suffering of others; all despite political setbacks, or others.
Tenacity is sticking with an institution that drives us crazy at times and sins, but has so much to offer

Retreat or Run Away? What is the difference?

by Rembrandt

Cleopas and probably his wife are leaving Jerusalem. Jesus did not do what they thought he was going to do. Their ideas of him and for him caput. Then there was the message of Jesus had come back to life by a few, but others did not witness this. So confronted with confusion, they leave, they flee? They run away?  Not exactly a tantrum, but nonetheless we can sense disappointment, confusion, maybe anger? Maybe fear?

Then the miracle happens.  Jesus appears on the scene of this flight and converts this running away into a retreat.

Jesus takes them deeper, so to see beyond their own ideas and thoughts of how they wanted it to be; to inform them of a deeper plan, a deeper meaning, a deeper love. 

The passage says he walks them through the Scripture and interprets it for him, through the lens of the whole paschal mystery. And the climax, when it all comes together is in that meal, that thinly veiled eucharistic meal.

Retreat or Run Away? 

We are all confronted by a world that will not go the way we want. We are all confronted by the reality that the only person in this entire 13.5 billion year old universe that we have control over, is ourselves, and even that is mini mini miniscule.

We are all confronted when the plans we have for a day are squashed. Our plans for a month are interrupted. What will we do?

Retreat means to stop and discern. It means to pray. It means to quiet ourselves and allow the Divine to speak to us, and to hear it; to let our hearts burn.

It does not mean that we have to go to some exotic place, some center; at least all the time. Those places are great for intentional retreats. 

But at the end of the day we can retreat. How did I love today? And fail to love? How did I participate in God’s plan, and how did I try to impose my own onto the universe.

A meaning of the Resurrection is that it forces us to confront our egos, our own will. Out of fear, out of ignorance, out of the desire to control, we often impose ourselves onto this world, seeking to make it in our own image. 

Jesus consistently challenged his disciples to see differently, to think differently. He knew they had a smaller vision of who he was. He wanted them to see the bigger plan, the bigger mission that has been in place since the beginning of all creation. A plan for the divine harmony to be present in this world, as it is in heaven. A plan in which all people are able to participate and express their identity as children of God.

A plan first revealed to the Jewish people who also had to see differently. Hence the prophets who continually called the people back into relationship with God,

A plan fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who gave of himself to become fully human too. He revealed the infinite love of the Father, the power of the Spirit. He exposed the lie of power, of scapegoating, of violence.

He revealed the fullness of life. And revealed our part in this too.

I read a tweet recently, it said “Too often we read scripture to affirm our position, not to inform”

Our path to maturity requires us to step aside, to reassess; to discern our parts. Especially when we are confused, conflicted. Especially when we find ourselves caught up in our anger, our fears, our sadness. These are signs to us that we are probably running away from something, or someone.

We can open ourselves to something greater, and turn the running away into a retreat.

I Go Among Trees

by Wendell Berry

I go among trees and sit still.

All my stirring becomes quiet

around me like circles on water.

My tasks lie in their places

where I left them, asleep like cattle.

Then what is afraid of me comes

and lives a while in my sight.

What it fears in me leaves me,

and the fear of me leaves it.

It sings, and I hear its song.

Then what I am afraid of comes.

I live for a while in its sight.

What I fear in it leaves it,

and the fear of it leaves me.

It sings, and I hear its song.

After days of labor,

mute in my consternations,

I hear my song at last,

and I sing it. As we sing,

the day turns, the trees move.

~ Wendell Berry from Sabbaths