Replacing our cyber eye (Mk 4:21-25)

This saying of Jesus penetrates and sees through us: 'Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand. ...The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given – and more besides.'

What we see, how we see – all, what is in us – 'there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to life.'

In our cyber age these words are more relevant than ever. Jesus speaks to us as living human beings: we are responsible for the 'cyber content' which gets into us. What we see, the way in which we see or don't see profoundly affects what we give, and how we give.

It is a freedom fight for our eyes. Even if the new 'cyber society of the spectacle' is overwhelming, there is a way out. Looking upon the cross in our churches and chapels is the liberation. That unexplainable dialogue the image of the Saviour initiates in us restores our dignity – of our being slaves to the spectacles that surround us. Jesus simply says: your dignity is real. We are real, because of our ability to see what is essential, and to share our unmanipulated goodness. 'The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given.'

30.01.2020

The Eucharist as our 'categorical imperative' (1 Corinthians 11:12-34)

'But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.' (1 Cor 11:28-29)

Life would be so much easier for the community and the wider culture in which we live if we were daily communicants. Culture has its built in 'moral safety belt'. If on Sundays, the children of our age managed to receive the Communion as part of their examined life – we would live in a much better age.

Here, in London, knife crime is soaring. There is not a single week without a headline for murder. Sin (selfishness and greed) is soaring. Yet, the medicine is so close. To use Jesus' words, literally, 'close at hand'. As close as the chalice with the communion wine, and the communion bread can be. If only, as individuals, we would not miss this school of purification – for the sake of the common good. And for our individual salvation, and remaining 'morally alive'. Receiving the Eucharist means examined life.

29.01.2020

Background (Mark 3:31-35)

 

'He replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said. "Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister."'

For those sitting around Jesus, it must have been a revelation. They realised, in a fraction of a moment, that they had belonged to Jesus. Their brotherhood and sisterhood are 'reactivated' in the moment they do the will who sent Him.

The passage is far more significant than a symbolic invitation. The astounding mystery is that there is the most intimate connection in us with God - before we realise it. If this 'spark' of belonging is there, should not this influence our mission to our contemporaries? On the one hand, we can see them as 'brothers and sister', who had been marked by God's love, in the very same way we had been before we responded to our call. This is our prompting to love. This prompting (in search of meeting our sisters and brothers) should not leave any space for 'the secular'. We should not allow any label, threat, scapegoating, prejudice to stand between us and those who 'are unemployed by God' (T.S. Eliot)

On the other hand, we are invited to think about our 'wording', how to address this latent brotherhood in them. The gospel shows that the moment of naming this already existing relationship is the key. Jesus brings to consciousness this link, and his naming who we are in relation to God, is a magical moment. Suddenly a whole landscape of discipleship and a shared Home is lit for us.

It is not impossible. The conversion of the world, the conversion of our brothers and sisters can take place in a split second. Only our loving encouragement must arrive in time.

 

28.01.2020

Learning from a debate (Mark 3.22-30)

It is worth re-reading the debate between Jesus and his opponents. As they oppose someone of whom they don’t know that he himself is the very source of truth, we can listen carefully to what is raised in these debates. The scribes accuse Jesus: ‘Beelzebul is in him.’ ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.’ Putting aside their biased misreading of him, we can learn a lot of the issues raised by their (wrong) judgement. We are invited to meditate on the nature of knowing God; and what blocks, and what fulfils this knowledge.

To start with, a good definition of Satan surfaces. Evil is a power that blocks genuine knowledge of God. The scribes insinuate this when they see in Jesus a danger, a ‘falsification’ of who God is. As Christians, we can really ignore their unbelief. They refuse altogether the potential in this encounter. Namely, that Jesus’ person can be a special - and ultimate! - revelation of who God is.

Rather, the real focus is how the crowd (who are being healed) respond to Jesus, in faith. The scribes are certain that through their knowledge they absolutely grasped who Jesus is. They had all the advantage of their refined intellect; and they are certain that theirs is the proper discernment of what is and what is not divine.

The crowd (in it, the first believers), however, recognises Jesus. Their knowledge springs from something which predates all subtle ‘understanding’. This origin is what the scribes have forgotten about. This is the very first act of our rational mind, the wisdom of faith. It is from this spark of Love (spark for Divine Love) from which all religious understanding unfolds. And the great lesson is that we must keep the balance right. While we develop our understanding of the world, and that of God, we need to maintain our faith.

The scribes were driven by their hubris, forgetting this originating concept of Love. They forgot the wisdom, but the ‘crowd’ did not: twe keep connected with God through our initial experience of Love. Via total trust. That is why, we can read Jesus’ stern warning as a judgement on forgetting divine Wisdom, through which we were created. ‘But let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of eternal sin’. The moral is crystal clear. Humility  - wisdom which alone can grasp the divine -  is the greatest connection to God.

27.01.2020

Angyal a szó küszöbén. Angyal a száj mögött

Éhes. Az angyal a száj mögött. A történelem angyala. A történelem éhes. A történetem.

éhes

angyal a száj mögött

a történelem angyala

a történelem éhes

a történetem

Nincsenek okos gondolataim. Nem akarok írni, sem gondolkodni. Vágyam van csupán írni és gondolkodni. Megérteni. Elhordozni a történetem súlyát. Melyben ott nehezedem én magam, belső történetem. És a külső történet.

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Régen írtam. Régen írni akartam, megérteni akartam. Súlyok nélkül; még súlyossá válás előtt.

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Eltelt hét, vagy tizenegynéhány év. És közben öregedni kezdtem. Arra ébredtem, hogy nem értem a világomat. A világom, különös érzés, nem világom többé. Erőtlenség. Egyfajta szédülés − a kettős időben? Sajátomban, s különösen, a külső történelemben. De meg lehet-e figyelni ezt az imbolygást? A középpontjait veszített történelmet?

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Hosszú ideig nem írtam. Nem gondolkodtam. S most már nem tudok írni. Vágyom a megértésre, de úgy érzem, nem tudom érinteni korábban jól birtokolt valóságom. A függőlegesek és vízszintesek csak látszólag vannak a függőlegesek és vízszintesek helyén. Menekülnék ebből a cyber-világból.

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Újra vízszintesezni és függőlegesezni mindent. Minden régi mértékem velem van. Mégis mérték nélkül vagyok.

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Nehéz eldöntenem. A világ változott meg „ilyenné” vagy a változás, amit érzek, az én mulasztásaim következménye? Vagy a változás egyszerűen természetes következménye annak, hogy nem anyanyelvem országában élek. Egyfajta törvényszerű vákuum. Egy levágott ág („nyelv”) vagy átültetett növény története? Vagy egyszerre minden?

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Az angyal éhes. Fáradt és éhes. Éhesen enni kér. Vágyat és megértést kér. Ez angyal-természetünk? Még a kérdéseket megformálni is fárasztó. Az angyal és ember, amit korábban két külön, bár mindig is közeli világnak éreztem, valójába egy? Időm múltával érzem az angyal éhségét és saját belső éhségem a vágyra és megértésre egynek? Egyáltalán, van-e még bennem erő megfigyelni? Lesz-e?

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Lehet-e? Az angyal lénye bennem, szüntelen szó-éhségben, ez a ‘lehet-e’. Első gondolatunk: lehet-e? Ez a lehetőség, minden ‘megérthető világ’ első, első előtti lépése − mint küzdelem, visszhangzik bennem. Lehet-e egyáltalán belépni (visszalépni?!) újra a Történelembe?

Furcsa kérdés ez a történelem angyalától. Mert a történelem (a saját történet) bukott angyalaként érzek. Lehet-e? Lehet-e kilépni a körénk és belénk nőtt cyber-világból? Dualista meghasonlások nélkül?

A lehet-e? nem jelképes kérdés. E lehet-e hosszú ideje egy lényemmel. Tényleg éhezem. Ez érzékenyít arra, hogy felismerjem a történelem angyalának éhségét.

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Ez az éhség − mint minden éhség − érzékenyít. Közösséget teremt az éhezővel. (Bármint is ítéljünk, tévesen, karmáinkba tekeredve úgy tűnik, van eligazodásunk. A történelem angyala mindegyikünkben éhezik. S ez a mindennapjainkat meghaladó-egybefűző éhség az ami, utolsó esélyként, összeköt bennünket. Bármilyen nevet hordozzunk is a történelemben.) 

2017 nyár

Gratitude for being elected (Isaiah 8:23-9:3; Mt 4:12-23)

 

The overarching theme of today's reading is gratitude. 'sing a new song to the Lord, sing to the Lord, all the earth.' Gratitude, for God has given us the light of life: 'The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light.' Gratitude, for God has made 'our joy greater,' for God 'has given us harvest time'. Finally, gratitude for God 'has removed the yoke that was weighing on us, and broke the rod of our oppressor', sin. We are called to recall why the Christian soul must be grateful. When we, individually, will make our list of these gifts, situations or persons - we will see that just as words of our love towards God don't come easy, gratitude does not come easy either. The sense of gratitude is what marks us out as Christians.

Saint Paul's letter highlights the importance of gratitude from a practical angle. When a community practices the virtue of gratitude community cohesion, and unity in daily businesses, is far stronger. We can read between the lines, what happens when Christians don't make thanksgiving the cornerstone of their daily prayer-life. 'I appeal to you, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to make up the differences between you, and instead of disagreeing among yourselves, to be united again in your belief and practice.' If we read further between the lines, we understand, that the thanksgiving of the community does not end with the words of prayer. What are the ways, the regular chores in our church building, in which we can express our gratitude on a weekly, if not daily basis? I do think that the chores of our rotas, from cleaning, decorating, cooking, and to all our voluntary work, can lead to tremendous joy.

In view of the theme of gratitude, the Gospel speaks to us in the most personal way. The calling of the disciples, by name, one by one, is the utmost opportunity for our thanksgiving today. Opiso mu! Get behind me, right now, and follow me. Jesus is walking, has not stopped, when the disciples were given the call. There was not much time, not even half a minute, to ponder this call. They had to make the decision quickly - as Jesus would have disappeared from their sight. This shows the nature of gratitude and grace: readiness! They were called into the eternal life of the Kingdom of God. No time for hesitation; neither for us.

When we hear the names of the disciples, in their names, you are called. You are called to the same joy of the Kingdom, for which our baptism has marked us out. So let us ask for a grateful spirit in order to joyfully give thanks for our baptism, and call to lead a Christian life. That is, giving thanks for the privilege, that we are called to make Christ-like decisions, and decide in those situations, as Jesus would do. How can we spread the light of his Presence?

What are the reminders and daily promptings to live a life of thanksgiving? What are these reminders, daily promptings and practices, in your case? What is your way of framing your days, and life, in Christ? What signs have the Lord given you? (See the parable of 'a dog knows its master' from The Hafetz Hayyim on the Holy Days, Mishan Torah Education Institute, Jerusalem, 5737-1977, pp. 15-16)

 

26.01.2020