Epiphany 4 (B) + Jesus knows / Jesus sabe + 1.28.24
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
(Deut. 18:15–20; S./Ps.
111; 1 Cor. 8:1–13; S. Mar. 1:21–28)
“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. El conocimiento hincha de orgullo,
en tanto que el amor edifica la comunidad.”
In the recent film “Rustin” (Netflix, 2023), we learn about
the civil rights organizer Bayard Rustin. A good friend of Martin Luther King,
Jr., Rustin was a controversial figure because he was gay. Bayard
Rustin no fue popular con todos en el movimiento para derechos civiles porque
fue homosexual, pero fue muy comprometido al movimiento para cambio entre los
Afro-Americanos en los EEUU. Yet he was a committed and immensely talented organizer who was also very
valued by many in the civil rights organizing community, not only for his gifts
but also for his personal charm and charisma. Throughout the film, we learn not
only how he pulled together the March on Washington in record time, but also
about how he did so while facing those who wanted to discredit and exclude him
due to his sexuality. Many treated his orientation like a demon to be
exorcised. Muchos le querían excluir y querían expulsar su
sexualidad como un demonio. However, he knew he was born this way and remained firm in his abilities.
To me this movie stands in stark contrast to the gospel
reading from today, and the man with the unclean spirit. Esto
es muy diferente a la historia de hoy del hombre con el espíritu impuro. Sometimes society wants to cleanse us
of something, but only Jesus and we know the demons we face, and what is just a
part of us. Solo Jesús sabe cuáles son nuestros demonios y que es
solamente una parte de nosotros que otros no aceptan.
We have to look with the eyes of the heart. Tenemos
que mirar con los ojos del corazón. As you see in Jesus’ interaction with the man who is
possessed today, he is in the temple and what is required here is not his
intellect, but his heart and spirit. A heart to release this man from a spirit
of bondage and fill him with the Holy Spirit. Aquí en la
escritura vemos que Jesús está en la sinagoga en Cafarnaúm y entra el señor con
un demonio. Y no requiere intelecto, sino que Jesús tenga el amor y un espíritu
para ayudarlo al señor. Para quitar el espíritu impuro y abrirle para recibir
el Espíritu Santo.
At church we run into this all the time. We truly are a
hospital for sinners. At feeding programs and when we are open in normal times
all sorts of people come who are in distress. Sometimes I miss the mark- I try
to deal with the situation intellectually or just meet the physical need that
presents. But when Jesus is truly with me, I see the other hurts and try to
listen to those, too. En la iglesia vemos que somos un
hospital para los pecadores. En la dispensa o en Pan de Vida y o por teléfono
viene o llama gente que está en necesidad. Y a veces trato de solucionar sus
problemas intelectualmente o solo responder a la necesidad inmediata. Pero
cuando siento que Jesús está conmigo, a veces escucho la necesidad más profunda
y podemos orar o hacer algo para sanar a la persona.
During the height of COVID, we began to realize something
personally, also. We began to be aware of our crutches. Nos dimos
cuenta de las cosas de las cuales estamos demasiados dependientes en el tiempo
de COVID. Do we rely too
much on food or drink, or social media or TV? ¿Estamos
demasiados dependientes en comida, bebidas alcohólicas, las redes sociales o
televisión? We need
certain things to distract us from the fears of our lives, but we also need to
invest time in prayer, in reading the Bible and in journaling and understanding
our feelings so that we can release them to God as best we can, not just cover
over the darkness. A veces las distracciones son útiles,
pero necesitamos invertir tiempo en orar, en leer la Biblia, en escribir en
nuestros diarios para entender mejor a nuestras emociones para poder liberarnos
de ellos un poco. Para
entender y no solo cubrir la oscuridad.
The man in today’s gospel reading needed the darkness to be
released from him in order to let in the light of the Holy Spirit. El
hombre en la lectura del evangelio de hoy necesitaba que la oscuridad sea liberada
de el para dejar entrar la luz del Espíritu Santo. What do you need to release today to
let in the light? ¿Qué tiene que soltar Ud. hoy para dejar
entrar la luz?
I know that for me, worshipping with you all has really
helped me, as has praying the Daily Office and writing in a journal almost
daily. Praying the healing rosary in Spanish once a week and meeting with our
English speakers to delve into another aspect of the Scriptures has helped me
to grow spiritually and leave room to let the Holy Spirit in during a time that
continues to be dark at times. Sé que para mí durante este
tiempo la alabanza con todos Ustedes me ha ayudado con esto. También orar
diariamente y escribir casi diariamente en un jornal de oración. Rezando el
rosario de sanidad un día a la semana con los hispanohablantes cuando podemos,
y estudiar la biblia los miércoles con los inglés-hablantes me ha dejado
espacio para el Espíritu Santo en este tiempo a veces muy oscuro.
I give thanks for you all on this Sunday of our annual
meeting and close with some thoughts by the Sufi mystic Rumi, from his poem “A
Community of the Spirit”:
Consider what you have been doing.
Why do you stay
with such a mean-spirited and dangerous partner?
…
Why do you stay in prison
when the door is so wide open?
Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.[1]
The entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.[2]
-Vacíate de
la preocupación. ¿Por qué te quedas en prisión cuando la puerta es tan
amplia? Muévete
fuera de la maraña del miedo.[3]
Let us trust that when we let go of that which has held us
captive, we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit who will renew our lives and fill
them with joy again after the suffering. Que confiemos
que cuando dejamos salir lo que nos ha cautivado, estaremos abiertos al
Espíritu Santo quien los renovará y nos traerá gozo de nuevo, después de
sufrimiento.
[1] https://thelinebreak.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/rumi-a-community-of-the-spirit/.
[2] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7234083-why-do-you-stay-in-prison-when-the-door-is#:~:text=Quotes%20%3E%20Quotable%20Quote-,%E2%80%9CWhy%20do%20you%20stay%20in%20prison%20when%20the%20door%20is,the%20sanctuary%20is%20inside%20you.%E2%80%9D
[3] https://www.lifeder.com/frases-rumi/
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