Proper/Propio 19B + Finding our life / Encontrar la vida + 9.15.24

 

M & A Campbell-Langdell

All Santos Oxnard +
St Paul’s Emmanuel Santa Paula

(Proverbios/Prov. 1:20–33; Salmo/Ps. 19; Santiago/ James 3:1–12; San Marcos/ Mark 8:27–38)

 

In his poem, “As Kingfishers Catch Fire,” Gerard Manley Hopkins writes:

Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:

Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;

Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,

Crying what I do is me: for that I came. (As quoted in Falling Upward, 1^st ed, x.)

En este poema, Gerard Manley Hopkins dice que “lo que yo hago es mi esencia” – es decir que nuestro trabajo en el mundo es ver cuál es la cosa que solo nosotros podemos hacer como individuos o en comunidad. Padre Richard Rohr dice que lo que tenemos que hacer en la primera parte de la vida es encontrar esta habilidad especial en cada uno.

What I do is me- each of ours is a task to find that for which we came. That special thing that each and only we can do. To seek meaning in our lives.  Fr. Richard Rohr, in his book Falling Upward, quotes that passage naming that the work of the first part of life is to find the place in us that reflects the one gift God has given us to share with the world.

Sin embargo, en el evangelio de hoy vemos que, para salvar la vida, la perderemos – que tenemos que estar dispuestos a sacrificar para el evangelio. Estas dos verdades parecen estar en conflicto.

And yet, in today’s gospel we hear that in order save our life, we must be willing to sacrifice all that we hold dear. Do not these two truths seem to clash? Richard Rohr would say that they do not, because in the second half of life we are able to let go of our tightly held grip on a certain way of understanding life and find instead a new sense of life that transcends what we had previously understood.

Padre Richard Rohr diría que estos conceptos no están en conflicto, porque en la segunda mitad de la vida tenemos que poder dejar lo que suponemos para estar abiertos a un entendimiento más amplio de la vida. Para entender esto a través del evangelio, hay que mirar la vida al tiempo de Jesús.

 In order to illustrate this, let us first look at the socio-cultural setting of Jesus’ time. The Social Science Commentary[1] reminds us that Jesus and his disciples lived in a collectivist honor/shame society. Thus, when Jesus asks the disciples “Who do people say that I am?” he is asking a central identity question in his context. In Jesus’ time, one’s identity as well as one’s position or honor within society was connected with a sense of kinship or belonging within societal and cultural groups.

En el tiempo de Jesús, se enfocaba en o tener honor o pena en comunidad, y la identidad fue algo colectivo- así que, cuando Jesús pide quien dice la gente que soy, es muy natural pedir sobre su identidad pensando en lo que piensa la comunidad. La identidad se formaba en su comunidad, pero Jesús se pone a sí mismo en otra comunidad, de la familia de Dios.

Through comments in other Gospels, we see Jesus clearly setting himself apart from the tribe or kinship group of his origin in order to ally with a new sense of family and belonging-that which is found in and from God. For example, in Matthew 12:50 Jesus says, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesús dice que su familia viene de Dios, y no necesariamente de su familia de sangre. Sin embargo, todavía pide de los discípulos lo que piensa la comunidad. Y ellos mencionan los profetas, pero, luego Pedro dice que es el Mesías.  Y a Jesús le importa más lo que piensa su familia nueva -sus discípulos.

And yet, Jesus still asks, “Who do others say that I am?” And the disciples begin to list the prophets, and not just some minor figures. But Jesus cares even more what his own disciples think: “But who do you say that I am?” and Peter affirms that he is the Messiah, God’s anointed one. This is a moment of high honor. Jesus honored, and his disciples feel the honor of being the ones chosen to follow him and to spread his good news.

Este es un momento de honor- Jesús es honrado en ser Mesías, y ellos a extensión. Entonces, lo que sigue es algo difícil. Porque Jesús habla de sufrir y morir, y Pedro, el mismo que lo ha afirmado como Mesías, no lo acepta.
That’s why what comes next feels so shocking. Because then Jesus begins to talk about suffering and dying. When Peter rebukes this message, Jesus says that to do so would be to reject him, and the new kinship with God that he is welcoming not only Peter but all the disciples into.

Jesús implica que no aceptar esta realidad seria rechazarlo a él y a su invitación a la vida eterna. Sería como actuar como si el fuera muerto.

Jesus is at the high point of his earthly journey in many ways- the disciples have recognized his role as the Messiah. And yet, through the wisdom of God, this rabbi knows something. He knows that when you reach the top of the mountain, that is when you are most liable to fall.

Jesús está en la cima de la montaña, pero él sabe que aquí es donde se puede caer. No puede depender de su papel como Mesías, pero tiene que estar dispuesto a sacrificar a todo. Y el invita a los demás a hacer lo mismo.

Now is the time when he must not rest upon his laurels, but be willing to sacrifice everything. And in doing so, he invites others to do the same. He also completes the full task he was sent here to do, and invites us to seek our life’s task also.

Richard Rohr implies that when the first big task of finding our life’s work is done, then we must be willing to fall a little in order to move upward towards the task of further integration of our life’s work.

Rohr implica que tenemos que poder fallar un poco para poder completar el trabajo de la vida, el trabajo que nos lleva delante de forma espiritual. Esto me hace pensar en el ejemplo de Oscar Romero. Hoy marcamos las fiestas patrias, y pensamos en los días de independencia para muchos países latinos. Así que me gustaría compartir sobre Monseñor Romero, un santo de América Latina. Cuando el inicio su ministerio, fue considerado algo conservador como sacerdote y luego obispo. Pero mientras el vio lo que fue la realidad política de El Salvador, y especialmente como resultado de la pérdida de un amigo cercano, él se puso dispuesto a morir a causa de la gente pobre de El Salvador. El fue dispuesto a perder todo por el bien de los pobres de su país.

This weekend we mark the celebration of Fiestas Patrias in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and as such I would like to share about a saint of Latin America. Salvadoran martyr Monsignor Oscar Romero’s life is an example of faithfully living out one’s life’s work for the gospel. Romero began his career as a priest and then a bishop with a socially conservative reputation. He excelled in his area of work and was loved by the people, and ascended to the role of Archbishop of El Salvador. However, his friend Rutilio Grande, a priest who loved and fought for the rights of the humblest and most oppressed people of El Salvador, was killed. And that caused Romero to realize that he had to be willing to give up his life to serve the poor.

Dijo una vez: “como cristiano, no creo en la muerte sin resurrección: Si me matan, resucitare en el pueblo salvadoreño.” Y es verdad, porque su historia renueva cada vez mas la fe de la gente salvadoreña y de muchos cristianos en todo el mundo.

He is famous for telling a reporter that: “If they kill me, I shall arise in the Salvadoran people. … Let my blood be a seed of freedom and the sign that hope will soon be reality."[2] And this is true. Romero’s story continues to inspire and invigorate the faith of many in Latin America and beyond.

De la misma manera, Jesús dice que estamos llamados, no para perder nuestro propósito, pero para estar dispuestos a sacrificar lo que pensamos que es la vida para estar abiertos a seguir el llamado de Dios. Aun si parece hacer algo vergonzoso, como seguir el camino a la cruz. Perderemos la vida para ganarla.

In the same way, Jesus says that we are called, not to give up our core purpose, but to be willing to sacrifice what we thought we were called to do in order to be open to God’s call, even if that means doing something that looks shameful or like failure in the eyes of the world. In the eyes of the world, and to the disciples following Jesus, his death would have seemed shameful and something to be avoided at all costs. But he knew that in giving of his life, he was saving us all.

Similarly, we are called to be willing to give up our lives, or at least our assumptions about them, in order to be open to God’s call. Let us today be inspired by Jesus and Romero to take up our cross, because I suspect that in doing so, we will find it to be the tree of life eternal.

Inspirados por Monseñor Romero, que tomemos nuestra cruz, porque sospecho que, en hacerlo, encontraremos que es el árbol de la vida eterna. Amen.

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[1] Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh, Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, 2^nd Ed. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003).

[2] John Dear, “Romero’s Resurrection” National Catholic Reporter, March 16, 2010. Accessed at: Romero's resurrection | National Catholic Reporter (ncronline.org).