Sunday Homily 7-6-08, 14th, Ordinary Time.
Readings: Zechariah 9, 9-10; Psalm 145 (second stanza, a favorite); Romans 8, 9-11; Matthew 11, 25-30
Zechariah: Zechariah is the 11th of the 12 Minor Prophets and lived just when the Hebrews were released from the 70 year long Babylonian Captivity, ca 535-520 B.C. In Jerusalem he encouraged the people to rebuild the temple.
He was a favorite of the N.T. writers because he is rich in messiah predictions. Today we have one of those visions.
Psalm 145, 8-9: Terrific line: “The Lord is gracious & merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.”
Independence
Last Sunday, June 29th, there was a column in the Points section of the Dallas Morning News. The writer, Peter Lovenheim of Brighton, NY, described how he became aware that he did not know any of his neighbors. With all the tools at his disposal to keep in touch instantly with people, even around the world, he was detached & out of touch with his own little neighborhood.
Peter decided to do something about it. He actually began to invite himself to spend the night at his neighbors and write about their lives and his experiences with them. Naturally, he was turned down often, but he did find some people willing to take him in and even discovered one woman with cancer needing help she could not get other than through her neighbors.
It was his first experience of spending the night with an elderly guy, Lou, that turned out to be the article in the paper. He called it, Why I Woke up in my Neighbor’s Spare Bedroom. He even describes how he & his neighbors discovered, then helped the elderly lady dealing with cancer.
I remember when my mom lived in the house in which Rosemary & I now live, how once a year or so there would be a block party and everyone came to have a picnic under the oak trees in someone’s yard or drive. I also remember that in the neighborhood in which I grew up in University Park we did not have block parties. However, we did know all the neighbors, or let’s say they all knew Johnny Stack & were wary of him.
I talk about this today for two reasons.
- First, we have just celebrated Independence Day. We revisited our national roots Friday and have come away proud of what our ancestors did to establish an independent country. As a child I wanted to grow up to be equally independent. Independence equals maturity. Dependence equals immaturity and is something I dread and hate.
- Secondly, as good and noble as independence is, taken to an extreme, independence involves not necessarily maturity, but rather isolation and loneliness. Lovenheim called his original neighborhood situation detachment. I would also call it independence, the opposite of that old dreaded dependence.
I suggest there is a healthy middle ground: interdependence. The old cliche’ No Man is an Island is only partly true these days. There are numerous often elderly people living on islands of abandonment in our neighborhoods. To avoid the either/or trap and focus on interdependence, I suggest two things:
- Pro-activity. I take the initiative. I look around. I pick out my neighbor or neighbors whom I don’t know at all or don’t know well. I make a move. I take steps to build a small community.
- Spend time. It takes time to build. It takes time to visit someone or call them or talk with them when I see them. Granted, time is often one of our most precious commodities. The relationships are worth it.
This is what I see us doing here at San Vino, building community, taking time. I think one reason why a number of mega-churches have so many people is that the administration sets up multiple small communities, teen-agers, young adults, golden agers, unmarrieds, divorced, etc. People feel like they belong. This is why I love to have our seasonal brunches.
My hope is that no one in our community feels alone on an island. We know one another and care for each other.
Who is the unknown neighbor in your life?
AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-07-06.mp3