There is one simple thing wrong with you – you think you have plenty of time.
If you don’t think your life is going to last forever, what are you waiting for? Why the hesitation to change? You don’t have time for this display, you fool. This, whatever you’re doing now, may be your last act on earth.
At daybreak, it is the women that are first to find Jesus has risen. They are the first carriers of the resurrection story, the first to encounter Christ risen and spread that to the disciples who are in hiding.
Peter and the beloved disciple then run to the tomb. What was that run like? The morning air stinging the lungs while the head swims with thoughts, wonder, and confusion? If someone told you your dearest friend was not dead – would you run to the grave?
Is our love such that we would run with such abandon to Christ where we can find him at work in EVERY heart in our world today? Entombed in the mental illness and addictions of the homeless, those in prison, the refugee, the forgotten elderly, relatives we are no longer speak with, the foreigner with strange ways, someone from the opposite political party than ours, coworkers that are difficult or malicious, the unborn that we are told do not matter and have no rights, the terminally ill, bullied kids, the disabled and disfigured, those with anxiety and depression, anyone ‘not cool’/ugly/unfashionable that pop culture says don’t matter, and yes, even the terrorist or even those that wish us harm?
Christ is at work in each of their hearts. We do not deny the difficulties and real dangers there, but should we not accompany him in the work he is doing there?
Easter vigil mass – the single most amazing mass of the whole year.
As the dark of night descends, the Easter fire is blessed, the Easter candle (the pillar of fire that leads the Israelites out of Egypt) is lit and we make entrance into a dark church. We read the stories of salvation history, sing the ancient exaultet, the Gloria with bells sounds for the first time in 40 days.
We had new converts baptized, we anointed adults with holy oils in confirmation, and the first communion is received by those who have spent a year in preparation. All the sacraments of new life are celebrated as Christ himself rises this night.
Saturday is the Jewish sabbath day – a day of rest. And so Christ himself ‘rests’ in his tomb while his disciples hide in fear. 3 days he lies in the tomb as they think the worst – that all is lost. A reminder that even crushing defeat cannot stop God – but that things happen in His time.
However, Christ is not inactive. It is long thought this day he descended to Hell and freed the holy souls trapped there before they had a savior. Before Christ, Jews believed all souls went to Sheol. The Harrowing of Hell is depicted in many early icons such as this one by Fra Angelico (1400’s) in one of his fellow monks cels in Florence.
Good Friday.
Christ thirsts for us so much he offers himself to set us free. This one sacrifice celebrated at every mass throughout all time. And the cross – a sign of capital punishment – is transformed into the doorway to what sets us free.
But more. Michelangelo’s Pieta in Rome was inspired by this day. Any parent that has lost a child has a heavenly mother who understands the unspeakable loss. Today she is entrusted to the beloved disciple – and to us.
We have not only a Lord and savior that knows our human weakness and loves us. We also have a mother and advocate that knows even these pains of loss we can turn to – even when everything seems lost as the first disciples surely felt this day.
May we enter the silence with our Lord to contemplate the great mystery of these 3 days…
Today is Holy Thursday – the start of the Holy Triduum.
The Easter Triduum lasts from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday. Though chronologically three days, they are liturgically one day unfolding for us the unity of Christ’s Paschal Mystery. The liturgy that starts Thursday goes for 3 days as one continual motion. In the holy land, Christians will often walk and go to the places where Christ himself went during the next 72 hours and re-enact the events that occurred there. The single celebration of the Triduum marks the end of the Lenten season and leads to the Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord at the Easter Vigil.
Tonight we celebrate the first mass which feeds us and the washing of feet that instituted our Christian ministry to serve the least of all.
Let us not betray our calling to be the salt of the earth – even if it costs us our lives. In the west, this might not mean our physical lives – but the comfortable trappings we use to isolate ourselves from those in need.
Then we too will celebrate the resurrection with joy – a brother of Christ who gave up everything for love of us.
Sailing to Byzantium
W. B. Yeats, 1865 – 1939
That is no country for old men. The young In one another’s arms, birds in the trees —Those dying generations—at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect. An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing For every tatter in its mortal dress, Nor is there singing school but studying Monuments of its own magnificence; And therefore I have sailed the seas and come To the holy city of Byzantium. O sages standing in God’s holy fire As in the gold mosaic of a wall, Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre, And be the singing-masters of my soul. Consume my heart away; sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal It knows not what it is; and gather me Into the artifice of eternity. Once out of nature I shall never take My bodily form from any natural thing, But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make Of hammered gold and gold enamelling To keep a drowsy Emperor awake; Or set upon a golden bough to sing To lords and ladies of Byzantium Of what is past, or passing, or to come.
How does that old adage go, “Sex sells”? I always wondered what would take its place. Now, I think we know. The new adage appears to be: “Outrage sells”.
In this excellent article, Ryan Holiday talks about how he created a marketing campaign in 2009 on a shoestring budget about a fictional internet blogger Tucker Max in order to promote an independent film. They then proceeded to troll the public and our institutions on their way to huge sales. They reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, sold out college bus tours, and made millions in ticket, dvd, and book sales. Often using our public institutions and media against each other – all for publicity.
“But my favorite was the campaign in Chicago—the only major city where we could afford transit advertising. After placing a series of offensive ads on buses and the metro, from my office I alternated between calling in angry complaints to the Chicago CTA and sending angry emails to city officials with reporters cc’d, until ‘under pressure,’ they announced that they would be banning our advertisements and returning our money. Then we put out a press release denouncing this cowardly decision.
I’ve never seen so much publicity. It was madness.”
It all worked. Ryan Holiday published all the manipulation he did and how uncontrollably successful it was in his book, Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator. He’s been approached by numerous people saying that this book is now ‘their bible’.
He describes his book thusly:
You’ve seen it all before. A malicious online rumor costs a company millions. A political sideshow derails the national news cycle and destroys a candidate. Some product or celebrity zooms from total obscurity to viral sensation. What you don’t know is that someone is responsible for all this. Usually, someone like me.
I’m a media manipulator. In a world where blogs control and distort the news, my job is to control blogs-as much as any one person can. In today’s culture… Blogs like Gawker, Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post drive the media agenda. Bloggers are slaves to money, technology, and deadlines.Manipulators wield these levers to shape everything you read, see and watch-online and off. Why am I giving away these secrets? Because I’m tired of a world where blogs take indirect bribes, marketers help write the news, reckless journalists spread lies, and no one is accountable for any of it.
He talks about how outrage can be leveraged with ruthless exactness:
Niche players and polarizing personalities are only ever going to be interesting to a small subgroup. While this might seem like a disadvantage, it’s actually a huge opportunity: Because it allows them to leverage the dismissals, anger, mockery, and contempt of the population at large as proof of their credibility. Someone like Milo or Mike Cernovich doesn’t care that you hate them—they like it. It’s proof to their followers that they are doing something subversive and meaningful. It gives their followers something to talk about. It imbues the whole movement with a sense of urgency and action—it creates purpose and meaning.
While many worried about “normalizing” their behavior, that’s the one thing they don’t want to happen. The key tactic of alternative or provocative figures is to leverage the size and platform of their “not-audience” (i.e. their haters in the mainstream) to attract attention and build an actual audience.
Let’s say 9 out of 10 people who hear something Milo says will find it repulsive and juvenile. But let’s say he can acquire massive amounts of negative publicity by pissing off people in the media? Well now all of a sudden someone is absorbing the cost of this inefficient form of marketing for him. If a CNN story reaches 100,000 people, that’s 90,000 people all patting themselves on the back for how smart and decent they are. They’re just missing the fact that the 10,000 new people that just heard about Milo for the first time. The same goes for when you angrily share on Facebook some godawful thing one of these people has said. The vast majority of your friends rush to agree, but your younger cousin has a dark switch in his brain go on for the first time.
His solution is an observation:
I realize there is legitimate fear of normalizing repulsive behavior. I’m not suggesting anyone give credence to real Nazi doctrine. However, historically, it’s usually true that banning and blocking usually has the opposite of its intended effect. Effective counterinsurgency usually involves bargaining, partnering and the reestablishment of norms—not hardlines.
In this, I think he’s hit the nail on the head. We must admit these things are out there. But instead of trying to silence them, ban them, shut them up, and break their windows – we must engage and defuse them. We may not like it, but other tactics only pour gas on the fire.
Personally, I think this is where a person could take a few notes on how God engaged with our broken humanity. I hear a fellow went out teaching this and they wrote a lot of that down in a book somewhere… 🙂
A few points to consider on that front:
I put this question to you when you are fearful of letting in the foreigner, immigrant, or refugee. Is it violence or the faith of one person or family you fear – or is it more that you are afraid your charity, compassion, or love are not up to the task of touching the heart of a stranger? Perhaps you lack faith that God is powerful enough to use your life and example to touch the hearts of even those that might wish you harm? Or perhaps you’re afraid of your own laziness or unwillingness to let Him use you at all – for fear of what it will cost you? Are you too prideful to turn the other cheek if you do find yourself struck for doing what is right for another?
These words accused me as I reflected on Pope Francis’ request every parish in Europe (but really is a call to all countries) to open their doors to shelter at least 1 refugee family. (http://wgntv.com/2015/09/06/pope-francis-encourages-catholics-to-shelter-refugees/) This call was picked up by some but was also ignored and even denounced by others.
I realize now how much of a lost opportunity this has been. Even if you are not of a faith background. Why? Several reasons.
In traveling the world,I have learned that our governments may be very opposed, but the daily people you meet rarely are. Even old enemies are best won over in 1 to 1 interactions. There are countless stories in which a simple act of kindness have created bonds of friendship during WW 2 that last to this day. I personally have made friends in countries that were once our enemies by simple, daily acts of respect and compassion. That has helped me realize the power each of us has in the smallest acts and that they are often more powerful than all the laws of governments.
Isolation affects the host countries too. Without contact to others of different backgrounds we become increasingly afraid of our ability to connect. Both sides become easy targets for those leaders that wish to scapegoat and blame others for problems.
The Pope’s call to host a family was also wise because it does not throw all these new arrivals into one large camp or neighborhood. On a practical level, even if those we bring over turn out to disagree with our culture, our 1 on 1 interactions can change hearts and minds.By having each member in a loving, supportive community – they can integrate faster and learn the truth of who we are. It also ‘breaks up’ groups that suffer from poverty, joblessness, and fear. Some of the Paris attackers appear to have been radicalized after they arrived as they were isolated in small districts without jobs, legal status, or much hope in a foreign land with strange customs. So instead of concentrating refugees into neighborhoods and camps that fester, in a holding pattern of government bureaucracy, they are introduced into a welcoming community that helps them do what we all want to do: be independent and feel proud of themselves and their work.
Instead, we have erected walls. Walls that separate these individual acts of kindness and relationship from reaching each other. Further, what is a person that is facing death every day to think of a people who live in extravagance and luxuriously – who do not lift a finger to help them? Perhaps they even claim to follow a loving God who helps the foreigner, the orphan, and widow? I do not think it would not make me think very highly of them. As a believer, it makes me a hypocrite.
Jim Rohn is famous for his quote, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”. Psychologists would clarify a bit and say our peer groups are some of the most powerful influences in our lives. If we surround those in these desperate straits, even those who feel on the verge of radicalizing,with love, compassion, and respect, we can change hearts and minds more than laws likely ever will.
So lets follow our call to action. Go and encounter the refugee and the foreigner. It is not enough to let them in and stuff them in a corner and ignore them under a burden of red tape that simply radicalize them. We must risk a relationship. We must trust that Christ is powerful enough to use us – and then through humility, struggles, and learning to adapt – we must be willing to let go and let Him guide us.
“It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.” –Dumbledore
If you were stripped of all your talents, who would others say you are based on your choices? Generous? Kind? Selfish?