Tag archieven: compassion

Beneficial encounter in the community

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Sermon on the 4th Sunday of the year. January 28, 2024 Tiel

It is certainly one of the most difficult things to bear that people like ourselves, fellow human beings, are mentally confused, cannot lead a normal life and that we, fellow human beings, cannot do anything about it – not even they themselves – and are powerless . It is quite something that in our time and in our part of the world we no longer see “confused persons” as possessed by the devil as in the time of Jesus. Nowadays, when dealing with people who are not themselves, all the emphasis is on continuing to see them as human beings. Fellow man. And that we also act accordingly by not excluding them, but treating them respectfully and fairly. We may sometimes have a hard time with them. But they have it much harder. And even though we cannot always follow them, we can surround them with compassion, and love them like ourselves.
The people of Jesus’ day believed that anyone who behaved abnormally was the victim of an evil spirit, or of the devil himself 1). One could try to exorcise such a person with all kinds of bizarre rituals, but that often makes the mentally ill even more anxious and confused. Humanly speaking, there was no way to prevent it. The event in the synagogue of Capernaum is therefore very exciting for everyone. There appears to be a mentally ill person among those present in the large synagogue of that place. When Jesus proclaimed his doctrine of the kingdom of God in that house of prayer, everyone was deeply impressed. What Jesus said and the way he said it was so new and so special and so refreshing, everyone was touched in a way that only a God could do. Wasn’t the new Moses here speaking to them?2) The confused man cannot hide his feelings like the other attendees who, even deeply impressed, keep a low profile and behave normally. He shouts: “Jesus of Nazareth, what have you got to do with us? You have come to destroy us. I know who You are, the Holy One of God.” This is very exciting. The man speaks in the plural: “You have come to ruin us.” Who are these us? All the people present? Yes, if Jesus really comes from God, who can stand up to him? Have not all men every reason to fear? If God reveals Himself, who can exist, imperfect, shallow,, unclean people that we are? Who is actually ‘normal’ from God’s point of view? Isn’t each of us at a loss when it comes down to it? And what do the other people think. The ordinary people. The normal people?
See, that’s where a little devil gets his chance, because indeed a normal person will be happy when he sees that a confused person can live healthy and freely again and can dispose of himself. “Be silent, and come away from him.” Jesus spoke very calmly. But to us, so-called normal people, a little devil whispers to us: “This Jesus has power over unclean spirits, so he is their boss. They obey him because he is their superior.” People were not only impressed by Jesus’ proclamation, but there was also an opinion among them that there was something wrong wit Jezus himself. From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, a separation of spirits takes place: on the one hand all those who believe in him as the Savior, that prophet who came into the world from God, and on the other hand those who are suspicious and rejecting, who see him as an instrument of the devil. “For who can do anything other than what no human being can do: free a human being from the prison of confusion and miscommunication and give him back to himself?”
The name of Jesus is able to change people from tormented people to free people. His presence in our world and in our lives as the living Lord is beneficial and comforting. But he works among us through his Spirit, without fuss and boasting, without incantations and rituals. He invites us through his word to imitate him in paying attention to our confused fellow human beings. They are extra vulnerable. They are easily misunderstood and overlooked. There is much more talk about them than with them, which alone is enough to get completely confused. A society that has no place for confused and confusing people is itself confused and confusing. Not normal but abnormal. Let us as churches and religious communities be places where people who cannot express themselves well can also come into their own. Time and patience and modesty will make us true fellow human beings in their eyes. In this way we may also encounter Jesus in the eyes of the other person damaged by mental illness. And shock of recognition. A cry of liberation. A sigh of relief. A lasting wonder. Amen

Martin Los

lessons of the eucharist of this fourth regular Sunday:
Gospel:
1) Gospel: Markus 1:12-28
2) First reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Foto: Ruine van de synagoge in Kapernaum

Lent. solidarity and communion with all mankind *)

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Sermon on the 1th Sunday in Lent  March 6, 2022 ’t Goy and Odijk

Dear brothers and sisters, today on this first Sunday of Lent, the annual quarantine begins for us as preparation for Easter. Many of us have been in quarantine in the past two years because of the Coronavirus. Either we had contracted the virus ourselves or we had been in contact with someone who was infected.
We now also understand better why the church voluntarily goes into a kind of quarantine. That is to go to Easter every year with a pure heart. To become aware of habits and thoughts that stand in the way of our relationship with Jesus and God and our fellow man, and to break with them and distance themselves from them.
Lent is a joint quarantine. For none of us want to give the impression that we are not bothered by any temptations at all. That is why we do not abandon each other but on the contrary encourage each other through this joint quarantine. That is why Jesus also begins his mission to proclaim the Good News with a quarantine in the desert *). He did not declare himself immune from sin in advance, but he endured the temptations that can separate a man from God with an open mind. As a real human being. In solidarity and communion with all mankind.
First of all, he was tempted to want to live a life without want and without compassion for the neighbor in need, by always being assured of material prosperity. He rejected this evil impulse with: “man does not live by bread alone”. Furthermore, the temptation to exercise power and to be sole ruler instead of serving and to ask God’s will in all circumstances: “It is written, Thou shalt be the Lord thy God, and him alone.” And finally the temptation of wanting to be invulnerable before God and man, kind of narcistic, instead of living by trust and as friends: “It is said, Thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the test.” These three temptations actually encompass all temptations that can befall a person. Jesus resisted them. Not with magical incantations or superhuman effort, but as an obedient student in the school of life and suffering. For, as we heard, he answered all three temptations with a simple word of Scripture.
If Jesus voluntarily went into quarantine and did not turn his nose up for really being human, let us also enter this Lent with confidence with each other.
The first preface of Lent mentions the three most important characteristics and goals of Lent: “This is a time of greater devotion to prayer, a time of greater attention to one’s neighbor, a time of greater fidelity to the sacraments in which we were born”. In this way, the church celebrates Lent as worthwhile and positive . We as believers are not asked to look around a little anxiously all the time to see what temptations are coming our way. No, it is precisely by saying yes to God through prayer, by saying yes to our neighbor in need, by saying yes to Jesus and the community of faith, by saying yes to the living tradition of the Church, that is exactly how we discover again the joy of what it means to believe and be children of God. Just do the things we normally do: pray, do something for our neighbor, participate in the life of the community of faith and the whole church.
How can we do what we normally do more consciously and perhaps better? Maybe not even by going the extra mile. May be we’re already doing enough. First of all we can do it by acting more consciously and with more love and dedication. Breaking the routine and thoughtlessness. We can easily do that if we act like it’s the first time with everything. Like it’s completely new. Just as a loved one’s kiss still reminds of the first time and in all fairness it is no different. For example by remembering how you first personally learned to pray the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, how you experienced First Communion, how you foregoing luxury for the first time in order to be able to assist someone in need. By recalling how you first lived Lent as a quarantine on your way to Easter, full of desire to be a person after God’s own heart. How new and nice and inspiring that was and is.
Moreover, although Lent is a tradition and the words and rituals are the same, every year is different. This year we celebrate in fear of a World War **), in the two previous years in the middle of the Corona time that made normal contacts, even church attendance impossible. So every Lent is different. And in our personal lives events have also happened, some happy others sad. All this means that the surviving words and rituals are always new. All this gives us a new feeling, kind of testing negative, so that we can indeed approach Easter with a pure heart. And that we may joyfully renew the faith of our baptism, as children of God, as first fruits of the new creation. Amen

Martin Los pr.

*) Gospel of the first sunday in Lent: Lukas 4:1-13
**) Wel will always remember the atrocities of war in Ukraine at te beginning of this Lent 2022