Monday, February 09, 2015

Back to the "beginning."

Today's Mass readings almost gave me spiritual whiplash.

We started "in the beginning," with the very first words of the very first book of the Bible, and got through the account of creation--up to the fourth "day." It was all so calm and contemplative. Even God was contemplating each slow and steady step of creation: "And God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed...."


Then you get to the Gospel and it seems a bit like a return to the chaos over which the Spirit of God had hovered like a dove in Genesis: Jesus docks at Gennesaret, people recognize him and suddenly the whole district is buzzing. People "scurried about" to bring their sick and suffering to Jesus, wherever they heard he had been spotted. You can hear the clamor as they beg Jesus, "Just touch him! Or let him touch the tassel on your cloak--anything!" Mark tells us that the tassel itself became a kind of sacrament of healing: "as many as touched it were healed."

Gradually the noise I perceive grows silent. There is only Jesus and the people, sick and well, reaching out toward each other, connecting. Creation is being restored through the love of Jesus who came to bring "life to the full" and through the love of family and friends who, hearing that he was near, do whatever it takes to bring the sick close to him. See the love at work here? This is what creation is for. How good it is!



Images from The Getty Open Content program.

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