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Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 26, 2018, by Fr. Kevin Anderson

The other week, I bumped into a classmate from High School who I have not seen in 39 years. He looks at me and says, “Kevin, you look exactly the same as you did in High School.” I told him, “Yikes, I was this gray and wrinkly in High School? Why didn’t say something.” Of course we laughed.

 

You know, at the end of Mass when we have those with birthdays stand? Well I will be joining the group . . . for my 62nd birthday is on Friday. There are people who dread birthdays. I am not one of them. I love birthdays, as opposed to the alternative . . . which is death. So bring on the birthdays.

 

I’ve heard that there are three phases of life: youth, adult and “you’re looking good.”

I guess that’s people way of giving you hope, because there is the mistaken notion that birthdays signal an end! As opposed to a beginning.

 

There are many things that we can interpret either as an ending or as a beginning. For example, when you are in-between jobs; when you’re going off to college or the military; having a baby. Those can all be seen as an ending of sorts, but also a beginning . . . a new start. A new adventure. It’s in how you look at it.

 

Recently there is a movement called PROJECT SEMI-COLON. Remember what a semi-colon is? [Hold up a picture of a semi-colon]. It is used in grammar, when a sentence isn’t finished and there’s more to come. Well, that symbol has taken off for those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction or self-injury . . . 

 

Amy Bleuel started the movement in 2013. She said, “The semicolon was chosen because in literature a semicolon is used when an author chooses to not end a sentence. You are the author and the sentence is your life. You are choosing to continue.”

 

So let me add this . . . your life situation is not the same as your life. Your life is bigger than your “thing.” Ok, so you are dealing with depression, or you have an addiction. Those are serious and get the help you need, BUT they do not define you. Those are your life situations; they are not your life. Your life is bigger than whatever situation you find yourself in. Don’t put a period, where God would put a semi-colon.

 

The second reading talks about husbands loving their wives. It was written in an age when women were more like property then partners. And many men, in the Greek culture that the Ephesians lived in, considered women to be second class citizens . . . not even worthy of time or concern. The writer of the reading is trying to balance out the relationships but telling men, “Wake up. How you thought of women is not the end of the story. There has to be more of an equal relationship.”

 

Is this an evolution of thought? It sure is. We as Christians have always been evolving our thoughts and beliefs. It started back in the early church when followers of St. Peter felt men who weren’t Jewish and became Christian needed to be circumcised. And St. Paul argues with that and says, “No, we are evolving. We don’t need to do that.” As you read in the Book of Acts, Paul’s views won out.

 

Or recently as Pope Francis as stated that Capital Punishment is wrong. Does that mean every doctrine we’ve been taught is suspect to be wrong? NO. But it does show that the Popes before Francis: St. John Paul II and Benedict were also evolving this thought. Our faith is not stagnant and trapped with mid-evil chains. It continues to grow and evolve.

 

In the gospel this whole month, we’ve been hearing about Jesus declaring that God is no longer up in the air somewhere and distant from us . . . but God is here, incarnate, on earth in the presence of Jesus, in the presence of the bread and wine. And John’s gospel said, “Many of Jesus’ disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer wanted to accompany Jesus.” It’s like saying, “We don’t like where this is going. We want to return to the old way of God begin mad at people and wiping them out. And Jesus was there to say, God is of love . . . and we don’t know where that will take us a followers.

 

So for you, whatever you are facing . . . whatever you have done . . . don’t assume that is the end of the story. Don’t put a period on that relationship, or that situation, or that problem. I believe that God would put a semi-colon . . . why don’t you?

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