Love God. Live the Eucharist.

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March 22, 2020: A Group to make us Better

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The gospel has a number of groups of people getting involved with the man who was blind. They all deal with him in various ways . . . with shame, guilt, blaming. Even his parents don’t give him support.

Well, there is another group that deals differently when someone is in a situation. There is a tribe in Africa, the Babemba tribe as recorded in the book In Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story, by Christina Baldwin.

She writes that among the Babemba, when a member of the tribe does something wrong, “something that tears the tribe’s delicate social net, brings all work in the village to a halt. The people gather around the ‘offender,’ and one by one they begin to recite everything he has done right in his life: every good deed, thoughtful behavior, act of social responsibility. 

These things have to be true about the person, and spoken honestly, but the time-honored consequence of misbehavior is to appreciate that person back into the better part of himselfThe person is given the chance to remember who he is and why he is important to the life of the village.”

During these days of the coronavirus, there could be people wanting to place blame on someone, or start dealing with “those people.” But that this is the time for us to rally and not condemn or segregate a person.

St. Paul writes in the second reading that we are called NOT to take part in “fruitless works of darkness” but instead to “Awake, a rise from our dead attitudes.” Is this coronavirus an awful thing? Of course. Can we complain about it and stay blind to the growing fear taking over in people’s lives.

For, despite all the suffering, all the horrors of the past and all the threats, life is still oriented towards joy, curiosity and survival. There is a core within us that knows this. This core is called trust.

And as absurd as it may seem to many in the face of all the precautions and restrictions, this is our common task now – to strengthen the field of trust through everything we do, think, communicate and how we interact with each other. This is also our work together to shake off the trauma of fear and activate the deeper layer of trust. This will be the foundation of a new culture.

You cannot receive actual Eucharist at this time, but you can become Eucharist for others. Instead of staying isolated and only thinking about yourself (and hoarding things) go out and check on that neighbor or vulnerable adult to make sure that they are OK. Give them a phone call, or send an email. This is a time for us to gather and remind each others of why they are important to us.

It’s up to you. Choose to trust God and be as Paul says to the Ephesians, “Let Christ give us the light.” So go and live out our mission statement. Go “Love God and live the Eucharist.”

 

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