Do any of you know how to juggle? [Invite volunteers to come up and demonstrate.] Well, for this homily, I have been practicing juggling [Demonstrate my lack of ability to juggle.] It is really tough to do.
I think that juggling is how many of us view life . . . that there are so many things that we need to keep going in our lives. For example, our work stresses, the family dynamics, keeping the house clean, trying to get some exercises and also to fit in time to pray.
I would guess that most of the time, we feel as if we DON’T juggle things very well. As soon as one thing is completed, then another arises . . . or sometimes we completely drop one aspect of our lives (like getting enough sleep). I bet that my juggling skills resemble many of your lives.
And so, we often enter this holiest of weeks disappointed in ourselves, because we had such good intentions at the start of Lent . . . for example, wanting to pray more, or wanting this year not to be so stressed or golly that darn “not eating meat on Friday” idea.
There are many strong symbols this week (feet washing, darkness, light). One powerful symbol is that of the cross. We heard about it in the Passion reading today (which was Matthew’s version) and on Good Friday we’ll hear John’s version.
The cross teaches us that it is in dying that we gain life . . . or another way of saying that is “we win by losing.” This is weird stuff, for most of “life” sets us up to believe that we win by winning. That is the nature of the human psyche. We think [as I pretend to juggle] that if I just work harder I’ll get it all done, I’ll get it all right . . . and then I’ll win. But usually our lives simply get more out of control and then we place all this shame upon ourselves because we think that everyone else can “do it all” . . . . why can’t I?
Notice that all through the gospels, Jesus is never upset with anyone who doesn’t have it all figured out. He is never upset with those who fail or with who can identify themselves as sinners. Jesus is only upset with those who do not think they are sinners (that is, those won’t face the shadow part of their lives and/or project their evil unto others).
Unfortunately, many Christians believe that religion is only about worthiness and “doing it right.” But notice that in the bible, every character (with the exception of Mary or Jesus) is shown as a transformed sinner. That it, as someone who messes up, fails or just doesn’t get . . . and then God comes in.
This is a powerful week. One of the big messages that we want you to reflect on is . . . we don’t come to God by doing it right; we come to God by doing it wrong!