“He is not here…where He was…

With the coming of May, we are still in the Easter glow. We appear in the darkness of human struggle like some human firefly. Faith lights us up and yes, by faith we can see in the dark.

 

Easter calls us back to our baptism, when we shed our mourning clothes and he claimed us as his own. But we forget. So the Church in these Sundays keeps reminding us of our primary intimacy: God-with-skin-on, as the pre-schoolers say. He is the one by whom we are saved.

 

We are identified as those who “know” him…and he “knows” us. He marries us in the wedding chamber of the virgin’s womb. Then he hob-nobs with us, and we can’t quite figure him out. Then he goes to the depth of our violence toward one another…only to let it swallow him. But he is a poison-pill, for in destroying him physically, death itself is destroyed. It splits open, and we get a peek at what comes after…for he is the Truth that loves, and he cannot be destroyed. But wonder of wonders, he show us that this is our future too. He then carries our humble humanness back home with him like a bride over the threshold…and breathes his Spirit into us to help us remember that ‘til the end of time he has relocated: “I am in you, and you are in me.”

 

With the feast of the Trinity we remember once again that our ideas of God have been far too small. He shows us that the immensity of God is three “Somethings…” Love as Source, Love as Expression, and Love as merciful Self-Gift dancing around in an eternal unity dance.

 

How on earth are we to respond to all this wonder?

 

I think we learn how to respond from …the Lady. We call her “Our Blessed Lady.” May is her month, when all of nature renews itself, and even the flowers proclaim that God intends people to come in different colors.

 

Mary is just one of us. As one of us she is the arch-type of what human response can be. She is told of a plan, and she says…”Yes, of course…” and knowingly signs a blank check. She brings him forth from her own everyday life. She hangs on when her whole world falls apart…she waits in the darkness of Holy Saturday. Sound familiar?

 

Makes me think of those I know who are still saying, “Yes, of course…” to very difficult commitments…of those who labor in the midst of ridicule to bring forth justice…of those whose lives have been shattered…of those who wait for release from prisons physical, mental, and spiritual. Yes, Mary is one of us…she says, “…been there…done that.” She hangs on in the dark…and so must we.

 

He is now where we are…”     St. John Chrysostom