Twentieth
Sunday of Ordinary Time
August
20, 2006
Do
you sing in the shower? (And/or: What do you do when you lose your song?)?
In case you didn’t know it,
I love singing. I sing in the shower. When I am locking up church, I sing. I sing
when I ride my bike. I’m one of those people who when you pull up to an
intersection, you’ll look over, and see my mouth moving, and realize there
is no one else in the car – and then you’ll realize, he’s singing.
In lots of ways, it is a barometer of how well my spirit is doing, how well I
am doing. Is there a song in my heart and readily on my lips? If so, life is alright.
What I realized in the past week or so, is that I started singing again. That,
in turn, made me realize that I had stopped singing at some point early in the
summer. I knew in my head that it had been a rough year. But to not be singing
and not know I was not singing – woof. The rediscovery of ‘the singing’
in my heart was a barometer that I had turned a corner.
I worked backwards – when did I start singing again? What triggered that
‘healing in me’ so that I could return to it again if I needed it?
A thing called Christian Family camp began the process – I think I was humming
on my drive back. And then lunch with a good friend sealed it. In both of those
places, I was surrounded by people who have known me for years on the journey
of my life, and could reflect back to me, in love, the song that I needed to sing
once again.
It is that metaphor of singing that Paul taps into in his writing to the folks
at Ephesus. He is writing to a community that ‘has lost its song’.
Converts were finding it hard to leave behind the practices of the mystery cults
of Diana. So, too, others were swayed by a Gnostic influence – claiming
they had a secret knowledge that made them superior to others. The result was
a fragmented community – a community that struggled to be together. St.
Paul tells them: Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms,
hymns and inspired songs; singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving
thanks always and for everything… Paul knew that one of the antidotes for
a difficult life was to belong to a community who could ‘sing to your spirit’
– who could inspire you and move your heart simply by being with them. Belonging
to a community of people who could reflect back to you the song that you left
behind would keep you free.
In our own time, it is easy to lose our own song. When the papers bring us the
daily news of suffering, of all the hate and anger that society just seems to
take for granted, it is easy to lose the song of love that is in our hearts. Which
is why we gather here, Sunday after Sunday. It is also why I believe that our
time after mass, when our communion with the Lord continues with the OTHER Body
of Christ that is you and I, (and we do always have some snacks available for
you) is crucial for this Newman Community. It is where we allow others to heal
us and to invite us to know that song within.
As I prayed into that image this week, I also came to this ‘truth’.
What singing does for me as an individual, the Eucharist does for me/us as a community.
We recognize that gathering around this altar week after week is what makes us
a community. We come to know each Sunday that Jesus is REAL FOOD, REAL DRINK,
because His presence wells up in us during the week. And if we miss a week of
this gathering, (and sometimes that happens in College) somehow we know that something
is missing, because we long for the communion and love and life we know in Him.
And we realize that when we go out the door afterwards we have something to do—to
bring Christ to others and to sing his song of love by our living.
Practically: Who will you surround yourself with these years to sing your song
back to you when you have forgotten it? Will they sing a song that is true, noble,
and calls the very best out of you? Whether that is this community here at the
Newman Center Sunday night mass, or at St. Ann’s where I am pastor, or some
other community, I pray that you settle for nothing less.
Whether you are a ‘singer in the showers’ kind of person, or a ‘hum-er
in the garden’ kind of person, or even someone who just spends quiet moments
recovering your best self – become aware of the song that Jesus has placed
in your heart to sing. And make sure you bring it back to this table each week
by your presence and love.
Finally, let me say just a word about one of the songs that I have been singing
for a long time. The night before ordination, I went to my brother, the other
priest in the family for confession. Part of his penance was to listen to a song
called: MYSTERY. It goes like this. O Mystery, you are alive, I feel you all around.
You are the fire in my heart, you are the Holy Sound. You are all of life, it
is to you that I sing. O grant that I may feel you, always in everything…
O grant that I may feel you, always in everything…
If you sing no other song this year, may you sing of the mystery that always surrounds
you in love…