Mt 18:1-14 Broken Saints

Mt 18:1-14  Broken Saints

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The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven…If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?”

There are some commonalities in life that are a bit confusing.  For example, those who are overwhelmed with joy often share something in common with those who are overwhelmed with grief.  They both shed tears.  Another, that has intrigued me for years, is related to today’s Gospel passage.  I have seen that those who are emptied by sin often share something in common with those who are filled by grace.  They both are broken.

I have to calm myself down when people tell me that there are many commonalities among the great world religions.  For example, that Aztecs had altars, just like Roman Catholics have alters.  But appearances, like so many things in this world, are not everything.  An SS officer may have a gun just like GI Joe, but what he does with it is an entirely different story. 

Although saints and sinners may both be broken, there is a tremendous difference between the brokenness caused by emptiness and the brokenness caused by holiness. 

Today, we celebrate the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe.  He was the only man that was sent to a Nazi concentration camp  who voluntarily gave his life up to save the life of a condemned prisoner.  He was a Roman Catholic priest. 

Sin breaks us apart.  It separates the heart from the mind; the body from the soul; the person from the community; the creature from the Creator.   The Nazis loved to separate individuals from their community and enjoyed watching them betray one another or turn against each other. 

But grace too breaks us apart; but in an entirely different way.  It releases us from our inner most fears.

It allows us to come out from under our hiding place.  Come out!  Come out!  Where ever you are!  When Maximilian Kolbe was not selected for death, he broke through the ranks of the saved and joined the list of condemned.  It was said that he came out from nowhere. 

Grace frees the “new man” from the old.  It breaks free the captive.  It liberates the restless heart from a very limited mind.  Grace allows something good to created from nothing.  From the emptiness of space came forth an explosion of love.  From the darkest corner of the planet (Auschwitz) came forth a ray of light.  Sacrifice breaks the back of despair.  It brings the dead back to life.  It is giving, rewarding, enriching.  But it leaves the human body twisted, broken and disfigured. 

On the night he was betrayed, he took the bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this all of you and eat of it.  This is my body which will be given up for you…Do this in memory of me.”

The Lord allowed his body to be torn (broken) so that it could be distributed to others.  Do this in memory of me in an invitation to do what the Lord did.  Allow the Lord to take you, break you, and give you to others.  Do this in memory of me. 

A broken saint is not the same as a broken man.  The difference is one gave himself away while the other never gave himself away.

Although the man who left his sheep in search of the lost one may have appeared just as confused as his lost sheep, we must remember that appearances are not everything.  Do not be fooled.  The Savior may have looked just as dazed as the saved; just as bloodied as the condemned; just as confused as the victim; just as much of a man as the rest, but he is not.  He is God; who appeared like us in all things, except sin.

Broken bread is still bread.  A pierced heart is just a reminder of a loving heart.