Lk 5:33-39 The Strange Case For "And"

Friday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
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Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, "No one pours new wine into old wineskins.  Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.  Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins."

Today's homily at Ursuline Academy. 

There's something almost mythical about Ursuline Academy, a school that opened its doors in 1875 - ten years after the end of the Civil War.

There's something very humbling and magical about the nuns who envisioned this school but never fully realized it.

There's a lot to be proud of here, and I'm proud to be a small part of it.  There's one word that best describes what Ursuline does and has continued to do for generations.  We heard that word from a verse in today's responsorial psalm:  "Trust in the LORD and do good."

And.  That's it!  It's that simple and profound.  It's what Ursuline does best.  It's what the Church does best:  combine two worlds into one. 

Faith and reason. Body and soul.  History and Providence.  Insight and Revelation.  Thinking and Believing.  Nature and Grace.  Instinct and Inspiration.  God and man.

Without this world vision, our lives would be unbearable.  But with it, we can accomplish all things. 

I can honestly say that this "and" has changed my world view on just about everything and everyone.  It has changed the way I see myself and others; tragedies and difficulties; successes and failures; loss and gain.  It has changed the way I see the world, life, death, evil and sin, in general.  It has changed by 180 degrees the meaning, purpose and focus of life.  It has changed the way I think, speak and act.  It has turned my world upside down, which means right-side-up.  It has lessened my fears and built up my faith, hope and courage.

This morning I did my daily routine and scanned through the local and national news.  What I found was a wonderful example of "and."

Brazilian man born with 'upside-down' head defies odds to become public speaker.    Claudio Vieira beat the odds (that is, the facts, the reasons, the thinking of the experts) and is today a motivational speaker.  When asked about his condition, he said, "Throughout my life I was able to adapt my body to the world.  Right now, I don't see myself as being different.  I am a normal person...Nowadays it's much easier to deal with the public, I'm not afraid of it anymore and I can say that I am a professional, international public speaker and that I receive invitations from all over the world."  This man needs to speak to Richard Dawkins, especially after his fascist tweet regarding Down Syndrome babies.

We need people like Claudio Vieira to help us not be so afraid of life.  We don't need people like Richard Dawkins, who dehumanizes human beings.

Olympian Amy Van Dyken-Rouen on faith, recovery and if she'll walk again.  Champion swimmer Amy Van Dyken-Rouen says she's a more spiritual person since the June ATV accident that severed her spine and left her paralyzed.  Wow!  Here's another example of a woman who "beat the odds."  She was told by her doctor to say her goodbyes.  She did as she was told, and when she woke up, she was surprised to see her loved ones, again.  Although paralyzed from the waist down, Amy Van Dyken considers herself fortunate to be alive.   

We need people like her to help us not be so afraid of tragedies and loss.

As I was meditating on faith and reason, another thought came to mind.  There are some who will say that their Christian faith has failed them. What they won't readily admit is how their reason has failed them as well.  I, for one, know how easy it is to justify just about anything, good, bad and ugly.  I know how easy it is for reason to work as an advocate for me and my causes.  It doesn't take much to notice how people can reason their way out of tough situations, or how convincing an entire population takes some reasoning skills.

It doesn't take a historian to observe how reason has failed the best of us and taken us near the gates of hell.

Faith and reason are the two ends of one balancing beam.  They keep us balanced.  They keep the world balanced.  They are absolutely necessary for balance.  Too little of one or the other can be devastating and distorting to our world vision.

Human. Unicorns. Earth.  Love.  What words come to mind when you read these words?  If someone had asked me this thirty years ago, I would have said the following:  Mammals/animals. Fiction.  Planet.  Chemistry.

Today, I know better.  Today, I would say:  Alien.  Real.  Home.  Sacrifice.  Why?  It's all because of "and."  Again, my world has changed because I have been able to combine two worlds and figure out what's real (reality).

To some, Christianity may sound old.  It's not.  It's new.  But how can something that has been around for over two thousand years be considered new. Well, if something is seldom used - really used - then it remains new.  The freshness and newness of Christianity lies in the fact that it has only rarely been seriously tried at the individual level. 

In today's Gospel passage, the Lord invites us to take His very relevant and fresh ideas and put them into practice; that is, converge two worlds and discover reality.