John 16:5-11 Holy Spirit and Eye Sight

John 16:5-11  Holy Spirit and Eye Sight

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’”

Today’s Gospel reminds me of John Denver’s classic, “Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong...”  So where exactly do I belong?  West Virginia?  No, I think that’s far too short-sighted. Then where in the world do all roads lead to?  Home?  Yes.  And where on earth is home?  Rome. 

What would you think of a Muslim who tried to have Mass celebrated in a Mosque?  Or of a Jew that tried to hang a cross in a Synagogue?  What would you say to these individuals if they defended their actions by stating that they felt it was the right thing to do? I know what I would say, I would say, “If you want to see a Cross, go to a Christian Church.  If you want to participate in a Mass, then go to a Catholic Church.”  I would not defend them at all.  I would not encourage them and say, “Well, it just goes to show you how insensitive some people can be!” 

Yesterday, I read how a pair of lesbians from a Catholic High School crashed their school’s prom by showing up as a couple.  School officials asked them to leave. I believe they did the right thing.  The school simply followed what it believes.  But it appears as though the couple was offended.  What I don’t understand is why the couple did not apologize to the school?  After all, whose school is it?  Is it a public school?  No.  Is it a charter school?  No.  It’s a Catholic School that belongs to the Catholic Church.  Does the Church not have the right to be what it wants to be?  Does the Church not have a right to teach what it wants to teach?  So, why on earth, did this couple feel as though they had a right to crash a Catholic School’s prom?  Is it their prom?  Yes.  Is it their school?  Yes.  Is it their rules?  No. 

But the media doesn’t seem to get it.  They seem to think that this couple had the right to show up however they wanted to.

But once again, let me ask some simple questions:  Would the media be offended if Muslim officials asked a Muslim to leave his Mosque if he was trying to hammer a Crucifix in the wall?  No.  Would they be offended if a Jew was asked to leave his Synagogue because he was trying to read aloud the “Our Father”?  No.  So why in the world would the Media (along with this couple) take offense at school officials when they defended who they were?  And let me remind all of you who are reading this and saying, “Well, we are supposed to love everyone.”  Yes.  That’s true.  But to love everyone does not mean you have to agree with everyone and/or accept everything.

Why do we have such a hard time understanding this?  Answer:  Because we have been groomed by our earthly masters to be accepting of everything, including sin. And we are...except in defending religious beliefs.  As children we were given glasses to wear to make us see clearer.  And we do…in very secular ways.  But when it comes to religious things, these glasses make us blind.  We have been given role models to follow.  And we do….but only the secular types we are allowed to know in school.  Hence, our world, like our life, is not like the Sun but rather like the Moon, with half of it left in the dark. 

Come Holy Spirit!  Fill the darkness with your light!

We think we can have it all; that we do a good job defending the one and all.  But far too often we crush the one to raise the other.  We know that because we have experienced it for ourselves.  We know how the Media can pump up gay marriage as being the best thing ever, whereas being Married with Children the worst thing ever!  We know how Spielberg can make every child a hero and every parent a clown or a villain. Another similiar tactic is this:   ignore the negatives and feed only the positives of the group being promoting.

For example:  I am still waiting to see, on cable TV, a gay couple argue in front of their children.  Currently, you would think that never happens.  Also, I am waiting for the day when Oprah, or someone like her, interviews children of  gay couples that wished they had a mom and a dad.  Are we to believe that they don't exist?

We have all been told to imagine the negative impact the Ten Commandments could have on the sensibilities of one student, but we don't need to imagine, because we already know, the positive impact the Ten Commandments could have on the life of one student.    

How clumsy the world is.  I can’t even believe what I have recently seen:  An anti-bully activist acting like a bully and receiving applause for being a bully at an anti-bully rally!!!

Where are you going, Lord?  To your death?  To your grave?  Into the ground? 

No, the Lord responds, don’t you wish.  Rather, “I am going to the one who sent me.” 

The Lord is going to the one who sent him.  And in return, the Lord is sending His Spirit to remind us that life is not half empty or half full, but complete, full, in abundance.  He is the glass.  And without the glass, life is a mess. 

Holy Spirit, my Advocate and guide, enlighten my thoughts, words and actions so that I can see as you see, speak as you speak and live as you live.  I ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.