Easter Octave-Resurrection-Trinity

HOMILY EASTER OCTAVE – THURSDAY

The Divine Dance

(Acts 4:1-12; Ps 118; Jn 21:1-14)

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In many ways, Franciscan priest, spiritual writer and speaker, Richard Rohr, has been prophetic for years. He always has been on the cusp of where the Church was going – starting with the charismatic renewal in the 60’s; the great themes of scripture; the Enneagram; the men’s movement; social justice and contemplation (founding the Centre for Action and Contemplation) and most recently, a renewed focus on our Trinitarian God with his recent book The Divine Dance.

It is no coincidence that the forward to this book was written by William Paul Young, author of The Shack, the book that inspired the recent movie by the same name, highlighting God the Father as a compassionate black mother, Jesus as a caring young man and the Holy Spirit as a bright and lively Asian young woman. Together they help the main character, McKenzie, arrive at a place where he forgives both his father, and the man who murdered his daughter.

Rohr’s book was inspired by Andrei Rüblev’s painting entitled The Trinity or The Hospitality of Abraham. In that painting, the three angels who visited Abraham in the Old Testament are pictured as Father, Son and Holy Spirit seated around an altar in a gentle, loving, delicate relationship with one another.

As Rohr puts it, “At the heart of the Christian revelation, God is not seen as a distant, static monarch, but a divine circle dance, or in Greek, perichoresis (the origin of our word choreography). God is the holy one presented in the dynamic and loving action of the Three. The invitation to share at the table by Rublev’s art is the first biblical hint of what we would eventually call salvation.

A key to the painting is the space in front of the altar where a mirror originally had been placed, inviting the viewer to see him or her self as a fourth person of this Trinitarian dance, with all of creation. We are invited to be participants with our Trinitarian God in a divine dance of redemption, salvation and fullness of life.

Today’s readings fit within this context of books, movie and painting. St. Peter is the first to step into the dance. After the Pentecost event he is filled with the Spirit and witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. Is so doing, he reveals God as Trinity (Jesus is “the crucified one;” God “raised him from the dead,” and Peter is “filled with the Holy Spirit”). Peter then proclaims for all the world to hear that there is salvation in no one else. Peter is already a participant in the perichoresis.

St. Peter then proclaims what the psalm echoes – that Jesus is the rejected stone that has become the cornerstone. There has been a shift within the Trinity – Jesus is now the cornerstone of a new creation, the new world order, the very reign of God here on earth that Jesus came to inaugurate – in short, the divine dance.

Turning to the gospel, St. John is the theologian of signs, symbolism, mystery and memory. Jesus returns to Galilee, where his ministry began, and where it all went well. He appears mysteriously on the shore after a night of futile fishing by the apostles, and gently reveals himself by a second miraculous catch of fish.

One could say that John is also the theologian of delicate touches. Peter’s response to the first miraculous catch was “Depart from me, Lord, I am a sinful man.” Here, John points out, perhaps with a smile, that he jumps both feet into the water! Then Peter becomes the one who hauls in the net, a subtle hint of his leadership role to come?

The number of fish is significant. According to Fr. John Fullenbach, 12 times 12 equals 144 (representing all the tribes of Israel) and 3 times 3 equals 9 (representing all the gentile nations). 144 plus 9 equals 153, a number symbolizing all the nations known to the ancient world of that day. Scripture scholar Paul Fachet OMI would attest to that.

We are among that number. The unsung heroes who prepare for Rachel’s Vineyard; who journey with inmates towards reception into the Church, who forgive their enemies and apologize to those they have hurt; who sincerely and genuinely work the 12 Step program; who set out on spiritual journeys of growth and healing through spiritual direction, who take the Returning To Spirit workshop on healing of the Residential School legacy and let go of victimhood – all these and so many more are participating in the divine dance.

Finally, Jesus takes bread and fish, and gives both to the apostles – a not so subtle reminder of the Last Supper and the moment the disciples recognized him in the breaking of the bread at Emmaus.

And we are here to celebrate the Eucharist that Jesus established at the Last Supper. Ron Rolheiser OMI would call this our “one great act of fidelity.” The Church has made a lot of mistakes over the years, like the Crusades and the Inquisition, but to this we have been faithful. Jesus said “Do this in memory of me” and we have done that, and are doing it now.

May our celebration of this Eucharist not only remind us of that invitation to, but also strengthen our participation in, this perichoresisor divine dance.