HOMILY WEEKDAY 19 – 04
Our Own Exodus Journey and Paschal Mystery Experience:
Optional Memorial of St Jane Frances de Chantal
(Jos 3:7-17; Ps 114; Mt 18:21-19:1)
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One day, Louis, a tall Cree recovering alcoholic, came into my office and shared his story with me: a drunk for years, sobriety, joining AA, a dry drunk for four years, organizing Round-ups and chairing AA meetings but not really working the program; hospitalization that helped him realize that reality, a change of heart, doing a genuine Step 5 that began his real recovery, and now he was experiencing a new life of sobriety, joyous and free. He then asked if we could pray together before leaving which touched me deeply.
His story in a subtle, marvellous way led me to realize that we should pray for the ability to experience own Exodus Journey and Paschal Mystery by grieving and forgiving.
Louis’ story haunted me for days as I pondered it: a drunk, sobriety, 12 Step Program, a dry drunk, recovery and new life. It seemed familiar, somehow, then suddenly, one day I realized I had heard it before – the story of Moses: slavery in Egypt for centuries, liberation from Pharoah, 40 years in the desert, crossing the Jordan and entrance into the Promised Land.
That story also haunted me until I realized it was parallel to the story of Jesus: passion, death, resurrection, appearances to his disciples (which I call the forgotten mystery because we skip over it in the rosary, the creed and in the canon of the Mass), ascension and Pentecost.
I really got excited when it dawned on me that was also the pattern of our story: life’s hurts, personal loss due to that hurt, survival (we are still alive but surviving instead of thriving), our need to grieve, our need to forgive and finally, the new life of the Spirit.
There it was – six similar stages in all these stories. I began to call this pattern our Exodus Journey and Paschal Mystery Experience as a way to name how we heal and grow into our truer, freer selves. Today’s readings invite us to focus on the 4th and 5th stages – the desert and Jordan with Joshua; appearances and ascension with Jesus, that for us should become a time of both grieving our losses and forgiving those who hurt us. Only then can we truly experience crossing into the Promised Land and rising to a new life of serenity and joy.
Within the Exodus Journey, the desert period symbolizes our need to grieve and mourn our losses (they had to let go of returning to Egypt) and crossing the Jordan symbolizes our need to forgive anyone who has hurt us in any way.
During the time of his appearances, Jesus was talking to his disciples about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3) and teaching them to mourn and grieve the loss of him as they knew him. The Jesus of history was now the Christ of faith. That is why he told Mary Magdalene not to cling to him (Jn 20:17) when he appeared to her. She wanted him back so Jesus had to teach her, and the disciples, that they had to have faith, let him ascend to the Father, and they would receive his Spirit to be with them in a new way, which is what happened at Pentecost.
Many of us are stuck in grief, wanting our loved ones back. We need to grieve their loss in the desert, and allow Jesus appear to us and empower us to give them back to God, so that we can receive their spirit to be with us in a new way. Then we will sense their presence, not miss them as much anymore and be able to move on with our lives.
The ascension of Jesus symbolizes our need to forgive anyone who has hurt us in any way, and to let go of anger, resentment or bitterness. We do this especially by sharing our feelings of hurt to those who have hurt us with love (Mt 18:15), with no punishment or desire for revenge, creating a space for God’s forgiveness to flow through us. Then we are just like Jesus on the Cross and our dignity, innocence and self-worth comes back. Like Peter in the gospel, we must do this over and over again if need be as disciples of Jesus, who is forgiveness, if we are to experience the new life of serenity, freedom and joy that only the Spirit of the Risen Lord can give us.
Dr. Jane Simington (takingflightinternational) turned her years of mourning and grieving the loss of her son in a hunting accident into a search for deeper meaning that now allows her to help others through sessions on trauma recovery and grief support. She was in the desert with Moses and walked with Jesus during his appearances.
Mary Johnson’s son was killed by another youth at a party at the age of 16. She struggled for years to try to forgive him. Eventually she visited him in jail, got to know him, forgave him and after he was released 17 years later, invited him to live in her own apartment building next door to her. He is now trying to prove himself, to himself, working by day, studying in the evenings, giving motivational talks on the weekends and trying to forgive himself for what he did. Mary crossed the Jordan with Moses, and ascended into heaven with Jesus.
Today the church honors St. Jane Frances de Chantal. Born Jane Frémiot at Dijon, France, in 1572, she and her husband had six children. In 1601, however, her husband died in an accident. After overcoming her depression, Jeanne Frances sought the spiritual dimension of her suffering. With her spiritual advisor, Francis de Sales, she founded the Congregation of the Visitation for women who wished to live religious life but could not endure the austerity of the existing religious orders. Committed to working with the sick and the poor, she died in 1641, having established about 85 monasteries. Certainly, St. Jane Frances turned her grief into good grieving.
The Eucharist we celebrate is an experience of God’s grace and forgiveness that empowers us to grieve our losses and forgive those who have hurt us. Let us pray that we will be able to make our own Exodus Journey, and experience our own Paschal Mystery so that a new life of serenity and peace will be ours.
