Breaking the Word

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wednesday in the 5th Week of Lent
Dancing to the Tune of Truth

Readings: Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95; Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56; John 8:31-42

Months ago, while up in the mountains, we were told about the importance of dance in the lives of the people there, especially those who still cling to the old traditions. Celebrations often feature a communal dance, except when one family is in mourning, or is at enmity with another family. Then dancing and the playing of musical instruments – especially the gong – are forbidden until the mourning period is ended or the dispute resolved. In the mountains, dance is part of the fabric of daily living.

It seems different for us modern city-dwellers. Even though chic dance-clubs continue to attract hordes of patrons, here dance seems more of an optional pastime – perhaps even a frivolous one – than an essential part of life. And yet, isn’t it true that even if we don’t actually dance physically, every one of us dances at least figuratively? Don’t we dance to a variety of tunes, to melodies of ambition and competition, of materialism and consumerism, of envy and greed? Don’t we sometimes find ourselves so entranced by these tunes that even our freedom is lost?

Which brings us to our readings today. Both readings deal with the theme of freedom by presenting us with a contrast between two groups of people. The three boys in the first reading are slaves of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. The people in the gospel, on the other hand, pride themselves in being descendants of Abraham who have never been enslaved to anyone. But appearances are deceiving. For slaves though they may be, the three boys demonstrate their radical freedom in refusing to dance to the tune played by the powerful king. In defiance of the king’s decree, they refuse to fall down and worship at the sound of trumpet and flute, lyre and harp, musical instruments for idolatrous rites. They choose instead to acknowledge no god but the God of their ancestors. In contrast, the freeborn people in the gospel are unable to recognize and unwilling to accept Jesus as the presence of God in their midst. This makes something very clear to us, something of which they themselves remain stubbornly oblivious: in spite of their rigorous external observance of the law, they are actually dancing to an idolatrous tune.

But Jesus offers them a remedy, both for their ignorance as well as their idolatry. If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free… The way to freedom consists in tuning in and dancing to the music of the Word of God, which alone is capable of penetrating our hearts, of unmasking the extraneous melodies that hold us entranced, and of recovering for us the ability to recognize the tune of Truth for which our hearts are hardwired. And isn’t this what we have been doing especially in these days of Lent? Isn’t this what we will be doing even more intensely during Holy Week and the Easter Triduum? We will be meditating upon Christ the Word himself, as we celebrate in a special way, in the church’s liturgy, the Mystery of his life, death and resurrection. Through these celebrations, we hope to be helped, in our daily living, to tune in and dance to no other melody than that of Truth.

What tune are you dancing to today?

3 comments:

AnonymousWed Mar 12, 09:37:00 pm GMT+8
What constitues a dance without the dancer? One cannot exist without the other. This pure union between the movement and the mover constitutes the very act of worship. It must surely be a dance of true love devoid of thought.
As with the Dervish whirl of the Rumi tradition, it represents a spiritual endeavor that for me is the very essence of prayer. We sing in Church and the song dances in our head, directing the descent into our heart, where true worship lies.
We often ask - to whose tune do we dance to? We are reminded to dance as David did, in sheer joy for the Lord. The Lord of the dance beckons and we become his partner.
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AnonymousThu Mar 13, 03:28:00 am GMT+8
I don't have questions to offer,
nor clever words to praise.

All I have to say, in response to your homily, is thank you.

God bless you.
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AnonymousThu Mar 13, 08:24:00 am GMT+8
Dear frens:

If, like me, you reflect on the day's Scripture readings in Good News Ministry, you will be astounded by how the word of God leaps right out at you! Today's reflection on truth is one of them. I would like to share the abbreviated form with you.

"The hardest substance in the universe is truth. It cannot be changed. It cannot be remolded into a different shape. It cannot be chiseled away or eroded into something less than what it started out to be. No matter what we believe, the truth remains constant; no one can change it, not by our desire to rationalize away wrong choices nor by the whims of society and the world's ever-changing moods.

Therefore, anyone who believes an alteration of the truth is believing a counterfeit, a lie. And everyone who professes a counterfeit is a liar, even if they feel absolutely convinced that their version of the lie is the truth. A lie does not become a truth just because we think it's truth.

This is good news, because since truth is unchangeable, and since God only speaks truth, we know that whatever He promises in His Word is unchangeable. We can rely on his promises with absolute certainty."

Thank you, Anastasia, for your five lines of wisdom and gratitude. God bless all.
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Breaking News: Easter

The fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful exultation as one feast day, or better as one "great Sunday." These above all others are the days for the singing of the Alleluia. The Sundays of this season rank as the paschal Sundays and, after Easter Sunday itself, are called the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Sundays of Easter. The period of fifty sacred days ends on Pentecost Sunday. The first eight days of the Easter season make up the octave of Easter and are celebrated as solemnities of the Lord. On the fortieth day after Easter the Ascension is celebrated, except in places where, not being a holyday of obligation, it has been transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter (see no. 7).[R4] The weekdays after the Ascension until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive are a preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit. ~ General Norms for the Liturgical Year & Calendar, 22-26

From 36th Jesuit General Congregation

It is our union with one another in Christ that testifies to the Good News more powerfully than our competences and abilities.... In our individualistic and competitive age, we should remember that the community plays a very special role since it is a privileged place of apostolic discernment.... The Jesuit community is a concrete space in which we live as friends in the Lord. This life together is always at the service of mission, but because these fraternal bonds proclaim the Gospel, it is itself a mission. –Companions in a Mission of Reconciliation and Justice (CMRJ), nn. 7-9.

With the poor, we can learn what hope and courage mean.... In our communities and apostolates, we hear the call to rediscover hospitality to strangers, to the young, to the poor, and to those who are persecuted. Christ himself teaches us this hospitality. –CMRJ, nn. 15-16.

At the heart of Ignatian spirituality is the transforming encounter with the mercy of God in Christ that moves us to a generous personal response. The experience of the merciful gaze of God on our weakness and sinfulness humbles us and fills us with gratitude, helping us to become compassionate ministers to all.... For us Jesuits, compassion is action, an action discerned together. Yet we know that there is no authentic familiarity with God if we do not allow ourselves to be moved to compassion and action by an encounter with the Christ who is revealed in the suffering, vulnerable faces of people, indeed in the suffering of creation. –CMRJ, nn. 19-20.

(T)he Society must respond more decisively to the Church’s call for a new evangelization, giving special emphasis to ministry to and with the young and with families.... A special gift Jesuits and the Ignatian family have to offer to the Church and her mission of evangelization is Ignatian spirituality, which facilitates the experience of God and can therefore greatly help the process of personal and communal conversion. –CMRJ, nn. 22-23.

In many societies, there is an increased level of conflict and polarization, which often gives rise to violence that is all the more appalling because it is motivated and justified by distorted religious convictions. In such situations, Jesuits, along with all who seek the common good, are called to contribute from their religious-spiritual traditions towards the building of peace, on local and global levels. –CMRJ, n. 28.

Pope Francis has emphasized the fundamental connection between the environmental crisis and the social crisis in which we live today. Poverty, social exclusion, and marginalization are linked with environmental degradation. These are not separate crises but one crisis that is a symptom of something much deeper: the flawed way societies and economies are organised. The current economic system with its predatory orientation discards natural resources as well as people. For this reason, Pope Francis insists that the only adequate solution must be a radical one. The direction of development must be altered if it is to be sustainable. We Jesuits are called to help heal a broken world, promoting a new way of producing and consuming, which puts God’s creation at the center.... The multifaceted challenge of caring for our common home calls for a multifaceted response from the Society. We begin by changing our personal and community lifestyles, adopting behaviour coherent with our desire for reconciliation with creation. – CMRJ, nn. 29-30

From 35th Jesuit General Congregation

From General Congregation 35

By sending us to 'those physical and spiritual places which others do not or have difficulty reaching,' the Pope entrusts to us the task to 'build bridges of understanding and dialogue,' according to the best tradition of the Society, in the diversity of its ministries.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 6

To be missioned to this work 'at the New Frontiers of our times' always requires that one also be rooted at the very heart of the Church. This tension, specific to the Ignatian charism, opens the way to true creative fidelity.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 13

In every mission that we carry out, we seek only to be where (Christ) sends us. The grace we receive as Jesuits is to be and to go with him, looking on the world with his eyes, loving it with his heart and entering into its depths with his unending compassion.
- Decree on Identity, n. 15

For ultimately, there is no reality that is only profane for those who know how to look. We must communicate this look and provide a pedagogy inspired by the Spiritual Exercises, that carries people - especially the young - into it.
- Decree on Identity, n. 10

Our ministries of proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the Life of Christ in the sacraments continue to be fundamental for our mission and our lives together as Jesuits.
- Decree on Mission, n. 19

The complexity of the problems we face and the richness of the opportunities offered demand that we engage in building bridges between rich and poor and establishing advocacy links of mutual support between those who hold political power and those who find it difficult to voice their interests. Our intellectual apostolate provides an inestimable help in setting up these bridges, offering us new ways of understanding in depth the mechanism and links among our present problems.
- Decree on Mission, n. 28

Jesuit community is not just for mission, it is itself mission.
- Decree on Mission, n. 41

In this global context it is important to highlight the extraordinary potential represented by our character as an international and multicultural body. Acting consistently with this character can not only enhance the apostolic effectiveness of our work but in a fragmented and divided world it can witness to the reconciliation in solidarity of all the children of God.
- Decree on Mission, n. 43

Faith in Jesus Christ teaches us that self-realization comes from self-giving and that freedom is not so much the power to choose as the power to order our choices toward love. At the same time, love for Jesus Christ and the desire to follow him call us to trusting commitment. Commitment to the Word Incarnate cannot be separated from commitment to the concrete manifestations of the Word that are at the center of our lives, the Church and the Society which exists to serve the Church.
- Decree on Obedience, n. 19