The Ascension -

Jesus had a grand VISION: to change the world!  Jesus’ disciples are the core of that vision because they would create change in the world.  Today I want to talk about being a community of transformation based on the VISION of mutuality and unconditional love.

Jesus sent disciples into the world not retreat from it, but to get involved in the world:  to proclaim hope in a hopeless situation, love in a loveless situation, healing where there was injury and to pass that VISION down to a new generation of disciples. By living Jesus’ VISION out in the world, the disciples TRANSFORMED the world because they dared to proclaim the Good News. In the Gospel of Mark the Good News was preached through action: curing the possessed, healing the leper and the sick, forgiving the enemy, and embracing the poor. Jesus was the Good News and the crucifixion could not stop the Good News from going out into the world.  Wherever equality and mercy were present, transformation happened. When Jesus said, “Go and proclaim” we should understand that proclaiming wasn’t about shaming people into conversion, but about restoring the world to order through peace and forgiveness.  As Church folk we ought to remember that.

As a rabbi, Jesus was familiar with the Jewish concept of “Tikkan olam,” or “healing the world.” This Hebrew phrase literally means “repairing the world.” Jewish prayers call upon God’s people to serve God and at the same time express the hope that the whole world might be eventually abandon idolatrous patterns and accept God.  Rabbis like Jesus preached that the disciples might be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6) and that they be “light of and to the nations”(Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6). “Tikkan olam" led rabbis like Jesus to promote an activist type of faith where human beings fundamentally share in the responsibility in bringing peace to the world and justice to the oppressed. 

The first generation of Christians had a strong activist faith and their communities were truly communities of Good News. The early community, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, shared their resources with one another and took special care of widows and orphans. The community was diverse and went to great lengths to be sure all voices were heard and incorporated into their activities.  These communities were made possible because new generations of DISCIPLES tried on Jesus’ VISION of transforming the world. Disciples should be strong and unafraid. “… they will drive out demons…pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.”  Disciples should be people of healing: “They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover”  Disciples should be people sensitive to other cultures and points of view: “…they will speak new languages.”

When we embrace those qualities and come from a place of hope and love, we truly are transformed and begin to live an a manner of humility and gentleness, patience and acceptance with others. We form communities - parishes where unity is found in diversity, not conformity. Our love for one another is unconditional and we embrace all people and reject no one. Our community would become a place of mutuality: where all parties come from a place of self-sacrifice not self-preservation. Our love is a love that forgives and heals, it is not not resentful: rather than blame and shame, we look to reconcile and mend.  Disciples of the Good News are drawn to one another, they are more inclined to seek the common good rather than pursue particular greed. Communities of the Good News are born out of Good News, that is a VISION of HOPE.  Jesus is THE NEW HOPE.

Jesus calls forth men and women of faith to faith rise up from the rubble of discord, jealously and violence and become new people held together by mutual respect in which all people’s giftedness are respected and honored and all stories are told, not just the ones with which we’re comfortable or that we find “acceptable” in Christian company. The Acts of the Apostles says that in the ideal community people will assume a number of roles and functions: missionaries, justice advocates, teachers, or those who care for the sick and suffering. Others will be drawn to teaching, others will be gifted in organization.  All works of ministry will be “building up the body of Christ…until we attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God…”

Communities of VISION are strong and courageous. They are bold in calling out death and darkness. They do not fear the tyrant or dictator. They stand up to bullies and hate-mongers.  Communities of love battle ignorance and prejudice with dialog and common understanding. Isn’t this the VISION we want for ourselves? Jesus entrusted this VISION to us, so we must figure out if we are willing to accept the VISION - that is, take ownership of it and run with it, or will we stand paralyzed by indecision or fear of getting involved “looking up at the sky?” When Jesus ascended to God’s right hand, he left the disciples a VISION of a mission. The Feast of the Ascension is Jesus’ promise to pray from God’s right hand for us as we do our work.  Let us embrace that VISION and change the world!

Pentecost 2015

Traditionally we say that Pentecost is the birth of the Church. That is true, but if we accept that belief without any real critical reading, then we miss the entire point of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was not “making” the Church - the Holy Spirit was not creating an institution with all its rules and structures. The Holy Spirit was gathering a community of disciples together and sending them forth into the world to continue the work that Jesus began: to heal the world. If we were to understand Pentecost from this perspective, we would see that the Holy Spirit at Pentecost gave birth to a MOVEMENT that is dynamic and relevant to all cultures and in different ages.

The Holy Spirit descended upon the believers for them to fully engage in the “JESUS MOVEMENT”: That is a movement centered around love and forgiveness.This movement was born in a society that was torn apart by violence. At the time of Jesus, all the resources of the known world were funneled to the top, that is, everything went upwards to benefit Cesar. When people refused or even resisted giving their alliance to Cesar, swift punishment followed. People were forced to comply with the system. When people didn’t “go along” surrogate enforcers were integrated into the society to force compliance. Social systems were compromised to weed out “rebels” and religious systems were compromised to ensure a passive population that allowed themselves to be preoccupied with the details of ritual purity rather than asking the big questions about injustice and exploitation.

Jesus initiated a movement to QUESTION the legitimacy of such a system. His message was simple: love and forgive. “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Loving and forgiving pay attention to those who were left out and left behind. Loving and forgiving bid us to pay more attention to the suffering of the neighbor more than searching out heretics or maintaining purity for ritual sacrifice. Love makes us bold enough to ask the question, “Why ISN’T love enough?” Love makes us focus on the situation at hand, not an abstract law. “What does love demand of us in THIS situation?”  Love makes the choice clear: to love my neighbor, to support my neighbor, to mend divisions between myself and my neighbor…or to not care for my neighbor and let the division grow.

The JESUS MOVEMENT was set in motion the moment Jesus rose from the baptismal waters and preached Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…” The MOVEMENT was proven indestructible - Jesus ROSE from the dead.  The MOVEMENT was given to all generations and all humankind: PENTECOST. So let’s look at the origins of Pentecost.

Pentecost originates in the Jewish feast, “Shavuot.”  Shavuot celebrates the reception of the Torah. The festival is connected to Passover - that celebrated the liberation of the slaves from Egypt and Shavuot reminds the Jewish community that liberation is completed only when we work to liberate others.  The giving of the Law reminds the Jewish community the simple phrase, "All that the LORD says we will do.”  The gift of the Christian meaning of the celebration of Pentecost is derived from our Jewish roots.  For Christians, the law given to us is the LAW OF LOVE. “‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” And again, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”  The Jewish admonition still applies, “All that the Lord says, we will do.”

So now, let’s look at the beatification of Monsignor Oscar Romero. The beatification of Oscar Romero taking place on Pentecost signals to the entire Catholic world that the work and mission of the CHURCH is in fact to walk with and advocate for the poor. This beatification also signals a radical departure from being a Church that was more concerned about compliance with our teaching, adherence to prescribed liturgical rubrics, obedience to authority, and working politely behind the scenes to help the poor, (but not at the expense of the rich). 

Brothers, how I wish I burn in the hearts of everyone this great idea: Christianity is not simply a collection of truths in which we are obligated to believe, or laws that must obey or a list of prohibitions! Such a concept of Christianity is rather repugnant. Christianity is above all things, about a person, one who loved me so much that in return, demands my love. The Christian faith is the person of Jesus Christ.  (November 6, 1977)

Now let’s return to Pentecost’s admonition, “All that the Lord says, we will do…”. Does this not demand that we address the issues of injustice not simply with words, but with our LIVES? Is it enough that we wring our hands in frustration with the condition of the poor? No! Is it enough that proclaim absolution over the penitent, and yet not lift a finger to help our sister or brother deal with the conditions that led them to sin? No! Is a handshake sufficient in demonstrating our solidarity with our brother and sister? No! Pentecost demands so much more than a silent prayer, a feeling of frustration over injustice, a proclamation of forgiveness or a handshake. We cannot remain blind and deaf to the realities of those who suffer; Pentecost demands that we get involved in the movement of liberation. We forgive sins by welcoming everyone to the table, Pentecost is the spirit of liberation, it is the spirit of a MOVEMENT in which all people must be made free. Our part in this movement is to participate in God’s plan of liberation.

I want to close our reflection with the prayer attributed to Oscar Romero.

It helps, now and then, to step back

and take the long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,

it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of

the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete,

which is another way of saying

that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about:

We plant seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything

and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something,

and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,

an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,

but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders,

ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen.

Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

God the Father created us out of a divine act of love and with the intention that we be brother and sister to one another. God called Moses to lead his people out of slavery, the most brutal system of exploitation, and guide them into the Promised Land. God raised Israel up to be an enduring sign of resistance against enslavement in any time and any place.  In the course of history, God gave us his son Jesus the Christ, the INCARNATE WORD of the FATHER. Jesus the Christ died for all creation thereby restoring the human family once and for all to God’s original intent: equality and community.  From the Father and Son, we were given the Spirit, so that future generations of disciples would maintain the struggle for liberation with courage and steadfastness, wisdom and strength, prudence and spiritual sensitivity. This is the Trinity.  The power of the Triune God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is like a mighty river of Justice washing away the structures of exploitation and inequality. Jesus calls his disciples to go forth and let water flow into the desert, “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  This is the evangelization of the nations - to proclaim the Good News.

Making disciples and baptizing them, means…

•      We proclaim FREEDOM: We open doors for those held in captivity, that we make a way where there is no way.  We confront the exclusion and bust open the doors of injustice that keep people in darkness, in isolation and in fear.

•      We proclaim VISION: Jesus gives us a vision so that we can see the possibilities that cooperation, forgiveness, self-sacrifice are ultimately more rewarding than acquiring things for ourselves.   

•      We create a COMMUNITY of disciples by welcoming people to the table! Our evangelical task is to find ways for people to share in the harvest and not feel shame and guilt so that they excuse themselves from participating fully in the banquet of love. Rather than insisting on conformity and uniformity, we would focus on inclusion and making space for a diversity and dialog.

Jesus was not initiating a massive membership drive to “sign people up” to be members of the Church. He was calling his disciples to change the world.  A world in which the blind can see. That those who live in conditions of darkness, would finally seen the dawn of a new day. In a changed world the mute speak for themselves and the deaf hear. In a world transformed by Jesus, those who were controlled by debt and poverty are given a reprieve, a “forgiveness of debt” as it were, and they can begin to live for a future that they can control.

In a society transformed by freedom, vision and community, the millions of people held in prisons, detention centers and secret holding facilities would finally have a chance of securing a strong defense and access to a fair jury trial. Those in bondage because of human trafficking and forced labor would be freed from their captors and the homeless man, the refugee, and the immigrant family would all have a chance to live without the fear of arrest, deportation or exploitation. In a transformed world, the emotionally isolated and physically incapacitated are connected to a caring and nurturing community.

When we baptize, we dismantle the fundamental structures of exclusion in the world. We confront the system of economic disparity where the owner is disproportionately rewarded from the toil of the worker, where racism masquerades itself in “law and order”, where creeping fascism becomes evident in the militarization and brutality of law enforcement, where people’s civil liberties and due process are ignored in our court and immigration system. Let’s step back and think about this.  Are we ready to shift our thinking about what it means to evangelize the nations? Can we be a Church that stands with those who yearn for freedom, that is guided by a vision where all are welcome? Can we be a Church that is BOLD?  

If we want to be bold, we cannot replace the Good News with rules and demands of obedience and our relationship with God cannot be expressed only on Sundays.  Remember our reading from Romans: we received the Spirit of freedom so that we no longer are enslaved by fear. We are the adopted sons and daughters of God and have been graced with a relationship with God, that we can call him “Abba/Father” and thus are co-heirs to eternal life with Christ.  If we believe these simple statements, then what do we have to fear in being a bold Church? 

A bold faith with high aspirations demands a faith response: to follow Christ, to imitate Christ - even to the point of giving our lives. If we do our job right we will probably suffer.  We will face opposition as we advocate for greater freedom and participation and there will be people trying to keep us down.  Opposition may be strong and at times and even overwhelming, but let us take our strength from this meal where we are nourished enough to  continue the Lucha, the Mission: to free captives, give sight to the blind and proclaim the Good News to the poor.  

“Repent…and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.”

Young couples say, “We have true love.” They rightly focus on the happiness and a future together. When there is mutual reciprocation, the couple continue down the road together… sometimes for many years…until there’s a “trouble” or sadly the discovery of a “trouble.”  For many couples, “trouble” is a conflict that is rooted in some kind of deceit.

A deceit is discoverable.  We cannot hold onto a lie for so long without thinking that the truth might surface. I supposed that many people can go only so far pretending that things are okay when they’re not. We cannot keep up the illusion of love. Once a lie is disclosed, the deceit must be dealt with by honesty and frankness. The relationship either gets stronger or it ends. Now let me give a caveat here: confessing something is not the same as talking something out. Confession is just letting the cat out of the bag.  A relationship requires is dialog, that is, a mutual commitment to stay at the table and work it out.  The Acts of the Apostles says, “Repent…and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.” Repentance requires both parties staying at the table - facing trouble head on.  When we expose and confront deceit then we can move on to make a decision whether or not we can move forward. 

Now, let’s look at denial. When our “trouble” is denial, we have a much more difficult situation.  Denial makes us think that we’re in love, when we’re not. Denial gives us the illusion that things are great, when they’re not. Denial covers things up rather than allowing us to see what’s really there.  That’s why I feel that denial in the long run is more damaging than lying.  Ask yourself, have you ever thought that you were in love but after talking it out, you discovered you weren’t in love? It seems to me that we have to put ourselves out on the line, reveal our in-most thoughts and feelings and then see where the chips fall.  If we’re going to say we found “true love” then we have to trust that dialog is the way.

Dialog goes beyond the warm and fuzzy and the comfortable. Dialog allows us to bring things up and not avoid the hard conversation. Dialog opens us up to realize that we all have choices and that we are free to choose love. True love is not about living for ourselves or for the moment, or for the pleasure.  True love is about making a choice to live for an Other and not only for ourselves just as Jesus did  for us. When we live our lives as if we are living for an Other, we are released from being possessed by an Other. We no longer feel controlled or the need to control an Other. We don’t feel like we’re crushed nor do we feel a need to dominate an Other. True love is an openness to a never-ending process of freedom and discovery. True love is the Resurrected Christ. 

Today’s reading picks up after the disciples’ discussion about what happened to Jesus. They were at first disillusioned with they thought was a complete loss. They had given up and were walking away from Jerusalem until they encountered Jesus on the road. They were caught up in denial - they heard that the tomb was empty, but they refused to look at that empty tomb might mean TO THEM. The disciples’s denial of dealing with the tomb was a denial of Jesus the Resurrected. When Jesus walked with them and then went to the other disciples and stood in their midst saying,  “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?” Jesus the Resurrected One made an overture of love.  He called out the Disciple’s unbelief.  Rather than trying to prove that he is the Christ, he made himself vulnerable to them. He showed them his wounds, his brokenness. In short, he showed them his humanity. “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”

True love is about being real, it isn’t something built upon a foundation of falsehoods and denial.  True love is built upon people who are willing and able to embrace their own wounds and accept their partner’s wounds. Let’s go back to Jesus, he showed them his hands and his feet and then he broke bread with them.  The meal of “fish” (the ICTHYS) is a literary hint that Risen Christ was in fact in their midst in the meal. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/asktheexpert/oct26.html) Jesus true self was fully disclosed in the breaking of the bread. After Jesus revealed his true self to them, he opened up the Scriptures to them and so the dialog went deeper. Rather than leaving the disciples for their cowardice, he stayed and told them, “…the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”  True love forgives and releases. The dialog led them to understand that true love will result in healing and the forgiveness of one another’s sins. In some cases, particularly in my own life, I have seen friends and even myself forgive and release in the name of love. It’s not easy and it doesn’t always end with everyone living the same was that they were as in the past. Sometimes in love, we forgive, release and move forward, but not necessarily together. Dialog and sitting together at table requires that the only thing we serve is love.

This Easter Season is about the Emmaus Journey.  We should talk to Jesus about where we are with our faith and not be afraid. We should talk about how we feel about Church and our sisters and brothers…after all “Jesus-the-Resurrection” (Cristo Resucitado) discloses himself in strangers and in the unknown, not in the familiar and comfortable. If we trust this LOVE that God has for US, then this will, like true love, change us. We will be better persons and we will be better disciples. And, like Jesus, we will touch one another’s wounds and gather at table and share in a meal that signifies that Risen One is indeed among us.

The Passion of Jesus is Commitment to Social Action

The Passion of Jesus is Commitment to Social Action

Jesus’ outlook on the world (meaning the way he saw the world, how he saw himself in the world, and how he interpreted what he saw) in the Gospel of Mark was from the perspective of the poor.  Jesus saw HOPE in the midst of struggle. In expelling demons and healing the sick, Jesus  restored humanity to those of various afflictions. Curing someone or exorcising a demon is but one part of healing.  Healing, in its fullest sense, is the unconditional reintegration of one who was set apart because of some affliction into the community. 

Jesus creates the possibility for reintegration. He cures the illness and exorcises the demon, but the real healing is the change that happens through reintegration. Where someone had been marginalized because of possession or illness, once Jesus confronted the illness and the social stigma attached to the illness or possession, the individual gained personal “agency,” meaning that person was given the ability to move about in society and choose his or her own course of life. The ability to be a member in a community and make free choices in one’s life, in effect, breaks the cycle of marginalization and injustice. 

People healed by Jesus are no longer stuck at the margins of society.  When a formerly marginalized person is reintegrated into the community, the entire community is changed. If I have ostracized someone and now that person is right in front of me (because Jesus put that person there) then I had better check on my attitude of excluding that person.  People that used to push people into “closets”, to the “back of the bus” and keep people “in the shadows,” now have to look at those whom they shunned. Jesus lifts up the poor and outcast, and by doing so, he declares the social system that allowed marginalization to happen, wrong.

Jesus bids those who have been victims of prejudice and marginalization to stand up and be counted. Rather than coddling them and comforting them, Jesus says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Social transformation is possible when people are willing to take up their own cross and follow Jesus to Jerusalem. The poor and those who live “in the margins” have to rise up.  In other words, we have to make a commitment to the vision and struggle in order to be free.  In the passion according to Mark, Jesus went to Jerusalem to confront not only Pontius Pilate, but the entire system that held people enslaved to Rome and Cesar’s collaborators. This was Jesus’ cross as much as the wooden cross on Calvary. 

The Passion narrative started with a woman who poured expensive oil on Jesus’ head. Some complained about the expense and suggested that the money could better have been spent by feeding the poor. Jesus confronted them by saying that the poor will always be there and that this woman was preparing him for his inevitable death.  By anointing Jesus, this woman was anointing his vision and mission, that is, his determination that he would speak truth to power no matter what the cost might be.

The comments of the detractors about giving money to the poor reflected a short-sighted, myopic perspective. By selling the perfume, you feed the poor a piece of bread for a day. By anointing the vision and mission, you commit yourself to the struggle.  That is, you commit yourself to join the fight against the realities that make people poor in the first place. The anointing symbolized the long-term “lucha” rather than a temporary relief to a systemic tragedy that created suffering in the first place.  This is why this woman’s gesture will be remembered in all generations to come.

The second scene is the Passover scene. When one breaks bread at the Passover and shares in the cup of wine, participants in the Passover are making a commitment to the eternal struggle for liberation. The Passover signified a deep and abiding solidarity with the struggle for the liberation of slaves from Egypt. The bread was known as “Bread of Affliction” symbolizing the harsh realities of being a slave.  The last cup, the “Cup of the Covenant" represented the blood of those who died under the horrific conditions of slavery as well as honoring those who have given their lives for the cause of freedom.  When one shares in the bread and the wine, one has made a commitment be a part of that struggle for freedom.   

Right after the Passover meal, the disciples went to the garden with Jesus but they couldn’t find the energy to remain awake and vigilant. To add insult to injury, Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter outright denied Jesus. Everyone chose self-preservation and denied the cross. At the arrest scene, the young man that ran away naked symbolized the personal shame that comes from abandoning the altruistic teachings of Jesus: freedom and equality.  In short, if you have no vision to live by and no conviction for the mission of justice, you literally have nothing. You are naked.

The remaining part of the Passion narrative is dedicated to detailing Jesus’ decision to save the human family. Jesus’ decision to speak truth to power was his confrontation with the Sanhedrin, chief priests and finally with Pontius Pilate. Jesus was crucified because he chose to stand against the grain and lift a hand of protection on behalf of the poor and a word of advocacy for the oppressed.  At his last breath, a soldier remarked, “Truly, this man was the Son of God!”  Normally throughout the gospel (of Mark) when anyone made that confession, Jesus would stop them and tell them to say nothing. But in this case, there was no rebuke. The resounding silence stood as and still stands today as an invitation to take our cross and continue the struggle. No longer concerned with self-preservation, taking up the cross makes us vigilant and ready to move.  We will not remain silent in the face of hatred.

The Passion of Mark isn’t merely a commemoration of Jesus’ death, it is an invitation for us to live the Passion - that is to take up our cross and follow Jesus all the way to Calvary. As vigilant disciples, we should be ready to stand up to hateful laws, like the one targeting gays in Indiana.  Taking up the cross makes us more sensitive to the plight of undocumented immigrants and the hassles that they have to endure every day and it makes us more committed to work for a just and compassionate solution. The Passion commits us to work toward ending the aggression and hostility against African American young men.  The Passion commits us to challenge the social inequities that we the poor face everyday in Silicon Valley. Passion Sunday reminds us that Jesus’ work continues in us if only we take up the cross and follow him.

“If you wish, you can make me clean.”

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”

Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him,  “I do will it. Be made clean.”

The stories and references of leprosy in the Bible serve as a kind of metaphor for how we deal with people who we judge as “unclean” and unworthy of having contact with God. Our treatment of lepers must come from a place of mercy and love, not legalism and fear. Our reaction to those whom we deem “unclean” is ultimately the barometer of our own humanity.  Today I want to look at leprosy from the perspective of Jesus’ healing of the leper by making direct contact with the man.

People afflicted with leprosy (http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/1270/1300) were not only ritually excluded from the religion, they were  excluded from the community. Traditional law dictated by Leviticus said that lepers must stand outside the community and even self-declare that they are “unclean.” Imagine the psychological damage done to oneself by being forced to yell to all passers-by, “Unclean! Unclean!”  (see http://www.religiousrules.com/Judaismpurity04leprosy.htm#sthash.YvEH99mm.dpuf). Lepers were never ever again embraced by their families and loved ones.

Being declared “unclean” had two levels of isolation: we already heard about social and emotional isolation but the most heartfelt isolation was religious isolation. The law of Moses said that anything that was declared “unclean” was unfit to use to worship God. When Jesus healed the man of leprosy, he not only restored the man to the community, but also back to God.  

Leprosy was believed incurable by humans and popular thought believed that God inflicted leprosy as a curse for sins. Throughout Western history lepers were restrained from social contact. Because the disease was associated with sin, when people isolated lepers and cut social ties, they felt they were justified in doing so.  They were, after all, punishing sinners.

One of the most infamous stories of isolating lepers was in Hawai’i. The island of Moloka’i was set up as a colony of lepers by imperial American interests.  To understand that statement, let’s look at the history of how Moloka’i became a leper colony. 

Native Hawaiians never had leprosy.  In fact the Hawaiian name for leprosy,  “mai ho’oka’awale," meaning the “separating sickness.” The name came from the effect leprosy had on people.  It wasn’t the disfigurement that came from the disease. In fact, disfigurement was not a problem for the Hawaiians. The most difficult hurt came from being isolated from family and being sent to an unfamiliar place.

Hawaiian culture was tied to family (‘ohana) and land (‘aina). The idea of “‘ohana” family and ‘aina - land came from native Hawaiian belief that people are directly linked by their ancestry to the land and to the gods. ‘Ohana means that we are connected to each other and that ‘ohana is there for all kinds of support: when hungry, there will be food. When there is danger, there are people who would protect you.  You will always have a place: ‘aina. It is your land your place, your family. And when there is illness, there is someone there to accompany you.  Helping someone out is called “kokua.”  

For traditional Hawaiians, it is inconceivable for an individual to face the world alone.  One’s identity came from ‘ohana and ‘aina. When Hawaiians were forcibly removed to Moloka’i, there was a member of their ‘ohana who would join them.  If it weren’t for “kokua,” the people on Moloka’i would not have survived. In fact leprosy wasn’t the cause of death, it was the poor housing from neglect and the social policy of isolation that killed the people.

In the 1860’s Hawai’i was still a sovereign kingdom and not a part of the US. At that time a leprosy outbreak occurred and board members of the Hawaiian “Royal Board of Health” - which by that time were dominated by Americans and descendants of Americans born into royal Hawaiian families - determined leprosy to be a “crime.”  This pretense of the “law” made people feel it was legitimate to round up people and send them away. This so-called “Royal Board of Health” were pawns in American interests: they used the leprosy outbreak to further destabilize the Hawaiian population thus making way for the eventual overthrow of the infamous 1893 overthrow of the Island Kingdom. (see http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/americans-overthrow-hawaiian-monarchy).

In this seemingly helpless situation, came Damien de Veuster, or St. Damien of Moloka’i. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTS0mZcbffk  and http://www.catholichawaii.org/catholic-essentials/scripture-tradition/saints/saint-damien.aspx) Fr. Damien arrived in Moloka’i in 1873 to minister to the people of Moloka’i.  The colony had no real laws, no housing, farms or schools. Under this priest’s direction, the colony established rules, improved housing and organized farms.  Children attended school and the lepers were restored to human dignity.  When Fr. Damien contacted leprosy  in 1884 he was sadly shunned by civil and religious leaders, yet that did not deter him from continuing his work. He enlisted the help of other people to participate in “kokua.”  A Franciscan sister, Marianne Cope, joined in the kokua. (see: http://www.npr.org/2012/10/20/163269139/mother-of-outcasts-to-be-a-saint-for-leprosy-work

and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2221026/Pope-canonizes-Native-American-Hawaiian-saints-huge-crowds-Vatican.html#ixzz3ReQ4goas)  She helped homeless female children of leprosy patients and cared for women and children who might be vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by establishing a home for them.  As Fr. Damien laid in bed, she was the only one from the Church to care for Fr. Damien in his last year of life.  She remained in Moloka’i after Fr. Damien died. She died of natural causes in 1918.

In 1995 Fr. Damian was named a saint and throughout Hawaii, Catholics and non-Catholics venerate his image as a sign of true ‘ohana and kokua.  His remains were returned to Moloka’i, his ‘aina after his canonization.  In 2005 Marianne Cope was named a saint as well. Her remains are in Connecticut.

Saints Damien of Moloka’i and Marianne Cope emulate Jesus. They restored humanity to outcasts. They became family to the dispossessed and their steadfast presence reminded the lepers of Moloka’i that they were precious in God’s eyes and the world was wrong not to see their humanity.  Sadly it wasn’t until 1969 that the old laws that classified lepers as criminals was repealed and that lepers would not have to live in fear of arrest or exile.  There is indeed much to do as we move forward from here. There are people - as this community knows from our experience - that will enact laws and label people as “criminals” thus giving bigots and small-minded politicians license for exiling people. We as Americans come from troubling history of isolating people we find “inconvenient.” Look at the Trail of Tears - the forced migration of several Native American tribes in 1830 (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears) , The internment of people of Japanese descent in the 1940’s (see http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/08/world-war-ii-internment-of-japanese-americans/100132/), the way AIDS patients were first treated in the 1980’s, the mass isolation of Haitian refugees in the 1990’s, and how some congressmen today call for the mass deportation of undocumented persons.  

We can do better. We must do better. Faith demands that we reach out and touch others. To restore humanity. To stand with those who are isolated. To embrace the vulnerable. And to break bread with everyone.