Reflection from Fr. John for 4th Sunday of Easter on I Peter 2:20b-25 & John 10:1-10

Hemingway wrote in Farewell to Arms, “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at broken places.”

This Pandemic has broken many financially and health wise. It has also broken the spirits and even the patience of some. But Easter gives us the hope and the belief that afterward we will be strong at broken places.

That hope comes not from Hemingway, but Peter who tells us that “By His wounds we have been healed.” Christ was broken on the cross, but the Risen Christ revealed his wounds to the Post Resurrection disciples.

Peter is writing to those early Christians who are suffering persecution, urging them to have patience in the face of suffering because “By His wounds we have been healed.” Peter is also reminding them that by their own wounds they can be healed.

Fr. Greg Boyle tells the story of a young man who was physically abused as a child. His mom beat him every single day during his elementary days. His back was bloodied and scarred. He wore three t-shirts to school even on the hottest days so the blood would not show through.

He continued to wear three t-shirts well into his adult years because he was ashamed of his wounds. He didn’t want anyone to see them. But now he says he welcomes his wounds. He runs his fingers over the scars saying “my wounds are my friends.” He adds, “How else can I help others to heal, if I don’t welcome my wounds.”

“By His wounds you have been healed.”

We’ve all been wounded by this Pandemic. We’ve all suffered. We’ve also carried into this Pandemic the wounds that we have hidden, that we are ashamed of, wounds we have yet to befriend. Howard Thurman says that perhaps our deepest affliction is our inability to handle our suffering. We cover it up with all kinds of consumption.

During this time of affliction some of us are eating too much, watching too much TV, drinking too much in an attempt to cover up our suffering with all kinds of consumption.

Fr. Richard Rohr says, “If we do not transform our pain, our suffering, we will transmit it.” He’s telling us that we risk not just passing on the virus during this time, but we also risk passing on our anger, our irritation, our impatience.

“Be patient with your suffering,” Peter urges. In patience we learn from our suffering. “Suffering can make us bitter and close us down” or as Rohr says, “it can make us compassionate, softening our hearts, opening them up to others.”

Be patient, Peter urges us in the face of suffering because there’s a grace there to be discovered.

Chardin wrote, “above all trust…in the slow work of God.”

Patience is trusting in the slow work of God to reveal to us the grace in our suffering, the grace in this time of suffering. Trust in the slow work of God, Chardin says, especially during times when you are “impatient about everything.” At this time when we are impatient about getting back to work, getting businesses open, getting back to normal we need all the more to trust in the slow work of God.

Leon Bloy wrote that suffering “breaks some people and others it breaks them open to greatness to help others.” During this time, we have witnessed the greatness of those who put themselves at risk, who are willing to follow the example of Christ, sacrificing their lives for others.

Mr. Rogers said if you want to identify those people, “look to the helpers.” Look for the first responders, doctors, nurses, essential workers. Also look for the people who stock the shelves and clean them at night. Look also to the helpers in your home and your neighborhoods. They are following the example of Christ sacrificing, their lives for others.

Anthropologist Margaret Meade was asked what was the first sign of civilization. She responded it was the discovery of a 1500 year old femur bone that had been broken and healed. She said the fact it had been healed was a sign that the person with the wound had been bound up, carried to safety and the helper stayed with them until recovery.

Meade was saying that out of that brokenness civilization rose up.

Easter people are people who rise up to care for others, giving us hope that out of this time of brokenness there will be new life. Jesus is making that promise to us in the Gospel when He says, “I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”

In this year of the Coronavirus we celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. As you may know, Beethoven suffered greatly during his life. He suffered isolation being deaf. But out of that suffering he wrote his “Ode to Joy.”

That’s the promise of Easter---that out of this suffering and isolation, joy will come.