Listening for God's Call

Listening for God’s Call
 June 28, 2024
Feast of St. Mary Magdelene
Helen Weber-McReynolds, RCWP
 
Micah 6:1-8; Woman Wisdom (based  on Proverbs 1: 20-23, 33; words- Inclusive Lectionary; music- Kathy Schmid); Tell Them, by Edwina Gately; John 20: 1, 11-18
 
           Eight days ago, some of the people here and some other Womenpriests and supporters of equality and justice within the catholic church, staged a protest downtown outside the Indpls. Convention Center. Inside the Center, the US Catholic Bishops were conducting a Eucharistic Congress, a national meeting to help US Catholics, the bishops said, understand better the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. From what we demonstrators saw and heard, the meeting seemed to focus on two ideas: hierarchy and the adoration of Christ. While we stood in counter-witness with signs, banners, songs, and prayers, we watched a parade of hierarchy, in ascending order. First came the lowest members, all the women, all the sisters and nuns. Then there were seminarians, deacons, priests, bishops, and then finally, a cardinal with a big monstrance holding a host. Hierarchy and adoration, that’s why they were there. We were there because we felt called to stand up for all sacraments for all people; to stand up for inclusion, regardless of gender, sexuality, or marital status. We wanted to point out that the true presence of Christ is in each one of us. And we wanted to remind people that Jesus never said, “Adore me.” No, Jesus said. “Love one another as I have loved you.”

           Then, seven days ago, we expressed all those same ideas liturgically, with a Eucharist of Equals, a Liturgy of Love. With beautiful prayer, music, preaching, symbol, gesture, and even spontaneous dancing, we emphasized that the way to follow Jesus is to act with justice every day in our lives. To act with justice, first of all, in our own church.

           Speaking for myself, I felt, while participating in both events last week, that I was answering God’s call in an important way. I was joining with members of the Body of Christ to demand justice, to provide encouragement, and to express my joy in the new way of being church that we are bringing to reality. I felt I was educating people about open, inclusive catholic communities, like ours, and inviting others to join us, especially if they felt left out or had even been hurt by the Church.

          I guess I can say I felt like I was following St. Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was someone who spoke out when she was called by Christ, to announce the Good News that we must keep alive the reality that God became human and would live forever through us. Not as an objectified wafer in a monstrance, but in our human bodies, in our voices and hands and feet, called now to carry on Jesus’ work. Mary Magdalene walked with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, and even to the cross and then the garden where he had been laid to rest. And then, instead of walking, she ran, to tell the other apostles what the resurrected Jesus had told her.

           All of our readings today tell us about how God calls us. Micah’s message was that we are to seek justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. The message of Proverbs was to listen to Wisdom, to Sophia, God’s Holy Spirit, and to let that Wisdom guide our lives. To let wisdom of God’s endless love give us the confidence to take on the hard tasks of helping people who need food, health care, education, legal help, or help dealing with discrimination. Edwina Gately’s message was that Jesus told Mary Magdalene to ask people to rise with him to heal the earth. And Jesus’ message to Mary Magdalene, in John’s gospel, was that she and all other people must learn a new way to relate to him, no longer present physically in his body, but now present physically in the bodies of all beings, all called to carry his love to one another and join in keeping his teachings alive.

           God did not call us to individually save the world, all by ourselves. Instead, God joined us into one body, to carry God’s love to everyone we encounter, any way we can. God gave us the sacred meal we are about to experience, to unify us in sharing his body and blood, so that they can become part of our bodies and our blood, and make us one with God and with one another. Like Mary Magdalene, we just have to follow Jesus, recognize him when he appears, and then tell everybody through our love that he will live forever. ​