“I will help you, says the LORD” by Beth DeCristofaro
Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41:14)
Jesus said to the crowds: "Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matthew 11:11)
Piety
“Come to me all who desire me, and be filled with my fruits. You will remember me as sweeter than honey better to have than the honeycomb. Those who eat of me will hunger still, those who drink of me will thirst for more. Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame, and those who serve me will never go astray.” (Sirach 24: 19-22, Morning Office Wednesday)
Study
Worm? Maggot? Somehow, I imagine that if I was listening to Isaiah in BCE days I would be shaking in my boots. That’s how God sees me? Today those words are contemptuous and demeaning insults. In the days of Sirach, it reminded the Israelites that they were not masters of their own universe. But wait, God says, you will have a redeemer! The notes to the NAB defines redeemer: “one who frees others from slavery and avenges their sufferings”[i] An astonishingly generous God sends a redeemer to worms and maggots.
Consider worms and maggots. They have an essential role in the great cycle of nature. They are the Roombas® of the decomposition process. Worms and maggots clean up dead things, recycling waste into usable, fertile materials such as humans can admire but are far from emulating. Yes, they are squirmy and have faces only a mother can love – oh wait, no faces. And mothers who don’t even notice that they were born! But we have both.
How much greater are the gifts we have been given. We are created in the image of God! God chose to do that for us! We do have faces. We do have mothers who can love us. We can be mothers, brothers, sisters for others who have a diversity of faces rather than squirmy look-alikes. Our task is not to be Roombas. We are requested by God to love. Jesus instructed us on the two greatest commandments. Love God above all others. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Today Jesus tells us that the least among us is greater than John the Baptist whose love task was A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord. (Luke 3:4) John trusted and foretold but was never witness to Jesus’ birth, crucifixion and the Resurrection of the Christ as we are a witness through Scripture. We know. And the Spirit writes this truth upon our hearts. St. Lucy’s life was a testimony to knowing God and seeking God is more important than what we usually hold most dear: our mortal lives. She shows us how to become greater than the Baptist. She was as true to her nature created in God’s image as are the worms and maggots who turn corruption into fruitfulness. Her name means “light” and her feast celebrates light breaking into the dark of winter, the light of hope in Advent.
Action
Perhaps nature tells us much about what our true nature is because we can study what is true to one’s nature looks like. Worms, maggots, trees, blind cave worms’ natures are suited to their environment. Nature is also a harsh mistress and we know that what it is like to be crushed beneath the boot of conflict, violence, forest fire, hurricane, illness. But God says Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you. Take some time to be out in nature this Advent “listening” to how right God’s creation is then ask “How am I true to my innermost being as daughter or son of God? Ask for God’s gift of freedom to be true to my task of love.
No comments:
Post a Comment