You have been born anew, not from
perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of
God, for: “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the
field; the grass withers, and the flower wilts; but the word of the Lord
remains forever.” This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.
1 Peter 1:23-25
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it
over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it
shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be
your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life
as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42-45
Piety
QUERY: Shall
one then return
To the womb of his
mother, reborn?
JESUS: As you said. Earth, old basket-born
Hard-beaked hen
Wants you for egg.
I hereby (he scrawled
Inside his shell)
Attest to my first
Will & Testament.
I shall go forth
Bare assed as a new
moon,
Stellar as baby Jesus.
Everyone’s sight and
scandal.
Yes & No &
The vast milky Perhaps between.
"Unless the See Falls: Underground" By
Rev. Daniel Berrigan, SJ, from Chapter 10, To Dwell in Peace: An
Autobiography, p. 241.
Study
The
recent passing of Rev. Daniel Berrigan, SJ, the various obituaries inspired me to
add his autobiography -- “To Dwell in Peace” -- to my reading list. The account of his boyhood on the Minnesota
Iron Range and in the cold winters of upstate New York introduces us to his parents
and five brothers. His father was a
gruff and powerful man in the family although not in civil society. His mother, though, was the epitome of the
humble servant raising her sons in the German and Irish traditions of their
ancestors.
Fr.
Dan often remarks how his mother was happy not to be raising a daughter in the
harsh conditions of her own life.
Today’s Gospel passage reminds me of the many mothers and grandmothers
of that generation who served in silence, passing along a quiet faith to their
children.
My grandmother lived with us, intermittently, for
years. She and my mother had devised a
kind of conspiracy of survival. Busy
about some task, they would converse for hours together, always in German, a
language that served them, to all intents, as both comfort and cover.
Against whom?
Against almost everything that, in such times and locales, made up the
lives of women…[B]esides bearing large families, [they] washed and ironed
clothing by hand, with water drawn from wells or springs or, when we were at the
cabin, from a stream nearby. The water
was heated over fires that had to be built and stoked. And because often as not, the clothing of the
men had grit and filth ground into the fabric by their hand labor, the clothing
had to be boiled in a copper cauldron, for hours. [i]
No
one would mistake the Berrigan childhood for an easy life…add to the fact that
the boyhood years were spent living in rustic cabins that were located in northern
climates during the hard years of the Great Depression.
And yet, and yet.
My mother rebelled. She rebelled in her own sweet way and place and
time. Not a leap into the void, but
calculated, the results and risks weighed to a farthing.
It was a slave rebellion. She created, within the strait limits set by
husband and church (she, being a believer, clung to both), a kind of slave
culture; within it she breathed free; to its secret place she, on occasion,
escaped.[ii]
The
prevailing forces of this theological-political power structure forced members
of immigrant families into a status quo existence. Despite this harsh reality, these experiences
also formed members of this greatest generation. It is amazing to consider how and why this
environment did not breed more priests, prophets and kings who rebelled in his
or her own sweet way like Dan Berrigan and his mother. We certainly could have
used more to guide our path on the way to peace.
Action
Who
has served in silence in your life? Parents, grandparents, siblings,
spouse? Teachers, coworkers, priests,
politicians?
Who
has served in a vocal, prominent leadership role? Parents, grandparents, siblings, spouse? Teachers, coworkers, priests,
politicians?
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