20 years ago yesterday,
The world was thrown into chaos.
In South Africa,
The effects were not necessarily felt as much as in America.
Yesterday,
I for the first time read about Father Michael Judge.
And up to yesterday I was going to talk about a lot of different things.
And yet the story of Father Michael is such an apt one for today.
You see,
Before 9-11,
Father Michael went out into the world and against the wishes of many of his colleagues,
He spent time with those people who had been ostracized by their churches,
Ostracized by their whole communities.
He especially spent time with those who were afflicted and dying from AIDS,
Not squirming away or not being scared of touching them.
And I read yesterday that one of the hallmarks of Father Michael was that he would touch people's feet and wash their feet,
But others would be scared to come into contact.
20 years ago,
We understood a lot less about HIV and AIDS.
And so Father Michael was also the chaplain for the fire services.
And when 9-11 happened,
He was in the North Tower praying,
Hearing confessions.
And when South Tower imploded,
He was immediately killed.
He's also listed as the first person who had died.
Father Michael showed us living,
Retaining and accepting life by giving up yours,
And not only on the day of his death,
The prayer that we read,
Help me to get out of your way,
God.
Isn't that so beautiful?
Make me your instrument.
Let me do your will.
Give me the words to say.
And so oftentimes we think we know best.
We think that we are helping.
And then when we take a moment just to sit and contemplate,
We then realize that maybe the help that we are giving is coming from our own ego,
Coming from judgment.
The guru in me,
Let me show you,
Let me teach you the way.
Let me share from my past knowledge and experience what you should do.
It's not up to us.
But then should we also keep quiet?
And this is this fine balance.
This is unknowing.
Are the words that are on my lips mine?
Do they come from the Lord?
And it's not an easy thing to discern.
And for me,
The only way to discern has been to just take a moment,
Take a breath and ask,
Where are these words coming from?
Am I judging?
It's part of the human condition to judge.
So then am I allowing my judgment to impact my words or am I creating a safe space for this person?
Am I creating a space where they can be imperfect?
Am I creating a space where I leave my judgment outside and behind?
These are good questions to ask for me because oftentimes I have to stop myself.
I have to remind myself that it's not my ego that's going to help this person.
It's not my ego that is going to accompany them on their life journey.
It is God.
And yes,
God resides in me just as God resides in every one of us.
And oftentimes my words fall away and there's silence.
And most of the time that is exactly what people need.
Silence.
Silence in order to just be.
We read in our gospel today that Jesus demonstrates and he says,
Get away from me Satan.
You are thinking about ways,
About man's way and not about God's way.
Now,
How can Jesus say that?
Today is the beautiful day where we look at the fact that Jesus was both God and man.
And he's in a unique position to have experienced both.
Something that we can only hope for,
Hope to experience once we pass away,
Once we become part of God,
When we join God.
But these words are so profound.
Am I thinking from my way?
Or am I thinking from God's way?
Man's way to us is impossible to fathom though.
We might have an inkling,
But again,
This is where the prayer of Father Michael is so powerful in the sense of,
Let me get out of the way.
Let this brain of mine,
This ego of mine keep quiet.
And even if it does talk,
Let it not take action so that God can take the action through me.
It is so powerful and yet so difficult and easy.
To me it comes down again to silence,
To listen.
And just to listen.
We read in our second reading that action needs to follow our words.
We cannot say that we are full of good deeds and not follow through with those good deeds.
We cannot say to somebody just who's struggling,
We cannot say to them,
I wish you well.
Without adding action to that,
Without doing something.
And maybe it's not for all of us to give away all our possessions so that we can live among the poor and we can help the poor,
But we can do something.
I cannot stress enough that one of the things we can do is to listen,
Just to be with somebody.
And if they need to talk,
Let them talk.
They need to cry,
Let them cry.
If they need absolute silence,
Give them absolute silence,
But step out of the way and let your ego go.
Let the holiness of God that is within you connect to the holiness of God in that person.
Take away everything that separates you from another person when they are in need.
Take away the judgments,
Take away the thoughts of anger,
Take away the thought of difference.
You look different to me.
You sound different than I do.
You experience God in a different way to me.
Let that go.
And be.
And in that being and in that listening,
You will hear.
And if you allow,
You will do the will of God.
Amen.
