When he was just six
years old, Christopher Hodge was taken from his mother by the police outside of
a grocery store in Lincoln California.
He lived in foster care for some time and ultimately was adopted by the
Hanson family. When told of his pending
adoption, Chris knew that he’d never see his mother again. Chris lived a wonderful life in a loving
family. He grew into a fine young man, a
loving husband and a devoted father. But
he never forgot his mother. Twenty-seven
years after he last saw his mother being put into the back of a police car, something
inside of him made Chris want to find her.[1] Though separated by time and space, Chris and
his mother were spiritually united.
Today’s readings tells us why.
In our Gospel passage,
Jesus is praying for us. He’s praying for
us to be united with each other and with God just as he and God are
united. What’s the unity that Jesus
prayed for? It’s the unity with God that
gave Saint Stephen in our first reading the courage to witness to the truth in the
face of persecution and the unity with his fellow man that gave him the mercy
to forgive his murderers. It’s the unity
between divinity and humanity that invites all of us in our second reading to
come and receive God’s gift of life giving water. “It[‘s] a unity of personal relationship – a unity
based entirely between heart and heart.”[2] It’s a spiritual unity.
We humans are both
physical and spiritual beings. In a
world that’s become somewhat addicted to material, tangible, and scientifically
proven things, our spiritual nature is often neglected. We fail to appreciate that “[t]he center of
our being is a spiritual reality.”[3] As the French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de
Chardin once said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we
are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
So what does it mean to be spiritual? Well, there are lots of definitions of
spirituality out there, but my favorite is quite simple: “connectedness.” Spirituality is “[t]he basic feeling of being
connected with one’s complete self, others, and the universe.”[4] Our spiritual nature tells us that we’re connected
with each other and our world in ways that we don’t fully understand. Above all, it tells us that we’re connected with
a transcendent God who invites us into loving communion with his Holy Trinity.
Our spiritual nature was breathed into us by God in
creation and remains united with God forever in Jesus Christ. You see, Christ is the bridge between humanity
and divinity, between mortality and immortality, between time and eternity. Through his incarnation, his life, death and
resurrection, Jesus established “a living chain across time and history.”[5]
In other words, our spiritual nature is eternal
– it’s not bound by time and space the way our physical nature is. Through Jesus, our spiritual nature unites us
with our past and our future, with our living friends and relatives no matter
where they’re located, with those who’ve died, with all of humanity, and, most
importantly, with God. “The entire
purpose of God’s plan of salvation is to draw every person into communion with
the divine life of the Trinity.”[6] That’s
what Jesus is praying for in today’s Gospel. Jesus prays for all of us to be united with him,
the Father and the Holy Spirit because he knows that perfect love, joy and
peace can be found only in God.
What does this all mean practically speaking? It means that our true happiness rests in our
being stuck with each other forever – if we choose it. Yes, God offers us the gift of eternal
communion with him and each other, but he’ll never force it upon us. We still have free will. Participating in communion with each other and
the divine Trinity is our choice. Now some
of us may feel a little relieved to have that choice as we uncomfortably look
around the church thinking, “I don’t want to spend all of eternity united with
that person.” Well, just remember, every
time we create division, every time we draw a line, Jesus is on the other side
of the line.
Living in spiritual union with God and with each other
isn’t always easy because sometimes it requires us to change and to grow. To be in spiritual union with God, we have to put
ourselves in proper orientation with God; we have to understand that God is God
and we’re creatures. We have to submit ourselves
to a higher power, acknowledge that we can’t control everything, and trust that
God’s plan is the best plan. To be in
spiritual union with each other, we have to respect and appreciate the
God-given dignity of every person, including ourselves. When we appreciate the dignity of every
person, we transcend ourselves and experience the interconnectedness of all
people with God. I don’t know about you,
but I’m not always in spiritual union with God and neighbor, but I keep trying
because I know that it will change my life for the better.
Spiritual unity with God and neighbor changes our
lives for the better because it’s the medium through which the eternal peace
and happiness of heaven is transmitted to our world. When we’re in spiritual union with each other,
we allow ourselves to see the better angels of our nature; we offer the benefit
of the doubt; we empathize; and we forgive.
Spiritual unity with God and each other allows us to transcend all
bounds, even twenty-seven years of separation.
Readings: Acts 7: 55-60; Psalm 97; Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20; John 17: 20-26
[1]
Long Lost Family, Season 1, Episode
9.
[2]
William Barclay, The Gospel of John,
vol. 2 (Louisville, Westminster John Knox Press, 1975) at 218.
[3]
John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels
for Christian Preachers and Teachers:
The Relentless Widow, Luke Year C (Collegeville, Liturgical Press,
2006) at 151.
[4]
Ian Mitroff and Elizabeth Denton, “A Study of Spirituality in the Workplace,” Sloan Management Review, vol. 40, no. 4
(Summer 1999) at 83.
[5] Shea at 148.
[6]
The Didache Bible, note, John 17:
21-26 (San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2014) at 1446.
