St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
February 28, 2016
Year C: The Third
Sunday in Lent
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 63:1-8
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Luke 13:1-9
We Don’t Have All the Time in the World
Many
of you know that I went to school at St. Peter’s Prep, a Catholic high school
in downtown Jersey City.
My
four years at Prep shaped me in lots of ways, going a long way to make me who
and what I am today.
And,
it’s true that during those four years a bond formed among my classmates.
There’s something powerful about going through that experience together, maybe
not unlike what some of you experienced in your school or in the military or in
some other way.
Even
when we don’t see each other for years there is a mysterious but strong bond
among us.
One
of my classmates was a guy named Tim O’Donnell.
Like
a lot of my classmates he was from Bayonne.
We
weren’t close or anything, and I’m not sure we saw each other even once in all
the years since we graduated, but I remember well as a really solid guy. As one
of my friends remembered on Facebook, everybody liked him.
It
turns out that Tim was a teacher, a science teacher and a coach at County Prep.
And,
as many of you probably know, on Monday afternoon Tim, along with his five
year-old daughter Bridget, was driving on the Turnpike Extension, approaching
the toll plaza at Exit 14C, when they were suddenly rear-ended with such force
that their car was hurled through the toll plaza, out the other side, and into
oncoming traffic where they were hit by a van.
Tim
and his little daughter were killed, killed, I hope, before they even knew what
was happening to them.
What
a disaster.
What
a disaster for Tim, who won’t grow old with his wife, won’t see his daughters
grow up, won’t know his grandchildren, won’t teach and coach another generation
of students.
What
a disaster obviously for little Bridget, her young life cut short, her promise
and possibilities left unknown and unfulfilled.
What
a disaster for Tim’s wife and his other daughter who must somehow go on after
what must seem an unbearable loss.
What
a disaster for Tim’s students and his athletes to have lost a mentor and role
model.
What
a disaster for the man driving the van who had no time to react when Tim’s car
came hurtling out of the toll plaza and into his path.
And,
yes, what a disaster for the man who rear-ended Tim’s car, the man who must now
live the rest of his life knowing he caused such heartbreaking losses.
What
a disaster.
The
truth, of course, is that we live in a world scarred by disaster. That’s why
each week here in church we pray for the victims of natural and man-made
disasters.
And,
though lately our man-made disasters seem to be more large-scale than they used
to be: shootings in schools and malls and movie theaters, entire Middle Eastern
cities destroyed in civil war, the mass extinction of species and rising seas, millions
of people misled by leaders or would-be leaders offering the easy and so very
wrong answers of fear, hatred and division - although all of that and more is
going on today, the truth is that the world has always been scarred by natural
and man-made disasters.
In
today’s gospel lesson we heard about a man-made disaster.
People
tell Jesus about Galileans whose blood Pontius Pilate had used in sacrifices to
Roman gods – a disaster surely especially horrifying to Jesus, a Galilean
himself.
And
then Jesus reminds the crowd of what was, I guess, less of a man-made disaster
than a random, unintentional disaster: eighteen people were killed when the
tower of Siloam fell on them.
The
world has always been scarred by disasters. And, I suspect people have always
reacted in pretty much the same ways.
As
a priest, it’s been my privilege and burden to often be with people not long
after disaster strikes – the doctor has given the prognosis, the accident has
happened, the relationship has been broken.
And,
very often, the victims of disaster wonder why this has happened – why is this happening
to me.
Why
is God punishing me?
I
wonder if Tim’s wife, who just survived a bout with cancer, is asking that aching
question. Most of us would, right?
Well,
Jesus tries to put a stop to that kind of thinking when he asks, rhetorically,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse
sinners than all other Galileans?
And,
were those eighteen killed by the tower, “were they worse offenders than all
those living in Jerusalem?”
No,
of course not.
And,
the death of Jesus on the cross – the death of the blameless victim in a
horrifically public and bloody way – should’ve put a stop to that kind of
thinking once and for all.
Natural
and man-made disasters occur, striking down saints and sinners and all of us
in-between.
Here’s
the point, a point we need to relearn over and over, the point that every
single disaster should teach us: you and I, we still have time to repent, to
turn our lives around in a godly direction, to welcome God’s presence in our
lives, to forgive those who’ve wronged us, to ask for forgiveness for the times
we’ve messed up, to tell those we love that we love them, to love those we say
we love, and yes, at least try to love those who are hard to love.
You
and I, we have time. But, we only have right now.
We
don’t have all the time in the world.
In
my life and in my ministry, I’ve encountered so many people who somehow fool
themselves into thinking that there’s always tomorrow, that there’s always time
so there’s no sense of urgency, no need to turn our lives around today –
no need to forgive and ask forgiveness today – no need to love today
– so often we fool ourselves – and I very much include myself – into thinking
that there’s always time.
And,
you and I, we do have time. But, we only have right now.
We
don’t have all the time in the world.
Lent
begins with ashes – a good reminder that we don’t have all the time in the
world.
Lent
is only 40 days – and we’re almost halfway through – a good reminder that we
don’t have all the time in the world.
As
I was reminded so sadly this past week, we live in a world scarred by disaster.
Horrible
accidents occur. Tyrants mislead and kill. Towers fall.
Through
it all, God is with us.
God
was with Tim and Bridget last week on the Turnpike, with God’s heart the first
to break at the senseless loss.
God
was with those slaughtered Galileans long ago and God was with the people of
Jerusalem when the Tower of Siloam fell on them.
God
is surely with us in the disasters of our lives.
But,
we don’t have all the time in the world.
So,
let’s not wait.
Let’s
not wait to repent – let’s not wait to turn our lives around – let’s not wait
to welcome God’s presence in our lives - let’s not wait to forgive and ask
forgiveness – let’s not wait to love one another.
May
it be so.
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