WALLS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 29^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Walls”.

Walls are a favorite theme and image of poets and song writers - down through the years. We can say that because security, safety, containing, protecting are basic human needs - down through history. Doors, fences, locks, castles, forts, city walls, the Great Wall of China, the Iron Curtain - made mostly with guns, barbed wire, soldiers, and check points, the Berlin Wall - are all walls. So too gated communities and I noticed just the other day a chain link fence around the big garbage container towards the back of the Royal Farms small convenience store in Eastport just down from the bridge. And St. Mary’s has that back fence - which is usually left open - and the long brick wall just outside down to the end of Duke of Gloucester Street. Then there are those invisible walls we put up between ourselves and others.

I’ve been writing a book on “Walls” for a good twenty five years now. Some day the barriers of time and laziness will fall down and I’ll finish it  - unless the great wall of death gets in the way.

WALLS: TODAY’S FIRST READING - EPHESIANS 2:12-22

Walls: here is the image  loud and clear in today’s first reading.

Paul describes Christ as the one who breaks down the walls that separates us from God and ourselves. Walls go up when we are our worst self enemy - when we are living a life of wall keeping and law keeping - and we’re not free in Christ. This is the great message of Paul - as well as the great ongoing fight between Jesus and the Pharisees and the Scribes.

The date for the Letter to the Ephesians - AD 80 to 100 - is later than the other Pauline Letters. It’s closer to the time of the date for St. John’s Gospel - around AD 100 - so I wonder if Paul is reflecting on the Gospel texts where and when The Risen Lord Jesus came into the Upper Room - through the walls. That  gospel text says, “Though the doors were locked” Jesus came into their midst and said, “Peace!” [Cf. John 20:19-29]

Thanks to cell phones we can reach people who are locked in and who are locking us out and we can say, “Peace!” or if they see the call is from us - and won’t answer - we can at least leave a message of Peace - unless it would make things worse. By faith we can also try to break through barriers by praying and praying and praying for that person. I’ve been praying for “Peace” with a family member who split from us - a good 20 plus years now.

“Peace!”

QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE WALLS IN  OUR LIFE

Of course some walls are good - necessary - for privacy and peace as well.

Robert Frost said it succinctly in his poem: Mending Wall. He begins his poem with the words, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” Down into the poem he talks about his neighbor and their meeting each other from time to time to mend that wall. The neighbor says, “Good fences make good neighbors.”  Yet Frost wonders if that is really true because he has apples and his neighbor has pine trees.

You might remember the song by Peter, Paul and Mary called, Some Walls. The lyrics were written by Mary Ann Kennedy,  Pamela Rose, and Randy Sharp.

Some walls are made of stone
Sometimes we build our own
Some walls stand for years
And some wash away with tears

Some walls
Some walls

The song goes on to say the obvious, “Some walls must fall.”

That’s the dilemma. Which ones? And how difficult it is to breach a wall.

TODAY’S GOSPEL - LUKE 12: 35-38

So the one wall that we need to at least leave the door open through is the one for the Lord Jesus to enter into.  And sometimes he comes right through into our walls and our lives with challenge and a call for conversion and change.

That’s the message loud and clear in today’s Gospel. Those servants who wait for the Lord - the Lord will come - and knock on our door and bring peace.  Not only will he bring peace, he will sit us down and serve us.

It hit me last night as I was putting this homily together that’s exactly what Jesus does at Mass. He serves himself to us at this meal - this Mass - this Eucharist.

The call to us is to do likewise - obviously.

CONCLUSION

Paul tells us in today’s first reading that the call is to be peacemakers - to build up the household of God - so we are no longer strangers or sojourners - but we’re  the house, the temple of God - which has the Apostles and prophets as our foundation and Jesus as our capstone.  Translation: all are welcome. Translation: once everyone is in the house - once all of us are the temple - then all the curtains in that temple are ripped and all the walls have disappeared - and we’re one.