THRESHOLDS

INTRODUCTION

Happy Easter.

The title of my homily is, “Thresholds.”

I was wondering where to go with a homily for today – Easter Sunday. What do you need for your soul, for your spirituality, for your life?  Lent is over. It was 40 days of borrowed time – time lent to us – for our spiritual life and growth. Now, what’s now, what’s next?  If Lent is a quieting down – a withdrawing – a stepping back, experiencing the so called “Desert Experience”, what is the next?

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Notice the gospel for today begins with Mary of Magdala going out – heading for the disaster – coming to the tomb – the place of broken dreams – the grave of nightmares. Notice the tomb is empty. She runs away from crossing the threshold of that tomb. She runs back to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved. She tells them that “They have taken the Lord from the tomb.”

Today’s gospel then tells us that Peter and the Beloved disciple run to the tomb. The Beloved Disciple gets there first – but doesn’t cross the threshold into the tomb. He lets Peter cross that threshold first.

Peter enters into the tomb.  He sees everything – the cloths – but no body. Then the beloved disciple crosses the threshold of the tomb. He goes in and is the first to believe. He’s the first to cross that threshold of faith, that belief in resurrection – because of Christ.

THE KID IN THE DOLLHOUSE

Bernard Basset, a Jesuit retreat master, in a talk once told about a personal experience from earlier on in his life. He was visiting a home for kids who had severe relationship problems.

The head of the institute invited Bernard into a tiny room that had a two way mirror – through which you could observe how the kids reacted and interacted with each other in a big room on the other side of that mirror.

Here’s how I remembered the story.

They give this kid lots of therapy.  They put him in a big doll house that is in that big room on the other side of the mirror.  There are some toys in there. The kid starts playing with the toys.

Then a door at the further end of that room opens up and a whole group of about 15 other kids come in and head for the toys just inside the door they just came in.

The kid in the small play house stands up and looks out the window of the tiny house he’s in - towards all these other kids in play. The director of the institute then says to Bernard – in the observing room with the two way mirror, “If the kid opens up the door of his little house – steps out into the big room – and heads towards all the other kids and starts playing games and interacting  with them he’s going to make it.”

He opens the door – crosses the threshold and walks down to where the others are – and starts playing with them.

EASTER

If you listen carefully to the Post-Easter readings for the next month or so, you’ll hear about the disciples in the locked upper room. They are afraid – very much afraid – and they finally break out of that locked room – filled with the Holy Spirit of Jesus – and go out into our world – interact with it – and change it.

THRESHOLDS

I always liked that story – because it’s a life and death story.

I’ve heard of hundreds of people who climbed out of a bottle – and crossed the threshold of AA meetings – like the Red House up the street – took that step – did the steps – kept doing the steps and they were healed. Some fall again – crawl back into a bottle – looking for God – comfort – solution – salvation at the bottom of a bottle as they say – and wake up and walk out and back over the threshold of an AA meeting again – and they are healed once again.

Life is crossing thousands and thousands of thresholds – some into life, some into death; some into heaven, some into hell?

At many a cemetery, some see the tomb and death and the without, some look up to the sky and see eternal life and the next step in life – starting again.

Life is giving up at times. We could have been dissed, fired, dumped, hurt or it could be the experience of another death. Life is running away from the tomb – and running towards resurrection here and hereafter.

We had a boy on our block when we were kids – and he was different – and we boys called him put down words. We didn’t know about being homosexual or even what that word meant back then – or what our comments and behavior meant to him.

Years later – and far away from him – I heard he came out of the so called closet. He crossed that narrow threshold – and discovered life. We are seeing in our lifetime people slowly coming out of those rooms of ridicule and hurting others – rising from being dead in prejudice. That stone has been rolled away – big time in the last few years.

Easter is a good time to be like Mary and go to the tombs within us – where we put the dead Christ – and surprise – to discover they are empty. Christ does not stay in death.

Christ is alive – and he wants to be alive in us. Easter us, O Christ,  Easter us.

CARTOON

Two weeks ago I received one of those e-mails that go all around the world in minutes. I’m sure you got it at some point – and you were told to e-mail to five people – you know – otherwise your toe nails will fall off.

It showed twins talking to themselves in their mommy’s tummy – and one says that he hears music or something out there. The other says, “No this is all there is – and I’m staying put.” Then he adds that he loves this life as is. One can see eating with his or her mouth – we have a cord.  One doesn’t believe in a mother. Never saw one. The other does.

LAST NIGHT

Last night at St. John Neumann we saw 30 or so folks coming alive with baptism and confirmation in the Catholic Church. Then Father Harrison – who works with Deacon Leroy Moore – and a good group of parishioners – as a team said to them, “It’s now your turn  to go out of this church and bring Christ to our world – your family, your neighbors, where you work, and where you go.

He didn’t use the word threshold – but that’s what they were told to do – to cross thresholds like hundreds of thousands of new Catholics were told to do all around the world.

CONCLUSION

That’s my homily. Life is risks. Life is opening lots of doors. Live is seeing there is resurrection and new life – all our lives.

Like the little kid in my first story, we’ll make it – if we realize we can’t do this alone, but it would be better to do this with each other. That’s the beginning of our resurrection – here and hereafter. Amen