ON LEAVING
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this Tuesday of the Seventh
Week of Easter is, “On Leaving.”
If I heard anything from other priests, it’s our “uunh” - a word that won’t make it
in Scrabble - when we read these post
Easter readings - especially from the Gospel of John. We say that because we
like to give a homily on weekdays - but there is too much repetition in these readings
- especially from John
It has a series of themes about loving, remaining in
Jesus’ love, this is my commandment, love one another as I have loved you - and we hear this over and
over again. They are wonderful - but
enough already.
TODAY’S TWO READINGS
So we read the readings a couple of extra times in hopes
something pops up that he have not touched upon lately.
I did that last night and today’s two readings talk about
leaving several times. That’s a
recurring theme: leaving.
So let me see if I can milk some comments about leaving.
LEAVING
That’s something we’re always doing in various ways throughout our life: leaving.
We leave the womb. We leave the hospital.
We leave for school that first time. Then for an
overnight with friends. Then we go off to college or the military or where have
you.
We leave for work. We leave relationships. We leave for
Marriage. We leave after death or a divorce. We leave jobs. We leave when we retire. We
leave for Tennessee or Florida. Someone dies, so we come back home again. Hopefully,
we get out and get moving and get leaving again.
IN THE SCRIPTURES
There’s lots of leaving …. lots of migrations …. lots of
moving in the Bible. Adam and Eve leave
the Garden…. Noah gets on the ark…. Abraham does a lot of moving…. Abraham’s
descendants are often heading elsewhere.
Joseph ends up being sold into Egypt. Moses leaves Egypt. He leads those descendants towards the Promised
Land. They finally leave the desert - and land in the Promised Land.
So there is not only an Exodus, but there’s also the
Exile.
THEN WE GET TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
Jesus moves around in his early years. Then he settles into his quiet years. Then he
finally leaves Nazareth and gets going.
Then he calls disciples to drop everything, to leave home
and to follow him.
Then he leaves his disciples and leaves and ascends into
heaven.
Then we’re called to leave our inner perceptions on how life
is supposed to work.
LESSONS
With all these leaves of absence, we need to learn
something.
We have not here a lasting home here.
We need to learn to let go at times.
We can get stuck in stupidity or sin or regrets or
resentments. I preached on that last Sunday.
When we leave - we can look back from a distance - and see
what’s back home and who’s really important much better.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Out of sight, out of
mind can also happen.
We come to church; we leave from church - hopefully all the better.
CONCLUSION
Today - at the end of this day, to ask, “Did I leave a good
feeling in all the rooms I was in today?”
Or in Fortune Cookie Language: So leave that they wished you
stayed more than they wanted to see you leave.”
