THOUGHTS OF A MONK

Homily for January 16, 2005

Once two monks were making a journey and came to the ford of a river. There was a woman dressed in fine garments, fretting about how to get to the other side without ruining her clothes. Without further ado, one of the monks hoisted her on his back, carried her across to the other side, then put her down on the dry ground. The other monk followed behind, and the two then continued on their way. But the second monk started boiling inside, wrestling with his thoughts. Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore and he burst out his reproach to the other monk saying, “How could you have done that? You know that monks aren’t allowed to touch women! Who do you think you are breaking the rule?” And on and on. The monk who had carried the woman listened to the tirade, and then gently replied, “Brother, I set her down at the river. But you seem to be still carrying her.”

This story illustrates perfectly the mindset Jesus had to deal with throughout his ministry: a preference for law and rules over mercy and compassion. Some patristic commentators thought that today’s Gospel, coming right after the story of the barren fig tree, symbolized the polarities of church and synagogue, with the woman representing the church, and the barren fig tree a symbol of the synagogue. With respect, I think there’s another, more helpful interpretation. It seems to me that the polarities here don’t involve religions per se, so much as religious mindsets. All religions face the temptation of becoming obsessed with legalism and rules, with the conviction that following the letter of the law will earn us salvation: all religions. What Jesus makes plain – both here and throughout the Gospel – is that law serves love. Sabbath observance was never meant to limit the manifestation of God’s compassion and mercy, and he demonstrates this by embodying a paradox: Jesus, the Word made flesh, reveals himself as Lord of the Sabbath by using the Sabbath to work God’s new creation. The real meaning of the Sabbath, its spiritual meaning, is re-creation, becoming a new creature, and not a sterile, literalistic observance. The purpose of our being here is not to fulfill a legal observance, but to share in a context of worship that continually renews us and allows us to become who we were meant to be as God’s children.

The paradox extends further. Isn’t it interesting that just as the woman was healed and able to stand upright and give praise to God, we discover that the synagogue leader is the one who’s really bent over, burdened with a view of faith that works against life, stuck in a literalism that misunderstands God’s will. He’s still “carrying the woman”, to hearken back to our original story. And the people instinctively realize this: they’re left overjoyed at the wonders Jesus works, at the transformation Jesus effects: revealing true religion as something liberating, something that allows us to grow and flourish. What a wonderful gift! We can do no more than to try our best to receive it gratefully.