Julian of Norwich The Sunday Gospel
Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap.
A song that comes down to us from the days of slavery in USA is the voice of a suffering people. “Hard times, hard times come again no more.” It’s a sentiment many of us can relate to in this difficult period. It’s hard to keep going. People are lonely and live with fear of contracting the virus. Many miss the therapy of shopping, going to the hairdresser, going out for a nice meal, a few jars with the lads, a match at the weekend. Contact with people on social media is not quite the same as the real thing. Children miss school and their friends. Some really miss going to church. Around here, some tragic deaths have caused a cloud of gloom.
Job, Paul and Jesus
Let us try to draw some light and strength from the Mass readings for the Fifth Sunday of the Year. It rarely happens that all three readings touch on the same theme. Today, they come together in the experience of stress in the lives of Job, Paul and Jesus. It’s a different stress in each story.
People who are normally very active are frustrated by regulations closing sporting activities and limiting travel”
Poor Job has seen his world collapse around him. Time is no better than drudgery.
“Lying on my bed I wonder when will it be day. Risen, I think how slowly evening falls. Restlessly I fret till evening falls.” Can you relate to that sort of stress and fretting?
The second reading is about a totally different stress in the life of St Paul. His stress is the pressure of the compulsive activist. He cannot find time to do all he feels he has a duty to do in preaching the word worldwide. We know from the Acts of the Apostles that some of his co-workers, Barnabas and Mark, had to withdraw from accompanying him. People who are normally very active are frustrated by regulations closing sporting activities and limiting travel.
The stress on Jesus (Mark 1:29-39) is different to the other two. The word has gone around that Jesus has healed people. It is not surprising that the whole town came crowding around the door. The pressure that he felt came from the huge demand on his service. The frontline carers will recognise this.
Activity and restfulness
In the morning, long before dawn, Jesus got up and left the house. From the experience of many years preaching retreats, I know how much it drains one’s energy.
Staying in the one place had its attractions but Jesus needed to move on as he had a wider picture in mind”
In addition to preaching, Jesus was involved in healing. Since this is far more intense that preaching, I suspect that it is even more draining. Even Jesus felt the need to get the balance right between activity and restfulness so he slipped away to a quiet place to pray. The following morning people missed him. Simon, whose mother-in-law he had cured, and his companions searched until they found him. Simon, the total extrovert who wore his heart on his sleeve, announced, “Everybody is looking for you.” Staying in the one place had its attractions but Jesus needed to move on as he had a wider picture in mind.
The Black Death
Pandemics are not new. The most notorious pandemic was the Black Death in the Fourteenth Century, sweeping rapidly from Asia, through Europe and North Africa. In places more than half the population died. Lesser plagues continued to occur. There were revolts and wars everywhere. I want to tell you of one shining light of hope who came through that dreadful experience.
Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich was about six years old when the Black Death occurred in England. Little is known of her early life before she dedicated her life to prayer, living in a little cell attached to the local church. Around the age of 30 she had a serious illness that brought her to the verge of death. In this condition she received 16 visions of the passion of Jesus. She came to see the passion as the manifestation of the unconditional love of God for us sinners. She recovered from her illness and pondered on these visions for several years before she put them in a book known to us as Revelations of Divine Love. Although she has not been officially canonised, Pope Benedict XVI drew attention to her message of trusting in the love of God as the sure guide through hard times. Total trust in God can transfigure our crosses and lead us to peace and joy.
In one vision Julian saw something like a hazelnut in the hand of God. “What can this be”, she asked. God replied, “It is all that is made”. As the song puts it, “He’s got the whole world in his hand.” In this difficult time let us draw strength and hope from Julian’s words of total trust. “All will be well, all manner of things will be well.”
Prayer
I often draw peace and strength from a little prayer she repeated: God is my Maker, my Upholder and my Lover. I link it up with my morning prayer to the Blessed Trinity. O God, the Father of Life, the Word of Light and the Breath of Love, thank you for the gift of this new day. You are my Maker, my Upholder and my Lover.
Silvester O’Flynn has recently published a book Gospel Reflections and Prayers (Columba Books).