The dialogue further on in today s Gospel between the blind man, the Pharisees and Jesus makes me think of the way Dick would have spoken:

Transcription

1 Homily for Bro. Richard Olsen, SM Mount St. John, Feb. 28, 2014 Dick was a strong person. He expressed himself with conviction. He was not afraid to point out what had to be done. When we had our St. Aloysius house renovated, he got right to the job, throwing out old easy chairs, tearing up carpets, contacting contractors and doing such tasks as painting himself. When the contractor did not paint the kitchen cabinets the way he knew they should be he called him back two times to have them redone. The dialogue further on in today s Gospel between the blind man, the Pharisees and Jesus makes me think of the way Dick would have spoken: A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. Give glory to God by telling the truth, they said. We know this man is a sinner. 25 He replied, Whether he is a sinner or not, I don t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see! 26 Then they asked him, What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? 27 He answered, I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too? 28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, You are this fellow s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don t even know where he comes from. 30 The man answered, Now that is remarkable! You don t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. 34 To this they replied, You were steeped in sin from birth, and you are giving us lectures? With that they threw him out bodily. After ministering as a counselor for boys and a mechanical drawing teacher in the United States, he spent 22 years in Africa and then in San Francisco for about 20 years. He prepared a weekly lunch for about 35 homeless people. He had healing hands and

2 became an expert at foot massage, treating AIDS patients each week in a San Francisco Hospital. He learned how to take care of the community financial books, learned the computer systems and did this also at St. Aloysius. He had close friends. He loved nature and was a naturalist. He loved the Marianist life. He loved study and kept searching all his life. According to someone who knew him well, a Jungian analyst, he was truly individuated. He loved life. He was a very fine person. He loved being at St. Al s. At the end of his life he prayed for those who were suffering more that he was. He was gay and studied in great depth the meaning of sexuality from the scriptures and spiritual writers and moralists. He knew celibacy was his calling and he embraced this vow as part of himself. Moving to Cleveland he wasted no time getting involved in tutoring at St. Aloysius Elementary School. He became the record keeper for the distribution of food. He set up a men s group at Jesu Parish for Gay and Bisexual married men. There are many stories we can tell of his determined way of being. In the Gospel the blind man answered, I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too? This story is the Gospel writer s way of showing Jesus is speaking with and teaching us here today. The blind man is all of us seeking Jesus. He is the modern person who searching for the true self. He is the person today who is distracted from authentic dialogue and community and wants to find it. He is the person today who is unable to see how to love, the person who is blind to all the fundamental dynamics of authentic life happiness that comes from giving, being from the glory of God in us, meaning that comes from truth and from being purified. The Gospel writer is seeking to show us that all these fundamentals are ours from Christ. Don t play games and avoid where you are invited and called, the blind man is shouting out with conviction. Be who you are to be. This is the way that will lead to healing. Dick showed us he did not want to live in any blindness. He dedicated his life to the Marianist charism. He cherished his vows. He read voraciously, trying to grasp how the fundamental values of the Gospel should be lived in the Church. He was hungry to

3 understand. He was eager to discuss. His last days were spent with one of his friends reading a book on celibacy. He read the British Tablet while eating breakfast or lunch. Our Marianist Rule states: Like the Beloved disciple we accept Mary as precious gift of God. Moved by Jesus love for his mother we dedicate ourselves to her so that the Holy Spirit in whose action she cooperates with a mother s love may form us more fully to the image of her son. Celebrating his life and praying with him and for him helps us understand the meaning of this Marianist way that he loved so much. We are here today to celebrate this ritual of burial. Yet it is much more. We Marianists are trying to remember in our ritualizing in gesture, word and symbols the fundamental way we have decided to live. Dick was a person who was proud of who he was. He was gay and did not let the pressure of society keep him from being content with who was. Like the blind man, he didn t let fear get in his way. The parents of the blind man were afraid to say who they were. The blind man said that God gives always good things. When we tell the truth and when we live in the truth, we will always have God s truth on our side. Dick chose the Letter to the Beloved Disciple s Community for us to hear today. 13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. If we acknowledge Jesus, we have the Spirit. We have the Life of Christ which the blind man discovered. The spirit of Christ lives in us. We in the Church are facing profound challenges. Our religious life numbers are down. Church attendance is down. What we are called to do is to have the integrity of the blind man. The letter to the Colossians states: 12 Therefore, as God s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Dick did clothe himself in compassion and his form of humility. His patience brought him to stick to what he was about until he could master it enough to be of service. His gentleness was more of a

4 determination to find the truth so that the beauty of this truth and love could overtake him and those he loved. 13 Bro. Dick, were you not formed in Christ the way Mary guided you? Did not your Marianist life lead you to be the person you were? Were you not thankful as the as the Letter to the Colossians calls forth? Did you not let the message of Christ dwell in you richly? Did you not live your life in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Dick was able to be a loving person. He had many friends. He loved to teach children. He loved the causes he espoused. In the Eucharist Prayer we will unite ourselves in ritual to the way one lives to live authentically the way Christ does in us. We will pray that with the leaders of the church, with the saints, with the angels that we also be united with Christ. We unite our efforts with all of them. To be with Dick the day before he died was to witness the pain he was in although he was unconscious. His body and spirit s struggle was to me like the passion of Christ to be in truth, love, in happiness, in union with others, to be who we are. No matter the struggle we go through, no matter the obstacles, no matter the messages around us from the media and from conscious or unconscious manipulations. We are to seek to see. We are to hold on to who we are. We face this with our integrity and individuation. We will find this way of happiness that is offered us. We will help ourselves and constituencies come from blindness and see who Christ is. Fr. Ted Cassidy, SM 1 John 4:11-19 New International Version (NIV) 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us John 9:1-41

5 New International Version (NIV) Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind 9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man s eyes. 7 Go, he told him, wash in the Pool of Siloam (this word means Sent ). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, Isn t this the same man who used to sit and beg? 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, No, he only looks like him. But he himself insisted, I am the man. 10 How then were your eyes opened? they asked. 11 He replied, The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see. 12 Where is this man? they asked him. I don t know, he said. The Pharisees Investigate the Healing 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He put mud on my eyes, the man replied, and I washed, and now I see. 16 Some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. But others asked, How can a sinner perform such signs? So they were divided. 17 Then they turned again to the blind man, What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened. The man replied, He is a prophet. 18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man s parents. 19 Is this your son? they asked. Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see? 20 We know he is our son, the parents answered, and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself. 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, He is of age; ask him Jesus said, [a] For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. 40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, What? Are we blind too? 41 Jesus said, If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

6 in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us! And they threw him out. Spiritual Blindness 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? The blind man says: 27 He answered, I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too? 36 Who is he, sir? the man asked. Tell me so that I may believe in him. 37 Jesus said, You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you. 38 Then the man said, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him.