Lord, make us vigilant and attentive to your voice and your presence,
that we may heed your call at all times find joy in your presence, always.
Amen.
Paired up with the reading from Amos, it is quite clear that the parable
told by Jesus and just heard by us is about the Day of the Lord, the
end of time, judgment. It is always a useful meditation, but I choose
today to focus upon the preparation time, the time we are in now. For
I believe that prior to the grand arrival and party that awaits us all,
there are many, many, smaller but important encounters with the bridegroom,
the Lord, which require us to be open-eyed and wide-awake if we are
to fully appreciate the depth and wonder of God's love.
It is my prayer that everyone of us in this room today will be like
the 5 prepared bridesmaids, ready, joyful, and entering the great party,
the Kingdom, in the company of our Lord. I am convinced that we shall
be ready, open-eyed, wide-awake, in that important and final encounter
if we live that way now.
That is the point of my remarks this morning-wake up, open your eyes
wide, the bridegroom, the Lord is already among us, let us enjoy his
presence. Impetus was given to this belief by a short story in the current
issue of Guideposts1. That story led me to consider my own story a little
more closely. It is my hope that you will take this opportunity to look
at your own stories a little more carefully in the week to come.
It is my hope that if you find both comfort and challenge in these
words you might invite others to come and hear, too; it is my hope that
you will encourage others, like me, to live wide-awake and open-eyed.
The story of Ray Giunta unfolds in the tragedy of 9-11. He is part
of a national network of chaplains available to travel to sites all
over the country at a moment's notice. Traveling to New York, he discovers
within the first hour that a firefighters he had worked with in Oklahoma
City was missing and presumed dead in the collapse of the towers. He
shared stories with and worked alongside other firefighters in those
first days after the destruction. His constant wonder was if one man,
one chaplain, could make any difference in the scope of this event.
In the article Ray shares a single event, moment, from his childhood.
He was the youngest of nine children. His alcoholic father abandoned
the family, and then one day in 1961, the mother simply walked away
from her children, too. The oldest child, a 10 year old girl, did the
best she could, but needed help. And when the children became visible
to the system they were scattered to a number of foster homes. He was
adopted by the Giuntas, married, and when he and his wife were expecting
their first child he was encouraged to find out more about his birth
parents, and his siblings-to be more aware of potential genetic problems.
In 1986 the siblings were reunited and shared stories. As he was posing
for a group picture with his brothers and sisters he was captivated
by the depth of God's love and "all its powerful possibilities."
It was as if his vision cleared and he both saw and felt the power of
God's love. For, here he was in the midst of a restored family that
had seemed broken beyond hope. The bridegroom had arrived unexpectedly
in majesty and beauty and power beyond words. He was ready, he was wide-awake
and open-eyed, he was prepared. He was filled with joy in this encounter.
So, in 2001, he answers the call to go to New York. He pictures himself
working with firefighters comforting and encouraging and helping in
any way he can. Doubting, always, that it will make much difference,
but knowing that if he did nothing that would be worse. Taking the long
way home at the end of his first week, his spirits were sagging, his
body was dragging, and he was depleted emotionally and physically. But
the part of the story that I most like reveals there was a part of him
wide-awake and open-eyed.
By coincidence to the unbelieving, by the hand of God for those of
who know better, Ray encountered a woman and her 10 year old grandson.
The woman's daughter, a drug addict, had kicked the boy out of the house,
she didn't want him, didn't need him, would no longer care for him.
Now grandmother and grandson were making their way home, side by side
with Ray.
Filled again, as he was with his family, with an "unmistakable
sense of God's love," Ray was able to share his story with the
boy ending with the fact that here he was, abandoned as a child, helping
others as an adult at Ground Zero, with God's grace and love.
The story went right to the boy's heart and Ray's parting words to
him were "Remember, God brought me to you tonight. He loves you,
never ever forget that. And he will keep sending people to help you
if you just look for them wherever you go."
Ray's story made me look in my own history for the people God sent
at just the right time. The words of scripture today, the story of Ray
Giunta, the belief that the Lord will come in a thousand small ways
before he comes in the way described in the parable made me look again.
Growing up, the Lord at times took the form of one brother and then
the other. At times the Lord looked a lot like one of my sisters. Mostly
these encounters took the form of a kind word or a kind act or an expression
of love. These became (though I couldn't have said it at the time) the
touch and the words of the bridegroom, the Lord. Each helped me along
the way to be in front of you today.
There is one moment when, like Ray, I knew the love of God, felt the
presence of the Lord. The setting was a hospital room. There isn't a
single moment I remember it is the accumulation of several visits. I
spoke no brilliant words, nor did my sister. But, the bridegroom, the
Lord, was present, and I knew it, in the calm conviction of God's marvelous
love that shone through the eyes and the smile and the gentle words
of my sister, Barbara, as she got weaker and weaker in her dying. Afterwards,
the Lord looked like a great multitude as the people of St. Catherine's
church surrounded and comforted me and my family in the days following
Barbara's death. No material for Guideposts here, no great speeches
or words-but a thousand encounters with the bridegroom in the everyday.
Seminary. A long way from home, a little scared, feeling pretty overwhelmed,
the Lord looked a lot like Mike McKay and Bernie Ronan and Bill Coskrey.
It isn't that there was any one huge moment filled with light and conviction,
and inspiring words to last a lifetime, but there were the everyday
graces and encouragement as we each prepared for ordination. At the
time, I will confess, I did not fully recognize these encounters for
what they were. Now I see better and regret how I missed so much then.
That is why I am speaking now: stay awake, keep your eyes open, encountering
the Lord, being ready to enter into the celebration, isn't just about
the end of the world or about dying, it is about the Lord coming to
you now in the guise of a neighbor or friend or spouse or child or grandchild.
Be alert.
I can tell you that I was better prepared to encounter the Lord through
Ben Benbrook and Pete and Mary Ellen Pitard who helped a young priest
form a ministry to youth where there was none, through Betty Higgins
who taught me much about prayer, and George, her husband, who taught
me much about serving others, and Louise, an alcoholic with over twenty
years of sobriety and a faith that could move mountains, and Pat Backman,
who more than any other priest revealed the touch and love of the Lord
in her ministries.
In the questions and enthusiasm and servant-faith of Rachel Nyback and
Sean Cox, a couple of high school kids working to put together a youth
event, I was blessed by a visit of the Lord, the bridegroom of today's
parable.
In the innocent faith and energy of our kindergarten students, in the
serious questions of our bible study students, in the desire to deepen
a relationship with the Lord through participation our Christian Life
and Service Seminars, in the tears and in the faith of those who mourn
and in the smiles and laughter and joy of a baptism or a wedding-there
is the Lord, the bridegroom of the parable.
It isn't just about one grand entrance and one grand encounter. It
is about being wide-awake and open-eyed in the day-to-day. The bridegroom,
the Lord, will come when you're taking the long way home, tired and
depleted, when you awake in the midst of your family, when you work
and when you play, when you worship and when you are alone in prayer.
A thousand possibilities, a million ways to find yourself in the presence,
the love, and the light of the Lord. Pay attention.
We can do this. I like being in your company, I like your encouragement:
it keeps me open-eyed and wide-awake. May I help you do the same. May
we be ready this minute, this hour, this day, to encounter the Lord
with joy.
Lord, make us vigilant and attentive to your voice and your presence,
that we may heed your call at all times find joy in your presence, always.
