PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to
listen
5th Sunday
of Easter, Cycle B
St. Francis DeSales,
Abingdon
May 3, 2015
Hoola-Hoops and
Happiness
By (Rev. Msgr.)
Nicholas P. Amato
The Circle
A monk of the early 6th
century, Dorotheos of Gaza, proposed an interesting image for understanding our
relationship with God and with each other.
He invited people to imagine
a perfect circle, something like this hula-hoop. The characteristic of a perfect circle is
that the center point is exactly the same distance from all points on its circumference.
So, every point on the ring
of the hoop is exactly the same distance from the center. Now look at a place on the ring and imagine
that this is you.
Then, make a second mark
and imagine that this is someone close to you – maybe your husband or wife or
best friend. And then make a third mark
and imagine that this is someone whom you don’t get along with.
Now draw a line from each
of these marks or persons toward the center.
And notice: as each line moves closer to the center, it also moves
closer to all the other lines.
Explanation of the Circle
Dorotheos of Gaza explains that
the center of the circle is God.
The circle itself is the
world and everyone in the world is on the circumference or ring of the circle,
or hoop. So God is equally accessible to
everyone.
It is up to us to move as
close to God as we can. But, and this is
the key insight, as we do this, we also move closer and closer to one another…including
those we don’t care for or even call our enemies.
Yes, as two people move
closer to an authentic experience of God, they will, of necessity, draw closer
to each other.
The Vine and the Branches
This image of the circle – and I’m sure you’ll longer remember the
hoola-hoop – helps us to appreciate Jesus’ image today of the vine and the branches.
Jesus calls himself the vine, the very heart of the vineyard, something
akin to the center of the circle around which everything revolves. We are the branches on that vine, something
like the people on the ring of the circle or hula-hoop.
Jesus is in the same relationship with each of us. What we need to do, he suggests, is to
“remain” or another translation says, “abide” in him.
Note that Jesus uses the word “remain” eight times, so the reality
must be a pretty important thing.
“Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine, so
neither can you unless you remain in
me.”
Remaining
So, then, how are we to “remain” in Jesus? Or what can we do to
“remain” in him? I want to suggest two
things.
First, receiving the Eucharist, like the children here at St.
Francis and children throughout the world are doing for the first time, and as
we do, feeding on the life-giving sap, filled with nutrients.
It is the perfect way for God to be in us and for us to remain in God
and it’s why we assemble for Mass each Sunday.
Secondly, that life-giving presence is nurtured and fostered each
day with personal prayer of many kinds: morning and nighttime prayer, prayer
before meals, prayerful silence over a steaming cup of coffee, sitting for 5 or
10 minutes with a daily meditation book, or writing a brief paragraph each
evening on God’s surprises to me as I lived out the day.
Conclusion
So, I end as I began…this hulla-hoop that locates God (center) and
us (points on the circumference.) While both reflect the truth of our lives, it
is movement forward that makes the circle come alive
And that takes remaining rooted in God. (1) Eucharist and (2) prayer
are the fuel that moves us forward and in moving us forward moving us closer to
one another.
And as you move closer to the center, it might surprise you how
more understanding and forgiving you’re becoming toward someone who wasn’t your
favorite person.
