Homily for Ash Wednesday 2008
Oak trees are a symbol of strength and patient growth.
These are trees for the long haul,
with a capacity to endure drought, snow, winds,
and direct lightening hits.
Even with the loss of big limbs, the massive trunks remain standing.
Oak trees can be an apt metaphor for the qualities
that we hope for in our spiritual lives.
We may have the notion that oak trees are easy to grow;
just drop an acorn on the ground and let it happen.
In fact, it is notoriously difficult to get oaks started.
First of all, you have to keep deer away from them.
Deer eat oak seedlings for breakfast.
Second, because oak trees grow so slow
while putting lots of energy into an extended root system,
other trees and brush shoot up around them,
soak up all the water, and more importantly,
block out the sunlight.
To get oak trees to grow you have to use fire.
Ironwood, maple, and brush are destroyed because
their bark is too thin.
We think of fire as enormously destructive.
But to get oak trees to grow, you have to use fire, albeit carefully.
Today we celebrate Ash Wednesday,
the beginning of forty days of Lent.
We receive the symbol of ashes, the result of fire,
as a sign of our commitment to follow Jesus more closely.
We can think of the ashes as a symbol
of what results when the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts.
The ashes are a symbol of our commitment to let the Spirit work.
To give ourselves to this spiritual journey
is a little like signing up for a course with a prof
that we have heard is pretty good.
It is not for our major, it meets no requirements,
but other students say, "Wow,"
don't graduate without taking this person.
So we sign up, thinking we are gonna glide in this course.
The other three are the backbreakers,
this is the one for cushion, we think.
What we find is that the course is even better than we ever hoped for,
we are learning new things, encountering good questions
that resist shallow thought,
but the prof also expects some work -- how dare he or she?!
In the spiritual journey of Lent,
the Holy Spirit is the prof....
The scriptures are direct in calling us back to the baptismal font,
back to the source of our life in Christ.
Allow me to do some translation with suggestions that are specific,
but are open to your re-configuration....
First, let us be aware of the hunger of the 800,000,000
who are hungry.
Please go each day to thehungersite.com and
give a bowl of rice to a hungry person.
We are busy but it takes less than a minute
to give a hungry person food for the day.
Visiting this site also makes us aware of one of the needs of our world.
Second, we have to pray to have a spiritual life with God.
We can pray alone in our rooms.
We can take some time in the Marian chapel,
or in the Assumption chapel below,
or as we are studying.
Or come to Eucharist: 5:00 pm each day at SBM
or here with the monks.
Remember where our baptism leads,
from the font to the Eucharistic table.
The scriptures are full of direction, as well as good questions,
and the sacrament will nourish us.
Third, Lent is a good time to ask the question:
How am I in relationship with others?
Do I have any relationships that cry out for attention
or reconciliation?
I made this suggestion last year and I do so again.
Once a week through Lent, invite a friend for an hour walk:
out to Stella Maris, out one of the entrance roads --
it really doesn't matter.
What does matter is tending to the relationship.
Christ is in you; Christ is in that person.
We are surrounded with images of quick fixes,
promises of "abs of steel" in two weeks
and all you have to do to get them is breathe:
lose 35 pounds and 6 inches off your waist in a week,
while still eating everything you like.
We all know this is nuts!
The slow growth of the oak tree
is an apt counter-image to this culture of stupidity.
It urges us to trust the work of the Holy Spirit
in bringing us ever closer to the God we love and worship.
Abbot John Klassen, OSB
February 6, 2008
|
 |
Important Link
Contact the Abbot
|
