I am haunted by Holy Week. We are hardly a breath away from the great events of that Week, but the events no longer motivate the world as they did just weeks ago…as they did two centuries ago. Each Sunday we read of fleeing disciples making “the fast track” out of Jerusalem; fleeing from “Friday” in the face of an Easter not yet realized. Where in “Hell” are they going?
It reminds me of my experience as a slow learner trying to hide in one back corner of my sixth-grade classroom, while all the time remaining in full view of the teacher. I could never escape his piercing eyes. Simply calling my name he brought beads of sweat to my forehead. So also, the disciples could not escape the presence of the One who dragged them kicking and screaming through the messy events of new birth. Fear so captivated those who stayed behind, they did so with doors barred, too frightened to even flee.
We live in confusing times to be sure. With rare exceptions, our Churches are aging to the point that even our own children are absent. During the coverage of the election of the new Pope, a newscaster announced that only 30% of American Catholics attend church regularly, a percentage much higher than that reflecting the attendance in Europe. Over half of us have been divorced, and others just live in unmarried relationships controlled by “fear of failing again.” Claiming to trust in God, we like Peter, cling to the sword. Our nation, “the sum of the parts” does the same, spending $849 billion for defense for 2025. Yet with all that power we cannot control the price of eggs. We purchase “auto forts” like the Cyber truck and Hummers within which we can deceive ourselves into thinking we are safe…just like those barred behind doors in the upper room.
I try to remind myself that Jesus did not leave the disciples…even though it may have looked that way. He was with them always, though the way in which He was with them was very different. He met the women who went to the tomb on that early morning, the first day of the new birth. He was with the disciples as they fled to the town of Emmaus, recognized only when He broke the bread of their “first supper” just as He did at His “last supper.” He was with those who returned to their “old jobs” fishing, and He even entered the very room barred to keep EVERYONE out.
Though it may seem so from time to time, Jesus has not left us alone either. He is with us in all the struggles of life. He is in our aging Churches, our broken relationships, and wherever fear controls our lives He enters disregarding barred doors. I try to remember that the security the disciples sought, they came to realize they could not create for themselves…nor can we. There is no door strong enough, no weapons system “good” enough, big enough, powerful enough that we can provide for ourselves the kind of security we most yearn for. Our obsession with “self-security” is the very thing Jesus came to warn us about. “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39) It was this new way of thinking that encouraged 5,000 people on a hillside in Galilee to share what they had with those who had nothing. It was the same challenge given to the “young man” to give up self concern by giving “all” he had to the poor. (Matthew 19:21).
Once the disciples realized Jesus was not going to abandon them, they burst forth from the barred doors of that upper room. Their mission: to nurse the world back to life by feeding it the “Bread of Life.”
God is still waiting for His church to take a risk for the sake of His children. Pentecost is only a few days away, June 8th. Pray that God will reveal to each of us the risk He wants each of us to take for the sake of His children. Pray even more that we have the courage to respond.
Pentecost is more than a day.
It is a way of life!
Father Bill Myrick
