Summer is about to begin. Some vacation may lie ahead, and it might be a time of easing up a bit. This is a time that usually provides some space and leisure for people and it’s a good time to ask ourselves the question that God asks of Adam: “Where am I?” and then add, “And where am I going?”
The Genesis story in our First Reading sums up the human situation both then and now. Our experience and that of our world is one of violence, broken and disrupted relationships, and pain, destroyed by blame and mistrust. We all yearn for the Garden of Eden - how it was before sin was introduced into the world. And we all have a sense of how life should be, how we desire it to be. But we are always confronted with the harsh realities of how it really is and how much we can become separated from the embrace of God.
Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when, in the Gospel, he avoids focusing on blood lines but rather points to the crowd and says: “Here are my mother and my brothers…” We have been chosen by name and called to create an environment in which healing takes place, where one is forgiven and reconciled, where care for one another is fostered to which everyone belongs.
But how do we realistically talk about God in a society that has lost its sense of the sacred, and considers the religious view in which we have shaped our images and language about God to be nonsense? How do we spread word about the God of Life to a society bent on creating instruments of death and total destruction? How do we preach a God of Reconciliation to a world wrapped in hatred, prejudice and war? How can we even dream of proclaiming God’s unconditional love to families and persons whose lives are steeped in suffering, loneliness and despair? How do we repair the damage already done by us and members of our own community and restore confidence and trust?
The message is a simple one – always based on the Gospel. We are one family sent by Jesus to create a special environment - an environment of understanding, of care and compassion. We are to create the possibility of others becoming present to themselves and we are to become a center of communion. We are born to be a community where we cease to be anonymous, where we recognize one another as sisters and brothers, loving one another and caring for one another - not because we need them, but simply for themselves.
In a world full of big challenges, in a time like ours, we can’t settle for a heavy and fixed religion. We can’t rely on pat answers and lukewarm responses. We need to discover the life of God before us, behind us and within us. This is who we are – and this is our answer to the questions: “Where are you?” Where are you going?"
