FROM THE BOUNDARY
Many are gathered in the great dragnet of the ocean of the world – law keepers and law breakers, zealots and dreamers, respectables and reprobates – but few are chosen. It’s for them, the few, that the parables will be explained privately (Mark 4:34). “I pray for them”, says Jesus, those entrusted to me by you, Father, “not for the world” (John 17:9). As for the rest of us, the bulk of the dragnet, we have our chance.
See beyond the literal meaning of my stories, Jesus tells us. See beyond their trite little moral object lessons. Seek, if you dare, the secret truths which lie at their heart – for nothing is hid which shall not be made manifest, nothing is secret except it come to light (Mark 4:22). Come and see. It may shock you.
It may show you a hideous picture of YOU. It may upset the glossy image of yourself you show the world. It may tell you, living as you do on the surface of things, that you’re the walking dead. Yet it may enrich you, empower you, raise you to a life you never dreamed of. It may open your eyes, unstop your ears, make you leap as an heart, make your dumb tongues sing (Is 35:5-10). It’s up to you. Just come and see; and blessed will be the eyes that see what you see (Luke 10: 23-24) – see what the blind see, how the lame walk, how the lepers are cleansed, how the deaf hear and the dead are raised. Yes: seek the Way and you’ll find, and having found more will be given. But for those who walk only on the surface, what little they have will serve them not at all (Matt 13:12). Do you understand all this?
If you do, thank God for the Holy Spirit ever guiding us into new insights of truth. Thank God for the spirit of inquiry, the excitement of new ideas, for the gift of understanding and the fullness of wisdom. And thank God too for the great teachers of the world who’ve called us too to ‘come and see’, to seek and find, to love and lead, and for those ‘elect’ of God from the four winds who ever guide us beyond the signposts into all truth and the perfect freedom to be ourselves in Christ.
Well, with all this in mind I’ve been wondering whether in my life’s journey I’ve been fortunate enough to have met one such as these, the ‘elect’. I suppose the saints must qualify. We all have our favourites, those who somehow speak to us beyond time. For me, there’s Francis of Assisi, of course; my chapel is named after him. But there’s also Francis de Sales, Benedict Labre, Germaine of Pibrac and Brother Andre of Mount Royal. Then, from the desert, there’s Charles de Foucauld and Carlo Carretto, and beloved John Bradburne of Mutemwa. If I think of Popes, there’s Albino Luciani (John Paul 1) and Pope Francis. At home, I think of the late Fr Theo Worrell. Who are your favourites?
On Saturday, I attended the funeral of Fr (Canon) Gatherer. I don’t go to many funerals. It’s not a national pastime for me. But for those I knew and cared for, then yes. I worked with Father for a while at St Andrew’s and have always warmly admired and respected him. I accounted him a friend. Imagine: 52 years at that beautiful church; 52 years of devoted service. I’d forgotten the statue of the Child Jesus as you enter the west door. When I saw it again on Saturday, tears came to my eyes. For that WAS somehow Fr Gatherer, the Gatherer who stood against the establishment in the name of truth and justice but always with a puckish, a playful, smile, like a kid who knows he’s being unrepentantly naughty in a mild way to wake us up. His grave is just beside that west door. I can’t think of anything more fitting; for he’ll still speak
to his people Sunday by Sunday through all our lifetimes.
There’s a beautiful story told by Pope Francis about St Peter fleeing the terrors of Nero in Rome. He met Jesus who was travelling towards Rome. “Lord”, he said, “where are you going?” Jesus replied, “I’m going to Rome to be crucified again.” Peter understood that he had to follow the Lord with courage. But more than this, he also realised that he would never be alone on the journey. Jesus, who loved him, would ever be at his side taking upon himself all his problems, sufferings and fears. For me, Fr Gatherer understood all that and lived it. He knew and lived the cross of Jesus, the sign of love and companionship on our journey, and bigger by far than all the cuts and bruises caused by our dealings in the dragnet of the world. His journey was a call to devotion, courage, hope and perseverance. That’s how I think of
him, and that’s his message to us – carrying the cross of justice but with an eyeful twinkle and the half-smile of defiance, with Jesus ever at his side. Night, night, God Bless Father.
Go safely, then – until the next time.
Dragnet from the boundary: “O my friend, what have you done with this life?” (Kabir)