Grief without Hope

Greetings on this the Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Psalm 96:1 and 3, 4-5, 11-12, 13; Luke 4:16-30

Summary

The Christian vision of life and death transforms grief into hope, because faith anchors love in divine permanence.

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep (1 Thes 4:13-14).

Thomas Hobbes Dour View

Life without faith is a grueling experience. In the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes’s 1651 work Leviathan, he described the “state of nature” as nasty, brutish, and short. It is a very pessimistic view of life in its origin, experience and the final end. Without faith, it colors everything we see, feel, and experience. The faithless life builds a pericopes of scripture as to make them moot (or so it would seem).

This is the core point of today’s gospel portion. In summary here is the outline.

The Rejection at Nazareth

The Anointed Bearer of Glad Tidings

1. Jesus returns to Nazareth.
2. Jesus attends synagogue.
3. He was asked to read.
4. He reads ISA 61:1-2a. The Spirit of the Lord is Upon me…
5. He sits down and He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing (LK 4:21).”

Response amazement and Disbelief

1. And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth (LK 4:22a).
2. [but] They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph (LK 4:22b)?”

Jesus Reveals their Deep Lack of Faith

Their point? Only miracles for me and mine are miracles and only by prophets otherwise they are mere fables these stories we hear about you in Capernaum.

1. He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’” (LK 4:23)
2. And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place (Lk 4:24).

Foreigners and Widows

Jesus replies, in essence, isn’t it true the Lord heals foreigners and widows? Do you think this a fable, too?

1. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon (LK 4:26).
2. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” (LK 4:27).

Enraged

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away (Lk 4:28-30).

One could sum things up this way: If God doesn’t do it for me, it isn’t happening. Now, most theologians will talk about Jesus as a prophet (anointed, miracle feeding, miracle healing x-ref Elijah and Elisha) and how this confrontation is used to establish the Messianic role. All this is true. But our first reading today asks us to look from another angle, that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

Lack of Faith is being without hope

• Lack of faith says: he isn’t anointed therefore he cannot bring good news.
• Lack of faith says: if he cannot bring good news, he cannot do good things.
• Lack of faith says: if he can’t do good things, throw him off the cliff as a useless pretender.

Faith and Hope

For Hobbes: Life ends in the abyss of nothingness. For Paul: Life ends in union with Christ—“Thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

Songs of Zion

The responsorial psalm is a praise of Zion, the city in which God dwells among the people. Have faith that Jesus dwelt among us (and dwells even now).

Hope for the Christian Dead

Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words (1 Thes 4:17b-18).

Have faith ==> He is Risen! He is Ascended! He sits at the Right Hand of the Father.

Reflection

Our grief is in the separation and a need for expression but not the obliteration of those we love. Love is not a mere disembodied energy that lives of itself or dies when one dies!

Symbolic representation

A Loves B. Notation as A<===>B.

<===> does not exist of itself. Relation does not exist without relation.

It exists in A and B, both, forever. <===> is the evidence of the perpetual nature of love.

It can also be rendered as symbolic – AB.

Note: Love as Potential or Love as a State of Being (divine) is not in conflict with this view of Love as Relation (for the purist philosophers among us please relax). Saint Augustine would describe it as Bonds of Love.

Grief with Hope

Trust your grief to the hope of reunion. God does not disappoint. He does it for everyone. Love is not wasted. Love is not lost. Love is with its infinite power of the divine imprint. Because you are A. And He is B. Together, AB. Including foreigners and widows.

To grieve with faith is not to deny sorrow, but to anchor it in the promise that love endures, because God Himself is love.

Sacred Readings Full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090125.cfm

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry

Postscript: I asked for a writing assist from ChatGPT. I find the assistance extremely helpful. My process is as follows:

1. Write what you want to write with all the discipline and contemplation needed.\
2. Mark it up and fix the minor grammatical and structural kinks.
3. Ask ChatGPT to review. Then:
   • Consider carefully any suggestions.
   • Research any ideas.
   • Implement any suggestions slowly
   • Reassess each iteration.
4. This actually builds upon your strengths and deepens your thinking process.