Genesing van die wond van Eden

DIE NOU WOORD OOR MASAALESINGS
vir Vrydag na Aswoensdag 20 Februarie 2015

Liturgiese tekste na hierdie skakel

DIE diereryk is in wese tevrede. Voëls is tevrede. Vis is tevrede. Maar die mens se hart is nie. Ons is onrustig en ontevrede en soek voortdurend na vervulling in talle vorme. Ons is in 'n eindelose strewe na plesier terwyl die wêreld sy advertensies beloof om geluk te belowe, maar ons lewer net plesier — vlugtige plesier, asof dit 'n doel op sigself is. Waarom gaan ons dan, nadat ons die leuen gekoop het, onvermydelik voort om te soek, soek, soek na betekenis en waarde?

Dit is die wond of Eden. It is the lingering pain of an ancient broken trust. It is the contusion of lost communion with God and each other. 

They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways… “Why do we fast, and you do not see it? Afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?” (First reading)

The Lord does not see our fasting if it is an end in itself, as if we are adding to a score. Does God really care if you give up chocolate for Lent? Rather, true fasting is the act of turning one’s eyes from the temporal to the eternal. Fasting, rituals, symbols, prayers… all of it is a means to help us turn our hearts to God. Nearly every religion in the world is simply an expression of this innate longing for communion with God (and in truth, a remarkable truth at that, God is longing for us):

Gebed is die ontmoeting van God se dors met ons s'n. God dors dat ons na hom kan dors. -Kategismus van die Katolieke Kerk, N. 2560

And so we are wounded, and we cry out in prayer… but to whom? Jesus Christ is the answer to this wound: By His wounds we are healed. ^[1]vgl. 1 Pet 2: 24 Jesus’ face gives us a concrete place to fix our eyes; through the Eucharist, a concrete means to touch Him; through Confession, a concrete means to hear Him pronounce His mercy. The heart begin to be healed when we realize that we are so loved by God that He sent His only Son, and we put our vertrou in Hom:

My offer, o God, is 'n berouvolle gees; 'n berouvolle en nederige hart, o God, sal U nie verwerp nie. (Vandag se Psalm)

Yet, Jesus taught us that the wound of Eden will never be completely healed by an inward glance only, as if religion were a merely subjective pursuit. As Pope Benedict asked:

Hoe sou die idee kon ontwikkel dat Jesus se boodskap eng individualisties is en slegs op elke persoon alleen gerig is? Hoe het ons tot hierdie interpretasie van die "redding van die siel" gekom as 'n vlug van verantwoordelikheid vir die geheel, en hoe het ons die Christelike projek as 'n selfsugtige soeke na redding beskou wat die idee om ander te dien, verwerp? - Pous BENEDICT XVI, Spe salvi, n. 16

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed… (First reading)

To love God and neighbour: these, Jesus said, are the greatest commandments because in these alone will the human heart be restored to its full dignity, and find its rest.