I am sure many of you reading this have had the experience of going on a retreat. Maybe a weekend experience, maybe it was an entire week-long or you went on a mission trip. You may recall the joy and personal growth you experienced during these times and felt you truly came home a changed person. These are often called “Mountaintop” experiences. They can be times when we feel we have grown closer to God. And they can also serve to bridge those times when we sink into the valleys that also seem to always come along.
What if you had this experience away from your loved ones? From your spouse or your children? Friends or co-workers? Was it possible to really accurately share what you went through, what you felt and how the spirit touched you in these moments?
I’ve had a few of these experiences in my life. I went on a mission trip with our church several years ago and the time spent in community and prayer changed me to the point that I wanted to carry the feeling with me always. One of the things we did on the trip was to pray before all meals. Now with my family we would pray on Friday nights but not at every meal. So, when I returned home and attempted to do the same, they looked at me like I had two heads. They just hadn’t had the same experience I had.
Three years ago I made a Cursillo weekend. For those who do not know what Cursillo (“Short Course”) is, it is a 4 day retreat that originated in Spain in the 1940’s. The goal of Cursillo is to help participants to refocus on their faith. To assess where they may be falling short in their faith journey and then to continue that journey in small groupings that meet weekly. To say the least, it was a life changing experience for me. But it was my experience. My wife, Elise, had not made a Cursillo weekend herself. So, when I returned home on fire with the experiences I had, she could not relate. There was no way I can make her understand what I went through and what I was becoming because of the experience.
How does this relate to today’s readings? These “isolated” mountaintop” experiences are not unlike what Jesus had to deal with in today’s Gospel as He returns to Nazareth. This is not the triumphant entry such as he will have entering Jerusalem. No, he kind of slipped in the back door. He read at the synagogue. He visited people he had known as a boy. That is not to say he didn’t impress his previous neighbors and friends. On the contrary! They were amazed! But how could one of THEM have turned out the way Jesus had? Where did he get all this knowledge. After all, he had the same background as they did. They did not really know what he had been through, what experiences he had, how he had grown since his days as an apprentice carpenter. As the son of Joseph and Mary. And if he was able to accomplish all this with the same background they had, why was it that they had fallen short? Contempt grew and they expelled him from their midst. He was not accepted in his native place as Matthew relates in the story.
Where does that leave us? Is the inability to share a life changing experience with those we love make the experience any less important or powerful? In some ways I think the answer is yes. Jesus could not work any miracles in Nazareth. The reading does not say he didn’t want to. It said he COULDN’T. Imagine that. The Son of God could not work miracles in his own town. This also reminds me of the reading where Jesus sent the apostles out to spread the Good News. He told them if they were not accepted they were to shake the dust from their sandals as they left the town and they COULD NOT work miracles there.
But does the inability to share mean we should not pursue these experiences? No way. They are fodder for our souls. They give us little glimpses of heaven. They help us move further along on our path to holiness. When I got back from Cursillo I shared my disappointment about not being able to relate the experience with a friend who had also done Cursillo. Her advice? Be a model of who you had become and let the world see it. Let your light shine and that light may illuminate some to growth of their own. It was great advice. And it took the pressure off. Let God do the work creating fertile soil for the seeds that I hope to plant. I would bet that SOMEONE in Nazareth understood the message Jesus was spreading. And who knows the effect it may have had.
In my Elise’s case, while she did not completely understand what my weekend was about, it did have an effect in one way. About a year ago she suggested we walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain. A 500 mile pilgrimage walk to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela which houses the remains of St. James the apostle. What is interesting is that the Cursillo movement began as a means of preparing those who would walk the pilgrimage route. It was an awesome experience. One that we COULD share together. Experiences we will have for the rest of our lives.
Today’s Readings
LV 23:1,4-11, 15-16, 27, 34B-37
