26 September 2005

This week begins with the place we were at the end of last week - the rite of "Welcome of Inquirers."

In this rite the next part of the body that is marked is the shoulders as we say: Receive the cross on your shoulders, that you may bear the gentle yoke of Christ.

I'll admit it. I did not expect this action. And yet, I will also admit that as I read it the first time and as I read it this time, I am so moved it surprises me. That we would take the time to mark one another on the shoulders because we do have a load to carry is simply a visual out of my box. I don't have the strongest shoulders. I remember when I tried to carry my daughter on my shoulders - it hurt and I didn't last long. Well the gospel...the good news so radically foreign to our world that people have been hung up on a cross and other place because of it...is a load. But within the promise of our God is the promise of strength that will make that load of love an easy burden. Possibly that has to do with the fact that it is quite simple - trust the Lord, God, for what the Lord, God, promises and you will be relieved and your thirst will be quenched and you shoulders will be able to withstand more than we could ever imagine. I really thing this will be one of the most difficult marks for me to make on those who come forward to be marked. In this mark I see the journey we will take. Yes, our God will be with us...and yet, there will be costs to that journey and I surely know that I am not always up to shouldering those costs when I attempt to see them through my own eyes. This is precisely why it is good to have someone else mark us...remind us...assure us. Hearing the promises of God from others is so much more powerful than trying to say it to myself or...make the mark on my old shoulders.

Connection: This is the kind of thing I pray for...to mark the ones I love with a simple cross that will give them strength and assurance when they may have to face days that try to place too much of a burden on them. The yoke of the Christ is easy...remember that...or else...life will be made so hard by no one else but ourselves.

God of Mercy and Lord of Life, you remain with us and by your presence we are made strong so that in all the days of our lives we can be assured that nothing is to powerful to subdue us. Even death and all its threats will not be too much for us as long as you are with us to uphold us and give us your peace. Amen.