A call for creativity

While some may have remarked the relative silence of these pages of late, the truth is that the writer was taking some time for R&R, but now we're back to the routine.  This week's scripture references call us to take a new look at what it takes to speak a word of faith.  Long gone are the days when faith was a given, or when we could count on the power of tradition to dictate what we did and how we did it.

Today's world calls increasingly for a new outlook, for new creativity to be impoloyed as we speak ancient words.  In the end, all we can do is throw the net, and throw it wide, for He is the one who will do the work.  Thanks be to God!

Read on or listen in to hear more of this week's reflection.

Think outside the box

Top marks for the four friends in today’s gospel!  What ingenuity!  I can only imagine that if I were in their shoes, even if I were bringing my best friend to see this man Jesus, I would never have thought to climb onto the roof and tear it apart in order to lower my friend into the midst of the crowd.  No, I would have arrived and seen the crowd of people clamoring at the front door and crowding around all the window sills, perhaps even spilling out onto the street, and I would have either waited patiently until my turn came, or I would have politely tried to make my way closer.  Or would I?

Have you ever been in such a crowd?  Have you ever found yourself surrounded by so many people that a kind of mob mentality seems to take over?  It can be daunting and even unnerving to be confronted with such a group, but not for our heroes: the four friends.  They found a way to get close to the house, and they even found a way to get up on the roof.  Even more, they found a way to hoist their friend (on his stretcher) up onto the roof, and then they tore a hole in the roof and lowered him in so that he could get close to Jesus.  Talk about a surprise element, but top marks to them for thinking outside the box.

Creative solutions are often the key to finding answers to difficult situations.  Without them, the world of science would still be looking for a cure for the common cold.  Managers would be mired in situations which would render them powerless, and what of the world of law enforcement.  It takes creativity to think like a criminal, and you have to think like one in order to catch up with one.

Thinking outside the box opens us up to a world of new possibilities, and the world of faith is no different.  In the first reading we heard today, the prophet Isaiah reminds us that God is about to do a new thing, something that we have never thought of before, something entirely new.  Beyond our wildest imagining, God promises to do the impossible: to make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the dessert.  Now that’s thinking outside the box!

Today (yesterday morning) in Rome, twenty-two newly-created Cardinals received their ‘red hats’, their rings and the assignment of their titular churches in the city of Rome.  Beginning today, the task entrusted to these chosen leaders is to work in close collaboration with the others who are part of the College of Cardinals to assist the Holy Father with the decisions crucial to the leadership of the Church.  This is no easy task!  In a world which is increasingly challenged by secularism and by prevailing trends of individualism, especially in more modernized settings, these leaders must face the task of finding ways to preach the good news, and that calls increasingly for an ability to think outside the box.

Whether we are Cardinals or leaders in another right, each of us has been entrusted with the task of sharing the good news of our faith with others.  From the pulpits of the greatest churches to the tables of our coffee shops, we must all strive to take our example from Jesus.  Like him, we must dare to reach out to individuals who may have been disillusioned about faith or otherwise turned away from the practices of our Church.  We must dare to find ways to break down walls and take little steps toward rebuilding bridges which will allow all people to hear again a word of encouragement, and to come closer to the door.  At times, we must even be courageous enough to take more drastic measures, like scaling the walls, tearing holes in the roofs and lowering our friends into the house in order to bring them closer to the One who can heal, the one who can instill the joy that comes from knowing that the promise of new life made in baptism will one day be fulfilled.

In short, we must learn how to think outside the box in order to find ways to speak Christ’s words to our world today, and we must have faith to believe that though our feeble efforts, Jesus himself will continue to call those we present to stand up, take their mats and go on their way.