On this Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday, as we enjoy a football game this night (& so not to be divisive, I said no to a few hymns like “On Eagles Wings” and one that says “O beautiful, for patriot dreams” & even “drop kick me Jesus thru the goalposts of life”), we are reminded today that in our society and world there are those who don’t have enough money for a cup of soup, those who are trafficked for sex, and in too many homes there will be violence and strife.
For some communities, like Flint (MI), Cape Town (SA), Puerto Rico - clean, fresh, water is also the issue…
In Flint, MI, the water might have been changed back from the untreated source that damaged the water lines, leaching lead & other chemicals into the drinking supply, but nearly 12,000 pipes still need to be changed, a process that will go on for two more years. That’s why we are again supporting St. Paul’s in Flint and their flint water relief.
In today's Gospel, we read that Jesus grasped the hand of Simon's mother-in-law and helped her up. The Greek verb in the original text literally means "he raised her up." The same word is used of Jesus at the resurrection – he is raised.
How do we raise others up? How do we bring to others new life? We have helped with water – Magumeto, Mozambique – a well & solar pump for the village so they didn’t have to walk 5 km to retrieve it from a local river. We have helped Flint too.
But for the Gospel of Mark, the healing in this story is not only a matter of a fever departing for Peter’s mother in law; it’s also a matter of restoration to community and the mom serves Jesus out of gratefulness. Sometimes it’s not water they need but a fresh clean start to life & restoration to community…
The way to Ender's Island off Mystic, Connecticut, is a tiny one-lane bridge. But for the teens and young adults whose lives have been wrecked by drugs and alcohol, who have left behind a trail of betrayal and defeat, of hopelessness and paralyzing fear, it's nothing less than the passage of a lifetime.
On the other side of that bridge, they are met by Father Tom Hoar. He asks a simple question: "Have you had enough?"
It's a question he had to confront a long time ago. Now it's a question that he helps others answer, step by step, day by day.
"I'm grateful for God's blessing in my life and in the life of the folks who come across that causeway," Father Hoar says. "Because people who come across that causeway are looking for hope."
Hope has been the heart of Father Hoar's ministry for nearly 40 years. Father Tom is president of St. Edmund's Retreat, a place of refuge for those suffering the carnage of the nation's opioid and alcohol addiction crisis Father Tom knows what they are going through. He was there himself once.
"I never felt good enough," he remembers. "Never smart enough . . . Even though I excelled in school, internally I never felt good enough. And you see that in many alcoholics and addicts. I could preach a great sermon on how much God loved you. I wasn't always sure he loved me. Even though I achieved, I lived in fear."
And he developed a taste for good wine, top-shelf whiskey, fine cognac. It caught up with him in October 1989 at the college where he was serving as campus minister. He was alone, drinking in his room, when a fire broke out a mile down the road. He was the fire department chaplain, so he answered the alarm. When he arrived, he was confronted by both the dean of students and the fire chief: "Have you been drinking?"
Father Hoar denied it: "No, no . . . I went out to dinner and had some drinks."
He made his way home through the flashing red and blue lights. When he got home, he looked in the mirror and took stock: "I said what the [expletive] am I doing? And that was my last drink."
At Ender's Island he set up a recovery residence for college-aged men. Those who walk the bridge typically stay for three to 12 months of post-treatment recovery and counseling. They develop personal and social skills and sketch educational and life goals. More than 70 percent - a remarkable figure - go on to lead productive lives in sobriety.
It's a struggle to keep the program going financially. His board of trustees have told Father Tom that "hope is not a business plan." But Father Tom always finds a way to make it work. Like the small, life-changing miracles that happen every day on that small island that sits next to a spectacular sea. [From "Addicts find an island refuge amid a tempest" by Thomas Farragher, The Boston Globe, November 27, 2017.]
The moment of healing in Mark's Gospel mirrors the dynamic between God and God’s creation, us: God raises us up out of our own despair and illness and hardships, enabling us to make similar miracles of hope happen through our compassion and healing to others.
Through the mercy and peace we experience, we can become bridges like Father Hoar on Ender's Island, enabling others to walk in the light and grace of God, to help bring new life to the broken people and places of our world, in places like Flint, MI & in our own homes & communities.
On this Souper Bowl Sunday, let us not forget the needs that are all around us and endeavor to help raise up those in need of healing & new life, be it ourselves or others. (Go Pats.) Amen.
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