The Depth of God’s Reach

Dear Friend,

In his marvelous little book “The Depth of God’s Reach,” theologian Michael Downey writes that when his beloved teacher, David Noel Power OMI, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he wrote out a reflection that began with a Mary Oliver poem. These are the closing lines: …  To live in this world // you must be able / to do three things: / to love what is mortal; / to hold it // against your bones knowing / your own life depends on it; / and, when the time comes to let it go, / to let it go.  

Our scripture readings this weekend for the Fifth Sunday of Easter focus on what it means to truly live. And for the Christian – and so too it seems for Ms. Oliver – abundant living is bound up in a sacred intersection of life and death and love, namely, the Paschal Mystery. The Gospel for this Sunday from John happens to be taken from Jesus’s farewell discourse where we receive the instruction not simply to remain with Jesus, but rather, like a branch to a vine, to remain in him (emphasis mine). I think Ms. Oliver has it right: to live we must be able to hold what is mortal “against our bones…” knowing our life depends on love, meaning (literally) that it “hangs down” in the way of the vine, branch, and fruit which are at the center of the Gospel text.   

As we hear in the first reading, Saint Paul’s life (as Saul) was hanging by a thread - a dead branch - and he didn’t even know it. But on the way to Damascus he found out, big-time. He had some “letting go” to do for sure and later on so did his terrified listeners!

Gratefully,

Father Dan