Scriptures give us examples of people who experience emotions and turn inward, instead of turning toward God
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The readings this week, like a fine wine, contain a rich emotional variety.
The prophet Daniel notes: “we have sinned … we have rebelled … we are shamefaced.” Rather than shame turning them away from God, Daniel encourages Israel to let shame turn them toward God.
Isaiah sounds an urgent call to repentance. “Hear the Word of the Lord, princes of Sodom … people of Gomorrah!” He’s speaking to Israel, trying to shock them into a moment of clarity and repentance by calling them Sodom and Gomorrah!
Perhaps the emotional palate of the week finds its most outstanding examples on the feast of St. Joseph (March 19). There are two possible Gospel readings for the day. In the reading from Matthew, we hear Joseph’s reaction to finding out that Mary is pregnant, and he knows it’s not with his child. Imagine his surprise and sorrow! See his firm obedience to the law in his resolve to divorce Mary, but also his generosity in resolving to divorce her quietly. See his fear, when the angel tells him not to be afraid. And when, in obedience to the angel, he takes Mary into his home, imagine his quiet determination in the face of the slander and gossip that he and Mary would have endured together. There’s a lot of emotion there!
In the reading from the Gospel of Luke we hear about the anxiety of Joseph and Mary as they search for the child Jesus. We hear about their astonishment at finding Him in the temple, teaching the teachers. We hear of their puzzlement at His proclamation about needing to be in His Father’s house. And note: None of these emotions, in themselves, is a sin!
The great question is: What do we do with the rich variety of emotions we experience? With a fine wine all we have to do is experience and appreciate the different tastes. But with our emotions, the key is whether we experience them and turn in on ourselves, or whether we experience them and pivot into deeper relationship with God.
The final Gospel reading for the week is the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15). The younger son experiences misery and pivots back toward his father. The father, experiencing sadness, pivots toward his younger son. The older son experiences anger and pivots into isolation. The father, in the face of that anger, pivots toward his older son and invites him to move from isolation back into relation.
We see this pattern all through the Gospels. The woman at the well pivots toward Jesus, while Pilate pivots away. After betraying Jesus, Peter pivots back into relationship with Him, while Judas pivots away.
Every human emotion can be taken up into our relationship with God. God never turns away from us, no matter what we’re feeling. The question is, in the face of the rich variety of emotions we experience, do we turn toward God or away from God?
That might be a good thing to work on during Lent: To pivot on every human emotion into deeper relationship with God.
