Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of my many memories from college seminary was being able to watch “The Return of the King,” the last movie of the trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings,” on opening night. I had read the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, and was excited to see the video representation of what I had read. Years later, I found the same joy watching Peter Jackson’s version of “The Hobbit,” the prequel to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which, unlike the book which is one volume, was released in three parts.
One powerful scene from the third movie, “The Battle of the Five Armies” is when Bard, a peasant from Lake Town, is trying to defeat Smaug, the dragon who is spewing fire on the wooden town built upon the lake. Bard has one arrow left, and his son, Bain, has come to help his dad fire the arrow. Bard has to rest the arrow on his son’s shoulder, because the wind lance (a stationary bow for firing large javelin-like arrows) had broken. Then Smaug the dragon taunts Bard and his son. Smaug says, “What will you do now, bowman? You are forsaken; no help will come! […] Is that your child? You cannot save him from the fire! He. Will. Burn!” Meanwhile, Bard says, “Stay still, son. Stay still.” as Bard puts the arrow on his shoulder and starts to aim. Smaug then taunts Bard again, “Tell me, wretch, how now shall you challenge me? You have nothing left but your death!” Bard’s son, Bain, is scared at the dragon’s voice, and starts to look back toward the dragon, but Bard says to him, “Bain. Look at me. You look at me.”
As I read this Gospel earlier this week, that exchange between Bard and his son, Bain, came to my mind. It is only when Peter takes his eyes off Jesus, perusing the strength and danger of the wind and the waves, that he starts to sink. If Peter would have only kept his eyes on Jesus, Peter would have been fine.
And the same is true for us: if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, like the myriad men and women saints who have gone before us of all races and states of life, we have nothing to fear; we can walk on water. If our attention oscillates to the cares and tribulations of the world, we start to sink, maybe not physically, but emotionally and spiritually.
This whole COVID deal has been a tempest of a storm for our State and our nation since March. Schools closed, and some, like ours, whether directly tied to COVID or not, will not reopen this fall. Families have unexpectedly lost loved ones. Parents who work in hospitals have spent long hours, and even days, separated from children, as, especially in the early days, we didn’t want doctors and nurses to spread the virus to the other members of the family and had them quarantine. Even now, I know people who have been shut up in their room for over a week because they tested positive for COVID, even while the other members of their family or their roommates did not, and so cannot visit them. Many people have lost their jobs, temporarily or permanently, and, like schools, some businesses will not be able to reopen. And I won’t even get into the politics of the pandemic. It’s hard not to focus on all those things, and more. But if we do, we’ll sink. If we focus on all the negatives, we can easily fall into a depression, or start to doubt God’s love for us, or give in to our favorite sins that promise us comfort without really giving it to us.
Instead, we are called to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. It is as if Jesus is telling us, “Look at me. You look at me.” He knows the dragon is around us, and that there is destruction, but He is about to slay the firedrake, and His aim is perfect. The dragon will certainly perish. But will we go down with the dragon, or will we stay connected to Jesus?
I don’t know what things are going to look like in September, December, or a year from now. I don’t have a special gift of foresight that will allow me to tell you what changes are still in store for us, both the changes the come from our continuing fight of COVID and just the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly changes that happen due to the regular cycles of life. But I can say that, if we stay connected to Jesus, if we keep our eyes fixed on Him, we have nothing to fear, and we won’t succumb to the trials, but will conquer them.
I don’t know about you, but when I think about all the junk (or, to quote Bishop Mengeling, puke) that has happened in 2020, it does not put me in a good emotional or spiritual place. Life seems dreary and a drudge, and doesn’t seem much worth it. So why do we keep focusing on those things that are past, those things that have been bad, when we can’t do a thing about it? Why do we fixate on things we missed or are still missing? All that does is drain our batteries and sap our strength. Instead of focusing on those things, read a consoling Bible passage, pray to Jesus or through the intercession of the saints, or make a visit to church.
Instead, focus on Jesus. Keep your eyes trained on Him. Don’t pay attention to the waves and the wind, because they just make you sink. Gaze, instead, on Jesus, who lifts you from the cares of the storm, and keeps you safe in the harbor of his love. Jesus calls us by name: “Look at me. You look at me.”
