Over the last several weeks in the Catholic Sunday liturgy, we've been hearing Jesus teach on two major themes in the Gospel of John: mutual love and relationship. More than any other Gospel, John focuses on these two themes and makes them the centerpiece of his entire testimony to Jesus. John's version of Jesus gives long treatises to his hearers on the theme of the mutual love that God has shared with him and that he, in turn, has shared with his followers. Furthermore, if his disciples abide in his love by keeping his commandments, he will abide in them, they will abide in him, and they will know the Father. This teaching highlights the type of relationship that Jesus is calling his disciples to: the self-same length, depth, height, and breadth that Jesus himself has with God and has shared with others.
The Gospel of John in it's entirety is a veritable "palanca" that is meant to ever-so-slowly-but-surely open our hearts to the richness of God's love. "Palanca" in Spanish means "lever", "handle" or, "crowbar." Those who have attended Cursillo retreats or TEC retreats (Teens Encounter Christ) would be familiar with this word. These "immersive" retreats attempt to create an environment conducive to experiencing God's love at depth. "Palanca" are those notes of affirmation or other small tokens that the Cursillo or TEC staff share with the retreatants in order to help them "open" their hearts to an experience of God. The staff on these retreats are very deliberate in regularly giving out palanca because they no doubt know how difficult it can be to open one's heart and risk it in love.
We live in a world that makes it difficult at times to take risks for the sake of mutual love and relationship. If one tunes into the American media, there is a great deal of focus on all the reasons why people should be afraid and live in a protective shell in order to avoid taking excessive risks. When one is traveling by plane one is constantly assailed by the message that the current "threat level" is "orange" and one should therefore be diligent and ready for a possible terrorist attack. How is it possible to open our hearts to mutual love and depth of relationship when we are constantly encouraged to be on the defensive?
The book, "The Courage to Heal," chronicles the stories of women survivor's of childhood sexual abuse. The first part of the book shares one heartbreaking story after another of various women who were victimized as children by the persons who should have protected and nurtured them. As difficult as these stories are to stomach, if one can make it through the first one hundred or so pages, the rest of the book tells how they transcended the horrors of their childhood and learned to once again become open, vulnerable, and available to mutual relationship and loving at depth. Their stories are profound testimonies to the healing power and victory of love that is all around us but that rarely gets the media attention it deserves. Two quotes from the book are especially relevant to this reflection: "there's enormous power in speaking your truth. As poet Audre Lorde wrote, "your silence won't protect you." Although there are risks in speaking out, there are dangers in staying silent. Never doubt your right to speak your truth. The second quote is from Henri Nouwen, a renowned Catholic Priest and author: "When we ask ourselves which people in our lives mean the most to us, we often find it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand." The healing power of speaking one's truth, and the beauty of having our wounds salved through a gentle and warm touch, can only be experienced if we allow the "palanca" of God's love to open our hearts to the world around us. Pat
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