Don’t Miss Jesus

First Sunday of Advent

November 29, 2015

Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap (Luk 21:34).”

We are entering the first Sunday of Advent. This liturgical season always exudes the atmosphere of expectation. We are to anticipate the coming of our Savior, and the Church teaches us that at least there are three comings of Christ. The first event was the birth of Jesus two thousand years ago, in Bethlehem. The second coming will be the arrival of Jesus as the King and Judge at the end of time. The third is His presence among us here and now. These three comings are interrelated and if we miss one, we might miss the rest. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus Himself taught us to stand erect before the Son of Man, before Himself. Just like the first Christmas which came in the most unexpected hour, the final judgment will surely appear like ‘a trap’. The danger is that we expect Him in the wrong ways just like Herod the great who anticipated the birth of new King by killing the all the babies in Bethlehem, or like the Jewish elders and Pilate who crucified ‘the King of Jews’. Instead welcoming the Messiah, we might ‘kill’ Him. 

The key to anticipate Jesus’ advent is that our ability to welcome Him here and now. However, we seem to have problem in seeing Him here and now. In the 1990’s, Harvard psychologist Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris filmed an experiment, famously dubbed as ‘Monkey Business Illusion’ (available in YouTube). A group of people was asked to observe students playing basketball. They were tasked to count how many times the players in white T-shirts pass the ball. The players moved in regular motion and passed the ball back and forth. Suddenly, in the middle of video, something bizarre happened: A man dressed as gorilla walked into the middle of the room, pounded his chest, and immediately went out the scene. At the end, the viewers were asked if they noticed something unusual. Surprisingly, half of them shook their heads in astonishment. Gorilla? What gorilla? 

The monkey business test proves that on one hand, our great ability to focus our mental energy into particular activity, idea or expectation, while on the other hand, neglecting other things, however obvious they might be. It gives an illusion that we are confident that we are aware of everything that happens before our eyes, but in reality, we often see what we want to see only. I guess this is what happened with people in the time of Jesus as well as in our generation. We fix our gaze certain idea of Jesus, who He should be, what He must do, and we miss Christ’s coming. 

This is perhaps why our Pope Francis is shaking our heads with his unusual actions because he doesn’t want us to miss Christ. On the Maundy Thursday, he washed the feet of the young inmates, some of them were not even Catholics. He baptized a baby of unmarried couple. He embraced and kissed the disfigured man. He is the first Pope who particularly exhorts us to care for the mother Earth in his Laudato Si’. Currently, he is meeting people living in the slum of Kenya. 

If Jesus Christ can appear as little and meek baby on a manger and as condemned man nailed on the cross, He can practically come to us in unimaginably simple ways. Don’t miss Advent, don’t miss Jesus!

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Jangan Lewatkan Yesus

Minggu pertama Adven

29 November 2015

Lukas 21: 25-28, 34-36

“Jagalah dirimu, supaya hatimu jangan sarat oleh pesta pora dan kemabukan serta kepentingan-kepentingan duniawi dan supaya hari Tuhan jangan dengan tiba-tiba jatuh ke atas dirimu seperti suatu jerat. (Luk 21:34).”

Kita memasuki Minggu pertama dalam masa Adven. Liturgi masa Adven selalu memancarkan nuansa harapan. Kita mengantisipasi kedatangan Juruselamat kita, dan Gereja mengajarkan kita bahwa setidaknya ada tiga kedatangan Kristus. Kedatangan pertama adalah kelahiran Yesus dua ribu tahun silam di Betlehem. Kedatangan kedua adalah Yesus  datang sebagai Raja dan Hakim pada akhir zaman. Yang ketiga adalah kehadiran-Nya di antara kita sekarang dan saat ini. Ketiga kedatangan ini saling terkait dan jika kita melewatkan yang satu, kita juga akan kehilangan yang lain.

Dalam Injil hari ini, Yesus sendiri mengajarkan kita untuk berdiri tegak dihadapan Anak Manusia. Sama seperti Malam Natal pertama yang datang di saat yang tak terduga, penghakiman terakhir pasti akan hadir seperti ‘jerat’. Bahayanya adalah bahwa kita mengharapkan kedatangan-Nya dengan cara yang salah seperti Herodes yang mengantisipasi kelahiran Raja baru dengan membunuh semua bayi di Betlehem, atau seperti para penatua Yahudi dan Pilatus yang menyalibkan ‘Raja orang Yahudi’. Berniat menyambut sang Mesias, kita malah ‘membunuh’ Dia karena ekspetasi kita yang salah.

Kunci untuk mengantisipasi kedatangan Yesus adalah kemampuan kita untuk menyambut-Nya sekarang dan di sini. Namun, kita tampaknya memiliki masalah dalam melihat kehadiran-Nya sekarang dan disini. Pada tahun 1990, psikolog dari Harvard Daniel Simons dan Christopher Chabris memfilmkan sebuah percobaan, terkenal berjudul ‘Monkey Business Illusion’ (tersedia di YouTube). Sekelompok orang diminta untuk mengamati siswa bermain basket. Mereka bertugas untuk menghitung berapa kali pemain dengan T-shirt putih mengoper bola. Para pemain pindah dalam gerakan yang teratur dan melempar bola beberapa kali. Tiba-tiba, di tengah-tengah video, sesuatu yang aneh terjadi: Seorang pria berkostum sebagai gorila berjalan ke tengah ruangan, memukul dadanya, dan segera pergi. Pada akhirnya, penonton diminta jika mereka melihat sesuatu yang tidak biasa. Anehnya, setengah dari mereka menggelengkan kepala. Gorila? Mana Gorilanya?

‘Monkey business illusion’ membuktikan bahwa di satu sisi, kita memiliki kemampuan besar untuk memfokuskan energi mental kita pada satu kegiatan, ide atau harapan, sementara di sisi lain, bisa mengabaikan hal-hal lain, sebearapapun jelas keberadaan mereka. Ini memberi ilusi bahwa kita yakin bahwa kita menyadari segala sesuatu yang terjadi di depan mata kita, namun pada kenyataannya, kita hanya melihat apa yang ingin kita lihat saja. Saya kira ini adalah apa yang terjadi dengan orang-orang baik di zaman Yesus maupun di generasi kita. Kita memiliki gagasan tertentu tentang Yesus, siapa Dia seharusnya, apa yang harus Ia lakukan, dan kedatangan Kristus pun luput dari mata kita.

Ini mungkin mengapa Paus Fransiskus melakukan aksi-aksi yang tidak biasa karena dia tidak ingin Kristus luput dari perhatian kita. Pada Kamis Putih, ia membasuh kaki para narapidana remaja, beberapa dari mereka bahkan bukan Katolik. Dia membaptis bayi dari pasangan yang belum menikah. Dia memeluk dan mencium pria yang parasnya tidak berbentuk. Dia adalah Paus pertama yang menyerukan agar kita merawat bumi ini dalam Laudato Si’. Saat ini, ia bertemu orang-orang yang tinggal di daerah kumuh di Kenya.

Jika Yesus Kristus dapat hadir sebagai bayi yang lemah lembut di palungan dan sebagai manusia yang dipaku di kayu salib, Ia pun bisa datang kepada kita dengan cara-cara tak terbayangkan. Jangan lewatkan Advent, jangan lewatkan Yesus!

Frater Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

The Judgment

Solemnity of Christ the King

November 22, 2015

John 18:33b-37

“Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice (Jn 18:37).”

This liturgical year ends with the drama of trail and judgment. However, unlike ordinary court procedure in which one judge is enough to determine the fate of the accused, this trial brought together two judges, facing each other, Pilate and Jesus. Pilate was the ruler of Jerusalem and Judea during the Roman occupation of Palestine. Non-biblical accounts revealed that he was notoriously brutal leader. He ruled with iron fist, and violently crushed any Jewish uprising. Surely, he thought of himself as the powerful ‘king’ of Jerusalem and anyone who stood on his way, would be destroyed.  

When Jesus was brought to trial, Pilate saw Jesus as total failure, Jewish disgrace and delusional Galilean who claimed to be a Messiah, the Savior of the Jews. Jesus might be once a charismatic preacher and a potential nationalist leader, yet in the end, his followers abandoned and betrayed Him, and even the Jewish chief-priests demanded that He should be eliminated. “Just another pain in the ass,” Pilate could have thought.

However, when Pilate began to interview Him, something else was revealed. Despite the imminent torture and death, Jesus was fearless and calm. Even the ruthless Pilate knew that there was something extraordinary in this person. His heart was shaken when Jesus spoke of the Truth. And when Pilate asked Jesus, “What is the Truth?” Jesus was silent, but His silence shook Pilate’s innermost being. He slowly realized that he was standing before the Truth Himself. Perhaps, all the bad deeds Pilate had done in the past, suddenly were flashed before his eyes. He became painfully aware that he had spent his life in awfully wrong way. He was no longer the judge, but one who received judgment before the Truth.

Our lives end with judgment: heaven, purgatory or hell. However, judgment does not only come in the end of our journey here on earth. In fact, every day we face judgment. Before we go to sleep, we may reflect, “Has it been a good day?” In every action we do, does our conscience tell us, “You have done right.” Or, at some moments in life, we confront the fundamental question, “Have I lived meaningfully?”

 

Yet, how do we deal with these judgments? Do we constantly listen to our heart? Are we able to pause and reflect on our lives so far? Or, we hide from it? Do we suppress this inner judgment? Often, like Pilate, instead receiving judgment with open heart, we force on our own verdict. We justify our actions that are not in accordance with the Truth, and tell ourselves, “This is my freedom, my body, my life!” It is fine to be lazy, we can finish it later. It is OK to have free-sex, everybody is doing it. It is useful to do abortion, anyway it is my body. Gradually, the voice of the Truth will no longer be heard.

Though remained contested, some scientists would explain ‘Midlife Crises’ as our psychological mechanism that force us to confront the Truth once again. If we have wasted our lives, made bad choices, indulged into lies, unconsciously, we desire to be young again and to set things right. Unfortunately, we cannot reverse time and regret comes instead. 

Jesus came to Pilate in the least expected moment. A wrenched and harmless criminal stood as a judge. Then, we need to welcome also Jesus who comes in the most unexpected hour. When we are laying on our beds, a desire to ponder on our day suddenly pops up, this may be His voice. When we are reading this reflection, we may stand actually before the Truth. When we feel something not right in our lives, we are invited to pause because Jesus may be knocking our hearts. We must not miss His judgment and His Truth, otherwise we miss the entire point of our lives.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP