FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Dear Beloved St. Mary’s Parishioners,
A few days ago, I went to Elk Grove, the town I grew up in. When my family moved there in 1990, it was considered a small rural, farming community, much how Vacaville used to be. The population was a mere 17,000. Today, it’s 180,000. I wish I went there for a happier occasion, but sadly, I returned to preside over a funeral of an old friend I had known since the 6th grade. We lost touch after we graduated high school, as relationships tend to do when we move into adulthood. His sister told me that he succumbed to drug addiction. It was a battle he waged with himself for over twenty years. Unfortunately, his heart could only endure so much. When I asked why he chose this destructive path, his sister simply said, “He wanted to escape.” He wanted to stop feeling.
I simply nodded my head in agreement, understanding the need to “escape.” The 17th century, famous French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal, poignantly said, “All of humanity's problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” When we sit in solitude and silence, you’ll begin to notice the deep uncomfortable restlessness that rages within each and every one of us. Silence forces us to confront our inner demons and the pain of our lives. We all develop different ways of coping, whether that’s eating, buying more stuff, or like my old friend, he dealt with his suffering with an indulgence of drugs.
There is a better way. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him, may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15). The lifting of the serpent is a direct reference to Moses in the Book of Numbers 21:9. In that incident, the Israelites are complaining to God. To punish them, God sends them venomous serpents to “bite them” and “many died.” They begged God to forgive their mistrust. God then instructed Moses to make a bronze statue of the same serpents and raise it upon a pole. Only those who looked upon it were saved. Jesus, refers back to this moment in describing what will eventually happen to him on the cross. We must ask ourselves, what did the serpent represent for the Israelite people in order to more profoundly understand Jesus on the Cross. Jesus links the two events. The serpent represents their deepest shame and pain. Therefore, the cross as well represents our darkness. If we want to be healed, we must stop running; we must stop trying to escape. No amount of eating, drug abuse, or buying things will ever truly bring us the peace we so desperately desire. Only when we confront this shame and pain that we all have, with Jesus Christ upon the cross, will we finally be set free.
A Slave of Jesus Christ,
Fr. Brian J. Soliven
