The Stars

Standing spiritually erect and looking up to heaven  

Luke 13:10-17 

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.   

          One of the great classics of literature is Dante’s Divine Comedy. Now, it’s not a comedy like “Seinfeld” or “The Simpsons” are comedies. Rather, it’s a spiritual journey that Dante takes through Hell, Purgatory and finally Heaven. One fascinating facet of the story is that Dante ends each of the 3 major sections with a reference to “the stars,” to looking up to heaven. After meeting Satan stuck in a frozen pond of ice, Dante comes out of the Inferno (Hell) and writes: “Thence issuing we again beheld the stars” (Canto 34, 130). Then, he climbs the mountain of Purgatory, and finally at the top, he says: “I was pure and prepared to climb to the stars” (33, 145). At the very end of Paradise (Heaven), where he meets God, he concludes: “Power, here failed the deep imagining: but already my desire and will were rolled, like a wheel that is turned equally by the love that moves the Sun and the other stars” (33, 145). Why the stress on seeing the stars? Well, Dante’s sins had weighed him down and his eyes were downcast. But through his journey, he was learning to straighten up (physically and morally), to look up at the stars, at heaven and at God.  

 

          Have you ever noticed how most animals look down? Think about your dog or your cat or black angus or our beloved buffalo: most animals’ heads were built to look down. After all, that’s where they find their food. But one of the great leaps in evolution was when man could stand erect and look up at the stars, a stage in evolution called “homo erectus,” or “upright man.” You see, to glance at the stars symbolizes two things: (1) overcoming our sins like Dante, but also (2) it demonstrates the dramatic difference between human beings and animals.

          In the gospel today, Jesus heals a woman with a very unusual illness. She is bent over and cannot stand up straight. St. Luke writes: “Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.” Now, notice that her problem is not only physical, and requiring a medical solution, like a good chiropractor! Her ailment also had a spiritual source – “she had been crippled by a spirit” – and this required a spiritual healing, the forgiveness of sins. And Jesus finishes is a flash what it took Dante a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, that is, she finally stands erect and can see the stars. She is no longer bent over and looking down like the animals.   

          Boys and girls, the purpose of a retreat is to take a break from your busy life and ask God to bless you. Today, I hope you’ve noticed some of the things that weigh you down, and can both spiritually and sometimes even physically bend you over so you no longer look up. As you enter your teen years you begin to question and doubt things you used to take for granted, even beginning to doubt God. You stop looking up at heaven (the stars) and start looking down at earth, at things like drugs, alcohol and sex. Sometimes family problems weigh you down, like parents’ fighting or divorcing. With all your worries and woes, you can no longer see the stars.   

          Sometimes, your physical appearance causes you concern as you see your body growing stronger and blossoming. By the way, let me tell you a secret about that: don’t bloom to soon. I remember how those classmates of mine in high school who were hot and good-looking back then ain’t any more. And some who were homely and humble back then could be movie stars today. Don’t blossom too soon. Today, on this retreat and at this Mass, ask Jesus to heal you of all the things that weigh you down, whose weight is so heavy that you bend over and look at the earth. Only Jesus can heal you and help you stand erect again - spiritually, physically and morally - and look up and see the stars.  

          Praised be Jesus Christ!