Short-Term Memory Loss

It seems to me that the generation Jesus is referring to in today’s gospel and our current generation, are not that different. We love to complain about everything and we love to make it everyone else’s problem to fix. Everyday, certain social media outlets inform me of what is trending this week, this day, and even right this very moment. Trending, in my opinion, is a very 1^st world issue and trends’ shelf lives seem to be getting shorter and shorter don’t they? You could say that they suffer from short-term memory loss, and like Dory in Finding Nemo, every new shiny thing distracts, pulls focus, and simply moves them onto the next greatest thing. The new becomes the “so five minutes ago” from the get go. 

·      Diet trends

·      Health tip trends

·      What’s good for your heart trends

·      What’s not good for your heart trends

·      Who’s popular 

·      Who’s unpopular

·      Avocado toast

·      One day red wine is bad for you and the next day it has magical antioxidants to cure everything

·      One day only egg whites, the next day the whole egg is good

·      One day grains, the next day absolutely no grains

Celebrities and politicians, we love them one minute and in the next breath they are reviled. I find that our obsession with trends or the latest and greatest has weakened our virtue especially in relationships. We change out our friendships, marriages, and even our careers like we do our styles of jeans, or boots, or smart phones. If our electronics stop working, we upgrade to the next generation and throw away the old, and with materials things that is an OK thing to do because they don’t really matter in the end, but our weakened virtues do matter and Jesus calls us to a deeper, richer, and stronger faith today. 

Working with memory care has taught me so much about the things of heaven, the everlasting, the long-term, the eternal, the things that keep, and the non-trendy things that are forever. In our drum circle yesterday I witnessed my sweetheart, Greg, connect with a long-term gift. He was a jazz drummer in a band for many years and I gave him a lap drum with two sticks. Immediately, he went into the recesses of his mind, his muscle memory, and his heartbeat and he started to play. It took him a few minutes to find his groove, but when he did, he went into a world that reminded him of who he is, a world that told him he’s capable and exceptional, a world that told him what remains rather than what he has lost, a world of rhythm and sound, a world teeming with life and vitality, a world not lost, but rediscovered. I stopped the room from making any other noise and just let Greg go. He became transfixed in the discovery and he was surprised by his own ability to play. When I told him that he sounded great, he just looked at me stunned and said, “I thought I had forgotten it all.” Our brains might indeed forget, but our souls keep the things that matter and every now and then, glimpses of heaven peak their beautiful heads out so we can see beyond. Greg finding his rhythm was one of those glimpses. Jesus remains, love remains, faith remains, and hope remains. These are the long-term memories that our souls hold onto. It is well with my soul. 

Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
Lectionary: 185

Reading 1 IS 48:17-19

Thus says the LORD, your redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.

Responsorial Psalm PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6

R.(see John 8:12) Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord will come; go out to meet him!
He is the prince of peace.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 11:16-19

Jesus said to the crowds:
"To what shall I compare this generation? 
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.' 
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
'He is possessed by a demon.' 
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' 
But wisdom is vindicated by her works."