Another story in Genesis brings us to Noah, who was drunk and fell asleep naked. “Ham, father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. Shem and Japheth took a cloak and they both put it over their shoulders, and walking backwards, covered their father's nakedness; they kept their faces turned away, and they did not look at their father naked” (Gn 9:22-23). Ham mocked his father’s nakedness and derived pleasure from seeing his father lying uncovered in his tent, while Shem and Japheth covered their father’s nakedness with great respect. This is a very topical subject, in which the nakedness of the other is exploited and in which one’s own nakedness is sold as a sensual pleasure, paraded before the masses. Never before in history has pornography reached such proportions and it has never been so easily available over the internet. We are aggressively bombarded with it, so to speak, and almost every website, newspaper or magazine has a picture of a scantily dressed woman or man. We should realise how much damage this proliferation of pornography is causing: people get addicted to a disorderly sex life, people start abusing others because of the erotic atmosphere: rape, paedophilia, adultery. But above all, man’s inner life is harmed by it; man is radically and permanently torn away from the purity in which he was created and to which he is called, and the task to lead an orderly sex life is violated. In these times, the work of mercy to clothe the naked is given an entirely new interpretation, and the story of Noah and his sons is a source of inspiration: how can we fight this eroticism that has completely disoriented the purity of nakedness and degraded the human body to a consumer item. Do we have the sound strength to radically say no to every form of pornography and can we encourage others, young people first of all, to safeguard and preserve the purity of their lives? Can we still see a work of art that has nudes with serenity, in line with the purpose of the art to express the beauty of the creatures and the human body, or are we that influenced by this atmosphere of eroticism that we cannot see the purity in a pure way. Saint Paul said: “To those who are pure themselves, everything is pure” (Tt 1:15). This purity is a virtue for which we must strive, all our life, and fight for it. It is a battle for God’s grace.
Saint Paul also said: “Do you not realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you and whom you received from God? You are not your own property, then; you have been bought at a price. So use your body for the glory of God” (1 Co 6:19-20). He calls for respect, like Noah’s two sons show us, indeed, to treat our body and the body of others with a healthy sense of demureness. We should know the boundaries, in the way we dress, in the way we undress a person with our shameless looks, or in the way we brazenly violate another person’s privacy. We sometimes insufficiently realise the permanent damage this does to people.
As Christians, we are clothed in Christ. “Since every one of you that has been baptised has been clothed in
Christ” (Ga 3:27). Christ is our true garb, and through him we receive the garment of love. “As the chosen of God, then, the holy people whom he loves, you are to be clothed in heartfelt compassion, in generosity and humility, gentleness and patience” (Col 3:12). When I took the habit as a Brother of Charity, the choir sang the well-chosen words: “Be clothed in the new man.” This is where the link was made with the real garb, the new garb that was given to us at the start of our new life as a consecrated religious and the spiritual transformation to which we were invited. That which we received in a tangible form, the religious garb, had to be the externalisation of an internal conversion process, a transformation. We so often heard that “the habit did not make the monk”, and the post-conciliar reaction that many developed against the too visible appearance in the world of priests or religious was always substantiated with this phrase. No, one can lead a religious life without outward signs, one can clothe in Christ, for his garb is called mercy and love. But gradually we realised that there can be a connection between internal and external, and that the way in which one dresses reveals something about how a person’s feels inside and wishes to be experienced. People dress for a certain occasion, a celebration, a funeral, a job interview, an exam, or a holiday trip. Priests dress in liturgical robes when they preside in a service, and monks wear a cowl when they sing God’s praise in the liturgy of the hours.
Nonetheless ‘to clothe the naked’ remains a very specific task, it is and it remains a physical work of mercy. Very often, Saint Martin is brought forward as an icon of this work; how he gave half of his cloak to a poor beggar and at night he dreamt that he saw Jesus who thanked him for clothing him. The words of Saint Basil continue to be true: “The cloak in your closet belongs to the naked; the shoes you do not wear belong to the barefoot; the money in your vault belongs to the destitute; the bread in your box belongs to the hungry.” We read the same in the Gospel of Luke: “Anyone who has two tunics must share with the one who has none, and anyone with something to eat must do the same” (Lk 3:11). Sharing the things that we have too many of, never accepting the situation of us living in abundance while so many others are without basic needs: this is the basic attitude that we must develop and continue to cherish. And it is a basic attitude that needs to be translated in a very specific way: in the sharing with others, in a more sober life so as to share more and not hoard up more. However, sharing with others should also be viewed in a critical fashion: do we only give the things that we do not like anymore, second-hand things? Do we think enough about what it means to always have to wear second-hand clothing, to only be able to buy clothes in thrift shops? Sometimes it is truly humiliating to see what people give away; some were probably mistaken and should have gone to the dump instead. Even when donating clothes, respect for the other must remain the first priority. I remember of story of a boy who got his first suit for the celebration of his Communion; he was overjoyed. Later, when he saw his family, a nephew arrogantly told him that the suit that the boy’s parents gave him used to be his. The boy was shattered when he heard that, he lost his confidence and believed himself to be second-hand, as well. The celebration turned into a nightmare for him. The nephew could have said nothing; he could have shared in the boy’s joy for being able to make his Communion in his best suit. It is always about the respect that is shared; in this story, as well.
Let us not forget what it says in Matthew: “That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear” (Mt 6:25). How much energy is put in buying new clothes these days; the over-concern of so many people to follow the latest fashion, the urge to wear expensive designer clothing, which already begins with the children in primary school? In the West, we have almost completely forgotten the connection between clothing, covering up one’s own nakedness, and protecting oneself from the cold. It is all about showing off the latest fashion, something new for every season, and certainly not bought in the sales or in the known cheaper clothes shops.
“When did we see you lacking clothes and clothe you? ... I was lacking clothes and you clothed me… In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me” (Mt 25: 38.36.40).
Bro. René Stockman,
Superior General.
0 comments:
Post a Comment