Friends, share
here an excerpt from a text written by the Lutheran Pastor Lisandro Orlov, who lives in Argentina, and I leave for reflection, as always.
GOSPEL Matthew 25: 1-13
Translation: The Book of the People of God. The Bible. Paoline. Madrid. Buenos Aires. 1990
At that time Jesus said to his disciples: The kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten youths who were with their lamps to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five wise. The foolish took their lamps but no oil provided, while the wise took their lamps and oil filled their bottles. As the husband was expected, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a shout: 'Here comes the husband, out to meet him. " Then the girls woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said unto the wise, 'Can you give us a little oil, for our lamps are gone? ". But these are answered, 'It will not reach for everyone. It is better to be buying the market '. Meanwhile, the bridegroom came, those who were ready went in with him in the bridal room and closed the door. Then came the other girls and said, 'Lord, Lord, open', but he replied: 'I tell you do not know. " Be forewarned, they know not the day nor the hour. The Gospel of the Lord.
We can not approach this text with naivete or simplicity. First I must express my difficulty in accepting a perspective deeply rooted in religious thought in any color and of all times facing the world in order to sort and separate. In the context of the epidemic of HIV and AIDS is extremely shocking I look at those people who have other criteria, other options and other customs from a strange sense of superiority incompatible with the Gospel. This way of understanding the world as if there were only two roads, two realities, classifying human beings into good and bad, puros e impuros, creyentes y ateos, ricos y pobres, del norte y del sur, blancos y negros, hombres y mujeres, heteros y homosexuales, fieles y promiscuos, usuarios y limpios. Este terrible dualismo ha sido la fuente de muchos estigmas y de todas las discriminaciones. Entonces tomemos la decisión de terminar en considerarnos a nosotros y nosotras como ciudadanos del cielo y todas y todos los demás, las y los diferentes, como perteneciendo a este mundo mientras nosotros nos ubicamos en una dimensión desconocida. Todos pertenecemos al mismo mundo amado por Aquel que todo ha creado a su imagen y semejanza. Todos y todas estamos convocados a ser parte del mismo espacio de liberación que llamamos Reino de Dios. Es necesario superar ahora y terminar aquí with the dualistic perspective in our understanding of our human relationships. Reality and our own lives are much more nuanced, color and brightness.
I have a dear friend who always says that good girls go to church and the bad ones go everywhere and every time you say goodbye to me and I behave if I do the invite. The text of the Gospel shows us that communion of situation in which our existence has placed us in a complex and diverse reality. Foolish and wise, foolish and wise share the same history and the same project, we all are part of one and the same space. This paper shows that both groups were asleep and no one is convicted for doing so. So this can not be the center and heart of the story, but it shows us something that Lutheran theology is saying for centuries but still seems not to have taken all the dimension it deserves in our thoughts and in our pastoral activity. We have always said that humans are "simul justus et peccator" to put it in theological formula, that is, always and still in the midst of our baptism and conversion live an ongoing, dynamic and constant tension and struggle in our ambiguous condition to be saved while sinners remain pure and impure while faithful and unstable in everything, good and bad, awake and asleep foolish and wise. This group of girls share that basic reality is shared not only between them but share it with us in that while we share with all people living with HIV or AIDS and with all of the stigmatized and excluded from the world . So I invite you to leave those looks suspiciously dualistic conditioning our relationship with humans and have a look a bit more positive and more realistic.
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