Donde es Jesus?

A man is stumbling through the woods, totally drunk, when he comes upon a preacher baptizing people in the river. He proceeds to walk into the water and subsequently bumps into the preacher.


The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of alcohol, whereupon he asks the drunk, “Are you ready to find Jesus?”

The drunk answers, “Yes, I am.”

So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water.

He pulls him up and asks the drunk, “Brother have you found Jesus?”

The drunk replies, “No, I haven't found Jesus.”

The preacher shocked at the answer, dunks him into the water again for a little longer. He again pulls him out of the water and asks again, “Have you found Jesus my brother?”

The drunk again answers, “No, I haven't found Jesus.”

By this time the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk in the water again -- - but this time holds him down for about 30 seconds and when he begins kicking his arms and legs he pulls him up. The preacher again asks the drunk, “For the love of God have you found Jesus?

The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath and says to the preacher, “Are you sure this is where he fell in?”

It seems to me that in this time of flux and uncertainty, a certain balance is in order. In this day of Christendom, many things are changing. Some liturgy is screwy, and some liturgy is little more than historical re-enactment for the sake of fussiness and nostalgia. Both extremes are harmful.

Matt posted something today which made me think. It's rather like the old "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" puzzler. Do we meet Jesus in the liturgy, and let everything follow from that experience?

OR

Do we meet Jesus in the scriptures, in the people we meet, in an experience of Divine Love, and then come to know our Lord in the liturgy?

Like the man in the story above, which I shamelessly lifted from a forwarded email, are people really connecting the two? Now, I'm not calling for a change in the timing of Baptism, or anything like that, as that's a sacrament of initiation. But what I do ask is this: How can we, as followers of Jesus, connect Jesus the man, who we are to emulate, and Jesus in the Mass, who we are to worship and receive?

Pax et bonum.