Posted by The WORD in other words (2006) by Fr Dionisio Miranda SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
Thursday 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
In what scientists call the “butterfly effect” the actions of an individual can so interact with that of another. In such a way the final effect is greater than can be traced directly back to the first butterfly. The same goes with a flock of birds: although each is reacting only to its neighbor, that neighbor interacts with a third, the third with a fourth, the net effect being that the whole flock appears to act like one organic whole. Far from chaotic, certain “masses” are, according to this theory, self-organizing in fact.
By the same token tragedy and disaster are far from fortuitous events. As detailed analyses of crashed planes or collapsed buildings indicate, there are certain triggers to certain catastrophes, a primer to a chain of events. The train wreck started by a deranged individual who was also suicidal is stark illustration of that phenomenon.
Something similar can be said of popular movements which, no matter how seemingly spontaneous, are set in motion by individuals who are not always identifiable. Thus, while we can longer define precisely how the Jesus movement began, Mark summarizes the process thus: the crowds originated from Galilee and Judea, drew numbers from Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, Tyre and Sidon, and flowed towards Jesus as center.
Without evident scientific training Jesus intuitively grasped the implications of the process and reacted strategically. He made arrangements to withdraw into a boat and establish the water as a perimeter so that he could continue to preach, minister and cure. Still responding to the process at another level, he decided that this was not yet the time to come to a full disclosure of his status and claim as the Son of God, and therefore forbade the unclean spirits from anticipating that acclamation.
Led by a church whose identified center is Rome, Christians often think of evangelization in global terms, oblivious to the fact that personal conversion occurs much like in the butterfly effect: one Christian’s action impacting on that of the neighbor’s and so on onto countless others without our even suspecting that it has done so. The point is that we should never belittle the effect a seemingly minor deed by a seemingly insignificant Christian can have on the whole life of the church. For better, as when we draw a neighbor to the Lord by evangelization through witness. For worse, as when we sometimes spoil the moment by impatiently anticipating evangelization by proclamation.
One comment