February 23, 2003

The city became a quiet village during this past week’s snowstorm. The snow drifts seemed much higher when I was a child, but I remember my father telling me the same thing. . The fact remains: This technological marvel of a metropolis can be brought to a halt by snowflakes. The more intricate the workings of a social structure, the easier it is to disrupt it. To live in a society requires cooperation, and thus the word “civilization” means being able to live in a city, which is another way of saying that to be civilized we have to be able to work together.

Walking down the middle of Park Avenue all alone, with no traffic, makes the great city seem a very fragile place. Last Monday one could almost hear a pin drop in mid-Manhattan. When other sounds were silenced, our church bells kept ringing. In the stillness they could be heard even over a greater distance and they had a consoling sound in the storm, like the bell on a buoy in dense fog. “Stat crux dum volvitur orbis.” As the world turns, the cross stands. The Cross is like the axle that stabilizes the wheel, and without it we should careen off into oblivion.

Jesus slept in the boat during the storm on the sea of Galilee, but He was in charge and commanded the waves to be still. On another occasion in a boat on the same water He asked the apostles about the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand: How many baskets of bread were left? Twelve and seven. (Mark 8:11-21) The numbers are not magical, for magic imputes morally indifferent power to things. These numbers call to mind the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles, and the seven days of creation and the seven sacraments. And much more. The point is not magic but grace: God has made the world according to an order, and all happiness and peace comes from harmonizing with that pattern. Noah was given seven days to prepare for forty days of flood. So we have the sacramental life of the Church to prepare for Lent. Seven sacraments and forty days of penance.

Jesus asked the apostles, “How is it you do not understand?” They had more reason to be confused about these numbers than we do, for we have have had all the centuries of Christian life to explain the meaning of these numbers. We are living through some of the most dangerous and challenging days in human history. The approaching Lent will be a most important opportunity to get our souls, our parish, and our Church in order so that the Cross will stand as the center and balance and anchor of a storm-tossed world.

Fr. George W. Rutler