Crossing Borders

In her welcoming comments before mass at the Mount last Sunday, when we heard the story about Jesus’ transfiguration in the company of Moses and Elijah who came from other times and places, Sr. Esther Fangman observed that “heaven is the moment that crosses all borders.” Does that mean that the opposite is true: hell is the moment of separation that establishes borders? If we desire to be transfigured, does that mean that we need to transcend all borders?

In our human experience, we learn that we need to establish boundaries between ourselves and others. The process begins as we grow out of infancy, when we learn that we are separate from our mothers. Then we get busy creating a persona: I am this and not that. I am part of this group and not part of that group. If I believe this and not that, I will be accepted by others. Developing boundaries is an important part of maintaining our psychological health and physical safety, but in doing so, we often lose sight of the fact that we are connected with each other and with the earth as members of the body of Christ.

Jesus spent his life reaching across borders between men and women, between Jews and Samaritans, between the wealthy and the poor. Through his actions, he taught us that this is the way to make God’s kingdom come and do God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven.” We can experience heaven on earth when we cross social boundaries to recognize God in each other and care for the needs of each other. When we maintain rigid borders, on the other hand, we create hellish experiences for people seeking asylum in our country and those with a differing ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. The choice is ours: will we create heaven on earth by dismantling borders, or hell on earth by reinforcing them?