Christ The Servant
Catholic Church
Cold Springs, Ontario
Homily Selections
January 31, 2010
GOOD MORNING CTS. This week our pastor is away gone south. So I was asked to step in for the homily. Of course I said YES without looking at the readings as usual. What a pleasant surprise!
In Jeremiah we are told that that God knows us through and through from top to bottom and everything in between. How can this be, you ask? Well its quite simply really, you see God was present when we were knit together in the womb of our mothers and God has a great memory which has something to do with the fact God lives outside the realm of time. Anyway, think about how special this image is. Before my mom even knew she was expecting a baby, God was there setting my DNA together and not just physically, God was also putting together my divine spiritual self as well. Isn’t it sad that we don’t have as clear a picture of ourselves as God does of us? It is so easy to get distracted with our physical appearance or the opinions of others and lose sight of how God truly sees each and every one of us. How does God see us, you ask? Well God sees our hearts, and the absolutely unique child we are created to be not all the external stuff.
In this reading, God goes on to remind Jeremiah that nothing can persist against him either. Why is that? Because God says, “I AM with you, to deliver you.” How do we know God is with us all the time? We must have faith to see and believe that no matter what suffering or division comes our way, WE will prevail when we remember who stands with us: God, the creator of the universe. Can anything prevail against such power? You do know that even with all our fancy technology we still can’t measure the universe. Apparently, as we get smarter it just gets bigger.
In the Gospel, we see Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit and he stands up and delivers a very personal and powerful message while reading from Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah. The crowd has longed for the coming of a Saviour and they have hoped it would happen sooner than later. When Jesus lets them know, that the Messiah has arrived and is in fact Him, they respond with rage and try to throw Jesus off the brow of the hill. What happened to their hope? Why couldn’t they see that one of their own was, in fact, the Messiah? I have no clue. It should have been obvious. I sometimes think boy is this group slow or what. But, I usually figure I would have been as clueless. It just seems to be part of being human; we have these blinders to some things. Of course Jesus didn’t help when He often taught in riddles and parables. It was like he was trying to confuse us. Many times after one of his profound teachings Jesus says, “let those who have ears listen, and let those who have eyes see.” Why would God let Jesus be so confusing? Sometimes I think it is to force us to become active participants in the message and to keep us from getting bored. I also think it is because the message is just too deep. It is NOT easily understood and maybe it can never be completely grasped by us. It’s like that math or physics problem that only the geek in the class gets and you don’t have a clue really what that formula or concept really is about. You might nod your head as if you know the answer. But you don’t; and no matter how much the teacher explains it; you just get more confused. Seems hopeless eh? But, remember the teacher does know the answer.
Well our role model for such instances is Mary. She has a system she uses often when Jesus is preaching about new and unbelievable theology. The bible says, “Mary pondered all these things in her heart.” She may not have been able to fully grasp the teachings either, but she knew she should place her trust in the person teaching the new truths, her son. She never strayed from His message regardless of how amazing or difficult it was for her. She had faith and hope.
We need to follow this example as we try to understand the many questions of life here on earth. Like, why the people of Haiti are suffering so. I can’t accept that this disaster is a punishment sent by God. Then what is it? Why do innocent people have to endure such horrible suffering; why do bad things happen to good people? Why do some people die so young? Why are there races of people practicing genocide? And the list of questions I can’t answer goes on and on. Why did I get to marry the absolutely most wonderful woman on the planet?
If you have felt the same way then get ready our answer is clearly given to us by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. Of course we will need ears to hear it and eyes to see it. Paul says, “Now we see dimly in a glass or antique mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now we know only part; then we will know fully, even as we have been fully known.”
Basically he tells us we may never fully know the answers to these tough questions until we meet our maker in heaven. The image of seeing in a glass or antique mirror is lost on us today. Our mirrors are nearly perfect. But 2000 years ago (or even 60 years ago) looking in a mirror was like trying to see your image in glass that was lined with tin foil. Don’t try to put your make up on with that old thing you’d mess up for sure.
Finally, Paul tells us the most profound truth of all. That regardless of our ability to see and hear or understand God or suffering or even our own lives we need to remember ONE very important thing. What is that you say? We must remember that at the end of the day or life, it is not a knowledge test, it is not what awards we win or what things we collect along the way that’s important. It’s not our personal gifts, or powers, or possessions that count. All these things though nice are just a “gong” show really if we are missing the single most important element of our creation on this earth. We must realize that what God knitted into our very fiber is LOVE.
Not infatuation, not like, not sex, or lust, or human manipulated love, but true divine LOVE. Just in case you aren’t sure what that looks and feels like just listen to the best possible description you will ever hear of the greatest gift given to us by a God who’s personal DNA is made of this and only this. No wonder God can accept slow pokes like you and I.
As 1 Cor. 13 states so eloquently, “Love is patient and kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, Love believes all things, Love hopes all things, Love endures all things. In fact, Love never ends.” Surely, we can trust as Mary did that these words are the truth and when we respond to disasters like Haiti with love we see miracles abound.
My prayer for you and I is that we will be able to see that God is with us, that we will have the faith, hope and love to endure all hardships knowing without any doubt at all, that the God who knit us together in the womb has never left us and never will. When it is our turn to leave this world and travel to the next one and see God face to face, the God of love will explain with perfect clarity all things we see now only partially but even more importantly when we get to heaven, we will be able to live in complete Love with one another just as we were created to do from the beginning.
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