|
It would be nice—actually, convincing to the point of quelling any
doubt whatsoever—if God were to have a little conversation with
Steven Speilberg and implement the moviemaker’s
suggestions about how God could manifest Himself to us in some
strange and marvelous ways. If something like that were to happen,
we’d then know for sure that it is God manifesting Himself. Heck,
we might even stop sinning!
However, our scripture readings today remind us yet once again that
“God’s ways are not our ways.” That is, God breaks into our lives
through very small gestures, those strange and marvelous ways we
oftentimes wouldn’t even consider. For those who are married,
consider all of those small ways you came to the realization
“This is the person God has called me to marry.” Or, think
about all those small ways we to came to the realization “This is
the work that is best suited for me.”
The
most important of those very small gestures―that
certainly are strange and marvelous―is
how God manifests Himself to us in our sin.
You are
probably thinking:
“What?
God is present to me in my sin?
How can God be present in what shames me the most? Doesn’t God
want to be with me in my perfection not my imperfection?”
Well,
“God’s ways are not our ways.”
Consider the story a woman tells about the trip she made to Rome a
couple years back. The much-anticipated highlight of her trip was
that she would be attending the Pope’s morning Mass in his private
chapel. To prepare for this event, the woman read all of the
directions that accompanied the ticket she was sent. Normally,
a group comprised of people of different ages and places and who
don’t know one another congregates at the gate of the papal palace
one-half hour before the Mass. The Swiss Guards then admit those
possessing official tickets and usher the group inside the papal
palace. Once there, the group is greeted by a low-ranking
Vatican official (really, a protofunctory) who explains the protocol
for the day’s Mass. Then, it’s
off for Mass with the Holy Father.
This particular morning, shortly before the group was greeted by the
Vatican official and ushered into the Holy Father’s private chapel,
a young man in a somewhat agitated state showed up at the gate. He
asked this woman if this was the group waiting to attend Mass with
the Pope.
Eyeing the young man up and down, the woman was disgusted by what
she saw. He carried a backpack, which she said “wasn’t too bad.”
But, it was his blue spiked Mohawk hair, tattoos, and the pierced
nose and lip rings that “sent me over the edge,” she said.
Not wanting to tell a lie, the woman told the young man this was the
right group. “But,” she wondered to herself, “how could a person
dressed like that be allowed to attend Mass with the Pope? Why
didn’t the Swiss Guards stop him? Certainly, there must be some
mistake. I’m willing to bet people in the palace don’t let him into
the chapel.” (Boy, can I identify with this woman’s experience!)
Much to her surprise (or, was it chagrin?), the young man was
admitted to the Pope’s private chapel for Mass. Following Mass, as
is the usual custom, the Holy Father greeted each person in the
group individually. When the Pope came to the young man sporting
the backpack, the blue spiked Mohawk hair, the tattoos, and the
pierced nose and lip rings, the young man fell to the ground. He
was crying and kissed the Holy Father’s feet. The Pope bent down,
helped the young man to his feet, smiled at him and said: “No, no,
no…I will kiss you!” And with that, the Holy Father kissed the
young man on the forehead and embraced him.
Stupefied by what she had just witnessed, it took the woman quite a
bit of time to sort through her experience. (And, I might add, it
would me too!) She had no expectations that day of anything other
than attending Mass with the Pope. God would be present to her in
the Eucharist and through the Vicar of Christ on earth. What this
woman absolutely didn’t expect as part of the bargain was that God
would also be presenting Himself to her following that morning’s
Mass in the persons of the Pope and young man who was sporting the
backpack, the blue spiked Mohawk hair, the tattoos, and the pierced
nose and lip rings.
This is what faith is all about. God manifests Himself to us in
those people, places, and things where we least expect God to
manifest Himself. And, when God does—especially where we least
expect—we are changed. It is as if scales fall from our eyes and we
see ourselves in a new light. We suddenly realize that our way of
approaching life is misguided and we must leave behind our old way
of looking at life because we now see ourselves for who we truly
are. We simply cannot go back to being the people we were previous
to the experience. Faith isn’t
about how all those other people―“sinners” they are called―must
change in my eyes if God is to love them. No, faith is about
seeing ourselves for who we truly are as God manifests Himself to us
where we least believe it possible for God to manifest Himself.
Many of us might wish, like Elijah the Prophet, for God to manifest
Himself to us in those strange and marvelous ways—a strong driving
wind, an earthquake, or a wildfire―that
Steven Speilberg can suggest to God.
Or perhaps, we wish for a miraculous cure, the healing of a broken
relationship, or the return home of an estranged family member.
“Prove to me that You
are God in this,” is what we are really
demanding of God. And, we believe, if any of those strange and
marvelous things were to happen, then we’d be sure that it is God.
But, as our scripture readings remind us today, it is through very
small gestures that God breaks into our lives—those strange and
marvelous ways where we would never expect God to manifest Himself.
In the gentle breeze. In a baby...who is the only begotten Son
of God who embraced sinners. And in in our sin. Just ask the
woman who saw the Holy Father kiss and embrace the young man with
the blue spiked Mohawk hair, tattoos, and the pierced nose and lip
rings. Those small gestures challenge us to see ourselves for
who we truly are and the God who is with us, even in our sin.
Temptation, trials, tribulations, difficulties, and even failure are
part-and-parcel of human existence. God manifests Himself in our
imperfection—we are, after all, human—not our perfection—after all,
we aren’t God. Faith focuses not on past failure; instead, faith
allows God to restore our sight―to
heal our self-chosen blindness―so
that we might look forward with hope to the new beginning and future
God is opening to us. “Take courage, it is I,” Jesus says, “do
not be afraid.”
|
HOMILY
