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As many of you may know or already have heard, my Dad was a aircraft carrier certified Navy jet pilot. One thing I knew from an early age was that, in order for a jet to get off of the ground and soar upwards into the sky or to descend back to the ground safely, there must be resistance. That’s one of the reasons the Navy catapults jets from the deck of an aircraft carrier: to increase wind resistance. If you consider this aeronautical fact, it’s counter-intuitive to think that a heavy airplane or jet must take off and, then, land heading straight into the wind. To the uninitiated, it would seem to make more sense that one would, as the Irish proverb says, have the “wind at your back.” However, by confronting the resistance which the wind provides head on, the pilot gains greater control over the aircraft as it ascends from and, then, descends back to the earth. That’s simply how it works aeronautically. I don’t know why or how. I just know the fact. I might add, that’s how it is with faith. I don’t know why. I just know the fact. Similar to aeronautics, faith grows and develops not as the winds of life blow at our backs and push us merrily along the flight of our lifetime. No, faith matures as we confront head on the gusty winds and fly directly into the storms, trials, and tribulations of our lives. As we do, we gain greater control over our ascent, moving higher and higher, not into the sky but into the awesome mystery of God that faith opens before us. We soon see new vistas and we journey towards new horizons, gaining new perspectives about ourselves and our lives because we now see these things from God’s perspective, as that is afforded us by faith, not as we see things here on terra firma. This notion of faith development is also counter-intuitive to what many people today believe. Namely, they believe that faith should not be a struggle but a given, not something one ventures forward into the head winds of life to find but something that makes them feel good about life. Today’s scripture readings suggest that two people of great faith, Isaiah the prophet and St. Peter, recognized that they had to confront their resistance—to struggle with their doubts and suspicions—if they were to ascend from the earth and into the mysterious ways of God so that they might see things from God’s vantage. For example, take St. Peter. Against all of his expertise and first-hand knowledge of the fishing industry, here’s a carpenter’s son—a landlubber at that—telling Peter how to fish. We can guess the thoughts that must have been racing through St. Peter’s mind. After all, St. Peter was a successful businessman who ran a successful fishing business. He knew all too well that netting fish in broad daylight is tomfoolery. Yet, St. Peter listens and acts, confronting his resistance head on—and his reasons not to do so were compelling—and did just as the Lord asked, netting more fish than ever. It’s counterintuitive, isn’t it? God’s word cuts against the grain of what we think should make absolute sense. In human terms, faith’s claims appear exaggerated, if not ridiculous. But, God’s word and promise never fail. As any pilot of faith knows, for God’s word and promise to be fulfilled, we must first confront our resistance head on. Only by doing this can we ascend into the mystery of God and see ourselves and our lives from God’s perspective. Consider St. Paul. As he told us in today’s epistle, “For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Yet, despite all of this and having the wind at his back, St. Paul turned around—he converted—to confront the winds of his life head on. As St. Paul soared into the mystery of God, he began to see himself and his life from God’s vantage. This made it possible for St. Paul to write: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them, not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.” This pilot of faith landed safely on the ground of his life, God. Consider Mary. Against all odds, she trusted that God’s word to her would be fulfilled and said, “Let your will be one unto me.” But, that was only the beginning, for Mary had to affirm her faith as resistance welled up within her, for example, as Mary watched her son tortured and crucified as a criminal. Mary did not demand, “Why are you doing this to me?” Instead, scripture tells us, Mary “treasured all of these things in her heart,” trusting that God’s word to her would be fulfilled? Also consider Jesus. Doing nothing but his Father’s will, to the point of giving his life for it, Jesus experiences resistance on the Cross, uttering “Father, why have you done this to me?” Yet, Jesus confronts his resistance head on and, in his last words, gasps “Into your hands, I commend my spirit.” None of this makes any rational sense whatsoever, that is, unless one leaves behind the things of the earth and ascends into the mystery of God to see one’s life and experiences through the eyes of faith. As we confront our resistance head on, we have a choice. We can open our arms and to let the resistance allow us to soar like Navy jet into the sky. Or, we can turn our backs on the winds and allow them to push us merrily along our way as the winds dictate, never taking off and leaving the things of this earth behind. Now, that’s all very theoretical, the stuff of Saints! So, let’s consider something far more practical, some of today’s saints. One of the gifts of the priesthood is the trust that people place in you simply because you are a priest. People willingly tell you about the gusty winds they are confronting in their lives, sometimes asking for guidance but, most times, seeking affirmation that their decision is one that will lead them to soar into the mystery of God. Two such experiences stand out in my mind. In the first experience, a woman related to me how her husband had cheated on her, lied to her, and stolen their money, using it for illegal and immoral purpose. She related how family members, friends, and even psychologists had repeatedly told her to divorce the scoundrel. And, what a scoundrel he was! The woman had even consulted an attorney who counseled her about how she could destroy her husband. But, the woman said to me, “Father, I vowed to God that I would be his wife all the days of my life.” And then she asked, “Am I crazy for believing that I have no right to break my vows even though he did?” The woman then related her conclusions to me. She would not divorce her husband. Instead, she would pray for his conversion. And, in God’s time, this woman holds out the hope that she, her husband, and God will enjoy all that she hopes for in this life. “After all, Father,” she said, “this life is temporary. So, it’s not been so good. But, I know that it will be. Don’t ask me how. I just know it will be.” Faith and its demands—going against our resistance and trying to love God and neighbor—is counter-intuitive. Living our faith is not easy. The second experience involves a man whom I met at Jeffersonville golf course a while back. When we met up at the first tee, he didn’t know I was a priest. But, by the tenth tee, he did and was terribly embarrassed because of some of the less-than-artful yet extremely colorful language he had invoked time and again as we were enjoying our walk in the park. By the thirteenth hole, I had also learned that this fellow’s wife had run off with her boss, leaving him and their three kids behind. I call this the “sad legacy of the women’s liberation movement” because now women can be just as big a scoundrel and cad as many men historically have been. “But you know, Father,” he said, “I will not divorce her. I vowed that I wouldn’t and I won’t. Maybe she’ll come back and we’ll have to deal with that, then. And maybe, she won’t. But, I will remain faithful to my vows even though she didn’t.” Standing before each of these individuals, I was humbled by the depth of their faith. Rather than allowing the turbulent and stormy winds of their lives to provide a reason for each to turn their backs on their marriage vows and, then, to be blown along the path of their lives as the winds of this world dictate, each confronted the resistance and allowed the driving, gale-force winds to lift them up and soar into the skies so that they could see things from God’s perspective. Both saw that our true happiness is not found in this world but in God’s world, not in these days but in God’s time, and not in the false and ephemeral but in the unchanging and true. We must also note, however, that faith did not make things any easier in the lives of either of these two Catholics. Yes, human reasoning would lead us to conclude that faith should make life easier so our journey through this life would have the wind at our backs. But, what faith provided both of these fellow pilots of faith was a vantage to view the storms and trials and tribulations they were confronting from God’s perspective. And, I have no doubt, that when these two Catholics ascend through their death to their heavenly Father, the Psalmist’s words that we all said today will be fulfilled: “In the sight of the angels, I will sing your praise, O God.” Today, let us pray that the witness of these two fellow Catholics will encourage each of us to confront our resistance to grow in faith, so that we will become pilots of faith who successfully navigate the headwinds and rise to God so that, ultimately, we will come to rest secure in Him, the God who is the solid ground of our lives.
A brief
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HOMILY
