Homily: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Perhaps we all remember that famous passage
in the Gospel when Jesus says, "Unless you turn and become like
little children, you shall not enter the Kingdom of God". What Jesus means by this seems obvious,
right?: that salvation involves a return to a state of moral innocence,
like children.
But I think this begs the question a
little. I mean, are children really as innocent as
their reputation makes them?
Let’s think about this for a moment.
Infants are some of the most selfish and self-centered people I
know! They will cry and fuss until they
get what they want, completely without regard to how their attitude affects
others. And what about toddlers? Don't toddlers give their parents
constant headaches as they stubbornly assert themselves against their
parents’ wills (I mean, we don’t call it the “terrible twos” for nothing,
right)? Then, as they get to kindergarten
and beyond, they augment their stubborn defiance and begin lying to their
parents, don’t they?; and add to it an unrelenting torment of their siblings! No, I’m not convinced that children are
really as innocent as the “media” makes them out to be.
Perhaps, however, Jesus was referring
to a different kind of innocence when he made that statement: not a
moral innocence, but an innocence marked by a purity of wonder. You know, for healthy children, the world is
a wonder-filled place. Sea
shells and starlight are both magically mysterious to them; and grasshoppers
and green mountains equally inspire fascination and excitement. And isn't that way it should be? I mean, isn't that the way that Adam and
Eve would have seen the world before original sin: as an inspiring collection of magnificent
treasures given to them by their Creator?
I think so, because that's what creation is: a fabulous gift from
an all-powerful God who is a wise and loving Father and who wants
his children to share in his delight in his creation.
An attitude of wonder and awe towards
God’s gift of life and the created universe is something that has been shared
by all the saints. And it applies
not only to natural gifts, but even more to the supernatural
gifts of salvation and redemption.
This is why Saint Paul, after spending three chapters of his Letter to
the Romans analyzing and explaining the complex twists and turns of
salvation history, breaks out into a hymn of wonder and awe: "Oh, the
depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!" My friends, this is the cry of a childlike,
grace-filled heart. In other words, it
is the cry of one who carries a healthy Christian heart.
In his spontaneous hymn of praise, Saint
Paul tells us that God's judgments are "inscrutable" and his ways are
"unsearchable." Now, he doesn’t
mean this in a negative sense, but rather in a “wonder-filled” sense as he
acknowledges how God was using a creative, unexpected way to bring about the
salvation of the Israelite people. As it
turns out, God is always using creative ways to bring about his magnificent
plan of salvation. One of those
particularly creative ways is the papacy.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus
explains that the papacy is the indestructible foundation of his Church. To emphasize the point, he gives his disciple
Simon a new name that symbolizes his ministry as the first pope:
"Peter," which is derived from the Greek word petrus, meaning "rock".
As interesting as that is, the setting in which this is taking place
only amplifies the situation. You see, this
conversation took place just outside the city of Caesarea Philippi, which
was a glorious city that was constructed on the top of a huge hill, one
side of which was a towering, bare rock cliff. This gave the city an
appearance both of invincibility and magnificence. Precisely there, standing near that imposing
cliff, Jesus explains that his Church will also be invincible, because it too
will be founded on rock: the rock of Peter, the first Pope. Jesus promised that his Church will be indestructible;
and that the "gates of the netherworld" will not prevail against
it. And we see that his promise
has come true.
For the last 20 centuries, we see
that the papacy has continued intact.
Even secular encyclopedias (who look at facts, not religious tradition)
can trace an unbroken line of succession from Saint Peter, the first
pope, up to Francis, our current pope. At
times, we must admit, there have been corrupt, greedy, and weak men
occupying the “chair of Peter”, and many emperors, kings, and generals have
tried to disrupt the papacy by having popes kidnapped, murdered, and
exiled on numerous occasions.
Nonetheless, no pope in history has spoiled the purity of the
Gospel or interrupted the flow of God's grace through the
sacraments. Thus we see, that the rock that
Jesus established has stood the test of time; and not because of the
popes' human qualities, but rather because of the "riches and
wisdom and knowledge" of God's divine and truly wonder-filled providential
care. It was an odd plan, to be sure;
but our hearts should be filled with wonder for God’s wisdom, because it has
worked and will continue to work until the end of time.
My brothers and sisters, when was the
last time that we found ourselves echoing Saint Paul's hymn in our
own hearts, being filled with wonder and awe at the thought of God's
goodness, wisdom and power? If it
was recently, then that's a good sign. Evidence of wonder and awe in our hearts
is a key vital sign for the healthy Christian soul.
If your soul is a bit short on
wonder and awe, however, it may be a warning sign. Of course, some people tend to be a bit pessimistic by
temperament: it's part of their personality and so external signs of wonder and
awe are just “not their thing”. That's
different, however, than the kind of worldly (and sometimes diabolically encouraged)
cynicism and skepticism that actually extinguishes the Christian fire in
our hearts. You see, the cynic only
laughs at irony and sarcasm and the skeptic only smiles at the failings of
his neighbor; but for the healthy Christian, life itself is a source
of joy and satisfaction. In other words,
even with all its suffering, life, for the healthy Christian, is a wonder-filled, awe-inspiring thing,
because it shows forth the unfathomable "riches and wisdom and
knowledge of God" and it reminds us that "from him and through him
and for him are all things".
And so, if you don’t have this, perhaps it’s an indicator that you need
to return to the basics of the Christian spiritual life: prayer and the
sacraments, most especially the sacrament of reconciliation.
Nevertheless, my brothers and sisters,
today, whether our sense of wonder is rickety or robust, let's stir it up
during the miracle of this Mass, so as to give God pleasure by enjoying his
gifts and to make our Christian hearts healthy so that we might carry this joy
into the world around us.
Given
at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – August 27th, 2017
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