Homily: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Nearly
30 years ago, I was still living in Joliet, Illinois, near Chicago. I remember very clearly one evening seeing
the news report on television about how a school bus transporting children home
from school had broken down as it was crossing a railroad track, leaving the
tail end of the bus over the track. A
commuter train arrived and struck the bus, injuring a number of children inside. I don’t recall hearing that any of the children
died from their injuries (thanks be to God), but I do recall being very upset
at this news. My heart was moved with
sadness for those children who had been injured. I was so upset that eventually I decided that
I needed to go to a church and pray for them.
My sadness was compounded, however, when, upon arriving at the church, I
found the doors to the church locked.
For another hour or so, I just drove around, feeling very lonely and
powerless to help the children who were injured that day.
This
situation is very typical of our human condition, though, isn’t it? I mean, how often do we find ourselves faced
with a distressing situation—one that affects us directly or affects those whom
we care about—yet unable to do anything to resolve it. Perhaps, in those situations, we often turn
to God: only, perhaps, to find that God doesn’t seem to be there when we need
him. My guess is that, for many of us
here, this happens somewhat frequently.
The
ancient Israelites were no different. As
they went about their daily lives, they too often encountered distressing
situations—situations compounded by the presence of the Roman occupiers in
their homeland—and yet when they turned to God to relieve them of their
distress—that is, to free them from the suffering that they were enduring—God didn’t
seem to respond. Because of this, many,
perhaps, became sullen and on the verge of losing hope that the God whom they
worshiped (and whom their ancestors worshiped) really wasn’t as all-powerful as
the Scriptures told them he was.
This
all changed when Jesus began his ministry.
In spite of Jesus’ admonitions to the people whom he healed or from whom
he drove out demons, his fame spread throughout the land. Thus, the people who had begun to feel bogged
down by the day-to-day sufferings and distressing situations that plagued their
lives began to seek him, so that they, too, might receive a healing (or a word
of consolation, at least).
In
Luke’s Gospel today, we hear of one of these such encounters. After spending the night in prayer on the hillside,
Jesus called his closest disciples to join him and named twelve of them to be
his apostles. As they descend the
hillside, they encounter a great crowd of people, some of who had come from a
great distance to meet him. Many were
his disciples and still many more were those who were distressed: those sick
and in search of healing (or a word of consolation, at least). Upon encountering them, Jesus indeed speaks
to them a word of consolation as he begins his famous sermon.
“Blessed
are you who suffer”, he says. Jesus,
looking upon them and seeing them in their distress, had pity on them. However, not the pity that one has, say, for
an injured and helpless animal: whose suffering has no redemptive value. Rather, his is a pity tempered by a joy that
comes from the knowledge that those who suffer, but who nonetheless trust in
God, are actually better off than those whose material comforts have relieved them
from suffering. These pitiable ones came
to Jesus thinking that the relief of suffering was the way to happiness and
Jesus flips the story: the rich are not to be envied, but the poor, because
they are the ones who will receive ultimate happiness.
The
reason for this, of course, is that those who are blessed with much in the way
of material comfort are at risk of trusting too much in their own capacities
and so stop turning to the Lord in their need.
As the prophet Jeremiah reminded us in the first reading, those who trust
in themselves (or in human ingenuity, more generally), will find themselves
abandoned when true suffering afflicts them again: like a bush on an arid
hillside where no water can be found.
Those, however, who suffer from lack of material comfort more readily
recognize their need for God and his power.
Thus, they place their trust in him and make themselves like a tree that
is planted near running water, whose roots are never dry, and thus perseveres
through every trial and distress.
Nevertheless,
that day Jesus cured those who were sick and drove out demons from those who
were possessed. Their healing and
deliverance were causes of great joy!
Still, they went home to suffer again at some point. Jesus cured their illness, but he didn’t make
them rich. When suffering inevitably returned,
they remembered Jesus’ words: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of
God is yours…” Jesus taught them that
their suffering was pointed toward something—their happiness—and so taught them
to endure, trusting in God through it all.
The
same, of course, applies to each of us.
Each of us, at some point in our lives—maybe even here today—have sought
the Lord in suffering and in distress (like I did in distress over the children
injured in the school bus accident many years ago). Whether or not we received relief from him in
the form of a physical healing or deliverance from distress, all of us have
heard these words from him and so can find comfort: “Blessed are you who are
now weeping, for you will laugh”. It is
a reminder to place/renew our trust in God so that we, too, will be like a tree
planted near running water, whose leaves are always green, no matter the
weather.
Friends,
suffering is a fact of life. Nevertheless,
here in this country, we have at our disposal an abundance of means to relieve
many of life’s sufferings. This is good
and a sign of our sharing in God’s creative power! Nonetheless, we cannot allow this to lead us
to place our trust in ourselves, instead of God. If we do, we will find ourselves in despair
when human ingenuity fails to relieve our suffering. Trusting in God, rather, and in this good
news that we have received today, we will remain steadfast through our trials
and thus ready to receive the fullness of happiness when Jesus comes again in
glory.
This
same Jesus is our model of trust in the face of suffering. He has given us the Eucharist to strengthen us
through ours. Trustingly, let us open
our hearts to receive this grace so that we might witness to its power in the
way we live our lives.
Given in Spanish at St. Paul Parish: Marion, IN – February
12th, 2022
Given in Spanish at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish:
Monticello, IN – February 13th, 2022
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