HOMILY – 19^TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA CATHOLIC CHURCH

AUGUST 10, 2008  8, 10 & 12 NOON MASSES

May the Lord Jesus give us His peace.

The answer my friend,  Lost family,  What died?

The answer my friend.  Elijah is told the Lord was going to pass by.

He waits and watches.  Quakes, fires, wind.  God was not present in the quake, or the fire, and the answer my friend, is not blowin’ in the wind.  The answer we read, is in the whisper.

But whose life is quiet enough to hear a whisper?  Is God cruel?  I thought we would hear heavenly hosts of angels, the trumpets that announce the majesty?  Whispering?  The answer my friend is that a peaceable God will be found in peaceful ways, times and places. 

Oh yes, God’ll jump at you drowning during a storm to be with us, but if we want to be with Him we’ll need some no interference time.  Cell off, ipod off, tv off, pager off, house phone off, texting off, radio off, internet off, car motor off, any noise – off.  God can be in the hub-bub, the work, the race.  Heck God may be shouting – “git it!” sometimes, like when we see a door about to hit a person in the face.  But there are times when in order to “get to meet God, to understand God, to have communion and peace with God” we must get quiet enough to hear the answer my friend.

Lost family.  Perhaps your family is like mine.  We were all raised Catholic, but some of us left the Tradition.  First of all, let me say that it is not likely people who left are lost.  A hardy experience in another Tradition may please God more than a fake or uninformed catholic person.  Like St. Paul cries out to his fellow Jews about coming to the truth in Jesus Christ, we cry over our fears that some of our family members missed something we can’t explain.

It pains me to think that someone may have never been given the chance to understand Jesus’ way of being remembered, how intimate it is.  Some may have left the Eucharist without understanding it on adult terms.  Could it be that the same humanity found in any organization will be held up as a reason to leave this community?  Will a college student be exposed to every piece of information, and our information be left out?  Paul cries out, “I would gladly become accursed if it meant my people would know Jesus.”  It is no wonder we lose family members when you think about it.  We give what we can for 9 years and then give the impression of graduating from seeking God at the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Crazy!

St. Anthony’s tries its hardest to offer a warmth that suggests trust may be reasonable.  We offer a real challenge in following Jesus Christ instead of personal Lordship, and we co-create a companionship for the searching and committing process that God is actively drawing us into.  We must respect the pace of the one who prefers the truth of cold hard science alone, to also including truths found in poems and prayers and promises. 

We must respect the person who has become jaded, and admit that if we were better examples of the ideals we hold, examples of Jesus, we may have been a little less lost ourselves and shown someone a good way to live.  Lost family?  Only if we’re done.  I say remain under construction and let family decide for themselves.

What died?  In the Gospel story, what died?  Did Jesus?  Nope.  Did Peter?  Nope.  Did the other disciples in the boat?  Nope.  What died?  The wind.  The storm, the difficulty.  IT died.  This is Good News.  The storm died AFTER faith in Jesus.  Before faith in Jesus it was dangerous.  Did you notice that Jesus came in the darkest part of the night.   Jesus comes then.  If they take their eyes off Him.  They’ll sink.

Do you hear the whisper?  Even Jesus got away to pray.  There are no lost ones, only seekers.  Give people something to find!  It is a stormy thing this life, and only one life preserver – Jesus.  Keep your eyes on Him.