He dwells with us!

+ J. M. J. +

Homily Outline for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

Jesus’ victory and mercy flows from the Cross and Resurrection to all! In our psalm today this is triply emphasized… all nations, all the peoples, all the ends of the earth! The psalms were written centuries before Jesus Christ, and yet already this mysterious universality of God’s call was evident. Every human person, created in God’s image and likeness, and redeemed on the Cross, is called to spend eternity with God… many of you either remember or have heard the famous 6th question from the Baltimore Catechism

Why did God make you?
God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven

Certainly more could be said, but this very succinctly captures the mystery of our lives… this invitation is not to some, but to all… every human person is called to know God, to love Him, and to serve Him here in this mortal and broken world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.

Our second reading from the Book of Revelation describes this new world in stylized and metaphorical terms… God’s eternal kingdom gleams with splendor, it is built of the most precious gems… it is grounded on the firm foundation of the Twelve Apostles and filled with the presence and light of God. It has twelve gates facing North, South, East and West… ample space for every nation, every people, to come in! All are welcomed to the journey of conversion; all are offered the great gift of salvation, eternal life.

This is God’s vision, this is God’s offer to us, and each one of us struggles mightily to embrace it personally; and just as importantly, to become an instrument of God’s mercy to all those we meet. Every generation has to face this struggle! In our first reading we see the Apostles gathering in Jerusalem and struggling with the first great doctrinal decision of the early Church: did the Gentiles have to become Jews first in order to be baptized? Were all those made new in Christ required to follow the full laws of diet and ritual purity? Did one have to be circumcised to become a member of the Body of Christ? After intense debate, that gathering, sometimes called the Council of Jerusalem, came to its decision:

It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right.

Christ has sealed a new covenant, and it does not eliminate the moral teaching and theological foundation of the Old Testament, but it does chart a new and fulfilled course. I sometimes jokingly imagine God making the pig and saying, “Oh, boy, are they going to like this, and the waiting will make it all the better when they’re allowed to eat it!”

Each of us, then, regardless of race or background… regardless of mistakes we may have made in the past… each of us is called into this intimate union with Christ, and to live a life full of Christ’s peace. In my conversations with people, and in my own heart, I am struck by how often we are ruled and grounded not in Christ’s peace, but in anxiety, fear, and agitation. We are swayed by storms of anger, lust, fear, or envy, and in their aftermath, many of us doubt whether God wants us or loves us or can forgive us. Someone recently described to me feeling great anxiety at the prospect of approaching a priest to discuss a situation they were facing. It is all too easy for us to be ruled by fear, one of our Enemy’s favorite tools.

Sometimes this jab of fear is directed against ourselves, but just as often we turn the knife against others, and we rule them out of God’s love… people who’ve hurt us, or people who don’t dress properly, or speak properly, people who aren’t like us. We are troubled by our own weakness, and troubled by the sins of others. We doubt whether we can be forgiven, and we doubt whether we can forgive, or even want to forgive, others. We cherish wounds and brokenness close to our hearts and poison our lives, leaving Christ’s Peace locked outside the hard shell we create.

Jesus speaks to this in our Gospel as He prepares His disciples for His coming Ascension, the feast we will celebrate next Sunday… He tells them that He will not leave them alone, rather, He will send an advocate, the Holy Spirit… and then He spoke the words we hear at every Mass, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” He gives us His peace… His peace, not superficial calm, not the absence of struggle… Jesus goes on, “Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” His peace is not the world’s peace… it is not the peace of having things or money, it is not the peace of beating others in some competition or getting our own way. Rather, it is the deep abiding peace of being rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ and in His living body, the Church… it is the deep abiding peace that flows from allowing the Holy Spirit to penetrate to the very deepest wounds and core of our hearts, bringing sweetness and light and healing. Receive Him who is Peace now… receive Him into your wounds, your sadness, your anxiety and fear. Receive Him, receive Peace, do not be troubled or afraid… He dwells with us!

+ A. M. D. G. +