Tue 1st week OT, Year II
Alexander Albert
Notre Dame Seminary
“What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” I don’t know about you, but I often wonder whether my preaching would produce more converts if I could just throw down a miracle when I needed to make a point. I often wonder about this as a pray with the New Testament stories of the miracles of the Apostles. Healings, exorcisms, supernatural knowledge, speaking new languages…
Me, I’ve never seen… much less performed an outright miracle. This sometimes pains me and I sometimes ask God if it’s fair to expect me to proclaim the same Gospel as the Apostles, but without any of their miraculous powers. But then, a little question rises up in my heart. Have you ever even tried to perform a miracle? Are you willing, on sheer faith, to utter words that, if unanswered, would make you look foolish. My brothers, how many times have we been unwilling to even let the sacred name of Christ fall from our lips for fear of being rejected, mocked, or ignored. If merely owning up to our faith can seem foolish, how much greater is the fear that comes with saying “rise and walk” and having nothing happen. People might accuse us of idiocy, insanity, drunkenness…
And so what! Hannah is as accused of drunkenness by Eli, a priest! The Apostles were accused of drunkenness by the crowds. The ancient prayer, the Anima Christi utters the words “Sanguis Christi inebria me.” Inebriate me! Get me drunk on your blood Lord! How strange, yet is it not true? To the eyes of the world, living chastely, talking about spiritual merit, and preaching conversion seems like the incoherent rambling of drunken fool.
And yet, in the very prayer which gets Hannah accused of intoxication, she makes the vow of abstinence from alcohol on behalf of the son for whom she prays. John the Baptist never touched a drop himself, but surely many thought him drunk with something. This is a crucial contrast for us: we are faced with two kinds of “strong drink” – that of the world and that of the Holy Spirit.
We, who have such ready access to both kinds of spirits ought especially to ask ourselves this question as we being a new semester, a new year. Beyond wine and whisky, there are the many intoxicating sensations of fame, fortune, and fleshly pleasure – how deeply do we drink of them? How often? Do we want to become drunk with the Spirit that wins souls for Christ at any cost?… Or do we wish to stagger about in a worldly stupor of football, video games, fine foods, and idle chatter? Do we want to perform miracles, not for the glamour but in hopes of giving weight to the words of the Gospel we are charged to preach?
We must begin by giving our words their rightful authority through living them out in acts of Charity. Kind words to an acquaintance, holding back that useless complaint about professors and food, fraternally correcting a group of seminarians sliding into gossip, and daring to turn away from movies, music, and cultures which are contrary to the Gospel we profess to live. This will take a holy boldness, a boldness much like the courage many find in the bottom of a bottle. But our courage is found in fount of Baptism and the Chalice of the Lord.
So, my brothers, shall we drink?