Homily for 16th Sun OT, Year A
Fr. Albert
St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia
“Might makes right.” Is such a statement true? Scripture seems to say that it is. The book of Wisdom addresses God saying, “your might is the source of justice.” So, yes might makes right, but only when it’s God’s. That’s because God’s might is the same thing as his love and his justice. There is no division in God, no contradictory impulses and arbitrariness. It was God’s might, His power, that created the world and designed the fundamental laws of justice and truth, mercy and love.
So why?! If God’s might makes right, why doesn’t He flex some divine muscle and do some good already? Terrorism, bankruptcy, hunger, confusion, division; all these run rampant in our world and even within the Church God has given us. O God, whenever you will it, power attends you, so why is it that your people always feel so powerless? There are good, faithful Catholics… good, sincere truth-seeking people in this world who can do nothing but stare in dismay at corrupt Vatican officials. Who can only weep when apparently good men and women turn a blind eye to abuse or confusion. Shepherds who do not shepherd, teachers who do not teach, protectors who do not protect; are these not a serious scandal O Lord?
When will the kingdom of justice and love reign in this world? How will the Gospel of salvation spread if we are left as an irrelevant fringe in our society? How, when those who are supposed to preach do not preach, when those who are supposed to be saints are only mediocre managers? Where is your answer O God?
Masked in the mystery of smallness. No booming voice, no great sign, only the steady voice of a man from Galilee, sounding by the sea while a crowd listens in uncertainty. Not power, but parable is the answer. A story or saying that seems ordinary, but carries a deeper meaning. A hint at something profound because it is similar to our lives, yet not quite the same. And what parable answers this? The tiny mustard seed… the weeds mixed with the wheat.
Jesus does not promise a golden world or a golden Church and he does not promise a golden field of pure, untainted wheat… at least, not yet. Instead, the all-powerful creator of the universe tells us that his most important work, his pride and joy will happen… imperfectly. The Kingdom of God, His Church, will suffer mixture and confusion, but still bear fruit. Her ministers and members will be sinful, weak, ineffective, and sometimes, downright wicked. But still, she, the Church, will bear fruit and will be gathered into heaven in the end.
Might does not make right… not when it is the might of men that pulls up weeds, calling the destroyed wheat “collateral damage.” Good men have bad faults and God uses even bad men to accomplish his goals. Yes, we can and should protect what is good and reject what is bad, but we must not be hasty or too quick to let pride make our human judgment into God’s. Human might – even when wielded by good and pious Catholics – does not make right. And the might of God is the might of the mustard seed.
You see, a mustard plant is not a majestic tree or even a desirable plant. It is basically a weed, an obnoxious bush. Those tiny seeds sneak their way into a field and take over. They invade, spread out and take over a place where no one thought they would be. So, how does the Gospel spread when it’s messengers are ignored and set aside, when they are weak? Like an obnoxious weed. The world tries to uproot us and block the seeds we scatter, but they can’t. A tiny seed gets in and, with a short time, the faith has sprung up all over again.
It’s happening now as more and more men enter the seminary. It’s happening in the supposedly dead churches of France. It’s happening all over the world in hidden ways. Sometimes, it is precisely because we are overlooked that we are able to grow.
So what does that say about our response? First of all, we have to accept the mystery that comes with this faith of ours. It’s true that we don’t want ambiguity of confusion, but the deep truths of God are not easy to sum up. Christ speaks in parables on purpose because they force us to dig a little deeper, to admit that it isn’t always easy to see how things add up in God’s plan.
Secondly, we cannot let the world’s methods poison the truth of the Gospel. Conniving and political power are not how the Gospel spreads. Jesus did not say that we could make this earth into a utopia. Christ uses the images of seeds and yeast because both of these processes are outside our human control. God causes the growth, not us. All we can do is make every effort to get the seeds from the right place and work to scatter them generously. Scripture, Church Teaching, the Sacraments. Keep coming back to these sources to get the right seed, the right yeast. Then, plant them deep in your own mind and heart. I implore you, let the Gospel challenge the assumptions you’ve held on to your whole life.
Finally, don’t let the failures of Church leaders destroy your faith in the Church. We will let you down, perhaps in small ways or in very big ways. Our faith is not in the men and women who hold positions of power, but in the Holy Spirit who guides the Church through or even despite them. Sometimes, the fact that the Church is so messy is just more proof that something more than humanity is guiding the Church. How else can we explain still being here after so, so many terrible scandals and failures?
Pray for us who shepherd. Beg God for the growth of the kingdom. Strive for the humility to embrace God not as an idea that we have, but as a mystery we encounter. Those who have ears ought to hear… to hear how God’s might – the might of humility, smallness, and perseverance – makes all things right in the end.