Homily for 27th Sun OT, Year A
Fr. Albert
St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia
How many people have converted to the Catholic Faith with your help? How many children have you raised in the Catholic Faith? How many families in the parish have you helped? Or missionaries have you supported? How many fasts, novenas, and rosaries have you offered for the salvation of souls? How many of the poor, homeless, sick and suffering thank God for what you have done to help relieve their distress? In other words, what fruit have you produced?
Faith is a gift. Salvation is a gift we cannot earn. But, now that we have been placed in the garden of the Church, we are expected to produce something. Perhaps something humble and invisible, but we must bear fruit. And yet, is this quite fair? Just last week, we saw a different parable involving working in a vineyard, but the master was still present in that story. Now, the owner of the vineyard, God, seems to be absent. Like a no-show landlord, we only hear from the owner when rent is due. Sure, he built the place, but that was a long time ago. Where is he now? Why has God gone away?
And for you, in the late hours of isolation and fear, in the times of great stress or loss… when you are trying to make yourself do the right thing but just can’t quite muster up the willpower… does that question haunt you? Where is God now?
Sometimes, it kind of seems like a bizarre test or a twisted game. Jesus shows up for about 30 years, cures the sick, teaches, gathers some disciples, dies and rise from the dead and then disappears for thousands of years. We won’t see him again until the end of time. But he sure left us with a lot to do… and some pretty serious consequences if we don’t follow up. Why not stay with us?
He has, but not in the way we think he should. His apparent absence is actually necessary for us to know Him more fully. You ever get to know someone so well that you could recognize the sound of their footsteps? A certain pace, a particular kind of thud, something familiar about the feel of it? Learning to recognize that aspect of a person requires a peculiar mixture of seeing them and not seeing them. In seminary, I could hear people walking down the hall. It was just background noise, but eventually those sounds would result in a person standing in my door, talking to me. Little-by-little, my mind began to connect specific walks with specific people. Before I graduated, there were several people I could tell were coming just by the sound of their footsteps. It wouldn’t have worked if I never saw them. It also wouldn’t have happened if I never heard the footsteps without being able to see the person. That small form of their absence allowed me to recognize them in different ways.
Now, look at that second reading, the letter from Paul to the Philippians. He is addressing that question about God’s absence. He is addressing what every human being asks at some point in their life: where is God? Why is this so hard? In other words, Paul is speaking to our anxiety about life and about God. “Have no anxiety at all” he says, as if that were a matter of simple decision. It’s not, which is why he tells us how to be free of anxiety.
His answer is not a pill. It’s not an easy platitude. It is a course of action. Don’t get me wrong, we sometimes need professional help and medical experts to address our health, but we are talking about the kind of anxiety that comes from God’s absence. And Paul’s solution is this: “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.”
Yeah, it’s prayer. Not just a quick few words, but “in everything,” meaning every part of your life and at all times. Every single human being, when they are alone, thinks and talks to themselves. We all have a kind of inner monologue or collection of thoughts when we are not actively engaged in something. Sometimes it’s there even then. That inner voice – that is where we can pray always. It should be the goal of every Christian to gradually train that voice, that thought process to shift from talking to ourselves to talking to God.
Make your requests know to God with this voice and with your kneel-down-by-your-bed prayers. Not only that, but make sure you include thanksgiving. Not the holiday next month, but lifelong, continual gratitude. Ask God for something? Thank him for listening. Notice His answer? Thank Him for it. Suffering right now? Thank Him for the power of the Cross. Most of all, give thanks here, at Mass. Eucharist means thanksgiving. If you can train your inner voice to think always of talking to God and connecting your life back to Mass and the Eucharist, you will be well on your way to the deepest kind of peace.
If you think God is absent like he is in this parable, talking to Him always will help you recognize that he is not only not absent, he’s even closer than you realize. Being conscious of God in this way will help you recognize his footsteps. In fact, if you try always talking to God, you will end up needing to follow the second half of Paul’s advice.
Those footsteps of God can also be described in this catalog of good thoughts that Paul gives us: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Our prayer will turn to conversation about the infinite number of ways that everything good in this world is actually a reflection of God’s goodness. Scientific discovery, moving music, amazing feats of skill and strength, inspiring acts of heroism – all of these and more can remind us of God, and give us something to talk with Him about.
What you will begin to realize is that owner of the vineyard went on journey, but that his destination was your heart. He might seem to be distant, but he is with you, you have only to recognize his footsteps. Do this, and you will not have to worry about the questions I started with. Such an ongoing prayer and dialogue of love will naturally seek to remove obstacles like sin and pride. It will blossom into love of your neighbors, into virtue, and into holiness. And if you are holy, you will bear fruit. And “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The same Christ Jesus who “has become the cornerstone” of all that exists. “By the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.”
