Author John Killinger once wrote about a meeting he had with some university students. He asked them, “What does it take to get someone’s attention these days?” The overwhelming consensus of the group was that unless something was flashy and loud, no one pays attention. I gave that some thought and tend to agree. But when you take some time to really think about those limitations, it rules out an awful lot of things.
Sitting on the porch and listening to birds singing in the distant trees. Gazing into the night sky and seeing those seemingly tiny stars in the night sky that may, in reality, be much larger than our sun. Feeling the anticipation or eagerness in the eyes of a child. The deep lines on an elderly person’s face that tell a story without them speaking a word. None of those things are flashy and loud.
Could it be that because we are culturally conditioned to look for the flamboyant, we often miss some of life’s great subtleties – those delicate, understated things that have often been admired and captured by artists and poets, musicians and mystics?
How sad would it be for us to be surrounded by God’s blessings and miracles and unless they were flashy and loud, we’d never notice or appreciate them.
I want to break open some truths of today’s scripture passages and relate their significance and impact to what is happening in our Church today.
Look at how God spoke to His people through the prophet Isaiah, to a people “whose hearts are frightened.” He tells them, “Be strong, fear not. Here is your God, He comes with vindication; He comes to save you.”
We too are a people who are frightened right now. We too are a people who are brokenhearted. We too are a people who are confused and waiting for right action to be taken. So listen with our ears and with our hearts to what Isaiah announces to a wounded congregation. He says to be strong, don’t let fear get the best of you. He tells his people that God is here, right here in the middle of what we are dealing with.
It is God who comes to our defense. It is God who has your back. It is God who will defend and protect you. It is God who will raise you up out of this chaos and suffering.
Isaiah reminded his people that if they looked only to themselves, or to their synagogue leaders, or to their army, or to a king or ruler to fix things, then they were still blind to the truth and not hearing what he telling them.
How does that apply to us? If we believe that the answer to our Church problems will solely come out of our righteous indignation, or through our virtuous clergy, or even the work of the pope himself, we too are blind to the truth and we are not hearing what the scriptures are shouting to us. Our faith and our trust are to be placed and grounded in God. It is God who has our backs. It is God who will protect and defend the People of God, the Church. As the Bible shows us, it is God and God alone who saves us and delivers us from darkness into His glorious light.
Do we all have a part to play? Absolutely, yes! But our work is secondary and subservient to God’s guidance. The scriptures challenge us to humbly let God lead us in our struggle and not just ask that He tag along as we make all our decisions. We are called to do as God asks of us. And the only way to know the path forward is to remain personally connected to God by putting our faith and trust in Him. That is how the healing miracles of the New Testament happen. That is how the healing miracles of 2018 and beyond will happen.
Isaiah goes on to say that when we get that – when we truly understand our faith and trust relationship to God – then eyes will be opened and the blind will see. Then will the deaf hear. Then will the crippled jump like a deer. Then will the mute have a voice again. Those miracles become reality only after people place their faith and trust where it is intended to be: in God alone.
Our gospel story follows up on the Isaiah teaching and demonstrates first-hand the miracles that come about when faith and trust are placed in God.
In every Mass said every day throughout the world, some form of this prayer is contained in the Eucharistic Prayer: “Remember, Lord, your Church, spread throughout the world, and bring her to the fullness of charity, together with Francis our pope and Peter our bishop and all the clergy.”
This is a specific petition asking for a special blessing. And God is answering our prayers. Most people of the world see the Church scandal only as disgusting, discouraging and destructive. And while those descriptive terms are true, they are not the only focus. The battle of good and evil is present in every age. It is with us individually and it is with every institution.
When we read the New Testament, the Christian scriptures, we are correctly wrapped up with awe and amazement when we read the gospel miracle stories of demons being cast out, sight given to the blind, hearing and speaking restored in the deaf and the mute.
But do you think the world sees – in fact, do we see – those same miracles being performed by God in the middle of the Church’s turmoil? Some of the demons of sexual immorality and abuse have been exposed, called out of darkness into the light of day. Their evil intent is being identified and dealt with. We are also regaining sight and envisioning the possibility of a new and expanded relationship between laity and clergy. Blind adherence to certain teachings and Church formulations is being questioned and openly debated in the light of the 21st century. The deaf ears of some of the hierarchy are being opened, and they have no choice but to hear and listen to the pleadings of God’s people, whose voice is being restored after centuries of being muted. God’s miracles and blessings continue to surround us.
I want to caution us about an ongoing trap that the devil continues to use to weaken the Body of Christ. Great folks within our own congregation and throughout the world have left the Church or are seriously thinking about leaving. Before they make that move, I would ask them to consider this: If your motivation is that you don’t want to be even remotely associated with a sin-filled community or you feel that you’re being humiliated and looked down upon by outsiders, as if you’re guilty of the same sins, then you’re being misled by the sin of pride. Know who the mastermind of pride is, and don’t fall into that trap. Fracturing and dismembering the Body of Christ is the constant motivation of evil. Please, please don’t fall for that trap.
We, as the Church and as individuals, are being publicly humiliated for a reason. I firmly believe we are being invited into the suffering and passion that Christ experienced as a fully innocent person condemned for the sins of others. As Jesus humbled Himself for the sake of righteousness and for the sole benefit of others, so too should all innocent Christians accept being humiliated by what has occurred. In a small way, we’re being invited to drink a drop of the same cup of suffering from which Jesus Himself fully drank.
Humility will ultimately strengthen us. That virtue of humility will draw us together in love as we continue Christ’s mission of teaching and healing. It is the virtue of humility which is the corrective remedy to dispel one of the seven deadly sins, the sin of pride. Humility will be the foundation of our path forward in recovering the dignity and beauty of God’s people. In humility, we will do this ... together.
Deacon Michael Zboyovski gave this homily during Masses Sept. 8-9 at St. Eugene Church in Asheville.