Homily for 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
20th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Aug. 18, 2019

Collect
Nativity, Washington, D.C.

“O God, you have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see …” (Collect).

Things appears 3 times in the Collect that we prayed a few minutes ago.  The prayer reminds us that God has prepared “good things” for us.  It urges us to love God “in all things and above all things.”

We know that when God created the universe, he created it good; everything God made is good—even if we may be tempted to curse mosquitoes, Canada geese, or the Atlanta Braves.  The book of Genesis in the Bible’s very 1st chapter tells us that everything is good, before adding that God found human beings “very good” (1:31).

Yet all these good things, all of beautiful creation, all the magnificent people we know, our beloved country—are secondary to God.  We pray that we may love God not only “in all things” but “above all things.”

Jeremiah by Enrico Glicenstein

By Hamaxides - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57998657

It was such love that landed the prophet Jeremiah in the mud at the bottom of a cistern (38:6).  He was a most reluctant prophet, reluctant because he knew he’d meet vicious opposition and even violence when he preached God’s message.  He loved God enuf to preach anyway; loved God above all things, even his own safety, even his own life.

The 1st generations of Christians, like those addressed in the Letter to the Hebrews, also loved God above all things, even in the face of violent persecution.  The author urges them, “Let us … persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,” who “endured the cross” but has been glorified by God, as we hope to be if we give our love to God above all things—all persons, all material goods, all power, prestige, pleasure or self-centeredness (Heb 12:1-4).

Jesus, too, cautions us about divisions within our families (Luke 12:49-53).  He’s not talking about the sort of family issues that lead people to write to Dear Abby or other advice columnists, but the divisions that result when people must choose between God and family wishes, which sometimes we must do; between conscience and what everyone else wants.

The Collect reminded us that God’s “promises surpass every human desire.”  God promises us eternal life, and that he can deliver on his promise is evidenced in the resurrection of Jesus, as well as in that Marian feast we just celebrated, her bodily assumption to the side of Jesus in heaven.  God promises us deliverance from all pain and sorrow and fretting; we pray at every Mass to be “delivered from all anxiety.”  He promises to deliver us, finally, from any kind of danger to body or soul, even from death, but only by way of the cross in Jesus’ footsteps.

If God promises all that and can fulfill what he’s promised—“the good things which no eye can see” in this life—why would we want to listen to the allurements of the world and its empty, unsatisfying promises about wealth, sex, power, fame, fleeting affections, or temporary comforts?

May God “fill our hearts,” as we prayed, “with the warmth of [his] love”—and may we, filled with that love, live it and share it.