HOMILY WEEK 16 04 – Year I
Missing the Mystery
(Ex 19:1-20; Dan 3; Mt 13:10-17)
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“Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.”
Today’s gospel invites us to stop missing the mystery; to connect faith with our lives, and to deepen our understanding of the gift of faith in Jesus.
When Jesus was asked by the disciples why he spoke in parables, his response may give some the impression that his new way was for a select few, a kind of exclusive secret society. After all, the crowds did not seem to be granted the same knowledge that the disciples had been given.
But according to The Word Among Us, Jesus wasn’t excluding anyone. When he said that the mysteries of the kingdom were being revealed to the disciples, he was speaking about the special way he was equipping them for their mission to proclaim the gospel to the whole world and build up his Church.
Jesus had chosen the Twelve to be his first and greatest messengers (except for St. Paul). He knew that they needed a special grace of understanding if they were going to fulfill that calling. So, he gave them the privilege of living with him, traveling with him, and witnessing the miracles he worked. All so that they could be as effective as possible when he sent them out.
But now that the Holy Spirit has been poured out, that grace is available to every person who is open to Jesus and his message. No one is excluded; everyone can have the amazing privilege of knowing Jesus and the mysteries of his kingdom. Far from being an exclusive club, the Church is meant to expand and keep on expanding. Because God wants everyone to come to know him and to live with him in heaven, God welcomes everyone who turns to God.
Unfortunately, there are untold numbers who don’t get it; who fit the description Jesus gives us: seeing they do not perceive; hearing they do not listen or understand, and so, they do not turn and received his forgiveness and healing. Theirs is not a transformative faith – they are missing the mystery.
Examples abound: a scripture scholar who was also a paedophile; a liturgist who abused others sexually; a bishop caught with pornography; a founder of a religious community who fathered children; a cardinal who has been defrocked; a religious who is shunning another member of her community; nations supposed to be Christian at war with each other; many struggling with low self-worth and addictions of all kinds; and perhaps all of us clinging to our own favorite sins. We are all missing the mystery of what Jesus came to bring us – a faith in him that will connect with our lives, transform us through his forgiveness and healing, and place us within the kingdom of heaven here and now.
Perhaps we have never really trusted or believed in the reality of living in that reign of God today. The Word Among Us again invites us to consider the tremendous gift that life in the kingdom is: “It’s the chance to hear and understand God’s word. It’s a living relationship with the One who has created us, who has redeemed us, who sustains us, and who loves us more than we can imagine. It’s the freedom to live a holy life – a life in the Spirit that starts now and extends into eternity. And it’s the opportunity to share this grace with everyone who is hungry for God’s love and mercy.” And I would add, it is the priceless opportunity to live with a deep peace and serenity and even joy that no one, and nothing else, can provide or take away from us.
It is time to “wake up and listen and see” and come back to Jesus with a faith that can transform us through his love as forgiveness and healing. Then, blessed are our eyes because we see, and our ears, because we hear.
The Eucharist is a theophany, and encounter with God, not with the thunder, trumpet and dense cloud of the Exodus account at Mt. Sinai, but just as real – in fact, more real and even deeper, as we listen to God’s word and receive Jesus in communion.
May our celebration help connect faith with our lives, deepen our understanding of the gift of that faith, and help us to stop missing the mystery.
