Bishop Glen John Provost
Bishop of Lake Charles
Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
"Into things beyond your strength search not." Sirach 3:20
Someone gave me a book entitled "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook." The book answers such pressing problems for the would-be traveler as how to escape from a bear, or how to deal with a charging bull, or how to wrestle free from an alligator. Short of being Indiana Jones or Lawrence of Arabia, running the bulls at Pamplona or lost on the heights of Kilimanjaro, I cannot imagine why I would need this book, except for a little amusement. I was particularly struck by the challenge of escaping from quicksand.
Quicksand is nothing more than ordinary sand mixed with upwelling water. Therefore, the worse thing we can do is to try to pull ourselves out. When we do, the struggle of quickly moving a foot or a leg only creates a vacuum that must be filled, so the quicksand pulls us down more quickly. The best thing to do is to float, the book said, to lie as flat as possible. You will become more buoyant and float in the denser quicksand. It all makes sense, yet I confess it would take a great act of faith to try this out for the first time.
It takes faith to live the Christian life. That is why Jesus told us it was so important. For example, Jesus taught us to watch and wait. We do not like to watch and wait. We are much too impatient for that. We would rather decide and act, or better yet act and then think. Then, like quicksand, we try to pull ourselves out and only sink deeper into the mire. Jesus tells us to forgive. We would much rather get even. It takes faith to forgive. If we forgave, then we would have faith that God would give to each what was his due. Instead we prefer to struggle and let ourselves sink ever more deeply into a quicksand from which we cannot extricate ourselves. Jesus tells us in the Gospel today that we should be humble. "When you are invited," He says, "go and take the lowest place" (Luke 14:10). But it takes faith to be humble, faith that the host will see us sitting in the back and move us closer to the front. It also takes faith to "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind" (Luke 14:13). Faith makes us forget ourselves, think about others, grow in great charity, and forgive our enemies. For some that is worse then getting into quicksand.
The beautiful letter to the Hebrews wants us to have faith to be confident about it. For that reason the sacred author reminds us that when we approach God we are not approaching someone dangerous. He says, "You have not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them. No, you have approached Šthe city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering" (Hebrews 12:18-19, 22). There is no reason for panic. The divine worship is not quicksand. We have repentance, yes. Sorrow for sin, yes. Love of God, yes. But panic and fear, no.
And what is this worship about which Hebrews speaks? "The city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering" (Hebrews 12:23)? Is it future or is it now? Do we approach it now or in the future? Is it not the worship of the Church, "the heavenly Jerusalem", that is heaven touching earth? Is it not the Eucharistic celebration where God touches us?
We are invited into intimacy with God. The liturgy of the Church is the divine intimacy opened to us. What is there to fear except our own panic? Could I lie on my back in the quicksand and trust that it would allow me to float? And by extension could I lie in the hands of God and trust that with less fear and more faith, He would support me in the darkest moment and even feed me with manna from heaven? That takes faith.
By the way, one might be wonder about the scenario mentioned earlier. How does one wrestle free from an alligator? Well, the book said alligators are known to open their mouths when tapped. It recommended that you hit the alligator on the snout with your fist, between the nostrils and the eyes. Now that would take some faith, but our freedom would depend on it.