Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
What God sees and what we see can be as different as the Magic Eye books. Our view is often limited to the externals: how someone combs his hair; what kind of clothes she wears; skin and facial features; etc. But what God sees goes much deeper than that.
As Jesus told the parable about the Pharisee and the tax-collector (sometimes called the Publican), He is not only talking about how to pray (the publican) and how not to pray (the Pharisee), but He’s also making a point that had been made several times before in Scripture, that appearances can deceive. The Pharisee seems to have it all together: he doesn’t commit major sins, he gives to the temple and synagogue, and he doesn’t cooperate with the pagan Romans. The Publican, on the other hand, seems very downcast, and won’t even raise his eyes to heaven. He simply, quietly, asks God for mercy from the back row. And yet, it is the Publican who is justified (put into right relationship with God), not the Pharisee.
This point had been made in the first book of Samuel, as the prophet Samuel seeks a new king of Israel to replace Saul, who had disobeyed God. Samuel goes to the house of Jesse, and sees some studly looking men. And yet, God does not choose any of them. Instead, God chooses David, the youngest, not as much to behold, who is out tending the sheep, to be the new king of Israel. Or, think back to to Book of Job. Job does everything right, so much so, that God brags about Job. But then Satan asks to take away Job’s prosperity, and then even his health, because Satan is convinced that Job will walk away from God if his good fortune were taken away. God allows Satan, in the story, to do anything, other than kill Job, which Satan does. Job loses everything, and his luck is so bad, his own wife says, “Curse God and die” (what a lovely woman!). Job’s friends come, and try to convince him that he must have done something wrong, so he should repent, and then God will give Job good stuff and health again. But Job maintains his innocence, all-the-while still trusting God. In both those stories, and many more, physical strength and material blessings do not mean that God loves you more, nor does lack of goods mean that God hates you.
In fact, as we heard from the Book of Sirach, God “hears the cry of the oppressed…is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow.” Those people seemed like God wasn’t on their side. If you’re oppressed, you don’t have control of your own freedom. If you are an orphan, you have no parents to take care of you, and there was no welfare state or foster homes to make sure you were taken care of properly. If you were a widow, your husband, who made money to feed you, was dead, and you had to rely on the generosity of your children and other family. In other words, these were all people who had very little, if anything. And yet, God hears their cries.
Even St. Paul is an example of how what looks like failure can actually be success in the eyes of God. St. Paul did found many churches, groups of believers in Jesus, but none of them were particularly large communities, and they almost always seemed to have problems. St. Paul writes this second epistle to St. Timothy from house arrest, and is about to die for preaching the Gospel. He references in another letter how many of his co-workers abandoned him. And yet, he is sure that “the crown of righteousness awaits” him, because he has, “competed well;…finished the race;…kept the faith.”
So how do we measure success? When do we think God favors us? Is it when things go well? Or is it when we have struggles? In truth, God can favor us in either set of circumstances. We may have come to church this morning and are on cloud nine because we just received a promotion, or our grandkids just made honor roll. Or we may be struggling in marriage, doing everything we can to pay the bills and buy food with a meager salary. God loves us either way. He hears our prayers when we come to Him in humility, recognizing that whatever we have is from Him: a gift of good things; or the allowance of suffering to strengthen us and bring us closer to Him.
How, too, do we view others? Do we see the externals and presume that the person who appears to do well is blessed by God? Do we presume that the dirty, homeless person must have done something wrong, and we should avoid him or her? Or do we look deeper, trying to see Christ in every person, regardless of affluence or poverty?
[Eric, you have chosen a beautiful time to join the Catholic Church. Unlike decades past, we have lost a lot of clout politically. Unlike before, what we hold as truths to be revealed by God regarding the dignity of the human person, from natural birth through natural death; the importance of work and using God’s gifts and talents for the building up of society; the definition of marriage given to us by God; that our bodies are good and tell us something factual about ourselves, which cannot be changed by desire or surgery; that the family is the building block of society and should not be infringed by the government; these things are now no longer popular or widely held. People are leaving the Catholic Church in droves. This is a beautiful time because God often works best when things seem to be stacked against us. And you are choosing to witness to what God has revealed through his one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
It will call for great determination to live out that faith. It may even lead to suffering. But again, what the world sees as failure–sticking to God when the rest of the world seems to be abandoning Him for more palatable beliefs–is often success, and what the world sees as success is often failure. And your one voice today, professing your faith with us, will be joined the myriad voices throughout the millennia who have professed that same faith, unbroken and untarnished, though many have sought to destroy it and change it throughout its history.
Do not be afraid to live as a Catholic, in all that the word Catholic entails. Do not be afraid of seeming to be a failure to others by professing an ancient faith that critiques so much of what modern man seems to hold dear. You may not do it perfectly, none of us do, but if you persevere in doing what you can to follow Christ, no matter how your life looks from the outside, you will merit to hear the words we all hope to hear one day: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come, share your Master’s joy.”