4th Sunday of OT
Fr.
Philip N. Powell, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
Paul
writes to the always-anxious Corinthians, “Brothers and sisters, I
should like you to be free of anxieties.” He would like for them to
be released from the slavery of their doubts, the chains of their
mistrust, and the need for total control. He would like for them to
be able to live in the world and not flail around panicked about what
comes next. What’s After This? Where’s the plan? The map? The
schedule? Paul would like for his Corinthian brothers and sisters to
be rested in the Lord’s promise of mercy, settled into an enduring
trust of their Father, and focused on all the things Christ left them
to accomplish. Instead, they – like us – spend an inordinate
amount of our limited time fretting, scheming, worrying, fidgeting
about things and people we cannot possibly influence or control.
Let's call this phenomenon, Heliocopter Spirituality – the tendency
to hover anxiously over our own lives, stressing about outcomes
rather than leaving it all for God to figure out.
What
are the Corinthians stressing over? They're distracted by the rigors
of family life, worried needlessly by the demands of husbands and
wives and children, taken away from the difficult work, the hard
labor of preparing for the coming again of the Christ. Paul, and all
those Jesus leaves behind, wait for their beloved Master to return to
them and take them all away. They are anxious about many things, but
most anxious about the apparent delay in his return. Paul’s
admonishment to them: don’t become too attached to the workings of
this world – the things of this world demand their own kind
attention, their own kind of sacrifice. Rather, stay free for Christ,
and do what he has asked you to do.
What
are you anxious about? What unclean spirits harass you? Do you know
the name of the fearfulness that chews away at the strength of your
gifts, your trust, your patience? Do you know the name of the spirit
that moves you to hide from God, moves you to ignore God, moves you
to defy God? You can all say, “Sure, Father, it’s the Devil!”
Yes, it is. But more specifically, can you identify, precisely point
out the spirit that steals your peace in Christ?
Jesus
goes to Capernaum to teach in the synagogue. People are astonished at
his teaching, stunned at the authenticity and authority of his
message. He speaks the Word; he teaches and preaches a Word of power
and might, claiming for himself the authority of his Father and, in
doing so, claiming for the Father the lives, the souls of those who
hear and heed his Word. Despite the power of his message, it's not
the men and women who hear him that feel their world shaking. Notice
who grows anxious, notice whose peace is rattled to the core: the
unclean spirits!
The
men and women who hear Jesus preach are gifted, graced with the
boundless love of God. The unclean spirit is fearful. The men and
women are astonished, opened, enlightened, touched by glory at the
Word proclaimed. The unclean spirit is dreadful, nervous, shaken, and
most definitely stirred! The people there leap forward to grab hold
of the Word and they hold on to the Word as if it were a hurt child,
or a long-lost loved one. They embrace the hope, the expectation of
eternal life, the renewal of their lives with the Father, the
reconciliation that the God-man, Jesus, makes real. The unclean
spirit can only despair and complain. It can only wail louder and
gripe, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you
come to destroy us?” Our Lord was sent. He is sent. And he will be
sent again.
Moses
spoke to his people and said, “A prophet like me will the Lord,
your God, raise for you from among your own kin; to him you shall
listen […] I will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them
all that I command him.” Our Lord will send a prophet, a voice to
speak His Word to us and we will listen. We heard Elijah, Ezekiel,
Jeremiah. We heard Amos and Isaiah. And much more recently, we heard
John the Baptizer. We heard the Name he spoke to us, the announcement
of the Good News of our Savior’s arrival in the flesh. And then we
heard the Christ Himself teach us salvation, preach to us the Way of
Life through him. We believed. We heard and we believed.
And
yet we are still capable of anxiety. Why? I think we forget Who we
are dealing with. I think we trudge along, so habituated to hearing
the Bad News, that everything the Good God has done for us is lost in
the panicky headlines, the hysterical screaming of one crisis after
another. We forget what we have said “Amen” to here. We forget
what we have asked for here. We come here to remember. And yet, still
we forget.
Here’s
a reminder, just a reminder to put a little fear into the spirit of
forgetfulness that may be haunting us. This evening, if you
participate fully in this Eucharist, you will say “Amen”—“it
is so”—to the presence of Christ among us. He IS here. You will
thank him for his Word proclaimed and thank him again for his Gospel.
You will say amen to his ancient teaching and amen again for taking
care of your needs. You will say amen to His blessed Name and amen to
his coming Kingdom; amen to His will done in all creation and amen to
your need for His daily food; amen to his mercy and yours and amen to
his protection from evil. You will say “amen” to offering bread
and wine, his body and soul on that altar of sacrifice, to be
blessed, transformed and given back to Him. You will say amen to His
peace and share it. Amen to the Lamb of God and his sacrifice for us.
Amen to his supper. And amen and amen for the Holy One of God who
teaches with a new authority, preaches with a new authenticity the
Word of Life.
What
are you anxious about? What spirits worry you? Remember what you have
said amen to here this evening. Remember what you have sacrificed and
who you are in Christ. Our Lord wants us free of anxieties. Our Lord
wants us free so that we can spread the fame of the Good News to
everyone, everywhere. Free of attachments, free of distractions, free
of sin and death. . .so that our witness to his Good News is our
reason for rising, our reason for living.
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