Homily for Sunday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/091607.shtml

The Bible can be read, and probably should be, not as man’s search for God, but as God’s search for man. In his search for us, God goes to more and more drastic means in order to show the depth of his mercy. Take for instance, Moses’ conversation with God in our first reading from Exodus. Anyone reading the story would agree with God that people who have become so depraved so as to worship a molten calf instead of the living and true God who worked such great wonders in their midst deserved to be annihilated. There is a reason, my dear friends, why the commandment against idolatry is the first commandment; idolatry is such a powerful temptation; our desire to make God in our image and likeness so that we can manipulate Him. Just as He did with Noah, God had found a righteous man, Moses, and was ready to clean the slate and to try again to build a faithful people through the offspring of Moses. But Moses, knowing our human nature, calls upon the mercy of God, and in doing so, actually reveals to us what is in God’s own mind. It would be a sad story indeed if the history of the covenant between God and man was no more than a series of natural disasters and annihilations. But this is not God’s ultimate plan. This is not how God’s name was to be glorified among the nations.
Although the story of the Old Testament is a repetition of exiles and punishments in response to unfaithfulness, the Lord’s relenting of his extreme punishment that was imminent for the people led by Moses previews an increasing revelation of God’s mercy throughout salvation history. Indeed, by the time we get to St. Paul, an extraordinary witness to the Gospel, we see that God who has now revealed himself as a loving Father no longer chooses righteous men like Noah and Moses with whom to prolong his covenant. No, instead, God the Father specifically chooses people like the prodigal son to give witness to the greatness of His mercy and love. St. Paul puts it this way: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am foremost. But for that reason I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost (sinner) Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example.”
It is clear from Paul’s proclamation that if we want to be a part of the kingdom Christ establishes through His cross, we will desire not to be a righteous person, at least not by our own power, but will seek to be the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. Because the 99 sheep who were not lost did not need a shepherd to find them, the 9 coins that were not lost did not need anyone to look for them, and the older son did not need anyone to love him; he relied only on his own merits. But my dear friends, we are a people who are not self-sufficient – we are in need of the love of God; indeed, we thirst for it! Today’s parables show us that God’s power is most clearly shown not through great floods, but through human weakness. It can be one of the greatest mistakes of the spiritual life to try to reach a place in life where we are not so dependent on God’s mercy. Yes, it is true - we would love to be able to show God how much we love Him through the assertion of our willpower against sin. We want to show God how much progress we can make toward holiness. But the secret to the spiritual life is to let ourselves be found by God, to let ourselves be loved by Him, and to find strength not in our own willpower but in allowing God to heal our deepest wounds by not hiding them from Him.
Because Paul was found by God despite his obvious sinfulness, He was no longer tempted to make the mistake of relying on Himself, but was instead grateful to the One who had strengthened him, Christ Jesus His Lord. Paul is not considered trustworthy in the same way Noah and Moses were. Noah and Moses were considered trustworthy because of their righteous deeds, and these should not be taken from them. But after the revelation of the mercy of Jesus, one becomes trustworthy not because of his righteous deeds, but because He has let himself be healed of great sins. (Lk 7:47) The saints who have gone before us, my dear friends, knew this wisdom well. They considered themselves the most lost, not because they were overly scrupulous, but because their greatest strength came from being found by Jesus at the point of their greatest need.