Homily
2nd Sunday of Lent C
St. Lawrence Catholic Center at the University of Kansas
17 March 2019
What makes it hard to believe in God?
Who said it was supposed to be easy? Who wants it to be easy? Trust is hard. Relationships are hard. Yet the more they draw us out of ourselves, the better
I think it's way more fun, and life-giving, to try to do something hard. Belief in God is worth fighting for. Shame on us if we want a cheap or easy faith.
The Transfiguration Gospel awakens us to our full destiny. What does it mean for us to become fully alive in Christ? How is this different than the life I am living now? Am I daring the greatest life that is in God's heart for me? Have I settled or quit because it's hard to climb mountains. It's hard to live vertically.
Do we truly hate it when our life gets tame, conservative or boring? I know that we can get worn out, and without enough support in our lives we can get discouraged, and just want things to get easier. Yet the peace that God offers to us is not a peace of complacency, but the peace of knowing that I am becoming more alive, that my capacity for living a heroic story is growing. This is what a life of faith is supposed to be - not an insurance plan but a path to becoming more like God, and being transfigured as our nature is elevated by grace. If our faith does not end in our daring greatness, than to hell with it.
If our Lent is only about us feeling guilty or about behavior modification to temper our desires, then to heck with Lent too. Lent is about deepening desires and awaking us to our full destiny. It is about increased capacity for living.
So belief in God is hard, because the fullness for which we are made it not cheap and easy, and not something we can control. But so what - aren't we here because we want to dare greatness. Belief in God is hard, but let's do it anyway.
Some people say there is no evidence for God - that I can't believe in what I can't see or feel. Yet this is the opposite of belief. We don't believe in things we can measure or control. Tell me a relationship that flourishes under judgment and control instead of trust and vulnerability.
In the end nothing substitutes for the gift of faith. If you say you will only believe in God if you don't need faith to believe, then you are saying something self-contradictory. Again, there is no relationship where there is measurement or control. Real relationships take faith.
Which is why the life of faith is a dive deeper into reality. Blessed are those, Jesus says, who have not seen but have believed. The signs that we are given are not proofs of God's existence, they are invitations into the life of faith. The fantastic signs we see in today's scriptures do not compel faith, they invite faith. Now I get that the signs experienced by Abram, Peter, James and John are pretty fantastic. They are different than the signs we receive. But the effect of the signs is the same - they invite faith but do not compel faith.
So are the signs in your life. And yes, there are many signs in your life. Signs just as real as the signs received by Abram, Peter, James and John. These signs are an invitation deeper into reality. If the life of faith to which you are invited is a divorce from reality, then to hell with it. What makes belief in God hard is that we are afraid of this deeper reality. We want a life and a God that we can judge and control. Belief in God is hard because of our lack of faith.
Yet anyone who is not afraid of reality will ask for the gift of faith. For what is most real is that we are made in the image of God, and we are invited to become fully awake, fully alive, and fully like Him by fearlessly entering into a covenant with Him and allowing our nature to be elevated and enlightened by his grace.
That's not fake. It's the most real thing. It's also the hardest thing because of our lack of faith.
But let's not be afraid of doing something hard.
2nd Sunday of Lent C
St. Lawrence Catholic Center at the University of Kansas
17 March 2019
What makes it hard to believe in God?
Who said it was supposed to be easy? Who wants it to be easy? Trust is hard. Relationships are hard. Yet the more they draw us out of ourselves, the better
I think it's way more fun, and life-giving, to try to do something hard. Belief in God is worth fighting for. Shame on us if we want a cheap or easy faith.
The Transfiguration Gospel awakens us to our full destiny. What does it mean for us to become fully alive in Christ? How is this different than the life I am living now? Am I daring the greatest life that is in God's heart for me? Have I settled or quit because it's hard to climb mountains. It's hard to live vertically.
Do we truly hate it when our life gets tame, conservative or boring? I know that we can get worn out, and without enough support in our lives we can get discouraged, and just want things to get easier. Yet the peace that God offers to us is not a peace of complacency, but the peace of knowing that I am becoming more alive, that my capacity for living a heroic story is growing. This is what a life of faith is supposed to be - not an insurance plan but a path to becoming more like God, and being transfigured as our nature is elevated by grace. If our faith does not end in our daring greatness, than to hell with it.
If our Lent is only about us feeling guilty or about behavior modification to temper our desires, then to heck with Lent too. Lent is about deepening desires and awaking us to our full destiny. It is about increased capacity for living.
So belief in God is hard, because the fullness for which we are made it not cheap and easy, and not something we can control. But so what - aren't we here because we want to dare greatness. Belief in God is hard, but let's do it anyway.
Some people say there is no evidence for God - that I can't believe in what I can't see or feel. Yet this is the opposite of belief. We don't believe in things we can measure or control. Tell me a relationship that flourishes under judgment and control instead of trust and vulnerability.
In the end nothing substitutes for the gift of faith. If you say you will only believe in God if you don't need faith to believe, then you are saying something self-contradictory. Again, there is no relationship where there is measurement or control. Real relationships take faith.
Which is why the life of faith is a dive deeper into reality. Blessed are those, Jesus says, who have not seen but have believed. The signs that we are given are not proofs of God's existence, they are invitations into the life of faith. The fantastic signs we see in today's scriptures do not compel faith, they invite faith. Now I get that the signs experienced by Abram, Peter, James and John are pretty fantastic. They are different than the signs we receive. But the effect of the signs is the same - they invite faith but do not compel faith.
So are the signs in your life. And yes, there are many signs in your life. Signs just as real as the signs received by Abram, Peter, James and John. These signs are an invitation deeper into reality. If the life of faith to which you are invited is a divorce from reality, then to hell with it. What makes belief in God hard is that we are afraid of this deeper reality. We want a life and a God that we can judge and control. Belief in God is hard because of our lack of faith.
Yet anyone who is not afraid of reality will ask for the gift of faith. For what is most real is that we are made in the image of God, and we are invited to become fully awake, fully alive, and fully like Him by fearlessly entering into a covenant with Him and allowing our nature to be elevated and enlightened by his grace.
That's not fake. It's the most real thing. It's also the hardest thing because of our lack of faith.
But let's not be afraid of doing something hard.
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