Homily, June 9, 2024
From The Pastor
Can you still feel the glow of the Easter season and the renewing grace of the Feast of Pentecost? I hope so, because these are an ever-present reality in the Christian mystery revealing the essence of Divine Love. The energy and the promise of Easter surrounds us in the workings of the Holy Spirit. Following Pentecost, we celebrated the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The Trinity is the ever-present reality of God with and within us, most intimately in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In the words of St. Paul, we are a new creation as we have put off the old life of sin through our profession of faith in the dying and rising of the Lord Jesus.
This Sunday we enter several weeks of Ordinary Time. In Ordinary Time we live out all that we believe and profess in the high seasons of Advent-Christmas and Lent-Easter. This living-out is most effective if we embrace the power and the life of the Lord Jesus in whom we live. The readings for today, the Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, challenge us with the reality of human sin, the deception of evil, and the truth and power of God given in the Lord Jesus.
The reality of evil and human suffering is a mystery long pondered. Why is there sin and evil if all that God created is good? Like the question of God itself, the question of evil and human suffering cannot be fully answered this side of heaven. Through faith in the gift of Christ, we are not left as helpless victims of the deception and temptation that surrounds us.
In early Israel, many ancient religions considered evil to be metaphysical, meaning uncreated, as if like God, only on the side of darkness and deception. Biblically, angels are created beings. At the creation of human beings in the image of God, out of envy and jealousy the Fallen angels rejected God. With hatred for human beings, Evil sought to deceive and diminish our dignity out of vengeance toward God. Not accepting Evil as an uncreated reality, the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall of sin reveals a different stance. Ancient Israel believed that Evil had a moral origin that became evident in the challenges of human freedom. Deceived by the Devil, imaged in the snake, humans wanted to be like God as they chose to eat the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. This is the contrast in the readings today. In the gospel, even Jesus is accused of being possessed by his own family members. The Scribes say Jesus casts out demons by the power of Beelzebul. These bold and cruel statements reveal the fear and jealousy held against the power of good in Jesus.
Reflecting on the tension of good and evil, we could benefit from pondering the gift of our free-will. Our free-will is an essential gift of our human dignity as well as our greatest challenge. Adam and Eve are the prime example. Prior to eating the apple there was no shame, no need to hide, or be afraid of God. Falling to temptation, in disobedience of God, the humans now feel the consequence of their choice. Moral conscience is awakened for the first time.
Why does God give us free will when it is obvious we will make choices that cause great suffering and pain? As the essence of love, God desires us to image and reveal his goodness. We cannot do that without free will. We must have the free choice of personal autonomy to love freely, or not. If we are forced to love God against the pain of punishment or rejection, what kind of love is that? It is not love, but subservient obedience. If that were the case, God would be denying his own nature. God accepted the risk and liability of human weakness for the sake of our free will. Only then can our relationship with God be true and real. In humble vulnerability, God becomes one with us in all things but sin in the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus as our Redeemer.
Jesus takes into himself the rejection of our disobedience in the lie of sin and the deception of evil bringing all to the Cross. The fully Divine One became fully human to reconcile the power of evil and the disorder of sin in the power and truth of Divine love. In sin, the free will of God redeems and unites.
What is our response to the gift of free will and the redemption of our soul in the Lord Jesus? Love for God; honor, reverence, and gratitude for all that God is and all that God does. Sin is to forget God, to forget who we are in God, and who God is in us. Evil rejects God for the sake of its own power in the lie of sin. To love and honor God is to live to the best of our ability in the model and example of the Lord Jesus. We love God by loving and honoring ourselves, others, and working for justice and dignity for all persons.
The Devil wants to be like God having divine-like power. Human pride leads us to the same. Human perfection is a lie. The reality is we fail. Mature faith and trust in God will move us to honestly come to God, confess, repent, and accept the mercy and redemption freely given us in Christ Jesus. Sin is a lie. Love is truth. Confess sin, live in Christ, love God with your whole self. Love wins. Spread the Good News.
Father John Esper
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