Nativity Catholic Church
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Is This Homily for Me?
A "FIRESTARTER" Spiritual Essay by Rev.
Dr. Benjamin
Berinti, C.Pp.S.
The Word of God has a peculiar way of touching us by surprise—obviously not a surprise to God, but certainly one for us! This isn’t any great revelation to me, but I was once again reminded of this truth last Sunday while speaking with a parishioner after one of the Masses. Every so often, the words of Sacred Scripture just leap off the page and come to life—and during this encounter, the passage from the prophet Isaiah began dancing in my mind: For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11). Indeed, God’s Word is constantly showering us, enveloping us, finding ways to sneak in through the cracks—all in spite of our distractions and limited attention spans. And, as God promises, there’s no returning to God empty-handed! The specific scenario that played out Sunday morning isn’t the first (nor the last) time someone has made this observation to me. Perhaps it will sound familiar to you? “Fr. Ben, it sounded like you were speaking directly to me during that homily! How did you know I needed to hear that? Is this strange?” Far from “strange”…it may be God’s usual method of communication—the element of “surprise.” Just look at the workings of God throughout the Scriptures—“sneaking through our cracks” appears to be business as usual. Look to Jesus’ preferred method of instruction—the parables—and see the God who turns things upside-down with God’s explosively surprising finishes to the stories and lessons Jesus proposes about the Kingdom. No, it seems that God’s Word touches us not because some preacher has our number, or secretly has interviewed members of our families or colleagues at work to get some dirt on us, or has some kind of psychic powers to pick apart members of the assembly on a Sunday morning. The Word touches us because God chooses to touch us—and, equally important, for whatever reasons, we are open enough to allow God’s touch to reach us. It’s that “partnership thing” (Covenant) between God and us—God does God’s thing, but we have to cooperate in some fashion for it all to come together ("I will be your God AND you will be my people”). Sometimes, we just happen to be in the right place—mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally—that allows God’s Word to finally penetrate us, so much so, that we think and experience the Word as a signed and sealed letter to us or an instant message with lots of red exclamation points in front of the attachment! Is this homily for me? The Word of God is always for us—but once in awhile, we allow it to break through and to water and nourish our weary hearts.
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