The Belmont Stakes runs this evening. Post time is 6:41. Horseracing reminds me of a story about a 19th century traveling preacher who trained his horse to gallop when he said, "thank God" and to stop when he said, "amen.” One day the horse ran toward a cliff. The preacher pleaded "amen!" The horse stopped at the edge. The preacher, so relieved, said "thank God!" And the preacher and horse were never heard from again. I guess the lesson is remember your passwords.
Today’s Word is a passage from the Book of Genesis which focuses on a man, a woman and a snake. God made a magnificent universe and created man and woman to enjoy it. They walked with God, had friendship with God and one another. The story is highly symbolic. There's the tree of life, like in many ancient stories. But there's another tree, symbolizing “divine status.”
Enter the snake, the tempter, to set people against one another and against God. The man and woman gave into the temptation, thinking they would become “godlike,” i. e., become other than the creatures they were. They ate the “forbidden fruit” and lost their friendship with God and became estranged from one another. And ever since, though we are intrinsically good, we have a tendency sometimes to choose evil. How else explain mindless violence and reckless wars?
But God didn't leave us to our own devices. God became flesh in Jesus. Through his sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, the living Christ reestablished our relationship with God and promised that goodness ultimately will triumph over evil. The author may ask whether we see God as our friend and companion as we face life's challenges.
Paul in today's letter reflects on his own life. His life is like a tent: here today, gone tomorrow. Paul suddenly had a visionary experience of the living Christ that turned his life “upside down.” Thereafter, his one passion was to proclaim everywhere the good news, the Gospel: Jesus Christ is alive! And because He lives, we live: God abides in us and we in God. Yes, God gifted Paul with an incredible faith that empowered him to overcome all kinds of obstacles, e.g., shipwreck, threats against his life, imprisonment. Paul may be asking us: where do we find purpose in our lives?
In the Gospel, we have a conflict between faith and a lack thereof.
Firstly, the Gospel raises the question whether Jesus had brothers and sisters. The Catholic tradition says no. But he had cousins. In the Aramaic language he spoke, the terms “brother” and “sister” apply not only to children of the same parents but also to cousins, nephews, nieces, half-brothers, half-sisters.
Now, some of Jesus's relatives scoffed at him. Once a carpenter, now a preacher and healer. He's lost his mind, those relatives thought. On the other hand, scribes argued he's working signs and wonders in the name of Satan. Jesus refutes this with an analogy of ridicule. In fact, attributing the works of God to Satan is blasphemy.
And then Jesus concludes, who are my brothers and sisters? They who not only hear God's word but do God's word.
Our faith is a gift from God that empowers us to have a right relationship with God as our creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. Now, faith is richer and deeper than belief. Faith invites us to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, to follow him who is our way, our truth and our light as we journey toward our heavenly dwelling place. Faith is about connectedness to the person of Jesus Christ. It’s about our relationship with God that we nurture, especially through prayer.
Belief, on the other hand, is a statement about the essential truths of our faith that we proclaim every Sunday in our fourth-century Nicene Creed.
We say: I believe in one God, despite many today who experience not the presence, but the absence of God; despite many who question the existence of God in the face of such overwhelming evils as disease, war and hunger.
And yes, we believe in one lord, Jesus Christ. The 19th century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky in his classic novel, The Brothers Karamazov, says: every man/woman must bend his or her knee before someone or something, e.g. money, fame, power? The question is: What ultimately drives or energizes us? That's what we worship, so says Dostoevsky.
The Lord Jesus Christ, for us and for our salvation came down from heaven. Why? To heal the brokenness in our world: hate, lies, injustice, the denial of human rights, ignorance, violence. Jesus who for our sake was crucified, died and rose again is indeed our healer, our reconciler, our pledge of an indescribable life beyond this earthly life.
And yes, we believe in the Holy Spirit, the lord, the giver of life. The power of the Spirit is within us. And that Spirit enables us to do good for others. And we believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic community. We acknowledge one baptism and look toward the resurrection and the life to come.
This Creed underscores the essential content of our faith; what we believe truly matters. I pray that the gift of our faith whereby we relate to God, and the content of that faith which we are about to profess, will empower us, as the prophet Micah says, to always act fairly, to love tenderly and walk humbly with our God.
