Homily for June 5

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Homily for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Scriptures for today's Mass)

The unpredictability of the mystery
of how God moves and works in our lives can be confounding.    

And, of course, the unpredictability of the mystery

of how we respond to God in our lives can also be confounding.

The widow in today’s first reading first accepts and trusts God’s word,

delivered by the prophet Elijah

and she and her son are saved.

But when life goes sour and her son becomes sick and dies,

she turns on Elijah to blame him for the tragedy.

That’s when Elijah stretches himself out over the dead son

and prays for God to give the boy his breath again.

He does this once and nothing happens.

So he does it again – and again - nothing happens.

He probably was tempted to give up altogether

but he prays yet a third time – and the boy begins to breathe.

The unpredictability of the mystery
of how God moves and works in our lives can be confounding.    

And, of course, the unpredictability of the mystery

of how we respond to God in our lives can also be confounding.

How many times have you and I been grateful to God

for the blessings in our lives

only later to turn and blame God when hard times or tragedy

show up on our path?

The widow blames the prophet, the man of God

who months before has promised her and delivered

a jar of flour that did not go empty

and a jug of oil that did not run dry.

The unpredictability of the mystery
of how God moves and works in our lives can be confounding.    

And what about the prophet himself?

It was in God’s name that he promised the widow

the blessing of endless flour and oil

but now he blames the same God

for the death of the widow’s son.

But, he prays. And to no avail.

And he prays again.  And again, no answer.

And he prays a third time – and God is there.

I’d like to be able to promise all of you (and myself)

that praying for something three times will do the trick.

But I can’t promise that.

Sometimes we need to pray 33 times or 333 times

before God responds.

And sometimes, God’s response is simply:  no…  or, not now… or, silence…

The unpredictability of the mystery
of how God moves and works in our lives can be confounding.    

And, of course, the unpredictability of the mystery

of how we respond to God in our lives can also be confounding.

Good things and bad things come our way –

come the way of all of us.

I suppose there may be some logic in thinking

that if the good things come from God – so must the bad.

But, not so.

All good gifts come from God’s heart and hand - that’s true.

But nothing bad or evil can come from God

who is all good and all loving.

That doesn’t seem to stop us, however, from blaming God

for the rough patches we all face.

The unpredictability of the mystery
of how God moves and works in our lives can be confounding.

The mystery of the pain we all experience in our lives

and the mystery of how God relates to our suffering

and the question of how we relate to God when we’re hurting

is all summed up in the Cross:

- where the God-Man himself shoulders

not only his own pain but all of our pain, too – and more;

- where the God-Man becomes one with our suffering;

- and where the God-Man teaches us to accept life’s burdens,

even and especially the bigger ones,

and to trust that the he is with us in our pain

and will bring us through it, until at last, peace is finally ours.

Elijah asked the widow

if he might share in her last supper with her son.

Here, at the altar, the Son of God invites us

to share in his Last Supper.

We’re invited to eat and drink

the life he won for us on the Cross.

We’re invited to consume

the mercy and healing and hope offered us

through Jesus’ outstretched arms.

We’re invited to trust as he trusted:

to trust when trust seems hopeless;

to trust when trust seems foolish;

and to pray

even when we wonder if anyone is listening.

Just so, did Jesus trust.

Just so, did Jesus pray.

Just so, does he invite us to pray

and put our trust in him.

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