JULY 7 / 8, 2018
5:00 PM (SAT), 8:00 AM, 11:00 AM (ST. HELENA) ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES
Laurence Overmire is a contemporary American writer, poet, and activist.
In 2012, he published a book titled The One Idea That Saves The World which puts forth a call to unity. Prior to that he wrote poetry, seeing it as a means to reflect on his life, and calling it “a diary in art.” He called poetry “the art of using language to transcend language.”
A quote attributed to Overmire that seems to be making the rounds is:
Expect nothing and accept everything and you will never be disappointed.While that may sound a bit dark, if one considers that expectation is “a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future;” for the most part, attempting to predict the future can create heaps of disappointments. Prognostication, while perhaps entertaining in part, can be a source of much regret.
Today is the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
In the first reading, just before what we have heard read today, Ezekiel has just experienced a powerful vision – so powerful that it knocks him down. He has seen angels, and wheels, a throne, and brilliant fire and light. And it is from this vision in first chapter of his prophecy that we get the images or icons for the four Gospels: A lion for Mark, a man for Matthew, an ox for Luke, and an eagle for John.
Yet, now that the vision has passed – and Ezekiel has literally been knocked over by what he has seen – he get’s no time to rest … no time to process all of this. Rather, despite whatever expectations he had in the midst of this glorious and awe-inspiring vision, he is sent out on a difficult mission to speak the Word of God to the rebellious and obstinate people of Israel.
St. Paul speaks of “a thorn in the flesh” which pummeled him. And despite his expectation that God was going to heal him – at least according to Paul’s will – God’s will is that Paul learn the perfection of God’s power and grace through suffering “for the sake of Christ” realizing in this that “when [he] is weak, then [he] is strong” – because only then can he show forth “the power of Christ . . . dwell[ing] in [him].”
In the Gospel, Jesus returns to His hometown, only to find that the people take “offense at Him” – because He is not what they expect. They think they know him, yet what they know is nothing more than a false expectation – which keeps them from receiving true Faith . . . so much so that the Gospel tells us that Jesus “was amazed at their lack of faith.”
As a corollary, in the episode of the healing of the centurion’s servant – which is not found in Mark’s Gospel, but is only in Matthew and Luke – Jesus was “amazed” at the Faith of the centurion.
We commemorate this at every Holy Mass when we echo the words of the centurion saying: “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof . . .”
This is not for us to expect nothing, but rather for us to model our own Faith on the amazing Faith of this Roman official.
And, indeed, no matter our circumstances, provided we live “for the sake of Christ [Jesus],” and provided that through the transforming grace of the Sacraments we allow the “power of Christ [to] dwell with[in us,]” we will experience that power in the mighty works of God in our own lives.
When we allow our expectations to sell ourselves short of God’s glory . . . or worse – allow our limited expectations to sell God short – even to the point of losing Faith, we will struggle in this “valley of tears” and miss out on our birth right as sons and daughters of God most high.
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us pray for a deeper outpouring of the baptismal virtue of Faith. Or perhaps we should pray for an amazing outpouring of this supernatural grace – to transform us beyond our own expectations and rather to accept the infinite graces and power of God into our lives.
