Storms. Father Francis and I were talking after Mass yesterday about that Gospel. Something he said really caught my attention. The apostles are sitting in this boat in the middle of the water, and the world is rocking around them. Fear of the storm causes them not even to recognize Him. When Jesus gets in the boat with them, things begin to calm down. The world is still the same around them, but the storms die down.
As I wrote yesterday: Our current world is full of anger, pain, and chaos. Society, politics, churches, and schools are all rocked by scandal after scandal. People are hurting one another, and many are suffering from a lack of employment or income. We have to let Him in our boat! We have to let Jesus back into our society, our homes, schools, churches, and lives.
And if anyone has been paying attention, there seems to be a pretty big storm brewing. I made the mistake of watching some videos of live streams from the protests in Washington, D.C., last night. In one of them, I watched a young woman lose her life. I saw her shot and fall to the floor, and I saw the life leave her eyes. Imagine, just 12 days ago, the Church reminded us we needed Jesus born in our hearts, and now we have people storming our capital and at least one of them dead.
There is a battle going on—a battle for our souls and the soul of our country. People want to place blame and point fingers, they want to pin the storm on someone or some group. The real culprit here is Satan. How do we win? This storm around us can make us want to give up and to despair. But John reminds us this morning in the first reading:
For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.
Faith. Many people think faith and belief are the same things. Faith is a gift from God, and it’s more than just having confidence or trust in His promises. Even the devil believes. Faith is what conquers the world because Jesus is who conquers the world. John reminds us that to love God requires we love our brothers because God is love. Love conquers the world.
Real love heals. It restores and brings freedom. It has power. Power to revive, restore, uplift. It reminds others that they are unique and valuable. Irreplaceable. Where is our country headed? I don’t know. I do have confidence in this: All of this around us, The Eucharist, the Mass, the Sacred Scriptures, the Liturgy of the Hours, the sign of the cross, and so much more; all of this is that faith, that gift from God and it’s not a burden, but the answer to all our storms.
A homily for Thursday after Epiphany: January 7th, 2021