21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle
A
August
27, 2017
8:00
am at Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville
11:00
am at Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore
Standing in Wonder: The Universe
This
past Monday afternoon, I got into my car to drive home around three o’clock.
The
solar eclipse was just ending. I turned
on the radio and one of the networks was interviewing people about their
experience with the eclipse.
One
person said: “It’s just so good to look
up. It’s so good to look beyond
ourselves and our world.”
Another
person said: “It’s really overwhelming
when you think about it. It helps you to
see how small we really are.”
And another
person said: “It helps us to realize how
much we know – I mean, for scientists to be able to calculate when this was
going to happen. And it also helps us to realize how much we
don’t know.”
Standing in Wonder: God
Well, what
I see underneath these comments is our standing in wonder at the universe, and
beyond that, our standing in wonder at God.
Saint
Paul beautifully expresses this today: “Oh,
the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how
unsearchable his ways!”
It is
as if Paul is also looking up and beyond ourselves and our world. Paul stands in wonder at the greatness and
mystery of God.
Standing in Wonder: The Son of God
And then, today’s
gospel opens up another experience of wonder.
The apostles had
already stood in wonder as they saw Jesus calming the stormy lake and healing
people. Now Peter says that he believes
that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the
living God.”
This idea is both
simple and simply awesome. There is the
Almighty One, the One before whom we stand in wonder when we look up to the heavens
and beyond ourselves.
And now, Peter and
we declare that this Almighty One has become one of us. And so, along with Peter and the other
apostles, we stand in wonder before Jesus.
And, as if that
isn’t enough, God in Jesus shows us how to live everyday life in that
wonder. He shows us how to live standing
in wonder, as if we are looking up and beyond ourselves and our world.
Living in Wonder
For example, we
live in wonder before Jesus:
· when we pray from our hearts and really mean
what we say;
· when we receive Holy Communion, and are aware
that this is Jesus, the Son of God coming to us;
· when we receive Holy Communion, and are aware
that this Communion – spelled with a capital C – enlivens our communion –
spelled with a small c – with all God’s sons and daughters on this earth.
Again, we live in
wonder before Jesus:
· when we are faithful to our commitments to
one another;
· when we sacrifice for the good of our families;
· when we take a minute to say something
supportive to the clerk at the check-out line who seems to be having a bad day.
And again, we live
in wonder before Jesus:
· when we speak respectfully about others and
to others, no matter what;
· when we do things that promote unity among
people;
· when we try to build bridges between others
and ourselves.
And finally, we
live in wonder before Jesus:
· when we look above and beyond our own needs
and concerns to the common good of all;
· when we maintain hope based on our faith that
God will be with us, no matter what;
· when we cherish human life across the board
and equally, wherever or in whomever it is found.
Conclusion
They are some of
the ways that come to my mind – some of the ways that Jesus shows us how to
live everyday life in wonder, how to live as if we are looking up and beyond
ourselves and our world.
When we live in
these ways, we are standing in wonder before Jesus and we are making a very positive
difference in our world.
