27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle C
October 6, 2019
Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore 5pm and 11am
Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 8am
The Vision
Today, I am focused on one word in the Scripture passages – the word vision.
In the first reading, God says: “Write down the vision. The vision will have its time and will not disappoint you.”
God wants to make sure that his people will remember the vision when life is tough – as it was at that time. That’s why he tells them to write it down.
God’s advice about the vision is important. We are to 1) see the vision, 2) trust the vision, and 3) live the vision.
1. See the Vision
First, we are to see the vision.
This means that we need to see Jesus himself. We are to see him as the way to God and the way to know God because he is God present in our humanity.
And so, we need to work to know Jesus just as thoroughly as we can. We are to see his vision of God as a loving Parent – One who loves us unconditionally.
We are to see his vision of ourselves – as human and sometimes sinful, yes, but also as worthy and beloved by God. And we are to see his vision of all humanity – of all persons as God’s sons and daughters.
This vision gradually shapes who we become as persons. It shapes how we see our life, ourselves, others, our world and God himself.
2. Trust the Vision
Then, with this seeing, we are to trust the vision.
Here we have to go back to the first reading – the prophet Habakkuk. The people are suffering and crying out to God.
“How long will this last, O Lord? We are surrounded by violence and destruction.
“There is strife and discord everywhere. So, how long, O Lord, how long?”
And the Lord reassures them: “Write down the vision. The vision will have its time and will not disappoint you.”
So, we are to trust the vision. Maybe we are in the middle of difficult chemotherapy treatments.
Or maybe we are in-between jobs and worried about how we are going meet our mortgage and cover all of our other bills. In situations like these, God asks us to trust the vision.
God asks us to trust that Jesus is walking this journey with us. God asks us to trust that the Holy Spirit will give us the strength we need to get through it all.
3. Live the Vision
And then, with this seeing and with this trust, we are to live the vision very intentionally – with intentionality.
Jesus says today: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.” In other words, we are to set out to live the vision that faith gives us.
So, a child or teen is to tell their parents the truth about what they did even if they will be sent to their room or grounded for a while. They tell the truth.
Or, we support human life not just in one area or on one issue, but in all areas and on all issues. We accept that this is complicated and not simple, and we try to be consistent in our human life ethic.
So, we live the vision. We make this a priority, or rather, the priority to guide us in our lives.
Conclusion
If we do this, this in itself will be our reward.
This is what Jesus means in our gospel passage when he talks about the servants not expecting the master to wait on them. Here Jesus isn’t talking about how a master in his day should treat servants or how we in our day are to treat one another.
Instead, he is talking about our vision of ourselves – all of us, you and me seeing ourselves as servants of God. He doesn’t want us to expect acclaim or feel entitled to this or that.
Rather, he wants us to 1) see the vision, 2) trust the vision, and 3) live the vision. And he is saying that an inner satisfaction and peace will be our reward and we will find that to be enough.
