27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle C
October 2,
2016 11:00am
Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore
The Vision
The
word, the one word I am focused on this morning is the word vision.”
The
prophet Habakkuk in the first reading says: “Write
down the vision. [Be patient because]
the vision will have its time.”
For me,
this one word summarizes our Scripture passages today. 1) We are to see the vision.
2) We
are to trust the vision. 3) And we are
to live the vision.
1.
See the Vision
First,
we are to see the vision.
This
means that we need to see Jesus himself.
We see him as the way to God and the way to know God because he is the
Son of God.
And so,
we are to work to know Jesus just as thoroughly as we can. We do this by carefully reading and
reflecting on the gospels, day by day, week by week, year by year.
What he
says and what he does and how he relates to people – this is to be the center
of our spiritual life. This is the
vision we are to see.
It gradually
shapes who we become as persons. Step by
step, it shapes how we think and what we say and do and how we relate to one
another.
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, through the prophet, reassures them.
“Write down the vision. [Be patient because] the vision will have its
time.”
So, we
are to trust the vision. Maybe we are in
the middle of chemotherapy treatments or we are caring for a loved one who is
slipping away with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Maybe
we are dealing with an addiction issue in our family or we are wondering how we
are going keep paying all of our bills.
In situations like these, we are to trust the vision.
We are
to trust that God is still with us in Jesus.
We are to trust that the Lord will give us strength to get through and
bear up under it all.
We are
to trust that dying – not just physical death, but dying in all its forms can
lead to new life with God. We are to
trust the vision we see in Jesus.
3.
Live the Vision
And then
finally, we are to live the vision in a positive way.
Jesus
says today: “If you have faith the size
of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.”
So, very intentionally, we are to live the vision.
Here in
the year 2016 in America, one thing that this has to mean is that we respect diversity. We do not view those who are different from
us as wrong or as bad or as less than we are.
Instead,
we show respect for others in our words and actions. We do this whether they are citizens or
recent immigrants, whether they are Christian or Muslim or Jew, whether they
are black or Asian or white or Latino.
And we
expect the policies of our government and the words and actions of the
political leaders we vote for to show this same respect. This is a very real way to live the vision
positively.
And, if
we do this, as Jesus says in the gospel, this will be our reward. This is what Jesus means about the servants
not expecting the master to wait on them.
We will
not expect reward or acclaim, because the living of the vision will bring us an
inner satisfaction and peace and that will be a be reward in itself. So, that’s the message today: 1) see the
vision, 2) trust the vision, and 3) live the vision.
