September 5, 2021: 23rd Sunday B
September 5, 2021: 23rd Sunday B
A week ago, many parishioners saw a beautiful double rainbow in the sky above our church and texted us their photos. A rainbow, as we know from the Book of Genesis, is a reminder of God’s great love and care for us, even during the most devastating of times. The rainbow is an encouraging sign just as is the message of Prophet Isaiah, “Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.”
We needed encouragement during this surreal week when most of us in Southeast Louisiana were in the dark from the power outage in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Those of us who only had to endure power outages, gas lines and the additional traffic cannot imagine what families in hard hit areas are going through as they grieve the loss of their home or their livelihoods — or both. A tremendous thank you to those who have opened your homes to families and friends seeking refuge from the impacted areas. Thank you also to those who have been helping in the hard hit areas and feeding and caring for the utility workers.
This past week we learned that a plethora of communication gadgets and technology we have in our homes were powerless if not useless without electricity, cellular service, and internet. In a way, we were like the deaf, speech-impaired man in the Gospel who could not hear or communicate. The deaf man was not able to enter into dialogue with others and was cut off from the world as we were cut off from the world. Perhaps one of our greatest challenges this week was to listen to the voice of God. Exteriorly, there was plenty of noise all around us--the motor running on the neighbor’s generator, chainsaws used to clear the downed trees, and the breaking news from battery powered radios and TV. Interiorly, our hearts were restless with the noise of fear, anxiety, sadness, and disappointments. It was a very challenging week for us to have interior silence and to be able to hear God’s voice of assurance and encouragement. Without the interior silence, it was difficult to pray. Some may be asking why focus on prayer at all? Prayer may seem so impractical when there are so many practical to-do’s on our list such as searching for available gas, calling our insurance companies, clearing debris, cooking for those suffering. How can prayer help especially those who have lost so much?
We are created by God and for God, who is infinitely good. We are made to live in a loving relationship with Him and with one another. We can only go so long on our own way before we find ourselves lost and restless. Without being connected to God and without divine hope, we constantly worry about what will happen tomorrow. Jesus gave three specific categories of things that the Christian should not worry about: what we eat and drink, our bodies, and our clothing. To each of these concerns Jesus points to his Father who provides everything we need. Instead, Jesus asked his disciples to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all the things that we need will be provided for us. In order to seek God’s kingdom, we need to listen and talk to God about how best to serve Him and our neighbor.
Mother Teresa said, “We cannot put ourselves directly in the presence of God if we do not practice internal and external silence. In silence we will find new energy and true unity. Silence gives us a new outlook on everything. The essential thing is not what we say but what God says to us and through us. In that silence, He will listen to us; there He will speak to our soul, and there we will hear His voice.”
In healing the deaf and speech-impaired man, Jesus “put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle.” What is the significance of Jesus putting his finger into the man’s ears? St. Gregory the Great wrote, “The Spirit is called the finger of God. When the Lord put his fingers into the ears of the deaf mute, he was opening the soul of man to faith through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.”
For us, the ear of our souls were opened up by the Holy Spirit at our baptism. Have we nurtured our faith since our baptism? Hopefully, through our religious education, faith sharing groups, participation in the Sacraments, we have grown in our relationship with God. Yet, we must strive daily to listen to the voice of God through prayer lest all we hear are our worries and the noise of the world. Our Lord himself has set a great example by always finding time to go away by himself to pray in the midst of chaos. What is prayer? Mother Teresa answered, “Does your mind and your heart go to Jesus as soon as you get up in the morning? This is prayer, that you turn your mind and heart to God. In your times of difficulties, in sorrows, in sufferings, in temptations, and in all things, where did your mind and heart turn first of all? How did you pray? Did you take the trouble to turn to Jesus and pray, or did you seek consolations?”
The coming days will be a great challenge for all of us in Southeast Louisiana. The road to recovery will be long and challenging. We may be overwhelmed by the number of people needing and asking for our help. It is good to take Mother Teresa’s advice, "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." Find that one person in our neighborhood whom we can check on or ease their burden in some way. We often get discouraged that we cannot help many. However, we may be only called to help just one person. When we feed one--physically or spiritually, there is one less hungry person. And if every one of us followed this advice, then we could feed a multitude, together.
