WEDNESDAY HOMILY: Finding God Where You Would Rather Not Look

When the good Lord says that "Whoever is not against us is for us," he does not mean that we stop using critical discernment of spirits but that our discernment should get sharpened to take whatever good that people say and leave out what is not good, like finding the diamond embedded in the mud.

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P>HYTHE, KENT, UK (Catholic Online) - Just as a fish was made for water was the human heart made for Jesus Christ.

Which human heart?  Catholics?  Muslims?  Athiests?  Haters?  Each and every human heart was made for the One True God.

So if you see someone you least expect it respond to God's movements don't be surprised.  "Whoever is not against us is for us."  This is what Jesus tells us in today's Gospel.  This should make us open to God working in everyone right?  We should all grab hands and join in a circle swaying and singing kumba-ya, right? 

Wasn't this the basis NOT of the teaching of Ecumenism of Vatican II (which could only be based on Eucharistic worship of the True God), but the false ecumenism that expressed an erroneous attitude that it doesn't really matter what you believe because God speaks to every heart and we are all on the same side, ain't we?

Not quite.

God speaks to every heart, but each human heart without the help of divine grace working through faith and the sacraments can only listen partially, inconsistently, and when there is some kind of motivation involved like self-interest.  For most human hearts, usually God's voice is heard along side the voice of the world, and so the result is that you see people responding to both at the same time.  The end product is that painful distortion of God's voice that somehow becomes codified in a cultural expression, a scientific theory, a political agenda, or a pop culture internet meme that goes viral on youtube or the blogosphere.

Do you remember when anti-life politicians like Hillary Clinton started spouting this rhetoric like, "We want abortions to be rare"? or when Barrack Hussein Obama uses a phrase like "the dignity of the human person" or when some hate-monger starts talking about compassion and tolerance?

Yuck!

When the good Lord says that "Whoever is not against us is for us," he does not mean that we stop using critical discernment of spirits but that our discernment should get sharpened to take whatever good that people say and leave out what is not good, like finding the diamond embedded in the mud.

If your eyes get sharpened to spot the way in which God is speaking to people whom you least expect it, you are able to understand the hidden dialogue God is having with each heart and so cooperate and pick up that conversation to have the most fruitful missionary harvest.  This is neither enjoyable nor easy, but it is Christ.  It is where He is working.  Where the Master is, so the servant shall be.

The first reading points out that Wisdom is foreign to man at first, "she walks with him as a stranger and at first puts him to the test; fear and dread she brings upon him."  If you understand this, you will be able to see that we are all in a different place with regard to accepting the Truth of Jesus Christ and His Holy Church.  Yes, this is true for those you least expect it, but knowing this means that you don't see anyone other than as a soul that was created for Truth.  This realization frees you from reacting to all the stupid and foolish things people say that are NOT from God but from the world, the flesh, the devil, or their own vain fear and pride.

Ok this doesn't mean you have to like it.  I wish I could sit in the pew all day and just receive divine grace for myself without having to share it with those to whom I would rather prefer not to be sent.  I don't like it sometimes, but it is like cleaning the dung out of the barn.  It just has to get done.  It is part of our work.  It get's a lot easier, when you realize that it is the work of Jesus Christ crucified.  He is the One to whom we strive with all our might and strength, with every breath, to direct all hearts and minds.

The only way possible to do this is to first go to the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer everyday, but shutting out all other voices, turning to the fount who is Wisdom Incarnate.  The more a person can turn toward him purely and completely, the more he will be strengthened to enter into the arena, the marketplace of ideas, with a truly Christ-centered approach.

Giving God one single minute totally and entirely by turning wholly away from this world's vanity and gazing upon the face of Jesus crucified, is one minute which will change the rest of the day's minutes. No Christian excise is more powerful and fruitful than this. It is the prayer and soul of the Mass. It orders the passions, enlightens the mind, strengthens the will, allays fear, shields us in gratitude, inspires faith, enkindles hope, augments charity, balances the personality, puts the devil to flight, and sparks true and lasting joy.

Our Lady, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, helps us to understand this better than anyone.  She is the one who prays unceasingly for everyone.  EVERYONE, so that all those human hearts, each and every single one that was made for Christ, may respond to the God who "desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.  May the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially in this month of May in which we honor her for her motherly care and prayers, help all of us to respond to God's glorious wisdom, mysteriously at work in the hearts of men.

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Father Samuel Medley, SOLT, is a priest of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, and is based in Hythe, Kent, United Kingdom.  He speaks to groups around the world on Blessed Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body.  Visit his homily blog http://medleyminute.blogspot.com or his blog on sexual ethics http://loveandresponsibility.org

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