26 September 2019 - beyond curiosity

Saints Cosmas and Damian

Today's Readings

(Audio)

And he kept trying to see him.

This mere curiosity is insufficient. Herod is greatly perplexed about the identity of Jesus, as are many in our world today. We hear all that is happening, reports of the miraculous, of lives transformed and we try to see what is at the source of these stories. At the center of the stories we find not a what but a who. To understand this individual we must move beyond curiosity because understanding him means confronting ourselves.

But Herod said, “John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”

If we choose, we can double down on our belief in our own righteousness. We can refuse to reevaluate our lives in the presence of the one who is at the center of all of the stories we have heard. But if we do we will never really understand Jesus. Curiosity can point us in a direction but it isn't going to motivate repentance and a change of life. Choosing to take the invitation to turn toward Jesus means by definition turning from much of the way we lived without him. But every degree more we turn toward him we receive more grace to turn. He offers the grace and invites. May we respond.

Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses,
while this house lies in ruins?

We are too concerned with ourselves. This inward focus makes it hard to perceive Jesus as anything more than a wonder worker provided for entertainment and distraction. We believe that other things can bring us happiness and that Jesus is at best one among many. But in his light we are invited to reevaluate our strategies for happiness and satisfaction.

Now thus says the LORD of hosts:
Consider your ways!
You have sown much, but have brought in little;
you have eaten, but have not been satisfied;
You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated;
have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed;
And whoever earned wages
earned them for a bag with holes in it.

The LORD is telling us that the time has come to rebuild his house. We ourselves are meant to be the dwelling places of God in the Spirit. We ourselves are meant to be living stones built together into a spiritual house. We're preoccupied with repair projects in our own spirits. We manage to plug one leak and another springs out at once. Let us instead commit our efforts to something that can truly last.

Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.