No recording of this homily, but still wanted to post my thoughts on today’s readings:
The visions of prophets in the Old Testament might seem a bit surreal, almost dream-like. In the first reading today, the prophet Ezekiel sees a hand holding out a scroll, that he is told to eat. The prophet does, and it is sweet to the taste, like honey. However, what are the words? Lamentation, wailing, and woe. They’re not sweet words, but words of suffering and pain and anguish!
The fact is, we need to hear this today. We like to focus on the “sweet” words, like Our Lord speaking about being child-like in the Gospel. Such beautiful, sweet words! When we encounter more difficult, painful passages, however, we don’t want to hear it. Whether those “sour” words come from Scripture or Tradition, we turn away.
The only things we want to hear are the “sweet” words that won’t make us change. We don’t want to hear about our sins. We don’t want to hear about the immorality of sexual activity outside of marriage (whether heterosexual, homosexual, or any other form). We don’t want to hear that marriage is the exclusive, lifelong union of one man and one woman, and cannot be redefined or broken. We don’t want to hear about our call as individuals to go out and serve the poor and downtrodden. We don’t want to hear about respect for life at all stages from conception to natural death. We don’t want to hear the call to detach from the things of the world, and to renounce materialism in all its forms. We don’t want to hear the commandment to love God above all things and love our neighbor as ourselves.
And yet, if we are truly disciples of Christ who desire salvation, we must hear these things. We must recognize that these “sour” words are truly “sweet” because they are the Word of God. We must recognize how we are the lost sheep in today’s Gospel. I’m sure the sheep who have wandered off don’t like being forced back to the flock, so it’s understandable how today’s lost sheep don’t like to hear that how they live their lives has caused them to wander away. But we need to hear these words and allow them to change our hearts, then bringing them to the other lost sheep so that they too may receive them. It is then that we will realize how truly sweet they are!
