Homily, 8-18-24; 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
At the offertory at this Mass, Fr. Hurley will bless the bread, the hosts, and then bless the wine that I will have mixed with water. Then, during the Eucharistic Prayer, he will call down the Holy Spirit upon the gifts on the altar in preparation for the consecration. It’s called the epiclesis. It is foreshadowed in our first reading. When we hear the word Wisdom in Scripture, we can usually see a reference to the Holy Spirit. In our reading from the Book of Proverbs, we heard Wisdom say: “To the one who lacks understanding, … come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding.” We can see in these words a sign of the Eucharist. We can hear a call not to be foolish, but instead to seek understanding.
The theme of today’s readings is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: understanding. And the main thing to remember is that it is a gift; a gift from God. It is a gift that we receive from the Spirit of Christ after we first have true faith in Him. St. Anselm describes theology as faith seeking understanding. Understanding is important, but first we must have faith, and then much will be revealed to us. Faith comes first. We must first have faith and confidence in Jesus and then He will send us His Spirit so that we will understand better what He wants us to do. It seems to be against our nature. We want to understand first and then decide whether we should follow His will; whether we should believe.
But is it really against our nature to believe without understanding? When I was a child, our phone was fixed on the wall and connected to the phone company with wires; I could have some understanding how voices were transmitted over those wires. And I had a watch that told me the time; I could somehow understand how the gears and springs could make the hands turn at the proper rate. But when it came to our black and white television set, I was baffled. I had no comprehension of how all these broadcasted images were floating around somewhere in the sky waiting for our antenna to pick them up. The Flintstone had to be up there somewhere. I had no understanding of how it worked, but I had faith that on Saturday morning I could turn on the television and watch my favorite cartoons.
It has become even more baffling with the rapid changes in technology over my lifespan. Every day we believe in technology that most of us don’t understand. We know how to use computers with very little, or no, understanding of electronics. We look at your cell phones to know the time without having a grasp of how the signal got to our phone and how the electrons moving around on microchips displayed the information for us. We have faith in our electronic devices to provide us information without feeling the need to understand how it actually happens.
Jesus said in our gospel reading today: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” It was a statement that the Jews could not understand and they quarreled among themselves. Jesus asked them to believe without understanding first, in other words to have faith. And because of Jesus’ statement, many of His followers left Him; they did not have faith.
Do you understand how Fr. Hurley, acting in the person of Christ, is able to turn the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ during the consecration of this Mass? If you do, please stop me after Mass and explain it to me. But hopefully, even if you can’t fully understand the mystery of transubstantiation, you can still believe in it. I do. I have faith because Jesus said that it happens, and I believe in His power to do all things, even if I don’t completely understand.
Understanding is something we should all pursue, but it is not always accomplished by our merits and efforts. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Our role is to grow in faith and become properly disposed to receive the gift. St. Paul talks about this in the second reading, in his letter to the Ephesians. He says: “Brothers and sisters: Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord. And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.
We are not to be foolish. We should not be drunk on wine and miss the opportunity to hear the Holy Spirit. We must avoid addictions that distract us and prevent us from receiving the Holy Spirit’s gift of understanding. This includes addictions to television, to the internet, to sports, to our work. There are many things that can interfere with our willingness to spend time in prayer with the Lord. There are many ways in which we act foolishly.
One of the best things we can do each week to fight our foolish nature, is to do the wisest thing of all; and that is to come to Mass. Come to Mass to praise God. Come to Mass to give God thanks. Come to Mass to ask God for forgiveness. Come to Mass to present your needs and troubles to God in prayer. And, of course, come to Mass to receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist that brings with it the promise of eternal life. What a wonderful gift to receive, in faith, even if we struggle with understanding how it takes place.