Jesus was amazed at
their lack of faith. It is such a sad sentence to conclude the proclamation of
the Gospel. Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith. Couldn’t we hear something
more hopeful? Could there be some good news for us on this weekend in early
July? I want something more than “Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.”
Maybe Ezekiel can help
us. Maybe there is good news from the prophet who lived by the river in Babylon
and had visions of the court of heaven. Certainly he can give us a word of hope
and a word of grace, but not today. His message is about rejection. His message
is about a people who refuse to hear the Word of the Lord. The message of
Ezekiel today is about hardness of heart and rebellion. It seems to be a sad
message too. It seems like so much bad news.
And we hear enough bad
news. We hear bad news about the treatment of children along the border and bad
news about the treatment of children in our community. We hear bad news about
gang violence and drug violence and school violence and violence against the
unborn. There is so much bad news. I almost want to stop listening. I almost
want to stop listening to the noise and the conflict and the violence and the
hatred. I almost want to stop listening.
But if I stop
listening, I might miss something important. I might not hear the story about
the great young people who sit in this Church who can see a future better than
the present. I might not hear the parents and grandparents who look back with
pride and forward in hope. If I stop listening I could not hear the pastor who
says, “I am amazed at the abundance of their faith.” If I stop listening, I
will not hear the words that Jesus gave to Paul and that Jesus gives to you and
to me: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.
We are a community of
amazing faith. For more than seventy-six years, the parish of Our Lady of
Lourdes has kept the faith alive from generation to generation. It has not been
easy. We know those stories well. We have our wounds and our scars. We have our
regrets and our resentments. We have our disagreements and our divisions. We
cannot deny them. They are part of who we are . . . today.
But Jesus says, “My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” We have
the promise of Jesus that his grace surrounds us and supports us. We have the
promise of Jesus that his grace will leads us on our way to the kingdom where
communion conquers division, where wounds become trophies of victory, and all
resentments are overcome by the resurrection. We have the promise of Jesus, “My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”
We have the promise. We
have the grace. We have the victory in Christ Jesus. We have the Good News.
Amen.
