Homily: 27th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
“God’s Instruction Book
on Love”
by Fr. William Holtzinger
October 7/8, 2006
Think for a moment: What is
something that you have purchased that would require you to read the
instructions to build or operate? Similarly, what is something that if
purchased you’d never read the instructions to build or operate? Why do
I ask? Well, simply, the Church has set up the progression of the
Scriptures in such a way that the liturgy flows like an instruction
book. In it we learn how God wants us to love.
To begin, we are given the
basic ground rules. In the Genesis reading, the second account of
creation, we see that we are not meant to be alone. “It is not good for
the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” Notice
that the man found that no other creatures were “suitable” for him. God
then offers him one that truly could be suitable, one with equal
dignity. This can be known by the fact that they are made of the same
substance, the same flesh. Even more interesting is the fact that the
man is put to sleep. The word used could also be translated as ecstasy.
The woman then wasn’t an afterthought that was made of something second
rate. Rather, God ... In this place and time, both the man and woman
experienced what is called their original innocence. They were in
harmony with God, each other, and the creation about them. This is the
state of being or way of living, we might even say, rule of how God
wanted us to love... from the beginning. But this beginning also
foreshadowed the ending. The life of harmony found in this second
account of creation imitates something about our life in heaven. In
heaven we will be in perfect relationship with God, each other, and what
ever kind of creation will be found in heaven. Furthermore, the ecstasy
which was the beginning fleshy union of the man and woman could also be
a foreshadowing of what heaven may be like. An ecstasy is much more
attractive than pearly gates and fluffy clouds.
Next we move to the
Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 128. Here again we see analogies for the
beauty of life and love spoken in images of family and food. “For you
shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and
favored.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants around your table.”
In the second reading we
heard how Jesus who was “’for a little while’ made ‘lower than the
angels’” brought salvation through suffering. So we see that love is
also wrapped in suffering. In marriage, there is joy, but there is also
a certain amount of suffering. Christ told us to pick up our crosses
and follow him. It is through this way, the way of suffering, that our
love is perfected. You see, our suffering is a call to die to
ourselves. Then once we have died to our own self wills, we then can
experience an even greater joy.
Finally Jesus in the Gospel
refuses to be trapped by the Pharisees. He affirms the original state
of love while at the same time revealing the problem that happened after
the original innocence. Our hearts got hardened. We grew up. We were
tempted to sin. Jesus reminds us that in the beginning it was not so.
Love was made perfect. Then, the text moves to describe children coming
to him. In this seemingly oblique discussion, Jesus reveals that love
is still found in the hearts of children. He challenges his listeners
to be like a child lest they not enter into heaven.
And so the movement comes
full circle. We began with the original state of love, are given images
of home-like living in love, are told how Christ showed us a even
greater path of love through suffering, are reminded of the fallen state
of our existence, and then are reminded of what heaven will require. It
all comes down to love. We are to embrace God’s plan. We need to
recognize that God has an order for how we are to love. It’s like an
instruction book. The challenge for us is this: are we willing to live
in this love? There will be suffering, but even more, there will be
harmony, ecstasy, joy, and eternal life.