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Homily of the Day

Title:	No Strangers, Only Brothers and Sisters
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Monday, November 29, 2004

Isaiah 4:2-6; Matthew 8:5-11

With each passing year, we find ourselves confronted with abundant new evidence of our human inclination to fragment into in-groups and out-groups. Whether on the international scale or in our own neighborhoods, schools, and parishes, we see it happening over and over, one group declaring another to be outsiders, strangers, inferiors, not one of “us.” The division is always arbitrary and usually quite superficial in origin, but that doesn’t lessen the intensity with which it is felt and enforced, sometimes even with threats of death.

Nothing could be further from the big family, the communion, which our hearts yearn for. Isaiah tells us in today’s Old Testament reading that God has a very different vision of our future. “The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and...all nations shall stream toward it.” In God’s vision, there is no “they," only “we”; no strangers, only brothers and sisters.

So how are we doing at making God’s plan come true? Are we leaving anyone or any group outside the circle of our love and concern? Isn’t it time to bring everyone inside?

The Word Among Us

Monday, November 29, 2004

Meditation
Isaiah 4:2-6

“Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” So wrote Lord Acton, a British historian from the late-nineteenth century. No matter what your situation, the more authority and power you have, the more tempted you will be to abuse that power.

Lord Acton’s words—while probably too cynical and pessimistic overall—were often played out in first-century Palestine as the Roman occupying force exerted quite a bit of power over the Jews in the land. A Roman centurion, for instance, usually commanded a great deal of respect—or at least fear—among the people, and it’s easy to imagine how someone in this position might become quite prideful and arrogant.

Yet the centurion who came to Jesus seemed to be immune to the temptations of power. He didn’t just come with faith in Jesus. He came with great humility as well. He didn’t even consider himself worthy to have Jesus enter his house. How could Jesus resist so humble and trusting an attitude?

This man’s humility and openness to Jesus were the keys to experiencing Jesus’ healing power. And this man was not alone. In story after story in the gospels, humility and lowliness before the Lord seem to tug at his heart, opening his love and mercy. By contrast, pride and arrogance block the flow of his grace, since they tend to keep the hard of heart at a distance. And it makes sense, doesn’t it? Because Jesus himself is meek and humble of heart, those who seek to be like him naturally make themselves open to the same grace from heaven that moved so powerfully in him.

This Advent, why not make it your goal to grow in humility and openness to the Lord? If you’ve been away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, confess your sins. Is there some way you can reach out to the hurting in your community? Or maybe you could work at breaking down any barriers that might exist between yourself and someone close to you. Whatever you do this month, know that Jesus loves you immensely and has the power to change your life and the lives of those around you.

“Lord Jesus, I really am not worthy to have you in my presence, but I trust in your love and mercy to come to me and to make me more like you.”