Now is the Son of Man Glorified
Pastor’s Column
5th Sunday of Easter
April 28, 2013
"Now is the Son of Man Glorified, and God is glorified in him."
When Jesus says this at the Last Supper, Judas has just walked out to betray Jesus. We all know what's coming next and yet, incredibly, it is at this moment that Jesus says God is glorified the most! Most of us would think of this as the lowest point of our lives.
When I graduated from high school (in Los Angeles), our class of 900 was so large that they had to rent the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to hold us all. This was the same venue that the Academy Awards were telecast from at that time. Just imagine all the stars that came and went down that center aisle and how much they want to be in the spotlight! Yet this kind of applause is not what it means to be glorified by God. Instead, with God, we are most glorified when we are not noticed, when we suffer for some higher purpose or a self-sacrifice, but usually not when everyone applauds us!
I remember receiving some kind of award at that time – and now I don’t even remember what it was for! All I know is that I had a gold rope around my neck. We can sometimes think that when we are applauded, or achieve a goal in our work, are compensated well financially or get recognized for a performance, that we have somehow glorified God (and perhaps we have), but God is more glorified when things are rough and we don't feel that we've accomplished anything. That's the paradox of the Gospel.
Saint Faustina was once complaining to God that she felt no zeal or attraction to what she was doing; that she felt listless and not filled with energy and that she couldn't possibly be doing anything pleasing to God. Does this sound familiar to you? Perhaps you are trying to pray daily and find you are distracted constantly, or you make a resolution to improve something and can't finish it. You go about your duties at home or work but don't have any joy in it. How can this be pleasing to God?
Actually (Jesus said to her), it is precisely in these times that we can glorify God the most. It isn't really very noteworthy when we serve God or pray at those times when we are filled with zeal and love and joy! Whether it's in our marriage or for our children or at work or in our church, it’s easy to stay committed when everything is a joy and we're feeling great. But it is precisely in those times when it is difficult, dry, painful or exhausting, that we are really making a sacrifice for God. This is when we are glorifying God the most, when it costs something, when no one is applauding, when perhaps no one is even noticing.
There are times in our lives when we do get applause or acclaim, and yet real glory lies in not tooting our own horn or when people applaud, but when God notices and what he notices is often what everyone else misses. Don't think that just because your life is not always filled with zeal and joy and constant applause that you are not being pleasing to God. Instead, look to Jesus who, when he was about to go to the cross, said that this was when he glorified God the most—and this is a lesson for all of us too.
Father Gary