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We are but tiny pimples of intelligence on the face of a small planet that whirls around a mediocre sun in a corner of a minor galaxy in a vast universe which we are only beginning to fathom. And beyond this universe there may be countless other universes greater and grander than this result of one big bang. And who are you to think that the God who creates all this should be conscious of something as insignificant as you?
And yet he is. Incredible as it seems, God is not only conscious of you, he loves you.
What is almost as amazing is how we take all this for granted. As if we deserved it.
In principio erat Verbum. In the beginning was the Word. And who are you? Little pimple. Little pimple loved by God. Why should he love you? Above all, why should he become someone like you?
God whose grandeur and might are literally unimaginable and unintelligible, whose billions of beings are better than you, this God who creates all and could destroy all, this God who let evolution make you such a flawed and fragile unimportant thing, this God cares for you, for every hair on your body.
“Can’t you buy a couple of sparrows for practically nothing? Yet not one flying sparrow can alight on the ground unless my Father guides her there. He’s even counted every hair on your head. So, don’t be afraid. My Father thinks you’re worth a lot more than millions of sparrows.”
In the beginning was the Word. Who are you that God should invite you into his very being, into the community of Father, Word, and Spirit? Who are you that God the Father should invite you to be transformed into a being who will share with his Son in God’s very nature?
The Word was with God. And the Word was God.
Paul said: Christ’s nature was God’s own nature. But he did not take advantage of that equality with God. No, he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.
We are the humble nothing he became. We are exceedingly humble, and should be filled with humility – for after all, humility is nothing but recognizing and embracing the truth.
The Word was at the beginning with God. Before the bang. Before any other big bangs there may be. And before all that, he knew you. He knew what you would look like. He knew what you would do. How you would grow and age and die. You were a work of art he planned to make.
All things received their being through him. Without him not one thing came into existence. Nothing, not even the thoughts going through your head exist without his choosing to give them being.
Life itself was in him. Because you are alive you share in his life. All living things do. But more than that, This life gives light to everyone. We are not only given the gift of life, we are given the gift of being conscious that we are alive.And the gift of knowing we will die.
The light shines through the darkness. In the darkness all things lose their shape and identity.
Watchman, Watchman, what of the night? Isaiah said the call came from Seir, the land of Esau, the land of Edom. He said: He calls from Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” And the watchman replied, “The morning comes. And the night returns. If you want to know, ask. Come back, come back and ask.” 1
In the night there is no God to feel, to see, to hear, to know. All gods are dead. All idols smashed. In that necessary but terrifying night – the night that comes eventually to each of us – the night when the only God is the God we know by bare faith – only then can pure faith live. Only then can hope be renewed and can naked love be born.
John of the Cross wrote of this night:
One dark night
by the fire of love’s dread need
(oh perfect prize)
I slipped out unseen
for all my house was still.
In darkness and secure
by that secret stair
(oh gracious gift)
dim, disguised and hidden
while all my house was still.
On that alluring night
in stealth for no one saw me
and nothing did I see,
there was no light for me
no guide for me but my burning heart.
To some the night comes in youth, to some it comes with age, to some it hides until it comes with death. But to all it comes. And with it bitterness, for then we realize that this world can never make us happy. Some curse the light and choose to never leave the night. And that is what hell is. For each of us is capable of knowing God and yet and refusing to submit.
Please check the website next week for Part 2 of this Homily
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