Today's homily is more of a short reflection than a homily, as today's
circumstances are very different to normal. Right now I am with friends in
Venice, SW Florida, as we await the full wrath of hurricane Irma. As of now we
just have strong winds and rain, but by midnight tonight we are due to have the
full force of the hurricane. People are scared, wondering what will happen.
Many have already had to evacuate, not sure if they will have a house to return
to, including me, as my house is close to the Caloosahatchee river, which could
well overflow and burst its banks. Time will tell.
The
Gospel that comes to my mind is the Gospel of Mark 4: 34-40. Jesus is out with
the Apostles in a boat and a storm breaks out. The sea of Galilee is known for
sudden storms. The boat begins to take water and they are terrified that they
will drown. Jesus is asleep in the stern. The Apostles wake him and say
'Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?' Jesus gets up and rebukes the
wind and sea and all becomes completely calm. The Apostles are left speechless and say,
'Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?' It is a powerful image and even
more so if you have seen the power of the sea in a storm.
For all the wonderful advances in technology that we have, it doesn't take long for mother nature to remind us just how small and mortal we are. When nature's forces awaken, all we can do is get out of the way. I believe that this can be a good thing. Depending on where we live, we can develop a false sense of security, especially in the developed parts of the world. Thank God we have all that we have, but when you think about it, there are so many parts of the world where they have to face natural disasters far more often and they are not half as well equipped as we are, but they manage. To be exposed to this reality can be healthy, in the sense that it brings up the bigger questions that we prefer to avoid: why am I here? what if I die? what happens then? Although these are scary questions which usually only arise when the reality of death seems closer than normal, it is also important that we address them. Otherwise we can lose sight of why we are here and get immersed in the world in an unhealthy way.
The
reality is that we only have a short time in this world and there is a reason
why we are here. We are created out of love and we are created to love and
serve. That is the purpose of our life. As we grow, we learn about what it means
to love and serve, the sacrifices, the joys and pains, but we must also choose
to love. This learning is part of what our life is about. Sometimes it is only
in a crisis, when someone we love becomes sick or dies, or faced with a natural
disaster, that we wake up to this reality. In times of crisis, the things of
importance come to the surface and the worldly things disappear into
insignificance. Times of crisis also bring great goodness out of people. Humanity shines.
So as we await this great storm, I give thanks to God for this reminder to us all of what we are about. Please God we will all come through it with a greater sense of purpose and even if we do lose our church or our homes it will be painful, but we will still have each other and we will manage. Thank you Jesus for everything.
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