July 24, 2022

 As preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Church

2 Kings, 4:25-37, Romans 8:1-11, Matthew 9:18-26

The readings this morning remind us of the miracles performed by the early prophet Elisha and the many miracles performed by Jesus as well. The leader of the synagogue, Jairus, had faith Jesus could bring his daughter back to life. The woman with a 12-year hemorrhage believed Jesus could cure her. Even the epistle reminds us that through our baptism we receive the miracle of the indwelling Spirit who raised Christ from the dead into our own mortal bodies. What effect have these miracles had in our lives?

Even though the disciples witnessed many of the miracles performed by Jesus, those miracles had little effect on their behavior when He was taken by the Romans and put to death. It seems the miracles were ineffective in strengthening their faith because there was no correspondence between what was happening on the outside and what was happening on the inside. The most spectacular happenings do not work unless they trigger an interior response. There needs to be a consistency between what is deepest in us and the practical choices that constitute our everyday life. We do need to burden ourselves with principles that define our identity and set our objectives and not just float along with the current. This work of having a personal philosophy that is drawn from our past experience and feeds into our present and future living is of great importance as we arrive at a sense of who we are and what we stand for. Life can teach us to build within ourselves a structure of beliefs and values that serve to guide us in the decisions we make and serve as a standard against which we can measure our conduct.

In the course of our lifetime, we may not witness miracles, but we do encounter a vast variety of situations from which we may draw wisdom and understanding. We need always to step back and reflect. In Scripture, there are many admonitions repeated in many forms. Be chaste, be honest, and many other virtues—in short, keep the Ten Commandments. These moral precepts are about how to live an upright life. What one must actually do, leave us none the wiser in our actual day-to-day choices in light of what is known today that was not known in the past. In so many areas of life we know more, physically, psychologically, astrometry. These moral precepts must be kept, of course, but isn’t Christianity even more than these precepts?  We want to know God and mysteries that are inaccessible to the light of natural reason. We want to know where our heart and mind are to find fulfillment in this life on earth.

This past week we celebrated the feast of Mary Magdalen, and I am reminded of her going to the tomb to properly anoint Christ’s body. She did not recognize the gardener and asked “Where is He?” When Christ spoke her name, Mary recognized Jesus and became overjoyed. Are we alert enough to recognize Jesus calling our name? Sometimes Christ speaks to us in silence, sometimes in joy, in laughter, and even in the voice of a loved one who calls us by name.  We need to be more attentive to Christ in the sounds of creation—the birds, the wind, a gentle rainfall or crack of thunder. The more attentive we are to listening for Jesus to call our name, the likelier it will be that we hear and see Him in the young person who feels desperate, or the child who is hungry, in the refugee escaping danger, in the teenager who is bullied, in the person without a home.

What we give to others gives witness to our faith that Jesus lives.

Christ is in our midst!