Monday January 30, 2006 (Audio) Homily by Fr. Robert Altier Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading (2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30;
16:5-13) Gospel (St. Mark 5:1-20)
In the readings today, we have two points which would be quite
unexpected. In the first reading, we hear about this man who comes out cursing
David, throwing stones and dirt at him. When David’s soldiers want to go over
and kill the man for what he is doing, David simply says, “Leave him alone,
because it is God who told him to curse David.” That is not something most of
us would usually think about. If there is somebody who does not like us, we
tend not to like them and we certainly would tend most often to impute rather
unfortunate motives to them. Instead, here is somebody about whom David says,
“God told him to curse David.” That is a pretty astounding statement. David
simply accepts what this man is doing, probably is pelted with a few rocks
along the way, and has all the dirt thrown at him that this man is throwing, as
well as his words. Yet David just continues to walk with his head down and to
weep, recognizing that because of the sins he himself has committed he probably
deserves it. Yet, at the same time, he is able to say, “Perhaps God will make
it up to me, or perhaps He will bless me later on because of all this.” Of course,
we know that after the situation with Absalom was taken care of, David was
restored to his kingship.
So we see that there are things in our lives that happen which are not
very pleasant. But remember that nothing happens without God allowing it. Even the
things that seem so negative, God allows for a reason, either as in this case
with David because of his sins and therefore it is something he himself
recognized that he deserved, or whether it is simply to bring about some point
of purification for us. If it is going to do something for us in which God will
bring about a greater good, then He allows things that seem so negative at the
time. Yet when we eventually see what it is He is doing with this supposedly
negative thing, we realize that in fact it is something for our own good.
Then we get to the other point, the other astounding one, and it is in
the Gospel. Jesus comes to the territory of the Gerasenes. This is a pagan
area, so we have these men who are herding the swine and we also have the demoniac
among the tombs. As Jesus casts out the demons from this man, they beg Him to
go into the swine. And when the people hear about it, they beg Him to leave
their territory. What a tragedy!
You have a man with faith recognizing in the first reading that these
bad things which are happening are in fact part of God’s Will for him, and here
you have pagans who are unable to recognize that the good which just occurred
in this man being freed from Satan’s grasp is something that is of God. They
look at it as something which is completely negative and beg the Lord to leave
their territory. What a tragedy! Again, we see the difference between having
faith or not. With faith, we can see that even the bad things which happen in
our lives can be turned to good, and that even the negative things can be part
of God’s providence for us. Without faith, we cannot even recognize the power
of God. When it is demonstrated clearly, rather than rejoicing in it, we tell
God to get out. We do not want Him because we have decided that living all for
ourselves and by ourselves is more important. So we see this dichotomy that is
there.
It is even easy, as we saw in yesterday’s reading, for people with some
faith not to want God around. That is, we want Him there to a degree. Remember,
even the Israelites begged that they would not hear the voice of God again.
Another tragic statement! What a sad thing. Just think, if the Lord were to
speak to us and we would say, “I don’t want to hear Your voice.” But why is it
that people do not want to hear Jesus? Because He is God. They do not want to
hear His voice. The people in the Gerasene territory, they did not want Him in
their territory. How much do people not want Him in their lives? “This is my
territory and I don’t want You here” is basically their attitude. We do not
want to hear His voice and we do not want Him in our lives; that is what
happens when we reject God or when we want to do it by ourselves. We want God
there in part, at an arm’s distance and not having any authority in our lives.
But then if we choose to do things God’s way, we realize it is not all going to
be simple and easy. Just like David, with this man cursing him and throwing
rocks at him, he sees it all as part of God’s providence and that God brings
about a greater good from it.
What we need to do is open our hearts to the Lord. We need to allow the
Lord to be at the center of our lives. Then no matter what it is that occurs in
our lives, we have to see it as part of God’s providence. Even if it does not
seem very good at the time, even if we cannot understand what God is trying to
do, it does not matter. It is all part of God’s providence for our good, for
our growth in holiness. With that faith, we can keep our focus where it belongs
– that is, on God – and to see everything that happens as coming from Him.
* This text was
transcribed from the audio recording of a homily by Father Robert Altier with minimal editing.