Things are not always as they seem: Homily for Thursday, August 15, 2024

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Things are not always as they seem

Things are not always as they seem. As a matter of fact, oftentimes things are not at all what they seem. But for a Christian in particularly, we need to recognize that things are almost never the way they seem. What do I mean?

Well, if we look at the readings today, we recognize that while there is certainly the wonderful and tremendous world in which we live and are called to safeguard and to take care of and to enjoy, there’s a spiritual world that’s much harder sometimes to see. We live in a world where the Spirit of God sometimes isn’t clear to us. And we see this all the time throughout the Scriptures.

God asks a prophet to say something or God chooses someone and they’re almost stunned at the choice. But one thing I think that sometimes we don’t always appreciate is another aspect that things are not as they seem. And that concerns the providence of God.

I have a high view of God’s providence. It’s essentially the view that things happen for a reason. But things happen for God’s reason, not always for ours. And we have to be attentive in faith to those things which help us to see God, to experience God, to welcome God into our hearts.

One way we do this, and I would suggest a primary way, is through the Bible. And today we get a very powerful recognition of the truth that St. Augustine spoke about when talking about the Bible. And he said this, “The Old Testament is revealed in the New, and the New Testament is hidden in the Old.” Once again, the New Testament is hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New. And today we get powerful examples of how that’s true. I’m only going to focus on the Gospel today in the interest of time, but this very much is better understood if we think of King David.

Now that may seem to be an odd thing, but bear with me for a minute. The first connection has to do with our calling Mary the Queen. It may seem odd to us that we call Mary the Queen when Jesus is the King, but in the Old Testament, the Queen was not the wife of the King. The Queen was the mother of the King. So when David married Bathsheba, she wasn’t the Queen. When her son Solomon ascended to the throne, she was the Queen.

Mary is the Queen because she is the mother of the King. There is also a connection to David in another way. You may remember or recall the story in the Old Testament where David dances naked with Abandon in the presence of the Ark of God. Solomon’s daughter didn’t take so well to that, but David made no excuses for his behavior because he was rejoicing in the Lord.

What do we see in today’s Gospel? Saint John the Baptist dancing naked in the presence of the Ark, the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of God, an image of Mary that’s ancient. And so we understand better that this is really a proclamation of faith about who Jesus is.

Elizabeth shares this blessed faith. “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? The baby leaped in my womb for joy.” And Mary in this beautiful Magnificat also professes her faith in the tremendous God. It’s ironic to me that those who are fundamentalists, who take the Bible literally, have difficulty with our devotion to the Blessed Mother because it seems that all generations will call Mary blessed, which we do.

It also seems that what she recognizes is that the outcast, the lowly, the one who’s on the margin is raised by the Spirit of God to new status and new purpose. Let us ask Mary’s intercession today on each one of us, seeking her prayers for us so that she might bring us to heaven with her son Jesus.

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