TUESDAY HOMILY – 1ST WEEK OF ADVENT (YEAR B)
THEME: Out of the Mouths of Children
By: Deacon Bill Frere
Gospel – Luke 10:21-24
Caesarea Philippi
Back when our daughter was very little and just learning to string sentences together, we had invited some friends over to our home for dinner. So when the doorbell rang a good half hour early, none of us were ready and I blurted out a few select 4-letter words to express my frazzled state of mind. And when we welcomed our guests in the door, there was our daughter standing there, greeting them with the same string of 4-letter words over and over again.
Out of the mouths of children! They see and hear so much more than we realize! They know and understand so much and so quickly.
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Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel that no matter our age or our seeming ‘wisdom’, there is part of us that we need to keep childlike – to keep that sense of wonder and joy over little things, to laugh at the trials of life and not allow them to rule our mood or our relationships. To keep that humbling and trusting and teachable faith in God, to recognize how much we depend on Him for our life and to express our gratitude and love for Him in our daily life!
One other thought today – this brief Gospel speaks about “knowing” God, “knowing” Jesus! How is that even possible for us to accomplish? But then I remember that many languages, Latin and French for instance, have 2 different words for “know”. One means ‘to understand’ and the other means ‘to be acquainted with’. Consider the simple act of flipping on a light switch. I know the light will go on; I have enough experience to believe that will happen. But that doesn’t mean I understand how electricity works.
I can’t begin to imagine I can fully understand God. But I can come to experience Him, to become acquainted with Him, to develop a relationship with Him, to recognize Him in my daily life. Advent would be a good time to work on that relationship, to work on “knowing God.”
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