Homily

Man's Natural Desire to See God, and the Shepherds of the Gloria

Sunday, December 25, 2007, Christmas, Mass at Dawn
Assumption Grotto Parish, Detroit

            (Note: My commentary on the Pope’s Encyclical will continue at a later date.)          

All men desire to know. Even the wise pagans understood that knowing the truth was the greatest of all goods known to man. But we wish to know as men know, by seeing, by feeling, by touching, and then by understanding the truth of what we know in our flesh. The only possible conclusion we can draw from this, therefore, is that man’s supreme happiness is found in the knowledge of the supreme truth, who is God, and by knowing him not only in ideas and by concepts, but also by knowing him in the flesh.

Amazingly enough, the first to see and know God in the flesh, besides of course Jesus and Mary, were the animals in the stable where Jesus was born, for the scripture says, she laid him in a manger. Yet these animals had no understanding of what they saw. After them, were the shepherds, simple men whose names we do not know, yet the first outside of the Holy Family to come and worship the God-man. How inscrutable are the loving ways of God, who chooses the least to make them the first! But see God they did. So look into your own hearts, and ask yourself, what type of happiness do you long for, and how often your pursuit of limited creatures, or even of sin, has left you frustrated, with empty hands and a sore conscience, with tears for your recompense. Is it really worth it to dedicate your life to serving creatures instead of the creator, to serving sin instead of God? Why not search to know, love and follow Jesus, who is the eternal Word made flesh, the revelation of the Father, who gave us his Spirit?

For the fact is, all men desire not only to know, as Aristotle taught, but that all men desire to know God; no, I correct myself, for that’s what angels desire. All men desire to see God, and to know him seeing him. Hence the Prophet Isaiah says, “see, your savior comes!” Again, the Epistle to Titus reads, “the kindness and generous love of God our savior has appeared,” where “generous love” is the Greek word philanthropia, which some poor translator mistook for the modern cognate “philanthropy.” No, this isn’t philanthropy and isn’t about generous donations, but about philia, the love full of spiritual pleasure, and anthropos, meaning the species of man; for God takes delight in every man whom he alone has created. Or again, we see the shepherds say, “Let us go and see,” for they longed to see the truth which had been revealed to them so far only as a truth, a teaching, the doctrine of the angels.

For God does not appeal to philosophical musings to satisfy the heart of man. Man cannot be satisfied with the idea of love. God addresses man, the whole man, the integral man, and reveals himself to man’s mind and also to the eyes of his flesh. For God loves the created world, and destined it not for sin, but to serve him. And of all the things in the visible created world, man alone stands as the one creature God made for his own good.

Mary then shines forth as the perfect one, she who not only saw Jesus in the flesh, who conceived him in her virginal flesh, so great was her faith and love, but “Mary kept all these things,” as the scriptures say, “and reflected on them in her heart.” Her contemplation was perfect, seeing with the eyes of her body, touching Jesus with her senses, hearing him, but also contemplating these supernatural truthes with the perfection of the gifts of understanding and knowledge which the Holy Spirit had given her.

Yet so many people today resist the sight of God. They flee from God. They don’t dare confess their sins, they want to hide from the Lord of Mercy. They don’t want to see crucifixes, because it is, well, “unpleasant.” They want to abolish the manger scenes from all public places. And so men who serve sin reject seeing the things of faith. Since all men by nature desire to see God, by repressing the sight of spiritual symbols, they become twisted and perverse, and undermine their own nature.

What is the way out of this dilemma? The Pope’s encyclical, promulgated at the beginning of this Advent, on hope shows us the way: it’s hope. Hope not like one who hopes in a utopia, but hope like one who hopes in the dawn, sure it will come yet patiently waiting as it is not here yet.

This is why Isaiah says, “Your savior comes! Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.” For God has revealed to us our hope, for he who hopes in the one true God lives as God intended him to live. God gave to the world baptism which saves us, confirmation which renews us, and the Eucharist which nourishes and strengthens and perfects us. This is why the letter to Titus says, “He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

At this point then, I wish to bring all these ideas to the Christmas Mass. We all wish to know; we all wish to know God; we wish to know God in body and in soul; and we regularly grapple with temptations to turn away from the light of God’s truth.

I think we can bring all of this to an application on this glorious day by comparing the Mass to the Birth of Christ. For as Jesus lay in the manger, at the Mass he rests in the ciborium and in the chalice, yet it is the same God, who came to save you. Sheltered once by the barn, now sheltered in the tabernacle by a magnificent parish church, he is yet one and the same God and same flesh of Jesus of Nazareth. Praised in song then by angels, he is now praised by your singing voices, and he is ever the same Eternal Word, Incarnate, born of the Virgin.

Yet there is an important difference: you do not see the baby Jesus. Yet you do see his mystical body, visible in the world, the Church. It is therefore now in the Church where we are to see God in this life, but we will enjoy the beatific vision only in heaven. The animals saw Jesus, who is God, but with no spiritual grasp. The shepherds saw God in the manger, and believed. Mary saw and her soul had perfect interior enlightenment.

Let Christmas this year be a boost for your wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Know Jesus, love him, and follow him wherever he takes you.  See Jesus in the Eucharist, see him in his mystical body, the Church; but to see like this you need faith. Exercise your faith to see what you most desire to know, and strive to know Jesus. He is the revelation of the Father. God wants to know you, and wants to be known by you. Know him, and love him. Follow Jesus wherever he goes, and wherever he leads you. Eternal Word shed the light of truth and love upon us, and have mercy. Amen.