Wednseday the First Week Of Advent Dec. 6th

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

December 6, 2006

“On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples.”

Isaiah 25:7

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A priest was preaching on the parable of the wedding banquet and the urgency of responding to God now because tomorrow might be too late. During the middle of his homily a man got up and walked out of church. No knowing exactly why the man left church, the priest received a phone call from him the next day. He explained that he left the church because he was moved by the priest’s challenge to act today. Twelve years ago he and his brother had gotten in a fight and had not spoken to each other since. There was a canyon of alienation and bitterness between them. Inspired to make things right, he left the church during the middle of the homily and hurried to find the nearest pay phone. He called his brother and they got together and forgave each other.

We all want to see God but many of us complain that we can’t see him in our world. Some of our excuses might be that there is too much suffering, fear, bad things happening to good people to see anything of God in it all. Well, if you want to know what God looks like, if you want to see behind the veil, look at two brothers who have forgiven each other after twelve years of hatred and you will see God.

So much of our ability to see God in our world depends on what we are looking for. Sure, if we just focus on the darkness, suffering and all the bad things going on, God will seem veiled to us. On the other hand, if we just focus on seeing the goodness of God in our days, we can pull back the veil and see him.

Jesus came to earth to unveil God. Anytime you see brothers forgiving each other after twelve years of hatred and alienation, couples married for fifty years, a youth serving an elderly person, a parent up in the middle of the night with their sick baby- you can count that as seeing Jesus.

Jesus is everywhere- all the time. Unveil him.

Love is spelled T-I-M-E,

Fr. John