22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 16:21-27
A FEW WEEKS AGO, FATHER REILLY CALLED MY ATTENTION TO A MORNING GLORY GROWING ON HIS PORCH. ODDLY ENOUGH, THE FIRST TIME I MET FATHER REILLY WHEN HE WAS PASTOR IN HOLYOKE, HE ALSO SHOWED ME A MORNING GLORY GROWING ON A FENCE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. HE DIDN'T REMEMBER THAT FIRST TIME, BUT I DID, SO I GUESS MY MIND IS STILL INTACT.
HAVE YOU EVER REALLY LOOKED AT A FLOWER? BESIDES THE COLOR, AND THE COLORS RANGE ALL OVER THE VISUAL SPECTRUM, THE SHAPE, THE INTRICATE DESIGNS, THE SMELL SOMETIMES, AND THE INFINITE VARIETY ALL GO TOGETHER TO DELIGHT THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE THE TIME TO ENJOY THEM. I DON'T SPEND NEARLY ENOUGH TIME ON FLOWERS.
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, HUMAN BEINGS ARE THE ONLY CREATURES THAT CAN ENJOY FLOWERS. SCIENTISTS TELL US THAT THE ODOR AND COLOR ATTRACT INSECTS, BUT INSECTS HAVE NO BRAIN TO SPEAK OF, AND THEIR EYES ARE NOT DESIGNED FOR FINE DETAIL. BIRDS CAN SEE COLOR, BUT THEIR EYESIGHT IS DESIGNED TO DETECT MOVEMENT, AND WE HAVE NO EVIDENCE THAT THEY APPRECIATE FLOWERS. AND OF COURSE MAMMALS, MY CAT AND YOUR DOG, CANNOT SEE COLOR AT ALL, BUT LIVE IN A WORLD OF BLACK AND WHITE.
SO FLOWERS TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY GOD THINKS. IF YOU WERE A HUMAN BEING DESIGNING THE WORLD, YOU WOULD PROBABLY GO FOR SIMPLICITY. MAYBE ONE KIND OF FLOWER, ONE KIND OF INSECT. CERTAINLY YOU WOULDN'T DESIGN A HUGE COLLECTION OF PLANTS THAT ONLY A HUMAN BEING CAN APPRECIATE AS BEAUTIFUL; BUT THAT IS HOW GOD THINKS – INFINITE VARIETY, INFINITE CREATIVITY, A UNIVERSE AS BIG AS , WELL, THE UNIVERSE, MILLIONS OF SPECIES OF LIFE HERE ON EARTH – GOD NEVER STOPS CREATING; AND WHEN WE SEE BEAUTY IN GOD'S CREATION, WE ARE CATCHING SIGHT OF GOD.
JESUS TELLS PETER THAT HE IS NOT THINKING AS GOD THINKS, BUT AS MAN THINKS. CREATION AS GOD CREATES IS JUST ONE OF THOSE STARK DIFFERENCES. PETER STUMBLES UPON ANOTHER. WE HUMAN BEINGS WOULD FEEL THAT IF WE WERE TO UNDERTAKE A GREAT WORK, THE IMPORTANT THING TO ASSURE THAT THE WORK BE COMPLETED WOULD BE THAT WE WOULD BE AROUND; WE WOULD WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE STAYED HEALTHY. BUT THAT'S NOT THE WAY GOD THINKS. GOD EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT; THE FATHER EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT IN JESUS, AND JESUS EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT ON THE CROSS FOR US, HIS CHURCH. THE GREEKS, AS USUAL, HAVE A WORD FOR THAT, IT IS KENOSIS. IT SEEMS THAT THE WAY GOD THINKS IS THAT IF YOU WANT SOMETHING IMPORTANT DONE, YOU GIVE YOURSELF UP FOR IT -- A LESSON THAT MANY OF THE SAINTS AND ALL OF THE MARTYRS TOOK TO HEART.
IF SOMEONE OFFENDS ME, AND THEN COMES TO ME TO APOLOGIZE, MY RESPONSE IS GRUDGING, CONDITIONAL FORGIVENESS, ESPECIALLY IF THE OFFENSE HAS BEEN GREAT. AS A PARENT, I WOULD ALWAYS FORGIVE MY CHILDREN, BUT THERE WOULD BE IMPOSITION OF PUNISHMENT. WHEN JOAN AND I WOULD HAVE AN ARGUMENT THAT LEFT HURT FEELINGS, WE WOULD FORGIVE EACH OTHER GRADUALLY, IN STAGES. AND I DON'T KNOW THAT THIS KIND OF FORGIVENESS IS WRONG. BUT ITS NOT THE WAY GOD THINKS. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS FULL OF EXAMPLES WHERE, BECAUSE GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE HAVE CHOSEN TO DISOBEY, TO WORSHIP OTHER GODS, JUSTICE HAD TO BE SERVED, AND PUNISHMENT DESCENDED. BUT THE CONSTANT REFRAIN OF THE PROPHETS IS THAT IF THE PEOPLE WILL ONLY TURN BACK, NOT ONLY WILL ALL BE FORGIVEN, BUT GREAT BLESSINGS WILL COME. AND OF COURSE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE SEE IN THE STORY OF THE PRODIGAL SON. THE SON IS JUST HOPING FOR A JOB AS A SERVANT; BUT THE FATHER TREATS HIM LIKE ROYALTY, EVEN BEFORE HE CAN APOLOGIZE. PETER EXPERIENCED THIS GOD-LIKE FORGIVENESS AFTER HIS BETRAYAL OF JESUS. AND WE CONTINUE TO RECEIVE NOT JUST FORGIVENESS, BUT THE UNIQUE FORGIVENESS THAT REFLECTS HOW GOD THINKS, WHENEVER WE PARTAKE IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE.
AND ONE OTHER EXAMPLE. WE HUMAN BEINGS NATURALLY LOOK TO THOSE WHO HAVE POWER, WISDOM, WEALTH, OR BRILLIANCE FOR LEADERSHIP, FOR EXAMPLES. EVEN THE APOSTLES, WHEN JESUS TOLD THEM THAT THE RICH WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING INTO HEAVEN, REPLIED, “WELL, IF THE RICH WON'T MAKE IT, WHO WILL?” THAT IS HOW HUMAN BEINGS THINK. BUT GOD THINKS DIFFERENTLY, GOD LOVES THE POOR, THE BROKEN HEARTED, THE DISADVANTAGED, THE MARGINALIZED; AND THOSE WHO ARE RICH, COMPLACENT, POWERFUL, MAYBE NOT SO MUCH. AS OUR MOTHER MARY SAID, HE HAS CAST DOWN THE MIGHTY FROM THEIR THRONES, AND HAS LIFTED UP THE LOWLY; HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS, AND THE RICH HE HAS SENT AWAY EMPTY”.
WHEN YOU READ THE WRITINGS OF ATHEISTS LIKE RICHARD DAWSON AND CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, THEIR ARGUMENTS ARE PRETTY GOOD. BUT THE FUNDAMENTAL FLAW IS THAT THEY ARGUE AS THOUGH GOD THINKS LIKE A HUMAN BEING.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DELIGHTS A PARENT IS WHEN A CHILD TAKES ON THEIR VALUES, THEIR GOOD HABITS, THEIR MANNER OF THINKING. THE FATHER IS NO DIFFERENT. HE WANTS US TO THINK AS HE DOES, AND TO LEARN TO DO THAT FOR MOST OF US TAKES A LIFETIME. WHEN JESUS TELLS US THAT THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE OUR LIVES IS TO LOSE THEM FOR HIM, AND IF WE WANT TO FOLLOW HIM WE NEED TO TAKE UP OUR CROSS, THOSE ARE FRIGHTENING, OFF-PUTTING THOUGHTS IF WE ARE THINKING LIKE HUMANS DO. BUT IF WE LEARN TO THINK LIKE GOD THINKS, THEN THEY BECOME ATTRACTIVE, THEY BECOME COMPELLING, AND WE WILL FIND OURSELVES GLADLY FOLLOWING THE STEPS OF OUR ELDER BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THE SAINTS.
SO THIS WEEK, THINK ABOUT HOW YOU THINK, AND ABOUT HOW GOD THINKS, AND PRAY THAT YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE GRACE TO THINK AS GOD THINKS, MAYBE JUST A LITTLE AT A TIME, BUT AT LEAST TO MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION. AND THE NEXT TIME YOU LOOK AT FLOWERS, REMEMBER THAT THE ONLY CONCEIVABLE REASON THAT YOU SEE THEM AS BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFUL IS BECAUSE THAT IS THE WAY GOD THINKS.