When God surprises us

Here is the text of the homily I prepared for the celebration of the Eucharist this weekend.  Some thoughts about the ways in which our God surprises us with his many gifts, often right when we need them most.

Surprised into believing

Today’s scripture passages give us a glimpse into the hearts of some of Jesus’ earliest disciples.  We see in their experience, the role that surprise played in their coming to belief, and this helps us to be more aware of the ways that God still surprises us today and invites us to be people of faith.

Saint Paul wasn’t always a disciple of Jesus.  In fact, he started out as part of the Roman army, the ones who were persecuting the early disciples, but then God surprised him: he spoke to his heart and called him to stop attacking the believers … and even more surprisingly, he called him to become one of the believers – one of the ones he had been hunting down.  In time, Paul came to understand this surprising moment as a new opportunity: he himself would later tell the Galatians that God had set him apart … and had called him by grace (Gal 1:15), that God had revealed his Son to him so that he (Paul) could proclaim him among the Gentiles (Gal 1:16).  So you see, it was because God first surprised Paul that we have come to know the story of our faith.

God often uses the element of surprise in order to wake us up.  Otherwise we might miss the fact entirely that he is trying to communicate with us.  Both the gospel account and today’s first reading recount other surprises that woke people up and made them more attentive to the work that God is doing in our world.

The first reading recounts the story of a woman whose son became ill.  The illness was so severe that he eventually died (cf 1 Kings 17:17).  Elijah the prophet was visiting with the woman when her son died and she wanted to put the blame on her guest, but Elijah recognized the fact that she needed help.  You see, in that time period, if a woman was left without a husband or a son, she was unable to work, to earn a living, so she would be condemned to begging.  Elijah was a man of faith but the woman’s faith wasn’t yet that strong, so he took the child from her arms, carried him into his own bedroom and laid him on the bed (1 Kings 17:19).  Elijah’s prayer was answered that day and the boy woke up from his sleep.  When the woman saw that her son was not dead, she must have been surprised – happily so – and in her surprise she uttered a very simple act of faith: now I know that … the word of the Lord in your mouth is true (1 Kings 17:24).

A similar surprise occurred in the village of Nain on the day when Jesus and his disciples happened to be passing by.  In my mind’s eye, I have always pictured this scene as a procession of sorts that was making its way.  As they approached the gate of the town, another procession was coming out: a man who had died was being carried out (Lk 7:12).  Here again, we are told that his mother is a widow and that he is her only son, but in this case, she is not alone: a large crowd was coming out with her.  As the two processions meet, something wonderful happens: Jesus sees her, has compassion for her and encourages her.  I wonder if she stood there staring, uncomprehending as he looked her in the eyes.  Such infinite compassion would have spoken volumes to her aching heart.  She would have been surprised by the mere fact that this man had bothered to stop, to look her way.  He didn’t speak to her directly, but what he did spoke even louder: Young man, I say to you, rise! (Lk 7:14).

We have come a long way in our understandings of illness, its causes and the difference between death and sleeping, but there are still mothers, grandmothers and aunts who worry about their children, there are still fathers, grandfathers and uncles who pray that God will take care of the ones they love, and if we are people of faith, we are willing to be surprised when God answers our prayers.  Not everyone will believe that such miracles are still possible, but if we believe, we will know how to recognize them; like Saint Paul, we will allow such experiences to speak to our hearts, and in time, we too will share the good news we have experienced with others, so that they too can glorify God and recognize the fact that God has looked favorably on his people (Lk 7:16).