Sunday, January 17, 2016

Day by Day



Prove to me that you’re Divine.
Change my water into wine.
That’s all you need do, then I’ll know it’s all true.
Come on, King of the Jews.

Those are Herod’s imagined mocking words when Pilate sends Jesus to him for judgement.
From Tim Rice’s lyrics in Jesus Christ Superstar.

That’s all you need do and I’ll know it’s all true.
Changing water into wine may not have been Jesus’ most impressive miracle.
But it was his first miracle of his ministry.
And it was enough to convince his disciples at the wedding.
It might have been enough for Herod—if Jesus had chosen to perform for him.

We probably don’t really have to rank miracles by order of impressiveness.
Any sign of mastery over nature, any supernatural act, ought to be sufficient.
Whether it’s healing, raising from the dead, driving out demons, multiplying loaves,
Calming the sea, walking on water, or changing water into wine.
If it's performed by a good person and it’s not just a trick.
It’s a sure sign that God is with that person.
That we ought to listen to them and follow them.

What sign is enough for you?
Why do you believe in Jesus?
What do you believe about Jesus?
How firmly do you believe it?

It would be a big plus if he’d stop by and perform a miracle or two for us.
That would help squelch those occasional doubts that can pop up.

We all like certainty.
Especially regarding matters that are most important in our lives.
In a search for truth, we’d all like to have absolute proof.
But absolute proof is usually hard to come by.
Our legal system recognizes that, and deals with it by setting different standards of proof.
Convicting someone of a crime requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Winning a civil suit requires proof by a preponderance of the evidence.
The higher the level of proof, the more comfortable we can be that we’ve found the truth.

Then again, sometimes we seem quite content to just jump to a conclusion.
Easily accept something as truth because it fits nicely with our world view.
Or our political view.
Or our prejudices.

Sometimes we just accept what we’re told by some source that we’ve chosen to trust.
Chosen wisely or unwisely.
When we can’t determine an absolute truth through observation or reason,
Trust becomes a key consideration.
But who can we trust?
Specific others?  Ourselves—our own instincts?
How much do we trust them?
Should we continue to trust them?
What facts support or contradict what they’re telling us?

Some of us have seen healings and conversions and answers to prayers,
That must have been miraculous.
We all witness the miraculous transubstantiation of the bread and wine at Mass.
But few of us, if any, have witnessed an absolute, sensory-verifiable, miracle.
Like the changing of water into wine at Cana.

So, much of our understanding of Jesus and belief in Jesus is based on trust.
We’ve chosen to trust those who brought us to Jesus; for most of us our parents.
We’ve chosen to trust the Church.
The Church today, and the Church back to when Jesus instituted it 2,000 years ago.
We’ve chosen to trust the witness of billions of Christians who have gone before us.
We’ve chosen to trust our own instincts.
We’ve chosen to trust God.

All of that trust is aided by our partial proofs and by reason.
But it’s primarily supported by faith.
The gift of faith.
A gift we should nurture with daily attention and prayer.
A little attention as the events of our days unfold.
And a little special attention.
A little time set aside to talk to and listen to this Jesus we’re trying to follow.
To consider and review and assess the proofs that we do have.
To appreciate the people we can trust, and those gifts of reason and faith.
Time for getting to know him.
Getting to understand him.
Learning to follow him.

That daily exercise is nicely summed up in another verse,
Lyrics from another popular-culture musical about Jesus—Godspell.
Day by day, day by day,
Oh, Dear Lord, three things I pray.
To see Thee more clearly.
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.
Day by day.




2nd Sunday Ordinary Time

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