Youth on the Revolution Jesus retreat show their commitment to Christ with the Revolution Jesus hand gesture, an ancient sign of Catholic commitment.
Today’s second reading may seem to be a simple moment in the life of the early Church, but it is a ground breaking moment that changed everything. Without today’s event described in Acts, you and I would be worshiping trees in the woods and only the Jews would be saved.
It is here that what was prophesied throughout Old Testament times, that God would be known throughout the world, begins to happen. Remember, Jesus only came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Further, every nation had their own set of gods. The Romans would never worship the God of the Jews because they had their own set of gods including the Caesars. Further, the Jews would be reticent to invite the Romans into their temples because God was the God of the Jews exclusively. It was the Holy Spirit who leads the Apostles to preach to the world, at Jesus’ command, and this is where the universality of Christianity begins.
The story revolves around a pagan named Cornelius who seeks Jesus, but he is not Jewish, therefore, by the law, he should be excluded from salvation. However, at this moment Peter receives a vision and comes to understand that Cornelius, although not Jewish, is also to be welcomed into the circles of followers of Jesus. Hence, Peter’s declaration ” Whoever fears God and walks in His ways is acceptable to Him.” (Acts 10:35)
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Those words are important. Proverbs 9:10 teaches that fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. Now, we see another element that enters the scene and this is that key to everything we do. If you fear the Lord, you will walk in His ways because you will find the true wisdom that will lead you.
Well the obvious question is, what does it mean to fear the Lord? First, it does not mean to shake in your boots like we see Dorothy do in the movie The Wizard of Oz in front of the hologram of the Wizard. No. It means to recognize that God is God and we are not and to humbly welcome his friendship and wisdom in our lives as we seek to do His will. It is to recognize God as our heavenly father and to reverence Him as God. When we do that, we open ourselves to profound truths that lead us to true happiness. Without this reverence, we can end up lost in our own proverbial driveway.
Fear of the Lord, means that we recognize that we are only human and we do not have the wisdom of the Universe at our fingertips. There is a greater wisdom available to us, you cannot find it along Memorial Drive in Cambridge, or Storrow Drive in Boston, you cannot find it in Chestnut Hill. You cannot find it in Princeton, New Jersey; Palo Alto, California or Chicago, Illinois. Nor can you find it on the Avenue of the Americas, Rockerfeller Center nor West 57th Street in New York. It is not there. You find it by giving yourselves over to God as your Heavenly Father, by seeking Jesus His son and being open to the action of the Holy Spirit in your lives. It does not mean that the other places do not have much to offer. We should not dismiss them, there is great human wisdom that comes out of these places, but we need to realize the truest wisdom cannot be found there, it can only be found by seeking to do the will of God and learning that wisdom.
When we walk in the ways of the Lord, we begin to see why we are at odds with a world that rejects divine wisdom for we understand reality to a far deeper level. However, the world is invested in making you believe that you are not smart because you believe in God.
All tools that surround us every Sunday including the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist leads us away from sin and into the wisdom of God that we may walk in His ways. The world thinks that what we do here is stupid, we have outgrown Christianity.
Let me give you an example: The greatest sin in the Old Testament is idolatry. St. Paul describes greed as idolatry. He also says that the love of money, which is greed, is the root of all evil. (1Tim 6:10) Why do people sell drugs? Greed plain and simple. That greed sees another human being as a source of more money, even if the human being dies being that source. Billions of dollars are spent to stop the drug problem, but much of it goes down a black hole. The greatest way to stop the selling of drugs is to stop the buying of drugs and what is the way most people decide to stop using drugs? They turn to God once they discover that drug use is an unwise way to live usually homeless on the street.
You can teach people until the cows come home that drugs are bad for you. Jesus Himself says that this will not work. (Luke 11:16ff) You need to teach people to do what is best for them, not what they should not do. You learn what is best for you by seeking the wisdom of God and walking in His ways.
When I quit drinking, and went back to Church, I decided to get high in a different way and went skydiving in Otay Mesa, California. As St. John Bosco teaches “Run, Jump, Shout, but do not sin.” We could say the same: “Go skydiving, play hockey, or baseball, enjoy and study music, but seek first the kingdom of God and you will find true joy while doing all these things.”
Fear the Lord, walk in His ways and you will find the true wisdom that will lead you.
God bless you,
Fr. Robert J Carr
Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor ofHoly Trinity Parish, Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. He also has a regular radio program on for Canção Nova. through the Atlanta Mission house at CNUSA.com which he podcasts at Mixcloud and here on Catholicismanew.
You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook