Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - C January 21, 2007

Nehemiah 8: 2-4a, 5-6, 8-10 I Corinthians 12: 12-30 Luke 1: 1-4; 4: 14-21

There is a saying that goes: the older one gets, the wiser one gets. My own experience supports the philosophy of this saying. As I have experienced different challenges in my life, I sense that I have developed a degree of wisdom or insight. Another approach, however, might see things in a way that states that the older one gets, the more skeptical one gets. According to this view one begins to believe less and less, in people, in what is said, in instant answers or solutions. We can think of all the marvels that are told to us in advertisements, on television, and so on, and how we might doubt the results that are proclaimed.

I have to wonder whether the belief in God fits into these categories. Does the belief in God, the practice of faith, fit into the category of being wise or the category of being skeptical? On one hand, one can read about those who doubt or deny the reality of God in their lives. They often seem to be educated persons, those who might command respect, reflecting what they seemed to have learned as scientists, doctors, writers, thinkers. On the other hand, those with whom I have celebrated the Sacrament of Penance, or Reconciliation, know, I have personally grown to admire and respect the wisdom of those who have faced multiple challenges in life and now are part of one of the various “anonymous” groups, “Alcoholics Anonymous,” “Narcotics Anonymous,” “Gamblers Anonymous,” “Sexaholics Anonymous.” It has often been suggested that in their experience, in their efforts actively to live the principles embodied in the fundamental prayer of these groups, the Serenity Prayer, they possess a basic outlook on life that makes sense, has values, is wise.

The initial recognition that those who participate in these groups must make is that they are powerless against something - alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex. These substances or activities are viewed as having such a hold on a person that he or she is controlled by it and that the decisions and choices needed control that person. Yet they also must recognize that along with these material things that have power over them, there is also a “higher power” (often translated as God) which is greater than the individual or material thing and which or who is available to the person in such a way that the person can pick himself or herself up from the depths of a destroyed life and better, improve and benefit himself or herself and others as well.

Although not everyone might have the experience of falling so deeply in life, hitting “rock bottom” as it is called, because of some force in life from the outside like alcohol or drugs, it is into the midst of our lives - no matter where we are or what we have experienced - that we can hear Jesus, the Son of God, the Word of God, the Incarnation of God, God in our world, say to us, “I am in your midst.” This is truly the “Higher Power.” He is not a vague power or presence, he possesses the same flesh and blood as we do. This is Jesus who comes into our midst, as he did in the synagogue of the Gospel story, and tells us, announces to us, that this word, this promise is fulfilled in our presence. He tell us that he is now with us, to teach, guide, refresh and feed us.

Looking again at the Anonymous groups we can recognize that one of the strengths which guides them is simply getting together at meetings, learning from one another. They are encouraged to recognize that many persons have faced difficulties, often the same difficulties, and have overcome them. In reality, they echo the words of St. Paul which call us, as a community of believers, a community of persons, to come together, to gains strength from one another, to grow, develop and live in and through one another.

Anonymous groups can be seen to reflect a very fundamental wisdom which is revealed to us in Scripture and in life. The source of life is God. God is truly in our midst sharing life with all of us in all of its challenges. This source of life in whom we believe is embodied in Jesus Christ who calls us together in our lives, in our experience of faith. This enables us to grow and develop, to come to grips with all the aspects of life and living that we face. This is not a vague power, but the source of a graced life shared and received in the Eucharist.

The wisdom which I have acquired over the years by age and experience is, in many ways, reflected to me by such groups. But the very fundamental elements of what we are to be as a believing community, as a church, does not come from imitating such groups. Rather, I have come to realize after having faced various challenges and difficulties in life, they reflect - either knowingly or unknowingly - what faith and the practice of religion ought to be. In our faith we acknowledge God and the need we have for God. We seek to reconcile with God, with self and with others. Then we proclaim, we announce, the goodness of God and the relationship we have with God and with others.

It is with humility and true wisdom that we realize the importance of living and acting with one another, knowing ourselves as brothers and sisters because we are all together children of a good and loving God.