Fr Ed Homily 12-20-20: And The Answer is?

Have you ever loved someone so much that you would be willing to do anything for them? David has just been made king of Israel. He knows that God has blessed him in many ways. So, to show his appreciation to God, David wants to build a temple. Do you see anything wrong with this? Maybe not at first, but then we do not see as God sees. God knows that David is thankful, but when we do something magnificent for someone else, as humans we must admit we expect something in return. For example, you buy a girl a large diamond ring you are expecting, and hoping, she says yes. God knows the humanness and frailty of David. As a matter of fact, in the next chapter, David falls into sin with Bathsheba and has her husband killed. Does David now sound like a person who wishes to thank God for everything given him?

God does not need a temple. God is present to us all the time. But God made us communal people. God wants us to come together to worship and support one another. God instructs David that it will not be David who builds the temple, but David’s son, Solomon. David is to gather the materials needed to build the temple.

God built the temple for His Son, Mary. She is perfect, without sin, and obedient to God. Sometimes people like to wonder: what if Mary had said no to God? She has free will. But God knows the human heart. Where David sins, Mary does not. In everything Mary does she does in obedience to the will of God. She conforms her will to God’s Will. Mary proclaims, behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Your Will. And the Holy Spirit overshadows Mary, and she conceives a son. She carries God within her.

The word overshadows is used in the Bible only two times. The first time is when Moses places the ark of the covenant in the Tent of Meeting. We are told God overshadows the Tent of Meeting. In the ark were the Ten Commandments, a jar of manna, and Aaron’s staff. The Ten Commandments are God’s Word, the jar of manna the bread from heaven and the staff the shepherd will guide and protect God’s people. Mary becomes the Ark of the Covenant.

As Mary’s will is conformed to God’s Will in everything her desire to obey God outweighs her own free will and she says yes. Does she understand what she has just done? Probably not but as the Bible tells us she ponders all these things. There are many times in our lives where God asks us to respond to Him. When we do God gives us ample time to ponder His Will.

When God calls, how do you respond? Sometimes we feel we do not trust God. Or perhaps we think God is asking too much of us. In either case, we are putting our will over God’s Will. We are implying that we know ourselves better than God. Are you sure you want to think this way? I urge you to always put God’s Will first. It is always worth the effort to respond to God because even if it does not work out God has allowed you to learn something about yourself. Not having tried does not let you grow in faith. If you open the doors God puts in front of you, God may let you enter, or God may let you peek in and then close the door. You saw what God wanted you to see.

Ponder these things like Mary has. We may never completely understand but when we surrender our will to God, we can respond with complete faith just as Mary did.

May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.