On this 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, I draw for this homily some inspiration from the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon. In Act I, Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark and a group of friends are investigating the sudden appearance of the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Each of the men have their own responses to this mysterious visitor. Horatio, Hamlet’s best friend takes the stand of the skeptic—ghost’s do not exist, this is too “wondrous strange” to be happening. Hamlet, turns to Horatio, and utters those famous words: “there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy”
In a sense, Horatio symbolizes the modern materialist philosophy which denies the existence of God, angels and heaven. Materialism says man is simply an animal, instead of a creature made in God’s image with soul of intellect and spirit. Is it any wonder why more and more people are acting like animals—savage, uncaring, ruled by their passions? It’s because the world has told them that’s all they are! The world says there is no soul to cultivate, no God to worship.
Where the Catholic faith honors truth, goodness, beauty and Sabbath worship, the world knows only cold, calculated, efficiency. Hamlet’s utterance to Horatio therefore is a very Catholic thought: “there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy”, and those things exist, whether Horatio believes in them or not. Our Catholic faith even gives us a glimpse into heaven.
In our second readings, since the 2nd Sunday of Easter we’ve read these marvelous passages from the book of Revelation. The veil has been pulled back as we’ve read of the heavenly liturgy, the procession of white-robed saints, the worship of the lamb on the throne of heaven. I don’t know about you, but sometimes, as I’m celebrating Mass, it as if the veil is lifted, and you can sense the presence of the angels offering their adoration of the lamb of God in the Eucharist. Angels sing with us, and adore with us at Holy Mass. Though their presence is veiled to our earthly senses, we know they are here with us, through faith.
Well, this week the whole book of Revelation comes to a climax. That for which all of creation has longed comes to fulfillment, as God makes his dwelling in the new and eternal Jerusalem: “The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” As beautiful, and as full of amazing creatures, as it is, this world is but a precursor, a foretaste, a prologue to the new heavens and new earth that will last forever. In eternity we will dwell with God and be in his presence in a way “no earthy eye has seen, nor ear has heard”.
Again, this is in contradistinction with the earthly philosophy that says this life is all there is—the material world is all there is—our human consciousness is but a consequence of random natural forces creating the illusion of free will. Our Christian faith, rather, not only tells us that there is an afterlife, but faith orients us to it, helps us to reach it and prepare for it.
In the first reading, Paul exhorts that early “band of brothers” the disciples to persevere in the faith. If you wish to enter the kingdom of God “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships.” In other words, only through the Cross can we reach the Resurrection; only through self-sacrificing love can we experience true Christian joy. St. Paul here offers more than “words, words, words”; he backs up his words through his own heroic endurance of hardship for the sake of the Gospel. He is imprisoned for the Gospel, undergoes journeys 1000s of miles to spread the Gospel, he is martyred for the Gospel
In this reading we are reminded once again of the crux of the Christian life. If you wish to have citizenship in the eternal heaven, you must embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ in belief and practice: orthodoxy and orthopraxis. We must not only believe, but act in accordance with the teaching of Christ.
"I give you a new commandment... As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." Loving one another, going to the cross for one another, forgiving one another, is not a mere suggestion, it’s a commandment. To love each other with Christ-like love, to love each other as Christ loves us, this is his commandment.
Why is this so hard for us? Well, another part of creation which the materialist philosophies explain away, is the devil. The devil exists, not simply as a symbol for all of our psychological weaknesses and violent tendencies, but as a real being who works to lead us away from the love of God and loving like God.
The devil whispers in our souls encouragements to harbor resentments, greedily hoard our wealth, lust after flesh, indulge our every impulse. He works to weaken our patience, self-control, and faith. He tells us that reading scripture is only for fanatics, works of charity are for other people to do. He tempts us to exempt ourselves from the teachings of Christ because they are too hard, too inconvenient, too demanding.
The devil also works to harden our hearts towards people we are called to love. And let’s be honest, sometimes people are hard to love. Mother Theresa said, “People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway…People who really want help may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway.” Sometimes it is hard to love, but to quote Shakespeare again, “The course of true love never did run smooth.”
And so we need to fortify ourselves against the devil’s attacks by remaining rooted in the truth of our faith, studying the catechism, reading the scriptures, praying for protection. We must remember that “not all that glistens is gold." We need to make us of the sacramentals like scapulars and holy water and novenas. We should receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly, several times a year, and receive the Eucharist weekly, several times a week if possible. For how can we every “undergo those many hardships’ if we try to do it on our own? And each of us needs to be involved in some sort of charitable activity. It might mean volunteering at the school, or in PSR, or as an usher, lector, or member of the choir; it might mean inviting the widows on your street over for dinner or tea, but we must be doing something so our hearts do not harden toward our neighbor.
“Be not afraid of greatness”—we are called to great love of God and neighbor. God has given each of us “A heart to love, and in that heart, Courage, to make love known” to quote Macbeth. May each of us use that courage to love as we are called to by Christ, our enemy, our neighbor, and our God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment