Today at Holy Mass we hear from the gospel of St Mark….A line in this passage encouraged me….”He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak”….Even when we think God is silent and can not be found….At those moments we should be assured that God is at work….Our world today seems to have fallen into a fog of confusion…..Human effort, no matter how effectively executed seems useless to penetrate this “haze” which has enveloped western civilization…..Today St Mark assures us that only God can “make the deaf hear”…He will work in and amongst the “haze” and in time and in his way…..Clear all the obstacles before us
“I will go before you and level the mountains; Bronze doors I will shatter, iron bars I will snap”
God’s ways are not our ways and God’s ways are mysterious…Many times God works through people the world least expects….As the words of Scripture tell us…”I have chosen you out of the world….To go and bear fruit…Fruit that will last”…..As I was writing this reflection I was thinking of a conversation I recently heard from the famous podcaster Russell Brand……Russell Brand was a Hollywood star making tons of money…However his success overwhelmed him…He got caught up in drug use and a promiscuous lifestyle that nearly destroyed him….After the birth of his son, who needed heart surgery and after fighting his own demons…He walked away from Hollywood….He was recently baptized and in my view is seeking the Truth and is a person of good will…..Recently a famous guest was taking a cab to Russell Brand’s home in England to be on his show and the cab driver said to this person that he was so happy that he was going to be on Brand’s podcast…That this humble man from Bangladesh driving a cab…A man who is powerless felt that Russell Brand was the voice for him and so many like him…..I bring this up because God plucked Russell Brand out of Hollywood…He was a drug addict and living a self absorbed life…Only for God to pluck him out of that life and use his fame to be a voice for the voiceless…How did such a thing happen?
”I have chosen you…You did not choose me…Go and bear fruit that will last”
There is a famous painting by an Italian painter by the name of Caravaggio…The painting I am referring to is entitled “The Calling of St Matthew”….St Matthew was a public sinner, a tax collector who was considered a traitor to his own people…In the painting St Matthew is at a table counting money seated with a bunch of thieves…In walks Christ and simply points to St Matthew…Matthew at the table points at himself with a gesture that the painter Caravaggio brilliantly communicates through his art…”Who - me?!?…..You are calling me?!?’’….God does not make mistakes…He knows the hearts of men and he calls many times the most unlikely people to do his work here on earth……As we all know…St Matthew left that table of thieves at the invitation of Christ and went on to do great things for the Kingdom of God…..Jesus calls to this day the same type of people….Only God can turn sinners into saints and many times it’s the “greatest” sinners who make the most incredible saints!
“Nations shall behold your vindication and all kings your glory; You shall be called by a new name bestowed by the mouth of the LORD”
In the first reading from Mass today the Prophet Isaiah assures us….”Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing”….Don’t for a minute get lost in the “fog” of the world….There is no obstacle that cannot be cleared by the Lord and when the darkness seems invisible and there is no “Light” in sight…That is exactly when the Lord is the closest to us…He was rise up saints…He will do the impossible!…That is how it ALWAYS works……Because our God is all about doing the “impossible”…He rose from the dead…Never forget that….He rose from the dead!
“The burning sands will become pools and the thirsty ground springs of water”….Count on it!
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