WHAT GOD HIDES FROM THE LEARNED HE REVEALS TO THE CHILDLIKE

Homily for Oct. 5^th, 2013: Luke 10:17-24.

          We heard yesterday about Jesus sending out the seventy-two – in pairs so that they could support one another. In today’s gospel they return, glowing with excitement over the missionary success they have experienced. Jesus tells them that they have, however, an even deeper reason for joy: that their names are inscribed as citizens of heaven. In heaven there will be no demons to overcome, only loving union with God, who alone can satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts – desires which can never be satisfied in this world – not in the perfect marriage nor in the ideal friendship: and how many people have found either?

          Jesus then breaks out in a hymn of spontaneous praise to his heavenly Father. “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to the childlike.” The wise and learned are those who fail to respond to Jesus, because they feel no need for God. Jesus’ disciples are the childlike, whose hearts and minds are open to the Lord.

          This division continues today. Who are today's wise and learned? They teach in our elite universities; they run the great foundations, with names like Ford and Rockefeller; they dominate Hollywood and the media. With few exceptions they consider the killing of unborn children whose birth might be an inconvenience to be a wonderful advance in humanity’s ascent from ignorance and superstition to enlightenment and freedom. They look down with scorn and disbelief on those who insist that life is precious at every stage: in the womb, but also in old age, when Grandma’s mind has gone ahead of her, and her meaningful life is over.

          So who are today’s childlike? We are! We pray in this Mass that our merciful and loving Lord may keep us always so: aware that we can never make it on our own; that we are dependent every day, every hour, and every minute on the One who came to show us what the invisible God is like; who always walks with us on the journey of life; and who is waiting for each one of us at the end of the road – to welcome us home!