Ask deacon mike

By the time you read this we will already be into the 2^nd week of Advent. As the days grow shorter and the temperature drop we start to “dig in” for the long winter to come. There is something almost haunting about this time of year. I even sense it in our music at Mass. Back home I used to really hate to see winter come. It seemed like forever before spring and warm weather would return. I was always bolstered a little when my Burpee seed catalogue would come in January. There was some hope!

That is what Advent is like, too. Some days life seems long and difficult. Our sufferings and frustrations and anxieties seem to never end. But there is hope. Jesus, though the mystery of the Father’s love, promised He would come back for us. That is what we look forward to in Advent – His return. It is a promise Jesus will keep. but to us it is still a mystery, which brings me to the question upon which I wish to focus.

About a month or so ago I was with our RCIA candidate and catechumens when one of them asked me a question that no one had ever asked me before. In fact, I never asked anyone this question, either. The person who asked this question is very bright and inquisitive and just happens to be the youngest person in the group. We were talking about some of the great mysteries of the Church: the Incarnation, the Eucharist, etc. The question was: Why does everything with God have to be a mystery?

Did you ever ask that question before? I know I have always wondered about it, too. But, I never asked anyone for a reason. I was honestly surprised by it. The room became very quiet and I knew all eyes were on me as the group waited for an answer.

I though about it a few seconds then responded by saying that God does not want us to know everything right now. If we did, we would have nothing to live for. Then I explained that all we have to do is look at rich celebrities who ruin their lives with drugs and alcohol because they are bored. They have so much money that they don’t need to work everyday like you or me. If we understood all of the mysteries that surround God then we would have no use for God for we would be like gods, ourselves. God created us to discover Him, to seek and depend on His love and mercy and desire to be one with Him. That is the purpose of our life here on earth.

Everyone accepted this answer. However, this question still haunts me. I keep asking myself if I really gave a good answer. I think it was. but was it really good enough? I have continued to think about it and I realize that the question is really an Advent question. In fact it sums up what Advent is all about.

We know why God sent His Son to live with us and be one of us – because God loves us. But why and how God loves us and how God shows His love to us is the real mystery. The mystery is not how the Divine and the human occupy one being or how bread becomes the Body of Christ. Surely they are mysteries and they cannot be explained in physical terms. It takes faith. It takes faith to accept as true that Jesus is present in the Eucharist. It takes faith to accept that the little baby in Bethlehem is the Son of God, born of a virgin.

The real answer to why is everything about God a mystery is that it takes faith, an acceptance of something intangible, an act of our own will to know God. If God was not a mystery then we would regard Him no more than the sun coming up in the morning or cold weather coming in winter – it just happens. God wants more than that in our relationship with Him.

God wants our relationship with Him to be so strong that physical evidence is not needed for it to flourish. God wants our relationship to go beyond the physical. In fact, nothing physical can truly have a bearing on this relationship. While we express our worship in physical ways with churches and songs and bread and wine, God expresses His love through ways that only faith can make sense of.

If God and the things about God were not a mystery we would not need faith. Without faith, there would be no union of our self with God. Without that union, life would have no purpose. So, the purpose of our existence is to unlock the mystery of God. Step one begins here in this life through our recognition and acceptance of God through faith. Step two is the unfolding of the mystery when we pass from this life to the next.

If you have any questions concerning the Church or sacraments or our Catholic faith that you would like addressed please send them to me by dropping a note in the collection basked, by sending your inquiry to the rectory or by sending me an e-mail at deaconmikefranks@comcast.net. Your identity will be kept confidential.

As we continue our journey through Advent, always looking forward to the coming of our Messiah, I pray that you find hope and peace in Jesus’ great promise: For I am with you always, even to the end of time. God bless you and I love you all! Deacon Mike Franks.