Homilies

April 29, 2008
Tuesday of the 6th Week of Easter
Acts 16:22-34; John 16:5-11
Abbot John Denburger, OCSO

Our omnipotent God, in His mercy and wisdom, can use any event, any happening to lead a person into the light. Whether or not the person accepts the light is another issue and this, in no way, limits God in His providence.

There is a perfect example of this in the account from the Acts of the Apostles: if Paul and Silas had not been beaten, jailed and secured, if an earthquake had not happened, the jailer would have slept in peace knowing that he had done his job, had taken all precautions. But that was not to be - the man, first filled with fear, then assured by Paul and Silas, immediately pleads, “Sir, what must I do to be saved?” And God, through Paul and Silas, lead him into the light of saving grace.

Surely, in the days and years following that wondrous night, the jailer contemplated the grace of God’s mysterious intervention in his life and that of his family. He might have kept praying a familiar Scriptural phrase “O God, who is like you?”

Catherine of Siena knew the intervention of God in her life. Early on she was moved to enter the Dominican Order and as God intervened again and again in her journey she was inspired to write: “I have tasted and seen the depth of Your mystery and the beauty of Your creation with the light of my understanding. Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, You could give no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire ever burning and never consumed....and I know that You are beauty and wisdom itself.” (From the dialogue On Divine Providence by St. Catherine of Siena) Because of God’s intervention and her passionate response, we honor her today in this Mass as St. Catherine of Siena. She, too, could say; “O God, who is like You?”

Each of us, without exception, has experienced God’s intervention or we would not be here for this Holy Eucharist. His intervention is unique to each of us - no two stories of grace are the same and yet, we can say with St. Catherine; ““I have tasted and seen the depth of Your mystery and the beauty of Your creation with the light of my understanding.” We, too, can pray in faith: “O God, who is like You?”

Each day we experience His intervention, the touch of His love, the taste of His mercy through the gift of the Advocate - sometimes, it is unmistakably clear and at other times, deep, silent, penetrating our depths beyond feeling. It is by contemplating these interventions, these experiences of Divine providence that our relationship with God becomes more personal and we grow in faith, in trust and in charity.

Throughout the Psalms, God’s intervention is celebrated, recalled and each evening in Compline we celebrate our graces, His interventions: “You have put into my heart a greater joy than they have from abundance of corn and new wine. I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Ps. 4)