This past weekend the new parochial vicar, Father Armando,  started his assignment at our parish. Looking at the Sunday readings, I hope they are not a sign of his time here! We hear from Ezekiel about a rebellious people, then Paul talks about a thorn in the flesh he suffers with, and the Gospel talks about the lack of belief from Jesus’ home place preventing Him from working miracles. I’m not sure what that means for Fr. Armando, but what does all this mean for us?

What struck me most of these readings was the one from Ezekiel. The Old Testament is a foreshadow of the New Testament, however, sometimes the parallels can be so nuanced, we only read what occurred to the Israelites and forget to apply it to ourselves. The Old Testament is all about God teaching His people how to have a relationship with Him. As He slowly reveals Himself in the first books of the Bible, it becomes a journey home. Isn’t that what we are on now, a journey home to heaven? If we consider the land of Israel as a parallel to heaven, how does that change the impact of the reading? The stiff-necked people are refusing to listen to God’s word. God warns them they will not be able to stay in the land if they keep ignoring His word. God does not want them to lose their relationship with Him, so He sends prophets to make His will known to them.

We are children of the New Testament. Thanks to Jesus, we have a bit of heaven on earth with the Eucharist. However, we are just as much in danger of losing heaven as the Israelites did in being exiled from Israel. When we pick and choose what we want to believe of the dogmas of the Catholic Church, when we ignore God’s revelations, and when we make choices that divide, hurt, and encourage sin, we are being just as obstinate and rebellious as the Israelites. We hear God speak to us weekly at Mass, or maybe more if we attend weekday Mass or read Scripture, but if we do not take the time to examine how God may be speaking to us in these words, we are as deaf as the Israelites were to the prophets.

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians illustrates that we do not need to be perfect to get to heaven. While the first reading seems all doom and gloom, the second reading shows that everyone experiences times of weakness and sin. The difference is the attitude towards it. Do we excuse our sins because we are fallen humans? Or do we seek God’s assistance with the very sins that can keep us from being with Him in heaven? We don’t celebrate the sin, but that God can do wonders for us despite our sin.

The Gospel then ties the first and second readings with what glues everything together: faith in God. We need to not just petition God for His help, but to be open to the methods He chooses to help us. When we put our faith and trust in Him, our cooperation can lead to many miracles. And when we doubt His abilities, we close ourselves off to a relationship with God and His ability to work within our lives. This affects not only ourselves, but potentially all those who cross our path in need of an experience with Jesus. We could be the hands, feet, ears, smile, and love of Jesus on earth, but if we don’t have a relationship with Him, He cannot shine through us and we cannot bring a bit of heaven to the world around us.

We are sinners and we have the sacrament of Reconciliation to restore our relationship with God. Let us strive not to be a rebellious house, but to use Paul’s example of accepting whatever thorns we receive in life, allowing God’s love and mercy shine through our imperfections, and keeping faith in God.