FatherRon.com

What I find helps me understand the Scriptures better is to get on
the inside of some of the characters. These characters are human beings-
just like us. I try to feel what they are feeling – I try to walk in their
shoes.
In our first reading and Gospel we have two characters – human
beings, Isaiah and Simon-Peter. They are both suffering from what we
call today an “Inferiority Complex,” when it comes to God. Like these
two characters, I believe many of us who come here Sunday after
Sunday, also are suffering from an inferiority complex when it comes to
God – How do I know? What do I hear?
1. We are not good enough.
2. We are not wise enough in God’s ways to consider ourselves
religious.
Like Isaiah and Simon-Peter – we shy away because we cannot
imagine God loving sinful people like us.
A perfect example – This week I had four appointments in a row – There was a basic theme that ran through all these people’s stories. “I
feel unworthy” to be in a relationship with God. How could I be part of
the church with all my sins, failures, and frustrations? How can I share
in the ministry of Jesus Christ like he wants me – us to do?
These people’s reactions sound pretty similar to Isaiah and Simon-
Peter’s reaction. We hear God say, “Listen – I have a special job for you
to do.” We hear them say, “Leave me alone Lord – I am a sinful person
– I am unable and unworthy to be used by you”.
Isaiah and Simon-Peter, all of us here we need to be reminded over
and over again – of three very important points:
1. The Mystery of God – is that God loves us despite ourselves –
Thomas Merton wrote that the root of Christian love is not the will
to love, but the faith that one is loved by God irrespective of one’s
worth. I heard someone define a disciple of Jesus as a “loved
sinner.”
2. We don’t have to be Perfect First to be used by God. God
wants our yes – God will take care of the rest. There is a prayer card that reads: “Nothing would be done at all if a person waited until they could do it so well – that no one could find fault with it.”
3. The “Break Thru” point – in being in a healthy relationship with
God in truly being a disciple of Jesus Christ is this: Trusting
enough to give our faults – failures – sins to God and allowing the
healing power of God to work through us and with us – When
Isaiah and Simon-Peter finally trusted enough to do this, it
changed their lives- they were both able to say and believe it,
Here I am Lord – Send Me – Send Me.
4. Let me close with a very few words from the wonderful
spiritual writer and speaker Maya Angelou. I hope and pray these
words – touch the hearts of those of us with the inferiority complex
when it comes to God. Listen carefully:
“In my twenties in San Francisco, I began acting agnostic. It
wasn’t that I stopped believing in God; it’s just that God didn’t seem to
be around the neighborhoods I frequented. One day my voice teacher
asked me to read a passage from a book. A section which ended with
these words: God loves me. I read it again and closed the book, and my teacher said, ‘Read it again.’ I pointedly opened the book, and I sarcastically read, God loves me. He said, ‘Read it again.’
“After about the seventh repetition, I began to sense that there
might be truth in the statement, that there was a possibility that God
really did love me – me, Maya Angelou. I suddenly began to cry at the
grandness of it all. I knew that if God loved me, then I could do
wonderful things, I could try great things, learn anything, achieve
anything. For what could stand against me and God?” Maya Angelou
went on to say,
“…That knowledge humbles me, melts my bones, closes my ears
and makes my teeth rock loosely in their gums. And it also liberates
me.” “God loves me.” “Believe it”.

The story goes that one time a very prominent person in California
died. He stood before the beautiful gates of heaven, hoping to get in, but
a large angel stood at the gate and would not let him pass. “To get in,”
said the angel, “you must show that you accomplished something
significant, something really important in your life on earth.”
The man breathed a sigh of relief, because he had accomplished
many things. “Well,” he said, “I feel I accomplished a lot. For one
thing, I went to school and got excellent grades. After high school I
went to the university on a scholarship, and all the teachers admired my
work. I ended up graduating with highest honors, and writing a book.”
“That’s nice,” said the angel, “but I’m talking about a significant
accomplishment. One that doesn’t pass away with time.”
The man was a little shaken, but not really frightened. He had
done many other things. “Well, while I was in college, I played soccer.
I was probably the best player that school ever had. I got to play in the
Olympics and our team all won gold medals.” “That’s nice,” said the angel, “but I need to know if you
accomplished anything significant in you life – something that doesn’t
pass away with time.”
The man began to perspire a little bit. “Well, holy angel,” he said,
“I was blessed with good looks. I was very handsome, and had my pick
of all the women in the world. Finally I ended up marrying a movie star.
All the magazines and newspapers reported how beautiful our wedding
ceremony was.
The angel tried to hide a little yawn. “How nice,” the angel said,
“but did you do anything in life that was really important – something
that wouldn’t pass?”
The man was now getting frightened. “Well,” he said, “after I was
done with school, I started my own engineering and construction
company. We built great bridges. We built mighty freeways. We built
tall sky-scrapers. I made millions of dollars and lived in a palace. They
even named a town after me.” The angel shrugged. “I’m very sorry,” the angel replied. “All
those things you’ve mentioned are nice, and perhaps even interesting…
but they’re not important. They’re not what you need to get into heaven.
They all pass away.”
And then the man remembered the reading form St. Paul, that we
had today. Faith, hope and especially love, never pass away. And he
looked back at his life, and it all seemed so different now. All those
accomplishments he had thought were so important now seemed not so
important. He felt confused and ashamed. “Well,” he said, “once, a
long time ago, I gave an apple to a young girl who had nothing to eat.”
“At last!” The angel smiled, “something really significant. You
wasted most of your life, but thank God you didn’t waste all of it! You
did accomplished one important thing. Enter the kingdom of God!
Brothers and sisters, let’s not waste our time and energy on earth,
but let’s devote ourselves to doing things that last.
Remember, love never passes away