Homily for Ordinary Time 11
June 16, 2024
A Hidden Life
My alma
mater, Franciscan University, has a campus in Austria that used to be a 12th
Century monastery of Carthusian monks – semi-hermits who spend all day in
contemplation of God and His Word. During my freshman year at Franciscan, news
reached us on the main campus that workmen had been putting an addition onto
the old monastery, when they uncovered the graves of four incorrupt monks!
Their bodies had not decayed, even after eight centuries, which is a spiritual
gift known as incorruptibility – which God sometimes gives to the bodies
of saints as evidence of their holiness. These four monks had been buried in
unmarked graves, since out of humility, they wanted their holiness to be known
only to God. We have no idea who they are, but I can only imagine the immense
amount of spiritual graces they called upon the world due to their holiness –
and their hiddenness.
Jesus
Christ spent three years preaching, and thirty years as a hidden, obscure,
common laborer. In doing so, He showed us the beauty of a hidden life, away
from the eyes of the world – and that this hidden life can change the world.
Two weekends ago, I attended Evening Prayer in Fairfield at a new convent of
cloistered Carmelite nuns. Here were women who are living completely withdrawn
from the world. One might look at them and say, “Why would they hide their
lives away? They could do so much good for the world – ministering to the poor,
teaching the young, influencing society!” Yes, but they can do much more good
for the world by living a quiet, hidden life of prayer and penance – and the
graces they are calling down upon the world and our diocese are far greater
than any good work they could perform.
Remember,
as St. Paul instructs us, we walk by faith and not by sight. Our faith tells us
that hidden lives of virtue and prayer are far more valuable in the sight of
God than those who are “famous” in the eyes of men. A Christian ought to be
content to be hidden, like the proverbial mustard seed in today’s Gospel, for a
hidden life of holiness is most pleasing to God.
Being
famous is not bad in itself, but it is definitely wrong to seek fame for its
own sake. We should never set out to achieve fame, even if we think we have the
best motives (“oh, think what great good I can do if I am powerful and
influential and famous!”). Rather, we should seek only the glory of God and His
Will. If He decides that we can do great good through influence or fame, then
He will make it happen. But if He decides that we can do the most good – and
achieve the most holiness – through a hidden life, then we trust in His plan.
This is
sometimes hard to understand from a worldly mindset. There was a great play and
movie about the life of St. Thomas More called “A Man for All Seasons”. St.
Thomas More was the chancellor of England – powerful, influential, famous –
although he was thrust into that position and desired only a quiet life. An
ambitious young man named Richard Rich keeps begging Thomas for a job in the
government, so that he too can “rise up in the ranks” and become famous – for
his own ego. In one particularly poignant scene, Rich is once again begging for
a job, and Thomas responds – “But I have offered you a job, with a salary and
benefits. At the new school.” Richard is crestfallen: “A teacher?” The saint
responds, “Why not be a teacher? You’d make a fine one, even a great one.”
Richard responds, “Yes, but who would know it?” Thomas responds, “You, your
pupils, your friends, and God. That’s not a bad public!”
St.
Philip Neri used to say, “Love to be unknown!” As the old Christian hymn puts
it, “His eye is on the sparrow” – God looks out for the little ones, those who
are unimportant in the eyes of the world – those are the ones who are most dear
and most precious to God. A dear friend of mine is a nun in Tennessee, who was
having some health problems which prevented her from teaching in her parish
school. She was stuck in the kitchen, making food for the other sisters, and
she was pretty bummed about it. But her Mother Superior, sensing her distress,
said to her, “Hidden things are spousal things.” In other words, she is invited
into a deeper intimacy with her Groom, Jesus Christ, precisely because her life
was hidden from the world and shared with Him alone.
So do
not be discouraged if your life is hidden! Perhaps some of us think that
because we are older and stuck in our house by ourselves that we have lost the
savor of life. Maybe we are a homemaker who wonders if we’re really making a
difference. Maybe we’re stuck in a dead-end job with no chance of promotion. We
may wonder if living such a small, hidden life is worth it.
If that
is the case, realize that your life is precious, precious in the eyes of the
Lord. Your hiddenness is a sign that you belong uniquely to God, and He invites
you into a special intimacy as His closest friend. Savor and rejoice in your
life’s hiddenness!
And if
you have been granted some influence or fame, if you are rising in the company
or finding notoriety on social media, make sure your motives are pure – you are
doing it only for the glory of God and in accords with His will – and
stir up in your heart a desire for a simple, hidden life.
My
friends, the world might be changed by politicians, celebrities, social
media influencers. But what keeps the heartbeat of the world strong is the
poor, humble, lonely, suffering souls who live hidden lives of love. Only in
eternity will we know the power of hidden prayers, of hidden acts of charity,
of hidden lives lived for God.
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