WHY CAN’T  GOD 

BE  DIFFERENT 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Why Can’t God Be Different?”

I think that’s a thought a lot of people have.

We started the Letter to the Romans yesterday and we will have it as our first reading at almost every weekday Mass for the next 4 weeks.

I’m looking forward to hearing Paul’s Letter to the Romans and see what it will says to me in these 4 weeks to come. I assume I’m in a different place than I was 2 years ago when we went through Romans for those readings. I’m interested in hearing what hits me in the next four weeks.

FAITH

So last night I went through today’s first reading from Romans. Chapter 1 verses sixteen to twenty five  - reading and wondering what would hit me.

I noticed right there after today’s text begins, one of the main themes of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. It’s faith.

And Paul gives us his insight into faith. Faith is accepting God as God is - not as we want God to be - or how we picture God to be.

Let me repeat that. Faith is accepting God as God is - not as we want God to be.

Sound familiar. It’s the same act of acceptance we need to make in every relationship - because in every relationship the other person is the way the other person is - not the way we think they are - not the way we want them to be - but the person is who they actually are.

Want peace? Get that.  Want peace? Accept that. Want an easier life? De-imagine who we imagine the other to be.  This should lead to listening - stepping back - asking questions - checking things out - and slowly learning how the other operates.

Get this and we make one key step towards family and marriage happiness.

Deal with each other the way the other is.

Sorry. That’s the way it is.

I’ve often think and come back to a statement I heard many years ago: “The greatest sin is our inability to accept the otherness of the other person.”

We want other people to be other than they are. I live with all these other priests here at St. Mary’s. Of course I often want them to be different than they are and I assume they want me to be different than I am.

GOD

We do the same thing with God.

Paul learned that faith is faith in the God, God is.

In today’s first reading he talks about all these other things we make God out to be - all of which are not God.  They are lesser than God. Our minds become clouded and darkened and we end up messed up - floating around following false Gods.

SONG BY PATSY CLINE

I recently listened to a CD of Patsy Cline’s country Western songs. I like her twang and sound and how she puts her whole self into a song. Plus I understand the lyrics - loud and clear. This afternoon I’m going on a 4 day high school retreat and Ginny and the kids play a lot of songs - the words of which I do not get in the slightest.

And I wonder about Patsy Cline - when will  kids discover your songs?

There it is, the human wanting of people to be different than they are.

I do it all the time.

Patsy Cline seems to have a broken heart in a lot of her songs - but they still give a lot to think about.

When I was preparing this homily I thought of her song, “Why Can’t He Be You.” The thought that hit me is quite complex and I don’t know if I can explain what I mean,   but let me try.

In this song she finds herself broken up with someone she wishes he didn’t break up with her. She’s now with someone new. This new guy brings her to the places she used to go with the first guy and she sings, “Why can’t he be you?”  This new guy brings her flowers, calls by the hour, nice, but she sings, “Why can’t he be you?” This new guy tells her he loves her so, but she sings, “Why can’t he be you?” Her friends tell her this new guy talks about how wonderful she is, behind her back, but she sings, “Why can’t he be you?”

She also sings that the first guy didn’t do any of these nice things - but she still loves him so.

She wants different. In fact, she wants both men to be different than they are.

Don’t we all?

I suspect a lot of people have a list of all the nice things they want from God and how they want God to act. Down deep, their prayer is: “My will be done.”

We see  others and the nice things they do, but it seems God doesn’t do these things we want.  So we sing, “Why can’t God be like I expect God to be?”

CONCLUSION

In Paul’s Letter to Romans God is God and God does as God does, and happiness is accepting God as God is. Amen.