I BELIEVE IN THE INVISIBLE
INTRODUCTION
The title and theme of my homily for this St. Mary’s High School Graduation Mass is, “I Believe In The Invisible.”
I believe in the invisible.
Guess what? Everybody does.
We also believe - better - we know the visible - what we see and taste and touch and smell and hear - in other words what we sense.
But my homily is on, “I Believe In The Invisible.”
AN ARTICLE
I got the idea for the question I want to address this morning from an article I read two days ago about atheists. We were up in Malvern Retreat House with our Juniors - just like you graduates were there last year at this time. Ginny got sick a bit, so we had some extra time. It was then I spotted some magazines. This one magazine had an article on Atheism - and being a priest I would obviously want to check that out.
I recommend: “Don’t forget magazines.” Pick them up when you’re on planes or in doctor's offices. Find the lead article or any article that grabs your interest.
The article was entitled, “Spiritual Literature For Atheists” by Francis Spufford. It was in First Things Magazine, November 2015.
The article begins with a story about Richard Dawkins - who sees himself as a militant atheist. It begins with a moment when Richard Dawkins is on stage. He just finishes a talk and the following happens in the Question and Answer period. Someone asks him why people’s conviction of the presence of God doesn’t count as data.
His answer to that question was, “Oh, all sorts of funny things happen in people’s heads. But you can’t measure them, so they don’t mean anything.”
That hit my button - especially those last words, “... so they don’t mean anything.”
We have buttons - all of us - but buttons are invisible.
What are your buttons?
ONE OF MY EARLIEST MEMORIES
One of my earliest memories has to do with the visible and the invisible. It took place in the front room of our house. My dad was sitting there reading the newspaper in his favorite chair.
I’m on the other side of the room looking at a collection of brown covered books on two shelves. It was a whole series that my dad had bought or got somewhere. I’m paging through a book entitled, Best Loved Poems of the English Language.
Surprise! I open up to a page that has a dark red - dried - rose petal.
I had never seen this reality before: a rose petal in a book.
It had mystery and question.
I didn’t touch the rose petal - lest it crumble or fall apart. I knew enough to realize this.
I took the book in both hands. I left it open to the page the rose petal was seated. Like in an offertory procession I walked carefully to my dad and said, “What is this?”
He put down his paper - looked at the open book - saw the rose petal - smiled - paused - and said, “Memories.”
My dad was seeing the invisible and he remembered what he saw with a great smile.
THE BRAIN - THE MEMORIES
There are millions of memories in our brain - invisible scenes - triggered by the visible.
Our graduating class will come back to St. Mary’s 10, 20 years from now and walk into classrooms - go through our macadam parking lot - still probably filled with cars and car problems.
Memories of teachers, classmates, moments here will come flying through the air.
As Charles Dickens book, A Tale of Two Cities begins, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”
Memories.
High School classrooms are filled with memories since 1946 when St. Mary’s High School opened.
THIS CHURCH
Or take this church.
It’s filled with the invisible.
If you walked into this church at 4 PM - and you walked in alone - and you had been here when you were young - you’d be hit with memories. If you sat in a bench or walked around - the invisible in this room - in this space - could be like a tsunami wave of history hitting a beach - hitting you.
The invisible can be loud and clear - like a fire engine come roaring down Duke of Gloucester Street.
If you opened up any of the three confessionals off to the side - along the walls, out would pour millions and millions of sins.
If you stood up here in the sanctuary - right there [POINT] - you would see and you could hear thousands and thousands of couples saying their marriage vows. Often couples drop in here and point to the front of the church and say, “We were married here, 27 or 52 years ago.
Right there thousands and thousands and thousands of babies were baptized. Right there on the altar [POINT] after baptisms for the past 12 years or so I have couples put their baby on the altar - put their hand on their baby - and I say, “I’m trying to connect baptism to the Mass - so standing there where the priest stands at the altar facing out - with your hand on your baby please repeat after me, ‘This is my body - this is my body - this is my blood - this is my blood - we’re giving our life to you.’”
Then I say, “This is the sacrifice of the Mass. This is sacrifice of a life of giving oneself to one’s kids.”
Right there [POINT] in front of that first front bench a mother of a bride two years ago - while they were taking pictures after a wedding - she fell over and died - and right there a few days later - in that space 10 feet away she was in a casket for her funeral Mass. Tough stuff.
Tough stuff repeated. Many funerals have taken place in this sacred place since way back to 1858.
Years ago - there are pictures in Robert Warden’s sesquicentennial history of Saint Mary’s Church - 1853-2003 - of this church filled with midshipmen from the Naval Academy. They marched up here for prayer - and Mass.
What have been their invisible memories from this sacred space and place?
This church is filled with thousands and thousands of sermons. Okay, some like this one might put you asleep.
Words - words - words…. Does anyone remember what was said?
This church is filled with a million tears and prayers.
Packed in here - as many as the stars in the sky - many more than the stars on our ceiling.
These benches you’re sitting in - these very uncomfortable benches - are filled with memories of all the people who sat here and been here - asking for help - saying “Thank You” to God for blessings - giving God the glory.
CONCLUSION
In other words, “I Believe In the Invisible.”
In other words, “Savor the Moments of Life.”
In other words as Jeremiah said in our first reading, "God has plans for us."
In other words as Psalm 139 put it, "God is near."
In other words as Paul said in today's second reading from Philippians, "God is our strength."
In other words as today's gospel from Matthew put it, "Be salt and light to our world."
That's all to be done - to be in our future. And future is invisible, but ....
In other words, today is one day, one moment, to pause and realize there is more - much more to life - than what meets the eye.
Go forth from here and make more memories with the skills and knowledge you picked up here at St. Mary’s and from your life here in the Annapolis area of life. Amen.
