All Creation Praises God's Glory

Homily for Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary TIme

Today, we hear St. Paul speak of the power of the Gospel and humanity’s tendency to reject divine truth, choosing instead to worship creation over the Creator. St. Paul was bold in his proclamation of the Gospel and admonishes Timothy to take his example of pride in the Gospel. His pride stands in contrast to the tendency to suppress truth, and to choose idols, idols such as comfort, status, and self-image. A popular expression today is to state that something that is contrary to the Gospel is “my truth.” This usually means that one cannot accept, “the truth.”

The psalmist points out that the created universe and all the creatures within it proclaim God’s glory, a voice without words yet stretches to the ends of the universe. This is the true vocation of someone who is pursuing holiness, proclaiming God’s glory as opposed to one’s own glory. Creation is a silent creature, yet that silence is a powerful voice.

It is just one such idol that the Pharisees have placed before the glory of God; namely, preserving ritual purity while ignoring the virtues of humility and justice. Jesus uses examples of various Gentiles who have been able to perceive the true nature of God.

Mercy, compassion, humility, and justice are all part of the covenant relationship that Moses mediated between God and the children of Israel. They are also all part of our covenant, the new covenant, established by Jesus. While we may not be obsessed with ritual impurity as the Pharisees were, each generation has created its own idols.

Jesus comes to us today with mercy and justice for all, humbly present to us in the Eucharist that we celebrate each day.