There was a rabbi who was having major disagreements with his congregation so he called a meeting to settle things once and for all.
The rabbi and the eleven elders met around a grand conference table and debated the issues one by one till it became clear that the rabbi stood alone. “Enough of this!” said the president of the congregation.
“Let’s take a vote and let the majority rule.” A vote was taken, the ballots were counted, and the president said, “Rabbi, it’s eleven to one against you. We have a majority.”
The rabbi stood, shaking with righteous anger, “So you think because of that vote that you are right and I am wrong? I call upon the Holy One of Israel to give us a sign that I am right and you are wrong.”
With that there was a mighty crash of thunder and a bolt of lightning that struck the conference table and cracked it in two. The room was filled with smoke and the elders were hurled to the floor. But the rabbi stood tall, his eyes flashing, a grim smile on his face.
Slowly the president pulled himself off the floor and brushed himself off. “All right,” he said, “Eleven to TWO. But we still have a majority!”
My brothers and sisters, some folks never get the message!
There’s not one of us who needs to be told that sometimes life can get very complicated, confusing, exhausting, and very painful. This time of pandemic has been a complicated, confusing and exhausting time for all of us. The economic challenges will be with us for years. All of this, of course, is overshadowed by the gnawing sense of loss for all those who have lost a loved one at this time. Yes, indeed, troubles come, and when they do, we can feel awfully alone.
Jesus understood this very well, and he didn’t turn his back on our hurt. Listen to what he says: “I won’t leave you orphaned. I will ask the Father to give you an advocate who will be with you always.”
That is God’s promise: we’ll never be abandoned or left alone; we’ll always have the Holy Spirit living right here within us, guiding, consoling, probing, inspiring, healing, nudging us in the right direction. Always!
That’s God’s promise. So why do we so often feel abandoned and alone and without comfort or inspiration? Why aren’t we getting the message? Because we’re not listening, not listening with confidence in the full extent of God’s powerful love for us. Not listening with all our heart.
Listening, not talking. That’s what our daily prayer is supposed to be about, and what our coming here for mass is about: listening with confident expectation, because our good God has so much he wants to give us, so much help, so much comfort, so much wisdom.
So let us be still - very still and silent inside - that we may begin to receive what has been within us always, from our very beginning: God himself, God within us all!