Father McDonell is off for an
overnight in New York this week, to connect with a pair of friends of his from
Michigan. The couple is engaged; he has
business in the Big Apple, she is coming to enjoy the city. Fr. McDonell has arranged it with him, and
will surprise her. Be careful about
that, I cautioned him. He assures me
that he has successfully surprised her in this way before, and it was both very
surprising, and very positive.
I can’t help but think that this is
great: a happy surprise, in a big city far from home, no less. It makes me wonder: what has surprised you
lately? Does anything surprise you anymore?
In our day of galloping technology,
all things are possible, most things are available, and nothing is inconceivable. The quandary for science fiction authors and
filmmakers is to invent something fictional that hasn’t already been achieved
or at least foreshadowed in reality. Which
is why so many books and movies and TV shows now settle for merely startling
people, with some form of suddenness or brutality, rather than actually
presenting something that will surprise.
They just do not have that arrow in their quiver.
Our expectations for pretty much
everything have been so comprehensively expanded that the only remaining
possibility is not to have our expectations exceeded, but to have them
disappointed. Such disappointment probably
reveals more about our expectations than it does about reality or possibility,
but reluctance to admit that is just as common as disappointment itself.
Heaven knows the majority of human
behavior fails to surprise. In fact,
it’s a common lament, especially when approaching the daily news, that “Nothing
can surprise me any more.” This sort of
world-weariness slides toward resignation, if not outright pessimism. I think this comes from viewing human
behavior in a “macro” way – you know, “in the main,” or “in general.” That almost never fails to disappoint. Technology and toys provide no respite.
I submit that the one place where we
can still be surprised is more on the “micro” side of human behavior – a single
act by a single soul. The simplest act
by a child can open our hearts to a flood of delight – and surprise. A single sacrificial act of genuine love can
upend the predictability of the great mass of human behavior and bring
liberation from the oppression of expectations, whether the world’s or our own,
and from the soul-crushing reign of pessimism.
That is why I think Fr. McDonell’s
little jaunt this week will bring a beam of delight and deliverance to one
person in this world of predictabilities.
Good for him, good for his friends, and good for us all.
Does nothing surprise you
anymore? If you feel the burden of
predictability or pessimism in your day, please know that it does not have to
be that way. Even if you cannot count on
one of your friends or family members to make a trip, give a gift, or say a word
that will break the pattern, your liberty is at hand.
Far from being a routine of
repetition and regurgitation, the one place you can look for to something truly new is your relationship with the
risen Jesus. The Apostles knew Him
better than anyone, saw what he did, and heard what he explained and promised,
and still, when He rose from the dead, the peace He brought was a surprise of the
most beautiful kind.
Turn to Him with everything that is
inescapable in your life. Go over His
words – again. Contemplate his actions –
again. Pour out your soul to Him –
again. Ask forgiveness for your petty
and petulant sins – again. Receive Him
at the altar – again and again.
Jesus will surprise you.
Monsignor Smith
