Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. (Rm 8:18) So asserted Saint Paul at one pre-dawn Mass this week. Cheeky, to say the least; bold, as Paul always is, making statements and insisting we believe him. Hard to stomach sometimes, especially at 0-dark-thirty.
But then I remembered something I had noticed on Sunday. I snapped a photo of it, and sent it to my sister, who lives in the desert and does not have such things to enjoy. As I waited for the last Sunday Mass to end and the mobs of happy people to flow from the church, I saw that the leaves on our trees were something splendid: still green and fresh for the most part, their edges had become flaming red.
For over a month there has been conversation about the coming autumn; whether there would be color, whether it would be as beautiful as we know autumn can be; whether it would be mostly brown like the last two or three years have been, and disappointing. Now it looks like we have our answer.
The entire tree had just a halo of rosiness to it, but each leaf had a brilliant red edge. It was spectacular, and gave me hope for a fabulous autumn. And then Saint Paul started in on the glory to be revealed for us and reminded me of those leaves.
Human nature is a mixed bag for the most part, fresh and lively some of the time, sour and selfish at others. It is this parade of the complexity of our human reality that takes most of our attention and most of our time. However, there are times when something else shines out at us from a person or act, something spectacular and, well, glorious.
I think first of the All-Star Game at Nationals Park last summer, when as part of the pregame activities some twenty-eight Congressional Medal of Honor recipients were assembled before us. A retrospective video, and some intimations of the self-sacrifice for the sake of their comrades under the harshest threats, brought about in me a wave of emotion I couldn’t have anticipated. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13) And from these mortal men shone a glimpse of the glory to be revealed for us.
Under extraordinary circumstances, what some would consider superhuman behavior can be seen in otherwise ordinary persons. Not the stuff of superheroes, this is the supernatural aspect, that is, the aspect of the human nature that resembles the divine nature in whose image and likeness we are all made. When we catch this glimpse, it is breathtaking.
It is not only under such grave circumstances that this glory radiates from earthly human nature. Sometimes you can see it in a mom with her children; not necessarily in rescuing them from mortal danger, but making an authentic self-sacrifice that is selfless love poured out in the face of a child’s need.
Every one of us is capable of reflecting the divine love by which and for which we are created. A seemingly simple act of selfless generosity flashes with the very glory of God. Though these radiant acts do not require mortal threat or danger, of their nature they come at great expense – sometimes unto life itself, but by no means always. Therefore, they are marked by some cost, some pain or penalty freely undertaken; that is the essential element of sacrifice. Call it suffering, freely chosen.
Look at the leaves, then watch your neighbors and friends, and look for suffering freely chosen in a flash of self-giving. And Saint Paul’s words will ring in your ears, too, as you realize the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.
Monsignor Smith
