Homily
for November 17, 2017.
“And if men
were amazed at their power and working, let them perceive from them how much
more powerful is he who formed them. For from the greatness and beauty of
created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.” Wisdom
13:4-5.
NB. Today’s homily is going to be
quite long because I am going to take us to theology class. Please do not give
up until you finish.
Two years ago, I encountered an
atheist for the first time who told me he does not believe in God simply
because he is waiting for God to come and show himself to him. I looked at him
and laughed and asked him if he is blind. He said: “No.” Then I told him that
if he could see the wonder of the world, then he should realize that God has
already shown himself to him.
According
to our First reading this morning, ignorance of God is FOOLISHNESS of the
highest order. This is because as long as we have eyes to see and minds to
reflect, what can be known about God is self-evident.
St. Paul
also takes a clue from this very verse when he noted: “For what can be known
about God is plain to them, because God has SHOWN it to them. Ever since the
creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and
deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they
are without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honour him as God…”
Romans 1:19-21
After
reflecting on the above, the great intellectual colossus, St. Thomas Aquinas,
came up with five solid proofs to show that beyond every reasonable doubt, God
actually exists. These five proofs are also called five ways or five arguments
of proving God’s existence. They are:
1,. The
Proof from MOTION. We observe motion all around us. Nothing moves on its own
without something first making it to move. Whatever is in motion now was at
rest until moved by something else, and that by something else, and so on. But
if there were an infinite series of movers, all waiting to be moved by
something else, then actual motion could never have got started, and there
would be no motion now. But there is motion now. So there must be a First Mover
which is itself unmoved. This First Mover we call God.
2., The
Proof from EFFICIENT CAUSE. Everything in the world has its efficient
cause--its maker--and that maker has its maker, and so on. The coffee table was
made by the carpenter, the carpenter born by his or her parents, and on and on.
But if there were just an infinite series of such makers, the series could
never have got started, and therefore be nothing now. So there must have been a
First Maker, that was not itself made, and that First Maker we call God.
3., The
Proof from NECESSARY VS. POSSIBLE BEING. Everything we see around us depends on
something else for survival hence they are called contingent beings as against
necessary beings that do not depend on anything else. For instance, cars and
trees and you and I are not necessary because there is a time before they come
to be when they are not yet, and a time after they cease to be when they are no
more. If everything were merely possible, there would have been a time, long
ago, when nothing had yet come to be. Nothing comes from nothing, so in that
case there would be nothing now! But there is something now-the world and
everything in it-so there must be at least one necessary being. This Necessary
Being we call God.
4., The
Proof from DEGREES OF PERFECTION or BEAUTY. We all evaluate things and people
in terms of their being more or less perfectly true, good, noble, beautiful,
and so on. We have certain standards of how things and people should be. But we
would have no such standards unless there were some being that is perfect in
every way, something that is the truest, noblest, and best. That Most Perfect
Being we call God. In other words, what Thomas Aquinas says here is that when
you see something very beautiful, you think you have seen the most beautiful
thing on earth only to be amazed with something even more striking and you just
open your mouth and wonder. If we continue to go up the ladder of beautiful and
more beautiful, we would reach a final point which nothing else can be found to
be more beautiful and that final point is God.
5., The
Proof from DESIGN. As we look at the world around us, and ourselves, we see
ample evidence of design--the bird's wing, designed for the purpose of flight;
the human ear, designed for the purpose of hearing; the natural environment,
designed to support life; and on and on. If there is design, there must be a
designer. That Designer we call God. The human body can be described as a
machine with every single organ working in perfect collaboration with another,
someone must have arranged them and given them their functions and that great
designer is God.
Truly,
anyone who tries to say God does not exist or acts as if he is not sure, is
very foolish. And this foolishness is seen in the idolatry that we find around
us; rather than worship God who made these beautiful things, people turn to
worship the things themselves. As the book of Wisdom asserts: “If through
delight in the beauty of these things men assumed them to be gods, let them
know how much better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty created
them.” Wisdom 13, 3. When you see a very beautiful girl or handsome boy for
instance, what should first come to your mind is to sing praise to God because
this beauty is a reflection of God’s beauty. Rather than lust after a person or
try to use that person for personal gratification, we should turn our focus to
God and begin to imagine how beautiful he must be.
In our
Gospel passage, Jesus makes us understand that we do not know the day or the
hour when we would be called to give an account of our lives. So every minute
we have right now, we should use it well to serve God and prepare for heaven.
Whether or not God exists should no longer be an issue or an excuse as some people
claim, they say since God has not come down to show himself to them, they would
not pattern their lives according to his commandments. How foolish they are!
Heaven is real. God truly exists so get ready!
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, make me wiser each day. Amen.
St.
Elizabeth of Hungary: Pray for us.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the
32nd Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Wisdom 13:1-9 and Luke 17:26-37).
