Homily: Feast of St. Stephen of Hungary

Feast of St. Stephen of Hungary (Ezekial 16:1ff) “A Passionate God”

Sometimes scripture can be very shocking. Sexual connotations can embarrass us at times. I am reminded of the Song of Songs. The whole book is made up of love poetry. We look at it in an allegorical sense and say that God is the male lover. The nation of Israel is the female lover. The poetry alludes to the passionate love that God has for Israel.

We have the same kind of allusion in the Book of the Prophet Ezekial. The writer speaks of how a young girl grows into a beautiful woman. God dresses the woman and takes care of her every need. The motivation seems to be a deep and passionate love.

Ezekial was a prophet in Babylon at the time of the exile. He tries to prepare his people for the destruction of Jerusalem. The People of Israel believed that Jerusalem was God’s home, that it never would be destroyed.

The People of Israel also thought that they were God’s people. God would always take care of them. He would never desert them. But at the time of the exile, it seemed like God had betrayed his people. The people felt abandoned, unloved.

Ezekial uses this passage to say that it was not God who had turned away from Israel, but it was Israel who had turned away from God. God is so infatuated with Israel that he will never give up on his people. The Lord would like some sign that Israel still loves the Lord.

We can sense the hurt that God feels because of the betrayal of Israel. His people had turned to other God’s. Israel had trusted in other nations for protection rather than the might of the Lord of Hosts.

We can see ourselves in this passage. God loves us in a deeply passionate way. Do we return that love?

Reflection Questions:

1.    Does this passage from Ezekial seem spiritual? Why or why not?

2.   Is passionate love an expression of God’s love?  Is all love from God?

 Dear Parishioners,

           The fall is a time when we get very busy. We have fall sports. We have school activities. We usually see a dip in Mass attendance until we get to November.

          I would encourage everyone to make time for the Lord as you enter the business of autumn. We need to make sure that we and our family’s spiritual lives are nurtured and cared for.

          May Our Lady of Peace pray for us,

          Fr. Mark