Homily originally presented July 1, 2018

There was a college professor who was an atheist ...

and he delighted in giving Christian students a hard time.

One day he asked the students in his class to raise their hand if they were Christian.

He pointed to one of them, a freshman, and asked “Did God make everything?”

And the freshman replied, “Yes, He did.”   To which the Professor remarked, “Well if God made everything, then He made evil, because evil exists in the world ...

                   and what kind of God is that who would make evil?”

Well the poor freshman didn’t quite know what to say and so he fell silent and it appeared the Professor had made a crippling attack on God & the Christian faith.

But then another student raised his hand and said, “Sir may I ask you a question?”

The Professor agreed and the student asked, “Does cold exist?”

The Professor responded, “Of course it does … haven’t you ever been cold?

What kind of a question is that?”

The Student replied, “Well actually sir, cold isn’t something that’s made! What we consider to be cold is really the absence of heat. In Science, Absolute Zero is when there is absolutely no heat. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that the amount of heat energy of the universe is constant and all that happens is the transfer of heat from place to place. We use the term cold to describe how we feel when heat is not there.                  But you don’t make cold ... it is simply the absence of heat!”

Now the Professor was silent!

The student persisted, “May I ask you another question?” The Professor nodded.

And the student asked, “Does darkness exist?”

Once again the Professor responded, “Of course it does … haven’t you ever been unable to see what’s around you?            What kind of a question is that?”

The Student replied, “Well actually sir, darkness isn’t something that’s made!

What we consider to be dark is really the absence of light.

We use the term dark to describe what we see when light’s not there.

But you don’t make dark … it is simply the absence of light.

As the Professor fell silent again, the Student went on to explain ... that

the reality of evil is similar to the reality of cold and dark.      It too is not created!

What we consider to be evil ... is really the absence of good.

We use the term evil to describe what we experience when goodness is not there.

But, you don’t make evil ... it is simply the absence of good.

In the Creation Story found in the first chapter of Genesis,

we read that God created everything … and everything God created was Good!

But sadly, the first two humans, Adam and Eve, who were created very good, freely chose to disobey God, and fell out of Goodness. They fell into what we call sin or evil. Those are uncreated states that we use to describe the absence of Good!

So you see, just because evil exists in the world, doesn’t mean that God created it. It simply means that we human beings have misused our God given freedom and fallen away from our created state of goodness ... into the uncreated state of sin.

God is all good ... and our All Good God ... did not create evil!

The Wisdom writer verifies this in our First Reading when he writes,

“God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.”

You see, it’s only because of sin, that sickness and death entered the world!

These realities came about as consequences of the Original Sin of Adam & Eve.

It’s because of their disobedience to God that men and women get sick!

It’s because of their disobedience to God that men and women die!

That wasn’t the original plan.

In our reading from Wisdom, we heard,

“For God formed man to be imperishable … but by the envy of the devil,

death entered the world, and they who belong to his company experience it.”

Scripture says God formed us in His image and likeness.

So, if God is eternal ... that means that we were formed to be eternal!

Yes, before the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, we were destined for eternal life.

But after they disobeyed God, we were destined for eternal separation from God

But thanks to Jesus coming as our Savior and atoning for all sins,

we once again have the chance for ... Eternal Life.

Recall how Jesus announced, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

And how He taught, “I came that you would have life and have it to the fullest.”

Jesus came into our world, steeped in sin, to redeem us and to offer us life again,

to overcome sickness and death and reclaim for us the opportunity for Eternal life, 

          the destiny that God had in mind for us ... from the very beginning.

We heard this truth in our Gospel acclamation where Paul says in 1^st Timothy:

“Our Savior Jesus Christ destroyed death & brought life to light through the Gospel.”

And indeed we heard two examples of this in Mark’s Gospel today where ...,

Jesus heals the sick and raises the dead!      The woman suffering the hemorrhage and the Synagogue Official’s dead daughter ... were both given new life by Jesus.

Jesus, who is God, is all Good.  And He can fill the void of evil with Good!

What we have to do is come to Him and seek His help and His healing.

How do you overcome cold?              You bring in the heat!

How do you overcome darkness?      You bring in the light!

How do you overcome evil?               You bring in the Good!

That means you bring in God ... for God is all good!

• John tells us, “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness.”
• And Jesus, the Son of God said, “I am the Light of the world.”

We affirm this when we pray our Creed & proclaim, “God from God, Light from Light.”

Light and goodness flow between the Father and the Son and they flow to us too!

Recall, how the woman with the hemorrhage reached out and touched Jesus’ cloak and she ... “felt in her body that she was healed.”    Mark records that

Jesus was “aware at once that (healing) power had gone out from Him.”

That’s a clear example of the transfer of God’s healing power.

And we heard how Jesus reached out and took the hand of the girl who had died ...

     and she “rose immediately and walked around.”

That’s a clear example of the transfer of God’s life-giving power.

Just as this physical world is about the transfer of heat and light ...

the spiritual world is about the transfer of grace ... the supernatural help of God.

God loves to dispense His Grace on us, His children.

He has the power to heal us in mind, body and spirit.

He has the power to bring us from death to life ... now and forever!

Let’s reach out to God daily in prayer & let Him touch us often in Holy Communion  to live in ... the light of His Truth ... the warmth of His love ...

and the goodness of his commands ... so that we can experience the immortality ...

that God planned for us from the beginning … Eternal Life with Him in Heaven!

So, yes, Professor ... 

God did create everything ... and everything God created ... was good!