Homily: November 22, 2023 Wednesday, of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time (Great God).

 “I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things...”

During the hot summer nights in my childhood years, my siblings and I would go up to the rooftop of our house to enjoy some cool fresh air. We did not have air conditioning back then, not even now. We would lie down on the floor of the rooftop looking into the night sky, and seeing all the millions of stars, occasionally we would spot an airplane. We have also seen many shooting stars over the years.

It was a wonderful feeling. It was a feeling of deep calmness and assurance. It was a feeling of peace.

I knew some of those stars were probably larger than our planet Earth. But how big is the earth? The first time when I flew from the USA to India some years ago, it was a 12-hour non-stop flight, it was then that I realized how vast the Earth is, how vast the ocean is.

Last year, Webb telescope’s images further expanded our imagination of the universe. Humankind will never fully comprehend the greatness of this universe.

Back to our first reading, the courageous mother, who had already lost six of her sons, is now advising her youngest son to look at the vastness of the heavens and the earth to understand the greatness of God, the One who created all these from nothing. If the created thing is so great, how much greater is the Creator. She strengthened his faith and encouraged him to give his life to honor this great Creator.

Yes, our God is big, our problems are nothing in comparison. There is a simple quote which contained deep wisdom, “Do not tell God how big your problem is, but tell your problem how big your God is.”

This is simply amazing. In moments when we feel stressed, at times when we lose hope, on occasions when our faith is shaken, let us look at the heavens and the earth, and know that God did not make them out of existing things, He made this wondrous creation all from His love. Contemplating this will help us see God in everything, to trust Him and know that He is in control, death is nothing to be feared, He will make things right in the end.

At the end of time, as the mother said, “He, in His mercy, will give you back both breath and life.” Amen.