Myopic Thoughts

In a seminary near our place there’s this priest I look up to. To me he gives really meaningful homilies, and not just that, he takes from real life experience (his own, actually) and shows us that God indeed works in our daily lives.

His name is Fr. Philip Lasatin, SDB. I usually go to him for confession. Earlier this evening he was the celebrant, and the Gospel was about Jesus’ transfiguration. His homily focused on miracles that happen everyday and how we fail to see them due to all the distractions of the world. He told a story that went something like this:

There was a hunter who went out to shoot fowls for the first time. He found a nice spot near the lake and together with his retriever, waited for the birds to appear.

Suddenly, a huge flock flew into the sky. The hunter aimed his rifle and made his first shot. Bang! A fowl fell from the sky and landed on the lake. At this point the hunter was expecting his dog to jump into the lake, swim towards the dead fowl, retrieve it and bring it back to him, since all retrievers are trained to be good water dogs - dogs that can swim. To his surprise, his dog ran on the surface of the water! His jaw dropped, for he couldn’t believe what he just saw. Bewildered, he decided to shoot another fowl, just to be sure he wasn’t dreaming. The clever dog ran again on top of the water, taking the fowl and bringing it back to its master. This time the hunter decided he should bring somebody with him to witness what he just saw. So he ran back to his house, found a friend of his, and told the guy to come back with him to the lake. When they arrived at the spot the hunter told his friend he’s about to see something that will amaze him. He then proceeded to shoot another fowl out of the sky. Bang! A bird fell and out came the hunter’s dog, doing its miraculous run on the lake. After it has retrieved the fowl, the hunter then asked his friend what he thought of the dog. The friend, with a look of disappointment, said:

"Man, I feel sorry for you. You retriever dog doesn’t know how to swim.

I found it funny, and at the same time I saw how irrevocably true it was in our time. Often we tend to see only what is natural; we forget that there are things beyond the expected. As such we fail to appreciate the good stuff the Lord bestows upon us. We let negativity touch us, and in so doing, we fall into despair. Only when we realize that God is constantly with us, ready to make our broken lives whole again can we see with clarity the miracles that abound in our day-to-day existence.

Fr. Lasatin ended his homily with a magic trick: he showed us a long rope, proceeded to cut it into four pieces, then tied the ends to bring the rope back in one piece. He then shoved the rope into one fisted hand, and when he pulled it out, the knots disappeared, and the rope was whole again.He said that the rope represents our imperfect life, most of the time broken and wounded. We try to pick up the pieces, but even if we manage to bring them all back together, it won’t be the same again. It is only when we remember God’s love for us, and His constant presence in our lives that we begin to realize we can be whole again.

Today has been a great day for me. A day full of miracles.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 4th, 2007 at 7:57 am and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.