Trust in God and the Light Will Shine

Reflection for Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph & The Solemnity of the BVM, Mother of God

I’m not sure how many of you remember superbowl 42. It was the 2008 superbowl between the Giants and the patriots. The Giants had low expectations from the beginning. Tiki Barber, their star running back, retired, and Eli Manning was struggling. After a rough start to the regular season, the Giants were able to secure a wild card bid in the playoffs, despite losing some key players. The New York Times wrote in 2007 that “Manning is widely being assessed as little more than an adequate quarterback, and a symbol of the team’s current role as a second-tier contender” (cite). Further, the same article provided examples of criticism against Manning. The article writes “‘Whatever ‘It’ Is, Eli Is Without It,’ read a headline over a column in The Record of Hackensack, N.J. A pair of Newsday reviews were topped with ‘Unfortunately, Eli’s as Good as He’s Going to Get,’ and ‘Eli’s O.K. — That’s the Giants’ Problem.’ Clearly, no one, fans and critics alike saw the spark in Eli, and they thought he was nothing special. In reality, they wished he wasn’t their quarterback. But the story doesn’t end there. The story doesn’t end with criticism. Because the Giants ended up winning the superbowl against a 16-0 Patriots team. They won the game 17-14, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. That is how the story ended, with the skill and glory of Manning coming out on the field, proving all criticisms and critiques to be wrong. But not everyone was originally critical of Manning. Not everyone left him for the wolves. The coach, Tom Coughlin, said this to Manning: “We know the environment that we are in here and, obviously, you would like it to be different, but it is not,” Further, he said “So the only way that we know to do anything about it is the next game.” Coughlin trusted Manning, and saw that he could do much better than he was doing. He saw the spark in him that no one else saw and sought to motivate him to do better. 

Coughlin saw the good. Isn’t that really what has happened in the past two gospels (Feast of the Holy Family & BVM, Mother of God)? Both Mary and Simeon saw the knew and trusted in the glory of God, and saw the glory in Jesus Christ yet to come. They hadn’t seen His glory come to fulfillment yet, but they trusted in it. They trusted in a child Jesus Christ, because they knew, no matter what age Christ was, He was the Son of God. In the gospel for the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, we see both Mary and the shepherds glorifying God because they saw, they trusted, in the glory of Jesus Christ, who was just a baby. The gospel tells us “The shepherds returned,  glorifying and praising God  for all they had heard and seen,  just as it had been told to them.” Similarly, it says that “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” The shepherds, by just seeing the baby Jesus, knew that there was more than just a baby. God was in front of them. They saw and knew of His glory before it came to fruition, just like Coughlin did in 2008 for Manning. Manning had something inside of him that Coughlin saw, and Coughlin trusted in that. So did the shepherds. The shepherds trusted this message from an angel and saw the child and knew that it was God. They just knew it was right. They just knew they could trust in it for their salvation. Simeon is the same thing. The Holy Spirit revealed to him he wouldn’t die until he saw Christ the Lord. Then, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the temple and Simeon gave us his canticle. He says “Now, Master, you may let your servant go

in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” Simeon trusted in this baby that was before him; he trusted that it was truly Jesus Christ, that the baby would truly bring him salvation. He trusted that the baby would bring him goodness and light. Coughlin too knew Manning would bring the team greatness; he knew that Manning was meant for more than the mass amount of criticism he was getting. Coughlin didn’t have an angel telling him that Manning would bring the team a superbowl, although in no way am I comparing Manning to Jesus. But in some ways we are more like Coughlin. We have to trust in the Word through the Bible, and listen to the word of God through the Eucharist, through both consumption and adoration. We need to trust in Jesus Christ that even when it seems like there is no light, like the glory of His name is gone, He truly reigns forever. That no matter what He will always be the King of the World, King of the Universe, and that He will come to redeem His people. 

Trust is really key. Trust in the Lord. Trust even when we haven’t seen the whole story. Trust even when it seems like all else has failed. We are capable of trusting, even when it seems like we shouldn’t. Even when it seems like the evidence doesn’t amount to trust. Listen to this:

“As an athlete, I’ve always worked hard to push myself to my limits and with that usually comes some aches and pains. So last year when I started to feel some muscle soreness after a tough workout at first I didn’t think it was a big deal. I was training for a marathon at the time, so over the weekend I’d done a 13-mile run. The following Tuesday I hit my favorite CrossFit gym to do a workout that involved a lot of upper body weight lifting. My trainer told me to take it easy on my body, but I figured I’d be fine and powered through it. Afterward, my trainer noticed a slight swelling in my arm and said he was worried. I tried to brush him off but he insisted I drink a lot of water and check in with him in a few hours. Sure enough, by that afternoon the swelling had increased and I headed to the doctor. I still thought he was making a mountain out of a molehill but I trusted my trainer so I did it.

“The doctor took one look at me and diagnosed me with rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening condition where muscle overuse causes kidney failure. As they gave me IV fluids to flush out the toxins, my doctor told me that if I’d waited even another 30 minutes, we would have been having this discussion in the emergency room. I made a full recovery, thanks in no small part to my trainer. Thankfully I had a great trainer I could trust; he saved my life.” (From Reader’s Digest). 

There was really no evidence, no reason for this person to trust in their trainer. They had always experienced soreness, and a little swelling is nothing for a runner. And for someone without a trained eye, the swelling looked normal. It didn’t seem like any big deal. But here comes this trainer who is trying to explain that it is a big deal and it needs to be looked at. He appealed to her trust. And she realized that although it didn’t seem like she had any reason to listen to him, or any reason to trust in him about her swelling, it was necessary, because she knew she could trust him. She just knew. She knew he knew what he was talking about and that she could trust him. 

That was exactly what Simeon did. That was exactly what Mary did. They didn’t really have a ton of reason to trust and believe in everything that was to come. Sure they had heard a message of an angel. But they were promised a lot. And they didn’t have to trust in the Lord. They didn’t have to keep trusting that Christ would bring them glory and salvation. They had seen and heard of such a small sliver of the plan God had set in motion. But they trusted They knew that they just had to trust. Just like Coughlin and just like that marathon runner, they trusted, even when it seemed like they shouldn’t; even when it seemed like the odds weren’t in their favor. 

I think this message rings even more true for us now, in the modern day world, in the modern day Church. The Church and Christ are constantly attacked whether it be from other Christians, other religions, governments, and more. The world, and society more broadly, wishes the Church and Christianity could be out of the picture. They see the message of Christ as a threat. They see our world and the materialism that comes with it as better than the beautiful message of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. And it seems like it would be easier for us to follow that. The pressure is constant, the threats are real, and the division is great. It seems like it would be easier to believe and follow what society has begun to teach rather than a religion that seems to contradict societal beliefs. It seems like it would be easier to deny religion than to be outcasted. 

But it is pretty clear that isn’t what we are supposed to do. The temptation is great to just shut up and follow the mob. But that's not what Mary did, that's not what the shepherd's did, and that's not what Simeon did. Mary, Simeon, and the Shepherds all praised God despite not seeing the true glory of Christ. They all trusted in God beyond all else. Mary and Simeon dedicated their lives to the trust in Christ, despite only seeing such a small portion of it. They are meant to be our model. They are meant to be perfect examples of how to live our life as a witness of Jesus Christ. We need to trust. Even when it seems like the darkness is more powerful, even when it seems like Christ has lost and the message has fallen apart, we need to trust in Him, that he has brought us salvation, that he has redeemed us. 

Maybe we won’t ever have an apparition of an angel, or even be the coach of the giants, or even run a marathon. But we definitely all have times when we can trust in Christ when the odds don’t seem in our favor. 

When we do that we bring the world light. We bring the world Jesus Christ. Trust in God and the light will shine.