Cell Phone Religion

Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
In many ways, our relationship with God is like a cell phone conversation – or, more often, like the service problems that are almost a given when using cell phones. Think about it this way – God is the perpetual caller with the unlimited cell phone plan. Just as Jesus called the disciples when they were fishing, God usually calls us during the normal, everyday events of our lives. If we spend a lot of time at work, then God might call us at work; if we spend a lot of time with our friends, then God might call us when we’re with our friends; if we spend a lot of time in prayer, then God will certainly give us a call when we’re praying. The problem comes when our service gets interrupted – when the connection between us and God starts to have static, or background noise, or – the worst possibility – when our call is dropped. There are so many other things – so many other calls – competing for our attention, that God sometimes sounds like he’s calling from the other side of the world, with only a bare minimum of service, quickly fading away. And on top of all that, we don’t even have to answer – if we don’t want to talk to God when he calls, it’s too easy to just hit the ignore button.

But there is good news in all of this – truly good news. In many ways, when God calls us, he has the perfect cell phone plan with the best world-wide coverage. Remember the commercials for a certain cell phone service provider – where the man in the commercials goes all around the world asking, “Can you hear me now?” This particular cellular company boasts that they have the clearest service in the widest variety of places. But God goes one better – his call comes in loud and clear no matter where we are, even if we don’t have his number in our phones, and even if our phone isn’t turned on. He keeps calling even when we’re not listening or not answering. I imagine that too often God keeps on asking, “Can you hear me now?” and gets no response. But he keeps calling, he keeps at it, until we answer. He never runs out of minutes.

This week we celebrate Catholic Schools Week. Our Catholic Schools, here at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and at Providence, are just some of the many ways we as a parish try to keep the phone lines open between us and God. Our Catholic Schools light the way to God by giving our students and families the strength and will to answer God’s call, and not keep hitting ignore. But no group can do that on their own – our Catholic schools, just like all of our other parish ministries, need the support of a community of faith, the guidance of the gospel, and the cooperation of Christian families. If we have that, and if we are guided by the great light of God, then all of our parish ministries – from our school to our youth programs to our faith formation programs to our soup kitchens and everything else – if we are guided by the true light, then we will be ready to answer God when our phone rings, and God won’t have to keep asking, “Can you hear me now?”