Lesson from Fr. Paulus | Awe and Wonder Reflect a Healthy Christian Soul

My dear brothers and sisters, we all remember the famous Gospel passage when Jesus says, "Unless you turn and become like little children, you shall not enter the Kingdom of God." (Matthew 18:3).

What Jesus means by this seems obvious: salvation involves a return to a state of moral innocence, like children. Yet, are children as innocent as their reputation makes them?

Don't infants show signs of extreme selfishness and self-centeredness from the very beginning? Don't toddlers give their parents' constant headaches with their rebellious antics? Don't kindergartners need to be disciplined so that they stop lying and tormenting their siblings?

Maybe Jesus was referring to a different kind of innocence when he made that statement - the innocence of wonder. For healthy children, the world is a wonder-full place. Seashells and starlight are magically mysterious.

Grasshoppers and green mountains inspire fascination and excitement. And isn't that way it should be? Isn't that the way Adam and Eve would have seen the world before original sin, as an inspiring collection of magnificent treasures given to them by their Creator? That's what creation is, a fabulous gift from an all-powerful God who is not an angry tyrant, but a wise and loving Father.

An attitude of wonder and awe in the face of God's gifts is something shared by all the saints. And it applies not only to natural gifts, but even more to the supernatural gifts of salvation and redemption.

That is why St Paul, after spending three chapters of his Letter to the Romans analysing and explaining the complex twists and turns of salvation history, breaks out in a hymn of wonder and awe: "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!" This is the cry of a childlike, grace-filled, healthy Christian heart.

The Strange Plan of the Papacy

St Paul tells us that God's judgments are "inscrutable" and his ways are "unsearchable." Not in a bad sense, but in a wonderful sense. God is always using creative ways to bring about his magnificent plan of salvation. One of the most creative is the papacy.

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus explains that the papacy is the indestructible foundation of his Church. To emphasize the point, he gives Simon a new name that symbolizes his ministry as the first pope: "Peter," which is Greek for "rock." This conversation took place just outside the city of Caesarea Philippi.

That glorious city was constructed on the top of a huge hill, one side of which was a towering, bare rock cliff. It gave the city an appearance of invincibility and magnificence. Precisely there, standing near that imposing cliff, Jesus explains that his Church will also be invincible, because it too will be founded on rock, the rock of Peter, Christ's Vicar, the first Pope. It will be indestructible; the "gates of the netherworld" will not prevail against it.

And Jesus' promise has come true. For the last 20 centuries, the papacy has continued intact. Even the secular encyclopaedias can trace an unbroken line of succession from St Peter, the first pope, through Benedict XVI, the 265th.

Although at times there have been corrupt, greedy, and weak men occupying the papal office, and although emperors, kings, and generals have kidnapped, murdered, and exiled numerous popes, no pope in history has spoiled the purity of the Gospel or interrupted the flow of God's grace through the sacraments.

The rock has stood the test of time - not because of the popes' human qualities, but because of the "riches and wisdom and knowledge" of God's divine and truly wonder-full providential care.

Benefits and Bolsterers of Christian Wonder

A healthy sense of wonder and awe in the face of God's natural and supernatural gifts helps us grow in wisdom and peace of mind. It increases peace of mind because it reminds us that God really can guide history towards the eternal happy ending, he has promised - in spite of all the tragedies and sufferings that sin causes along the way. Nothing escapes his providence: "from him and through him and for him are all things," as St Paul wrote.

This attitude of gratitude and wonder also makes us grow in wisdom, because we recognize that there is much more to the human story than appears in the newspapers. As Christians, we have x-ray vision; we know the origin and purpose of all things, because God has told us.

These are the benefits of a healthy sense of Christian wonder, and there are two things we can do to keep it healthy.

First, we can make a point of reading the lives of the saints. The saints and martyrs are Christian all-stars, spiritual gold-medal winners. They show us how to rise to the heights of Christian maturity and remind us of God's wonder-full deeds.

Second, we can make sure that our Sundays are different. Sunday Mass is a primary duty for every Catholic - so much so that to miss it on purpose is a mortal sin - but the Lord's Day shouldn't stop at Mass. We need to create space and time on Sundays to have a fresh encounter with the "riches and wisdom and knowledge of God," whether by family picnics and cookouts, or visits to the sick or poor, or relaxing with our favorite hobbies.

Today, whether our wonder-level is rickety or robust, let's stir it up during the miracle of this Mass, and ask the Lord to keep our Christian hearts healthy.