A Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Psalm 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37
In today’s second reading, Saint Paul gives us one of the most MAJESTIC descriptions of Jesus Christ found anywhere in Scripture. He writes: “Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation… in Him all things were created… all things were created through Him and for Him… He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
This is not just poetic theology — it’s a glimpse into the deepest reality of our existence, created and sustained by Christ.
We profess each Sunday that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. But how often do we consider HOW God creates — and more importantly, how He CONTINUES to create?
There is a modern misunderstanding, even among Christians, that sees God as something like a divine watchmaker. This is an old Deist idea: God wound up the universe like a clock and then walked away, leaving it to run on its own. It’s the idea that God is a supreme being who is distant and doesn’t intervene in the ongoing lives of his creation.
This distant “sky-god” is useful for filling philosophical gaps or grounding morality, but not much else. In this view, God is acknowledged but largely ignored. We might thank Him for the Big Bang and then move on with our lives as if we’re on our own.
But this is NOT the Christian God. It’s NOT the God of the Bible. And it’s NOT the God Paul is describing today.
Our God is not simply the Creator — He is the CONSTANT Creator. He is not merely the first cause; HE IS THE CAUSE OF EVERY MOMENT. As Paul says, “In Him all things hold together.” That means right now — this very second — you and I exist only because God is actively willing us to exist.
If God were to stop THINKING of us for even a moment, we would simply cease to be. We would vanish into thin air. That’s how close He is. That’s how utterly dependent we are on Him.
Saint Augustine once said that “God is closer to us than we are to ourselves.” That might sound like a nice idea, but it’s also a spiritual reality with powerful consequences.
Why? Because if God is not just far away and watching – maybe taking notes, especially when we offend him – rather, He is intimately holding our existence in His hands. The truth is that we are NEVER alone. We are never abandoned. He is ALWAYS with us.
Dear friends, our value does not come from our success, our strength, or even our faith. Our value comes from the fact that we are held together by Love Himself. MOMENT BY MOMENT, God says to us: “LIVE, I am with you now and forever.”
This truth changes everything!
It changes how we pray. God is not an option we turn to when all else fails — He is the foundation of all that is. Prayer is not a negotiation with God, as if we were equals trying to strike a deal with Him. Our prayer should be a humble return to the One who is already closer to us than our breath, our heartbeat.
It also changes how we suffer. Even when life feels like it’s falling apart, God is still holding us together. Even when we feel like we’re losing control, He remains sovereign.
And, finally, it changes how we see ourselves. The ILLUSION of independence — that we can live without God, define our own reality, and control our future — is just that: an ILLUSION. Perhaps one of the clearest modern examples of this illusion is the popular notion of “My body, my choice.”
Jesus says, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” To surrender ourselves to God is not to lose who we are, but to discover who we really are. We were made in Him, through Him, and for Him. We are His, we are not our own.
And here’s the most beautiful part: the One who holds the galaxies together knows our name! He has counted the hairs on our head. He became one of us in Jesus Christ, to live with us, suffer with us, and die for us — so that nothing, not even death, can separate us from Him.
And although we belong to Him and he loves us so completely, in His love he gives us free will. We can choose to ignore him, to forsake him, to be deceived that we are in control. We can choose to live apart from Him, ultimately choosing Hell over Heaven as our eternal destiny. But, thanks be to God, as long as we are alive we can return to Him. His mercy is so great, so complete, that He is always willing to take us back when we return to Him. All we have to do is acknowledge our sins, make a good confession and resolve to do our best to live each day according to His will.
So let us always remember that our God is not the God of Deism, an impartial judge who doesn’t get involved in our lives. No! Our God is the God of the cross — “in whom all things hold together.”
Today let us worship not a distant clockmaker, but the living Lord who sustains us, loves us, and dwells within us. Who gives himself to us entirely in the Eucharist. Let us stop negotiating with Him and instead give Him everything — because He is already giving us everything, He’s giving us our every breath, every heartbeat, and truly sustains us every moment of our lives. Let us give Him our sincere gratitude for our life and our many gifts, recognizing that in His love He is always with us and is the source of our life, each and every moment of our lives.
God bless you.