Am I Normal?
We are made in the image of God. Is that normal? Am I normal? Is that other person who is so different from me normal? Is it normal to be different? If that is true, then how can we ever know what normal is?
The things we do routinely, the people who surround us, the attitudes and preferences we have in our lives define normal. Normal is what we are accustomed to in our lives. Our world and the life we live is normal.
God gave us the world we live in as a gift. In our normal world we will find everything we need to make us holy. In our normal world we will find God.
Written by Laura Weston, widow of Deacon Michael Weston
IF YOU LIKE, READ ALONG WHILE YOU ARE LISTENING:
Those of you who have been listening to me long enough know that one of my favorite homilies, in fact I am going to deliver it this Sunday, is the question that Jesus asks of us: "Who do you say I am?" There is an ancillary question to that, that is very important and it comes up today: Who do you say you are?
Now we know, by human nature, that each and every one of you is the definition, capital THE, definition of normal. We define the world in the context of who WE are and how WE perceive the world. I live in a world: that is the normal world! All the other things are ancillary to my world. The way I act, that is the normal way to act.
The question then is, within your definition of who say you are, your normal, where does Jesus Christ fit? Is he a governing part of your life? When you live your life, and obviously you guys are crazy enough to be up early in the morning, so, yeah, he plays some role in the fact that you are insomniacs and need something to do at 6:30 in the morning: you come here. So he is obviously playing a role.
But the question then is: What is His role in your life? Who do you say you are? St. John talks about: "Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" Do you truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God or does Jesus provide something that supports and makes comfortable your definition of normal? Are you taking what you want from Jesus and imposing it upon, not imposing it, [but] bringing it into your part of the definition of normal, so that normal, for example, is getting up early in the morning and coming for Mass [Communion service] at 6:30 in the morning, that is the normal. Or are your activities and your definition [of normal] defined by Jesus's commandments and your love of Jesus. Do you wake up in the morning and say, "I really can't face the day without being..., without my Lord. I cannot face the day without receiving the body and blood of Christ.” When you spend... when you have situations where you don't, do you feel empty?
When you deal with situations that..., I will pick on Darlene today… when Darlene is being obnoxious, do you have this urge to (smacking sound) wop Darlene or do you look at her from the love of Christ? The love of Christ for the leper. You notice that Jesus Christ touches the leper which means that for a period of time under Jewish law, Jesus was unclean. And that leprosy, in fact, is contagious in the situation that Jesus was facing. Do you change your activity on how you deal with someone like Darlene because of your belief in Jesus Christ? That is part of what it means: who do you say you are? "Whoever possesses the Son has life. Whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life." Do you possess Jesus? Is he an integral part of what you are? Who do you say you are?
That is a very important question that we have to address in our lives each day when we go to work, when we live with our family. 'Cause even our family, our wives of however many years, she is part of YOUR normal, but she isn't normal, by virtue of the definition that you are male and she is female, she is abnormal. But is the love that you have through her motivated and brought to fruition by the fact that you define yourself as a follower of Jesus Christ and believe his teaching?
And so one of the things that is a very, I don't know, profitable, or a worthwhile thing to do when you go through life, the daily aspects of life, look and see if what you are doing, what you are thinking, how you are approaching the world, is defined by your definition of normal, or, by your definition of normal which encompasses a deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ who provides the basis for how you live your life? Do you bring Jesus into all aspects of your life? As St. John says, "Do you possess the Son?" Is He part of what you are?
And so the question is, just like we asked the question and Jesus asks of us, He asked of Peter, He asks of us, who do you say Jesus is? The second question is, with the answer of who do you say Jesus is: "Who do you say you are?" In the context of how you answer the question, who do you say Jesus is?
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