When St. Mary Star of the Sea in Beverly formed a collaborative with the two other Catholic churches in town, our pastor decided to close the building during the summer because there was no air conditioning. We were encouraged to attend St. John the Evangelist instead but since my mother and I had already left that parish many years before, weren't eager to return anytime soon. While looking for a new spiritual home for those summer months, we eventually found the Carmelite Chapel and were very happy with the elderly priests who ran the place.
Fr. Herbert had such a gentle way of speaking and his humble sermons were often thought-provoking and reflective ending with the simple phrase, “May God love you.” A few years later, the Carmelite's priests were set to retire and by the end of January 2016, a new religious order would take over the chapel. During one of Fr. Herbert's last Masses, I decided to record audio of his sermon and quite fittingly, the subject focused on the gentle nature of God. I printed it here in his honor:
“I'd like to ask a question and you can think about it. Who is God to you? What is the image that you have of God when you think of Him? You're all here tonight. You're all here because we believe in God, obviously, but what...what is the image that we have of God?
For some it might be a judge...someone strict who is the creator of all and these things have to be done my way. Others, it might be a kindly grandfather. Others, it might be sort of an efficient businessman who's running this whole creation that He established. There's all different ideas that we might have of God. And that's why I'm hoping that you're all paying much attention to the three readings at this evening's Mass because it describes the qualities that should be in our mind when we think of God.
In the first reading, it tells about the compassion of God. The Prophet Isiah...we hear his language in which He's so kind. The Lord says to the people of Israel, 'Unto us today that we will not be called forsaken...damned...judged. Our land will not be called desolate, where we despair.' Rather the Lord wants us...wants to call us delightful and loved. That whole first reading he has that gentle notion of God that we frequently don't associate with God.
The second reading, which is a beautiful reading from St. Paul teaches us that the spirit gives us very different gifts and they're gifts that are useful. The gift of teaching. He words it so beautifully. He gives one the expression of wisdom. To another, the knowledge...according to the same spirit...the knowledge of wisdom. To another, faith coming from that same spirit. To another, the gifts of healing coming from that same spirit. One to do mighty deeds, is wise and can work for good...do good things. Another gift is the gift of prophecy...to know what's happening...to put things in their perspective...to have a clear image of what God expects from us. To another, discernment of spirits...who really knows how to figure out what God wants for us and discerning God's will in our lives. To another, the variety of tongues. Those who can speak many languages are so gifted. One of my young Carmelites speaks about eight languages and it's just incredible. Self taught...learned them all by himself. To another, he gives interpretation of tongues...to know what people are thinking even though we don't know what they're saying. I think that that is reputation of tongues even though I don't understand what's being said. Infrequently, someone will come to confession who doesn't speak English and they'll make a confession and you can sense the sense of repentance in their voice...in their tone of voice and you know that there has to be God's forgiveness. What more is necessary as to be attentive...to listen...to understand.
That same spirit of God that gives us all these gifts, that same spirit of God that gives them to us...to each individual. If we went through each one here, no two would be the same. Each one has his own personality...his own gifts...his own weaknesses because they're coming from God. It is our task...our struggle through life to know how to use them...to put them to good use...to make God's will effective in our lives. That image of God continues in the Gospel today. The marriage...the wedding feast of Cana. There we have our blessed mother who is so close to God...probably as close as any human being has ever been. She's the one that senses the need of the young couple. They're running out of wine at a big feast. They're not going to be punished or maybe even criticized but the family's going to be ashamed that they didn't have the resources to attend their guests so it's our blessed mother who intercedes with her Son and tells Him they have no wine. And Christ said, “What's it to me?” but she knows in compassion that He'll response to her concern. And she says, “Do whatever He tells you” and then we know the rest of the story. The water was changed into the best wine of the day. The compassion of God who always goes beyond our needs...beyond what we could imagine. His is aware of our needs and He responds.
And that's the image that we have to keep in mind of God. A gentle, loving, compassionate God who's aware of our weaknesses and our failures and our sins but He's not judging us. He's not ready to back away now that He's there to reach out a hand to help. That's what we should be thinking of when we think of God. And it's a beautiful image of our blessed mother who intercedes for us when she knows our needs. It's an excellent idea that we have to pray to the saints...to pray to the blessed mother particularly that she intercedes with her Son...and her voice is so powerful with her Son. God is the gentle God...a creator who is concerned about His creation...concerned about the life that He has put on this earth...concerned about how we use the gifts and the talents that He has given to us. So let us thank God. Let us thank Mary...that we will always be able to use these gifts...that we ourselves can be tender and compassionate with those around us. Let us pray that we become more open to that gentle spirit of God that becomes a part of our own life and we do away with the criticisms and the prejudices and the hatreds, the resentments that we allow to creep into our lives. That's not Godlike. He's compassion...gentle and loving. And that's the image of God that we should try to create in our own lives. May God love you.”
To my surprise, Fr. Herbert did return to the Carmelite Chapel every once in a great while just to help out and another of his sermons discussed death. Fr. Herbert thought it was a shame we didn't like to dwell on the subject because he felt we should prepare for that moment just as we prepared for the other great moments of our lives. He told us, to be Christian meant we needed to live the Gospel message and to make it real in our daily lives remembering that it's all part of the preparation for that moment when we are called into the presence of God. We should give of ourselves in some way to change the world in which we live. Fr. Herbert did just that in many humble and gentle ways.
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