Glory Days

Seeing God’s glory shine in our history

Isaiah 7: 7-9

Thus says the LORD: “This shall not stand, it shall not be! Damascus is the capital of Aram, and Rezin is the head of Damascus; Samaria is the capital of Ephraim, and Remaliah’s son the head of Samaria. But within sixty years and five, Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation. Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!”

            If you could live in any era of the 2,000 year history of the Church, which period would you pick?  A priest friend and I were having this conversation, and I said, “That’s easy, I’d pick the glory days of the Church!  I’d love to have been a fly on the wall of history in the 1,200s while St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure was battling over timeless theological questions, or in the 400s while St. Patrick was driving snakes out of Ireland, or even in the 1940s while St. Ann Convent was full of nuns and we had a Catholic high school on our campus!”  Do you know what my friend said?  He loves the 1,400s.  I answered, “What?  That was the worst time of the Church’s history.  The hierarchy was corrupt, popes had their own children made bishops and archbishops, the clergy was lazy and the people were like sheep without a shepherd.”  He answered, “That’s right.  But think about it this way: If the Church could survive such depravity and decay, that’s proof-positive she was established by Christ.  Otherwise, Christianity would have collapsed.”  In other words, when we are at our worst, that’s when God’s love is at its best.  Those are our real glory days.

            If a Jewish person were to peruse the pages of the Old Testament, what period would he or she pick as their favorite?  In the first reading today, Isaiah might have selected the nadir, the low point, of all Jewish history, the time of the Babylonian Captivity.  He prophesies, “Unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm!”  That is, no matter how bad things get, God is still with you, have faith.  Even though through your sins you lose your land and your loved ones and your legacy, God will not leave you.  When you are at your worst, God will be at his best.  Those are your real glory days.

            If you were to look back on your own life, is there a time you would like to re-live?  Maybe high school or college, maybe when you landed a huge sales client, maybe the birth of your first child, or holding your grandchildren?  Those are truly glorious and grace-filled moments. But don’t overlook when you were down-and-out; when through your sins you felt like you had lost your land and loved ones and legacy.  There, too, is glory and grace.  Do you remember the poem, “Footprints”?

            One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

            Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

            In each scene I noticed footprints.

            Sometimes, there were two sets of footprints,

            Sometimes, there was one set of footprints.

            This bothered me because I noticed

            That during the low periods of my life

            When I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,

            I could see only one set of footprints.

            So I said to the Lord,

            “Lord, you promised me that if I followed you,

            You would walk with me always.

            But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life

            There have been only one set of footprints in the sand.

            Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?

            The Lord replied,

            “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand

            Is when I carried you.”

When we are at our worst, God's love is at its best.  Those are our glory days.

Praised be Jesus Christ!