Sweet Tooth

Savoring the sweetness of the Word of God

 Ezekiel 3:1-4

The Lord GOD said to me: Son of man, eat what is before you; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat. Son of man, he then said to me, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you. I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. He said: Son of man, go now to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.

             I love Pope St. John Paul II.  Don’t you?  I deeply admire Pope Francis, of course, but the men who grew up and were ordained in my era – the 80’s and 90’s – proudly consider ourselves “John Paul II priests.”  Even though the pope-saint was a towering intellectual, he never lost the common touch, or his sense of humor.  You know how the formal address for the pope is “Your Holiness,” like we address bishops as “Your Excellency.”  Well, one day a nun said to him, “I am very concerned about Your Holiness.”  The pope smiled and said, “I am very concerned about my holiness, too!”  The nuns who cooked for the pope always prepared a special dessert because the pope was known to have a sweet tooth.  They tried to have a new dessert at each meal.  You see, a saint is not someone who tries to act like an angel, but rather a saint is the one who is the most human of all.  But do you know what John Paul II’s real “sweet tooth” was for?  He loved to devour the Bible, the Word of God; that was his sweetest dessert.  His most serious contribution to theology – called “The Theology of the Body” – is a bold new understanding of the Scripture.  Nothing tasted sweeter to Pope St. John Paul II than Sacred Scripture.

             In the first reading today, the prophet Ezekiel learns to savor the Scriptures, too.  The prophet describes the very first time he tasted God’s Word: “So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat…I ate it and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.”  In other words, the Bible isn’t just something you read, it’s also something you taste and eat.  You must devour the Scriptures and make it part of your spirituality, just like that coffee and croissant you are going to eat for breakfast will become part of you physically!  We must all develop a sweet tooth for the Scriptures.

             In the last week, I’ve helped at two funerals at which Protestant pastors spoke.  I was awe-struck how easily they quoted the Bible, and I was a little embarrassed I could not do the same.  They had a sweet tooth for the Scriptures.  What is your intellectual diet these days: the Wall Street Journal, the Women’s Home Journal, Tom Clancy novels, Calvin and Hobbes comic strips?  Like Ezekiel and John Paul II, we need to develop a sweet tooth for the Scriptures.  We need to read it, and study it, devour it, and memorize it, and yes, even be able to quote it.  So that the Sacred Page becomes as sweet as honey in our mouths, and tastes better than the baklava or cheesecake or tiramisu you may have for dessert today.

Praised be Jesus Christ!