The Unknown Gods

Giving thanks to the blessings of unknown gods

05/24/2017

Acts of the Apostles 17:15, 22—18:1 After Paul's escorts had taken him to Athens, they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: "You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.' What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us.

          It takes a long time for us to realize all that our parents have done for us. I’m 47 years old, and even now I’m discovering the extent of their blessings. One way they exert their influence is in how we imitate them. Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” When I was a small boy, and my family would go to a restaurant, my mother invariably ordered a glass of water without ice, and made the waiter take it back if he brought it with ice. That annoyed me to no end and I complained, “Mom, just take the water with the ice and stop giving the waiter a hard time!” But now, when I go out to eat, guess what I order to drink: a glass of water, please hold the ice. Little by little, we become our parents. By imitating them we are thanking them for what they have taught us. But for so long that blessing remained unknown to us.

          Here’s another example. Sometimes I see people on the side of the street with signs asking for help. My heart goes out to them, but my mind goes back to my parents. I wonder: how is it that I have a fairly comfortable life – nice car, good clothes, plenty of food, a warm home – but they do not? A big reason is due to the decision my parents made to send me to Catholic schools, which opened doors for a future that may have remained locked otherwise. I wonder how many homeless people attended Catholic schools? Of course, while I was at St. Theresa’s and Catholic High and University of Dallas, I saw none of these blessings; I just struggled to survive. In other words, for so many years of my life my parents were like “unknown gods” to me. They were blessing me, but I was oblivious to them.

           In the first reading today, St. Paul tells tries to teach the Athenians about the “Unknown God” in their life. St. Paul stands at the “Aeropagus” (a prominent rock outcropping northwest of the Acropolis in Athens), and declares: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. I even discovered an altar inscribed ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.” He goes on to explain that all the blessings they enjoy come ultimately from this God, and the time has come to acknowledge him, thank him and worship him. In other words, just like we wander in ignorance of where our blessings come from – our parents’ love, sacrifice and solicitude – so the Athenians wandered in ignorance of in whom “we live and move and have our being.” It takes us a long, long time to realize how the unknown Gods have blessed us.

            My friends, take time today to stop and see where your blessings come from. Some of those blessings will come from unknown gods spelled with a small “g,” that is, from your parents. Make a list of at least 10 things your parents did for you as a child that have shaped the adult you have become today. Hopefully it will be hard to limit the list to 10! If it is hard to name 10 things, perhaps you are like the Athenians and still ignorant of your “unknown gods,” and still have not realized how they have blessed you. And secondly, stop and see the blessings you have received from the “Unknown God” spelled with a capital “G,” that is, from your heavenly Father: your talents, your vocation, your faith, your hope of heaven, the treasures of grace hidden in the sacraments, your friendship with the angels and saints, your spiritual mother Mary, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even the commandments and the laws of God are blessings, your prayer life, the community of the church and spiritual friends, the wonders of nature, the joys of family life, just for starters. We enjoy all these gifts long before we know the God who bestowed them.

            St. Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it?” In the end we will see that everything is a gift from the Unknown God, and we will finally and fully acknowledge him, thank him and worship him.

Praised be Jesus Christ!