Sacred Secrets

Learning to love the mystery of Christ

09/28/2017

Luke 9:7-9 Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, "John has been raised from the dead"; others were saying, "Elijah has appeared"; still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen." But Herod said, "John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept trying to see him.

            Everyone loves a good secret. We like to know secrets and we love to be the first one to share them. Oh my goodness, let me tell you what Fr. Pius did before he left on his vacation yesterday! You’re not going to believe this! Did that get your attention? Everyone enjoys a good, juicy secret.

Secrets form a critical part of capital campaigns that hope to raise millions of dollars. All capital campaigns have two phases: the quiet phase and the public phase. During the quiet phase, you approach major donors who can make a substantial gift. The campaign is “secret” at this stage and major donors feel special because they know something no one else does, and hopefully they’ll give you a lot of money! Knowing the secret makes them feel special.

             Have you heard of “secret societies”? One of the most prominent secret societies on university campuses is at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, called “Skull and Bones.” Among its members are the well-known William F. Buckley and Senator John Kerry. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a secret society? It’s knowing the secret that makes you feel special.

             In the gospel today, we see there’s an aura of secrecy that surrounds Jesus. King Herod hears whisperings about Jesus, and apparently other people know something Herod does not know, and he can’t stand secrets being kept from him. When people say Jesus might be “John the Baptist raised from the dead,” Herod responds: “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him. In other words, Herod wanted to be part of the secret society around Jesus, to feel special because he knew the secret about Jesus. But, of course, not even Jesus’ closest companions really knew who he was. They followed on faith, unable to penetrate the depths of the secret of Jesus’ true identity and his destiny. The only Ones fully members of the secret society of Jesus are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Only God knows God.

             My friends, I hope you, too, have felt like Herod and wanted to share in Jesus’ secret society, as much as that’s humanly possible. I love that line in the gospel: “He kept trying to see him.” To draw close to Christ; to know Jesus and to be known by him. But no matter how close we get, there will always remain a secret that shrouds him from us; Jesus always remains just beyond our reach.

As Catholics we, too, believe in secrets, but we prefer to use the term “mystery.” Listen to the two key moments when we say “mystery” in the Mass. At the beginning, the priest says, “As we prepare to celebrate these sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins.” We are about to enter into the ocean of mystery. After the consecration of changing bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood, the priest simply says: “The mystery of faith.” The consecration is a both a miracle and a mystery. In other words, the more we know about the Mass, the more we see it remains forever an unfathomable mystery of faith.

               The same is true for prayer. St. Teresa of Avila, the great Carmelite mystic who climbed to the heights of contemplation, said: “The soul understands that without the noise of words this divine Master [Jesus] is teaching it by suspending its faculties, for if they were to work they would do harm rather than being benefit.” Then she adds: “The soul is being kindled in love, and it doesn’t understand how it loves” (Way of Perfection, ch. 25, no. 2). That is, those who have plumbed deepest into the secret society of Jesus by contemplative prayer cease trying to understand the mystery of Christ, and instead they rest content simply in loving him. And they don’t even understand that love!

              Everyone loves to know a good secret, because we feel special when we know something others don’t. That’s why people belong to secret societies like the Skull and Bones. When you belong to the secret society called the Catholic Church, you learn that the greatest and most sacred secret was always love.

Praised be Jesus Christ!