The Eternal Conversation

Being the topic of discussion between Father and Son

01/21/2018

Mark 1:14-20 After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.

            It is generally known that the famed author Jane Austen never recorded a dialogue between two men in a room by themselves. Since she never personally witnessed such a conversation first-hand, she couldn’t imagine what on earth two men would talk about. It’s probably nothing at all; two men can just sit and not say a word. But she might also ask Randy Travis. In his hit song, “For Ever and Ever, Amen,” Randy Travis explains what men will always be talking about: “As long as old men sit and talk about the weather, as long as old women sit and talk about old men.”

             But Jane might also wonder, what the subject of conversation could be when it’s not two men, but the two Persons of the Holy Trinity talking, namely, the Father and the Son. What could the Father and the Son be talking about forever in heaven? Surely, it can’t be the weather. The Father says: “Hey, it’s 70 degrees and sunshine, again!” Jesus replies: “Wow, I never saw that coming!” Pope Francis wrote about this eternal conversation in the heart of the Holy Trinity in his first major encyclical called “The Light of Faith,” saying, “God speaks about himself, for he is an eternal dialogue of communion, and he allows us to enter into this dialogue” (Lumen fidei, 36). Did you catch that last part? That is, not only is God talking about himself to himself, but he is also talking about us. Jane Austen might be surprised to learn that the Father and the Son are talking about her!

         Have you ever enjoyed a conversation so much that you wish would never end? A dialogue of such openness, trust and joy that you almost forgot your surroundings and were transported to another time and place? I’ll never forget St. Augustine’s description of the sublime conversation he shared with St. Monica, his mother overlooking the sea at Ostia, on the coast of Italy. Their dialogue took them to the heights of heaven, where they heard the hidden eternal conversation of the Father and the son, but then suddenly descend back to earth because it was too glorious for them. Augustine regrets: “Then with a sigh…we returned to the sound of our own tongue, where the spoken word had both a beginning and an end. But what is like to thy Word, our Lord, who remaineth in himself without becoming old, and ‘makes all things new’?” (Confessions, Bk. IX, Ch. 10). But I am convinced that when Augustine and Monica eavesdropped on that heavenly conversation, they also heard the Father and the Son talking about them! The subject matter of that eternal conversation inside God is definitely about God, but it is also decidedly about you and me.

              The gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – because it contains only sixteen chapters. Nevertheless, it is not short on inspiration and invitations to enter into the divine dialogue. Jesus calls his first apostles, two sets of brothers, Simon and Andrew, James and John. The surprising thing is how immediately and completely they abandon their former life and unreservedly follow Jesus. But I believe something more is going on than meets the eyes, or even meets the ears! St. Thomas Aquinas taught that because Jesus is God, he beheld the Beatific Vision – that is, God himself – from the moment of his conception in the Blessed Virgin Mary (Summa Theologica, Part III, Q. 7, Art. 3). Jesus saw God with his mind’s eye. But that also means Jesus never left that eternal conversation with the Father in heaven: Jesus also heard God with his mind’s ear. Therefore, when Simon and Andrew, James and John hear Jesus speak to them, they are swept up into that same sublime conversation as Augustine and Monica were, and they hear God talking about them. They are transported to another time and place, namely, heaven, and there it’s very easy to leave everything and follow Jesus. Pay attention every time Jesus speaks in the Scriptures, his audience not only hears his voice, they also hear a distant echo of that eternal conversation in heaven, and they are deeply moved.

          Thanks to our faith – which comes from hearing St. Paul said in Romans 10:17 – we can make an educated guess about the content of that eternal conversation, paraphrasing Jane Austen, “what are the Father and the Son talking about?” I believe they have at least three topics of conversation. First, God talks about how much he loves us. Augustine and Monica, Simon and Andrew, James and John all heard the words from heaven uttered at Jesus’ baptism as if they were directed at them: you are my beloved son (beloved daughter), in whom I am well pleased. In other words, God says “I love you.” Second, God speaks about how he wants us to be happy. Not just happy on earth, but ultimately and eternally happy in heaven. And third, God speaks about the cross we must carry if we want to make it to heaven. St. John says that on the cross Jesus’ glory was revealed (cf. John 17). Archbishop Fulton Sheen eloquently said, “There can be no Easter Sunday resurrection, without a Good Friday crucifixion.” We cannot enjoy the glory of God without carrying the cross of Christ. That’s what we hear when we are swept up into the eternal conversation between the Father and the Son: love, happiness and a cross.

           At every Mass, you and I get to eavesdrop on that eternal conversation between the Father and the Son, too. You may have noticed at Mass that sometimes the priest addresses the people but at other times he addresses God. The priest plays the part of Jesus speaking with the Father. That always reminds me of that old joke about the priest who couldn’t get his wireless microphone to work. He says under his breath: “This dang mic won’t work!” And the people all respond, “And with your spirit.” That’s about our level of participation in the eternal conversation.

Praised be Jesus Christ!