Note: This homily was delivered during the morning Mass in Xavier School on 09 June 2004.

        I remember a story told by a Jesuit priest last year about three men who believed in different gods.  One was a Muslim, a believer of Allah; the other was a follower of Buddha; while the last one was a Catholic insisting, of course, that Christ was the right God.  To settle the matter, the three agreed to jump off the cliff and call on their respective gods to save them.

        The first to take the plunge was the Muslim.  Shouting "Allah," he leapt off the cliff but quickly fell to his death.

        The second one was the Buddhist, jumping off and muttering "Buddha Buddha Buddha" like a mantra.  Down he fell, but a few seconds before he hit the ground, he miraculously floated away.

        The Catholic saw all this and nervously made the Sign of the Cross before taking his leap.  As he fell, he kept muttering "Jesus, help me! Jesus, help me!"  But right before he hit the ground, he shifted to "Buddha Buddha Buddha" and he, of course, also floated away.

        It's a joke, but I think one that is worth thinking about this morning.  Our First Reading features a dramatic showdown between the prophet Elijah and the 450 prophets of the false god, Baal.  They each prepared their sacrifices, and called on their respective gods to ignite their sacrifices into flame.  The prophets of Baal went first, shouting and screaming, even slashing their wrists--but all to no avail.  Their altar sacrifice remained untouched by flame.  After they gave up, Elijah called on Yahweh, and soon enough, his sacrifice went up in flames, causing all to cry out "The Lord is God!"

        It's a great story, but based on our own experience, doesn't our God sound disturbingly more like Baal?  Haven't we found ourselves in countless situations when we cried out to God, asking Him to save us, to perform a miracle or two--but all to no avail?  Passing the still-unfinished LRC, sometimes I feel tempted to slash my wrist just for a quick miracle--but I know that the miracle won't come.

        My friends, I think one thing that has to be said about our God is that He usually insists on following the laws of nature. Usually He performs His miracles without breaking these laws, so we end up witnessing miracles that are not so magical and not so dramatic.  Don't we sometimes wish that God would break a couple of natural laws and come up with something more spectacular?

        More importantly, our God refuses to violate human freedom.  He has given us the gift of a free will, and will do nothing to reduce it.  Don't we sometimes wish God would perform a miracle by changing our hearts so that we will stop committing sins and hurting one another?  Won't the world be a better place then?

        Obviously, God does not agree.  He obviously has a different idea.  And so this morning, as we think about the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, we should ask ourselves:  "Is our God good enough for us?"  Ours is a God who rarely violates the laws of nature and never goes against our freedom--not because He can't, but because He doesn't want to.  When you think about it, such a God is more powerful because we know that in the end His Will will prevail even given such self-imposed constraints. 

        But the question for us remains:  Is this God good enough for you?  Would you choose to believe in such a God?  Or would you, like the Catholic in the story, turn Buddhist instead?

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