Cardinal Cupich: God ‘schemes’ for our salvation

By Christine Rousselle for CNA

Washington D.C., Jan 25, 2020 / 10:01 pm (CNA).- God is a “tricky God” who schemes for the good of humanity and salvation, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said in the homily at the Welcome Mass for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington, DC.

“How many times in the scripture have we seen, either telling stories or having encounters with people, who all of a sudden are tricked into salvation,” said Cupich.

“We think of the woman at the well – all of a sudden she’s talking about all sorts of things and then (Jesus) asks her that question: bring me your husband. And then she ends up evangelizing the entire community even though she’s the one who is shunned by God.”

Cupich cited the Caravaggio painting “The Calling of St. Matthew,” which depicts Matthew “cornered” by Christ.

“Jesus is at the doorway. There’s no exit for Matthew,” said Cupich.

The cardinal explained that these “tricks” extend past scripture, and are present in everyday life.

“How many times in our life have we found ourselves tricked by God?” asked Cupich. These “tricks” include “putting us in situations where, all of a sudden, there was a grace that came from us that we otherwise would have not had.”

These tricks, explained the cardinal, help people to realize they must rely on God, and trust in God and His plan.

“And yet in our lives so often our spiritual relationship with God, we have this little idea in our mind that we’ve got to be the one to save ourselves, that we have to do something to earn salvation,” he said.

Cupich spoke at length about how people today seem more concerned with “image” over anything else. This is misguided, he said, as the “image” of something does not necessarily mean it is the reality.

“We’re in a moment of crisis and the life of the Church, where the brand name of the Catholic Church has been seriously damaged because of bad decisions, and so we might think we need a PR firm to get our image back,” said Cupich.

“You have to be careful with that though, because the Lord is the one who saved us, but not our image.”

Cardinal Cupich shared a humorous anecdote from when he was consecrated a bishop in 1998. His young niece took several of the prayer cards with his picture on it and brought it to show and tell at her preschool, where her classmates guessed he was a “ninja warrior.”

“How foolish would it be for me to get into that image of keeping up a reputation as a ninja warrior?” asked Cupich, to laughter.

“I think of that, because it is foolish as well for us to try to keep up an image that we think (will) please other people,” he said.

Other people choose to make their image a “central preoccupation” of their lives, he said, but the Christian should not.

“It is a good test of whether or not we’re open to this God who wants us to trust Him,” said Cupich. “A God who in fact schemes to the point of trickiness so that we trust Him.”

Earlier in the day, Cupich delivered the opening keynote address, titled “Our Call to Holiness: Life and Justice for All,” to the meeting. In the address, Cupich said that Christians should look to the actions of Christ as the inspiration for their lives.

“Our Christian call to holiness is not about being called as individuals, but an invitation from God in which he brings people together, and invites believers to a deeper level of human intercommunion and a shared life,” Cupich said during his keynote.

The cardinal reflected on his experience seeing an exhibit of Andy Warhol’s paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, including one that included an image of the Last Supper superimposed with camouflage. A piece of the camouflage exposed the image of Christ, which Cupich said “forc(ed) the viewer to look for the otherwise familiar image of the Lord at table.”

“May the light of the Gospel help us see through whatever camouflages the needy from our sight, whatever impedes us from being evangelized from those on the margins,” he said.

“For it is in encountering the poor and the marginalized that we are mutually enriched, that we respond to the call to holiness as we take up the social ministry of the Church – because we know that whatever we do for the least of our sisters and brothers, we do for Christ.”


If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.


5 Comments

  1. Cupich spoke at length about how people today seem more concerned with “image” over anything else. This is misguided, he said, as the “image” of something does not necessarily mean it is the reality.

    Alas, he does not think he is talking about himself.

  2. No one is “shunned by God”. This fella is pretty much s hopeless mess. I was glad do see his lack of presence during the March for Life events. It confirms my thinking.

  3. This man’s idea of God? Master magician full of tricks.

    He’s piled more baloney on his Wonder Bread than the dogs can eat when he says: These “tricks” include “putting us in situations where, all of a sudden, there was a grace that came from us that we otherwise would have not had.”

    Has anyone ever known that GRACE WHICH CAME FROM US? The image Cupich presents to my eye: A monstrously sorry excuse for a Catholic cleric.

  4. Someone, please explain how the Catholic Church is a ‘brand’ name.

    According to Cupich, does the RCC Catechism have it wrong when it defines the Church as a mystery. Part of that mystery of the Church is (Art. 757) …‘that Jerusalem which is above’ and ‘our mother,’ [is] described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ ‘loved and for whom he delivered himself up
    that he might sanctify her.’ It is she whom he unites to himself by an
    unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly ‘nourishes and cherishes.’”

    BRAND NAME? All it lacks is a jingle, a motto, a business plan, and an office in Minneapolis. Cupich can see to it.

1 Trackback / Pingback

  1. Cardinal Cupich: God ‘schemes’ for our salvation - Catholic Daily

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*