LIBRARY OF HOMILIES
FROM
FATHER CHRIS
FEBRUARY 2001
February 4th - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (English)
February 11th - No Homilie - BASE appeal weekend
February 18th - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (English)
February 25th - 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time (English)
February 28th - Ash Wednesday (English)
You might remember the game show from the 60’s called Let’s
Make a Deal. In that show contestants were often asked to choose
between something that was hidden in a box, something behind a curtain,
and something in Monty Hall’s pocket. If the contestant chose something
of value they were then asked if they wanted to trade what they have for
the possibility of something greater. They could possibly win a car
or boat, or a 100 cases of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. You couldn’t be
sure. The audience on the show and those of us watching at home were
cheering on the individual to either keep what they had or go for something
greater. It always seemed so easy to pick the right one at home.
I would imagine that it wasn’t so easy when the cameras and lights were
on you and a microphone was in your face asking you to make a choice.
Most of the time we don’t have to make major life choices
in a split second. We have time to think about them. But I
would bet that if you looked over your life the major turning points had
a lot to do with a small decision that had big consequences. Maybe
you can recall the moment you decided to ask the person out on a date who
would become your spouse. You probably remember the time that you
said yes to that person who offered you a job that was the beginning of
a career for you.
I can clearly remember the day that I decided I was going to apply
to the Diocese of Orlando. I had looked up the address of the vocation
director in the Catholic Directory. I had written a letter asking
to be accepted to join the diocese. I had no idea if they would have
thought I was crazy or not. But I put that letter in the mailbox.
Within weeks I had forms to fill out and an interview with the vocation
director, who at the time was Fr. Ed McCarthy. I was accepted and,
as they say, the rest is history.
Imagine what Peter must have thought on the day that Jesus asked
to borrow his boat. Peter and his partners are tired after a useless
night of fishing. Jesus has a huge crowd following him and he needs
a way to address this large crowd at once. He goes out in the boat
with Peter who is busy taking care of his nets and equipment. Jesus
is preaching about the love of God and the mercy of God. All the
while Peter is listening while he is working. Then Jesus asks him
to take a risk. He wants Peter to set out into deep water for a catch
of fish. Peter thinks Jesus to be mistaken. They haven’t caught
anything all night. Why would they catch fish in the middle of the
day? It seemed foolish. Yet, Peter took the risk. He
caught the best catch in his life.
Now Jesus has an even greater risk for him to take. He wants
Peter to join with Jesus and leave fishing behind. Peter looks about
him at the money he has in the boat and knows that he could be very comfortable
for a long time. He could finally make the needed repairs on the
boat. He could buy something nice for his wife and children.
Jesus is asking him to leave all of that to preach and teach. It
seemed ludicrous. Yet, he does it! Peter says yes. He
also brings along his brother Andrew and his partners James and John.
Peter also realizes that he is not worthy of such an honor.
He is just a fisherman. He is nothing special. He is a sinful
man. Like Isaiah before him and St. Paul after him he realizes that
he doesn’t deserve to be chosen by God. In fact, he probably wonders
if God made a mistake. No, God didn’t make a mistake. He saw
something in these people that could be useful to bring forth the message
to the people. Peter, Isaiah, and Paul all said yes to the call,
even though they were sinners. They said yes even though they weren’t
worthy. God had made them worthy.
I know that I am not worthy of my call of priesthood. I wonder
like Peter and Isaiah did if God really meant to call me. But I have
come to realize that God sees more in me than I see in myself. I
know that God knew me before I was born. I know that he sees the
good that I do despite my failings and weaknesses. He empowers me
to do great things. I have learned to trust in the power of God and
say yes to what God asks. It is a risk, but one worth taking.
I encourage you to say yes to the Lord when he calls. Maybe
you have felt the call to ministry in this parish, but believe you are
not worthy to serve as a Eucharistic Minister or a lector. Maybe
it is in teaching our youth. It might just be to stand up to an unjust
situation at work. God makes you worthy. He can use your talents
and gifts to bring forth the Kingdom. Don’t be afraid. God
has much in store for you. Amen
Change is both inevitable and difficult. Everything in
life changes. All of us are growing and changing every day.
The change is usually subtle so we don’t notice it. Only over a period
of time do we see how we have grown from where we were. Change is
also difficult. It means embracing something new. That which
is new is untested. It might work or even be better than what we
have. But, what we have we know. It’s comfortable.
Every so often you read about people or businesses that have
refused to change. We usually read about them in museums and history
books. In 1867 an article appeared in a Chicago newspaper which said:
“Joshua Coppersmith has been arrested in New York for attempting to extort
funds from ignorant and superstitious people by exhibiting a device which
he claimed will convey the human voice any distance over metallic wires,
so that it will be heard by listeners at the other end. Well informed
people know it is impossible and of no practical value. The authorities
who apprehended this criminal are to be congratulated.” I am
sure that Joshua Coppersmith would be amazed at how his telephone device
is now used throughout the world, even without wires.
The Jewish Law required that a person show respect to people who
were of the House of Israel. Fellow Jews had certain claims in the
Law that one was supposed to honor. But foreigners, especially enemies,
did not have to be given the same respect. Perhaps that is why David
is so divided as to what to do with King Saul. He certainly was an
enemy, but he was also the anointed of God and the king of Israel.
David decided to show mercy.
Jesus was in the business of challenging the expected norms of the
people in his day. In teaching the beatitudes in Luke’s Gospel Jesus
challenged people’s expectations of who was blessed. It was not the
ones who were rich and well fed, but the poor and lowly. Today we
hear that we should love our enemies, do good to them, and even give them
whatever they need. This really goes against everything our human
instincts tell us.
In fact, the teaching of Jesus has been noted to be different in
two important aspects. The first is that it is stated in the positive.
The Jewish rabbi Hillel taught, “What is hateful to you, do not do to another.”
The Greek philosophers said, “What you do not wish to be done to yourself,
do not do to another.” Whereas Jesus’ teaching is said,
“Do unto others what you want done to you.” What makes this so unique
is that it goes beyond the minimum. If you had to think of the things
that you would not want done to you probably you could name a few.
You wouldn’t want someone to lie to you, to physically harm you, to cheat
you in some way. But, what is it that you would want done to you?
We want love, friendship, meaning and purpose. We want our lives
to be happy, free from sorrow and pain, etc. As you can see, there
are many more things we want than those that we do not want to happen to
us.
The second part of the teaching that is so unique is that Jesus
demands extra. “If someone asks for your coat give them your shirt
as well.” Go the extra mile, turn the other cheek, and give greater
service than is expected. Again, unlike a strict justice that demands
only what is fair, Jesus calls us to generosity. It is not enough
to ask are the scales even. Instead we should ask what more is there
left to do?
This attitude of life can be taken into every aspect of our lives.
In marriage both partners could ask, “What will you do for me?” Instead
they should ask, “What do you need from me now?” That kind of attitude
of humble service leads to a greater love by both partners.
In the business world imagine how the world would be if everyone
said, “I will make the best product or service. I will not worry
that someone might cheat me or give me something of lesser quality.”
Some would argue that the US auto manufacturers had to improve their quality
because their foreign competitors essentially said just that.
In the Church we would ask the Lord each and every day how best
we can serve him. We would simply make our prayer, “Lord, use me
as your instrument today. Let me not count the cost or worry if my
needs will be met. Only let me meet the needs of each person that
crosses my path.” Imagine how the world would look? It would
be the Kingdom of God. That is exactly what Jesus intended by his
beatitudes. If we live them, we experience the Kingdom right now.
That kind of change is something we all look forward to. Amen.
Jesus was not a psychologist. He was never trained in
that kind of schooling. Yet, the Lord’s teachings often have within
them profound insights into what it means to be human. Today’s passage
is certainly one of those.
Carl Jung, a noted psychologist of the 20th century, wrote
that the things that we despise in ourselves we find most abhorrent when
we see that in others. In other words, if we find ourselves getting
very critical with people who are lazy, it probably is that we hate that
trait within ourselves, but can’t face it or don’t want to change it.
So, it’s easier to criticize it when we see it in other people. Jesus
said that you can’t fix a speck in someone else’s eye when you are blinded
by a beam in yours. Jesus knew that we can so easily find fault with
others and are quick to point that out. It’s so simple to pick out
what is wrong with others. But how hard it is to look inside and
fix the problems that we see there.
Jesus knew that we are a mixture of good and evil. Every
person is capable of doing great things. We know that we have been
able at times to exhibit great amounts of compassion and care. We
know that we have been able to be kind and patient with difficult people
at times. We have seen in ourselves the qualities of courage and
fortitude. But we also know that within us there are the qualities
of pettiness and selfishness. We know that we can be impatient and
cruel to people. We find sometimes without any provocation feelings
of anger, resentment, or bitterness come up. We know that we can
be selfish, lustful, and prejudiced. Who doesn’t know that all of
these things can come from within?
So, if we would wait until we reach perfection to serve God
we will never get there. If we think that the commands of Jesus mean
that we cannot judge what is right or wrong we would never be able to establish
justice on the earth. No, the Lord is not calling for perfection
to begin. He is calling for perfection to be the model that is used.
Since none of us is perfect we cannot use ourselves as the guideline that
everyone else should follow. All of our judgments should be tempered
by a healthy dose of realism that we could be acting out of jealousy or
deceit. We know that our motives are not always pure. So, the
model that we use ought to be free from error. That model can only
be Christ. It is His way that we follow and use in bringing forth
justice and peace to the world. Christ’s way of perfection is our
model to hold others as well as ourselves accountable.
When we use the life of Christ and His will as the model for
the world we recognize that all our judgments must be rendered with great
care and caution.
I had to renew my passport this year. I just got the
new one in the mail a few days ago. Glancing back at my old passport
I see the places that I have been. What sticks out most for me is
the couple of weeks I spent in the Dominican Republic with the Mission
Office of the Diocese. Even though I wasn’t in that country very
long, from the moment I landed at the airport until the moment I left I
knew that I was in a different place. The language spoken by everyone
was Spanish. The kind of chaos at the airport was very different
from American airports. Certainly driving through the country reminded
me with each moment that the homes and culture was different from our own.
It was a great experience, but it was foreign to me. I would imagine
that if I went back today I would be more prepared and it wouldn’t seem
so strange.
Lent is like going to a foreign country. Our lives have
become very comfortable. We have gotten used to our patterns of giving,
eating, and praying. We are not evil people. But we have gotten
comfortable. We have become a bit forgetful compromising a little
bit here and a little bit there our ultimate values to keep our comforts.
Then, somehow, we become somewhat addicted to our little self-indulgences
and cannot imagine living without them. Year follows year, our lives
become more selfish and we scarcely notice it.
Today and every time we enter Lent we are asked by our God to change,
really change. We are to reform our lives and turn our hearts back
to the Lord completely. We do this not by outward show, but by inward
reform. The Lord tells us quite clearly that if our change is only
an outward show, it is meaningless. It must be from within.
When you go to a different country if you want to fit in you
have to make changes. You learn something of the language of that
country. You try to find out what types of food they eat there.
You may even try to buy clothes or listen to the music of that country
so that you can get a feel for what you will be seeing. Some people
find that their habits change by doing these things. They discover
that rice and beans are pretty good. In fact they may be as good
as mashed potatoes. They find that the music and culture have something
to offer. Change occurs when you take a risk and move out of your
comfort zone.
The Lord is calling us to leave our comfort zones by fasting
from food, television, the internet, or whatever gets in the way, prayer
that is real and from the heart, and giving generously alms to address
the needs of our brothers and sisters. These things won’t guarantee
change by themselves, but as they become more familiar they just might
help us to change our hearts. The only way we will ever know is if
we let them work.
If you intend to change your hearts and not just get a stamp
on your spiritual passport, come forward and receive the sign of ashes.
Become ambassadors of the Lord and be renewed in spirit and mind.
If, however, you do not intend to change, if you do not want the Lord to
move you, then no external sign will ever substitute. Today is the
day to decide. Amen.