|
|
|
Full of pride, we oftentimes find ourselves boasting, “I did it all by myself.” Well, yes, it may be true: we did whatever “it” is. But, the simple fact is that none of us can do anything in this life “all by myself.” Take that certain “something” which 2500 years ago would have made people consider us like unto a god and 300 years ago would have made any of us a bucket load of money. When we do this certain something today, however, people don’t think of us as being godlike and we certainly won’t make any money doing it today. But, without that certain something, none of us would be where we are today. Do you know what that certain something is? It’s the ability to write! Think about it. On any give day, we don’t give our ability to write a thought. We simply take it for granted. Most of us have forgotten there was a time when we couldn’t write. Quite likely, we don’t even remember the person who helped us to develop this skill by training us how to write. But, again, the simple fact is that if someone didn’t give us that gift, then none of us would be where we are today. I happen to remember who taught me to write. It was Miss Rotter in the first grade who taught me how to write block letters and it was Sister Rose Nicholas in the second grade who taught me how to write Palmer method at Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic School. Being left-handed, rather than forcing me to write with my right hand, these two teachers patiently worked with me to write cursive with my left hand as well as anyone who was right-handed could...as long as I used a Palmer-method pen. The lesson is simple. No matter where we are, we always have gotten there because of the gift that others have made of themselves for us. Pope John Paul II reminded us of this when he wrote: “Those whose work and initiative we owe the perfection and increased possibilities of our own work” (Laborem exercens, #13). There is another certain “something” that we take for granted. Because it is so common, most of us don’t consider it of any special value. But, again, without this certain something, none of us would be anywhere today. Quite likely, we don’t give this certain something a thought, simply taking it for granted day in and day out. Most of us even forget that there was a time when we didn’t possess this gift. At times, some of us believe this certain something isn’t all that much of a gift. There are others of us who believe we have the right to take this gift away from others. And, most of us probably don’t even remember or thank the person who originally gave us this gift. But, the simple fact is that if that someone didn’t give us this gift, none of us would be anywhere today. Do you know what that certain something is? It’s our life! We don’t have life on our own and we don’t live our lives on our own. As a matter of fact and no matter where we find ourselves, we have gotten there only because God has given us the gift of life as well as the resources of creation. All of this God has entrusted to us so that we might enjoy our lives and use them wisely by making something of ourselves. The simple fact is that God has given us the gifts which make it possible to do so successfully. In today’s first reading, Moses reminds us of this fact. As he prays—Moses is actually bickering with God—he doesn’t claim that he led the Hebrew people to freedom from the slavery of Egypt. No, Moses acknowledges that God led the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Moses didn’t say “Hey, God, golly gee whiz, look at what I have done.” No, Moses understands that he was merely God’s servant who used the life and skills which God had previously entrusted to Moses. This recognition made it possible for God to accomplish a wondrous miracle through Moses. And so it is with us. When we recognize that everything we have and everything we do is due to the fact that God has given us the life as well as the ability to do those things through us, this recognition makes it possible for God to accomplish wondrous miracles through us, just as God did through Moses. However, this also requires that we admit our absolute dependence upon God, an idea foreign in our culture, which teaches us we are supposed to be independent not dependent. We are to be the masters of our destiny not functionaries who do what others command. This idea is so pervasive in our culture that “it’s in our blood,” coursing through our bodies and, so much so, it is easy or us to delude ourselves into believing that everything we do is the result of our willing it. But, notice what happens when we allow this attitude to control our thoughts: We drive thankfulness and gratitude from our hearts. We no longer remember those who have made it possible for us to be here and to do things. We don’t even remember the names of those whose selflessness made it possible for them to give us these gifts. Instead, we think of ourselves as an almighty god who answers to no one but ourselves. St. Paul also reminds us of this in today’s epistle. At one time full of arrogance and pride, St. Paul thought of himself as God-like, defending the idol he had crafted against the heretical Christians. But, one day, a sudden and blinding flash of light—an insight—knocked St. Paul off his high horse of arrogance and pride. In an instant, St. Paul saw distinctly, just as God did, the person St. Paul had made of himself. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant…I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief,” St. Paul later wrote to Timothy. Recognizing how he had allowed himself to become what he called “the foremost of sinners,” St. Paul opened his heart to God because God had saved St. Paul from himself. In place of arrogance and pride, thankfulness and gratitude grew in St. Paul’s heart, as he attested to Timothy: “To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.” How many of us have allowed ourselves to become like St. Paul, arrogant and proud in our self-righteous indignation and, knocked off our high horses by a sudden and blinding flash of light—an insight—we see the detestable person we have made of ourselves? But, unlike St. Paul, how many of us fail to recognize our complete and absolute dependence upon God? Perhaps years ago we committed a great evil and believe that God cannot forgive us. We live in fear of God, knowing that we cannot hide the truth from God, even if we pretend to forget what we did. Perhaps we lived a life of what used to be called “debuchery”and today feel unworthy to receive Holy Communion because live in fear of the Sacrament of Penance. Imprisoned by fear, we are more worried about what the priest might say to us or think about us and we are of confessing the truth. Perhaps we have subjected ourselves to a power that now controls our lives—lying, gossiping, stealing, or blaspheming, abusing drugs or alcohol, or dependent upon pornography—and live in shame not only at what we have made of ourselves but also with the knowledge that we are powerless to overcome those powers that we have freely willed to make us into a person we don’t very much like or admire and respect even less...although we’d never mention that to anyone. One thing is certain: those of us for whom this describes our inner reality have neither gratitude nor thankfulness present in our hearts for God. Weighed down by the burden of sin and unwilling to give that burden back to God. Furthermore, the gifts God has entrusted to us so that He can effect miracles through our lives, as God did with Moses and St. Paul, go unused. What dismal failures! How truly sad it is when we are so helpless and without hope. Believing that our weakness is our downfall and God won’t be faithful to His promises, as he was to Moses and to St. Paul, we are not alive but dead. Isn’t our weakness supposed to be our strength? Then, in today’s gospel, Jesus reminds the Pharisees and scribes that God’s love and mercy extends even to the most egregious of sinners. God will chase after the one lost sheep. God will seek the one lost coin. God will welcome the repentant son. Why will God do this? Metaphorically speaking, it is because God’s entire being is filled with gratitude and thanksgiving. God does not hate the sinner but does hate the sin. God is the “God of the living not of the dead,” scripture teaches. When we turn from sin—the death evidencing itself in our lack of gratitude and thanksgiving—God says, “Now we must celebrate and rejoice, because one who was dead has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” God’s promise to remain with His people wasn’t reserved to the ancient Israelites. It wasn’t reserved to St. Paul. It wasn’t reserved to the Pharisees and the scribes. No, God continues to promise that He will remain with His people and that promise extends to us, even those of us who are great sinners, like the ancient Israelites, like St. Paul, and like the Pharisees and scribes. But, to experience the fulfillment of that promise requires that we recognize our absolute dependence upon God not our independence from God. Only in this way can God breathe into our hearts the gifts of thanksgiving and gratitude which assist us to remember that salvation is not something we do all by ourselves but a matter of God’s thanksgiving and gratitude.
A brief
commercial break... Each year, the people at Magnificat® produce a companion edition for the season of Advent. Similar to a what older Catholics may remember as a "prayer book," the companion edition contains all sorts of prayers, readings, reflections, art, and activities for every member of the family to prepare each day of the season of Advent for the coming of Christ at Christmas. Grandparents might consider purchasing a copy for themselves and copies for each of their grandchildren. Confirmation sponsors might consider purchasing a copy for themselves as well as the person they sponsored in the faith. Spouses might purchase a copy for themselves and use it for daily prayer during the season of Advent. Parents might purchase a copy for the family and use it to lead prayer before dinner each evening. At a price of $3 .95 for 1-4 copies plus $1 shipping/handling, $2.50 for 5-9 copies plus $3 shipping/handling, and $1.50 for 10-49 copies (plus $5 shipping/handling), the companion edition makes a perfect and very affordable opportunity to prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas as well as an Advent gift to spur family, friends, and colleagues toward greater spiritual growth during the season of Advent. The companion edition has a limited press run that sells out each year. Furthermore, orders are filled in the order received. So, place your order early. To place an order for the 2010 companion edition of Magnificat® for the season of Advent, call 1-970-416-6670, email specialissue@intrepidgroup.com for ordering information, or visit www.magnificat.com.
|
|
|
HOMILY
