|
It’s no secret that our nation has been confronting what is the
worst economic crisis that it’s had to confront since the
Depression.
·
Unemployment is stuck at 8.2%.
·
Since June 2009, 3.1 million workers have signed up for disability
payments while the number people who have dropped out of the labor
force entirely has grown by 7.3 million.
·
50 million people are now receiving governmental assistance, and
that doesn’t include those 50 million additional people who are
receiving Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits.
Looking back just two decades to the 1990s, it’s difficult not
to ask: “What happened?” and “How will the nation ever recover?”
Those questions—driven as they are by our desire for an economic
recovery—betray, I think, is what’s really been happening and what our
nation’s
current economic problems tell us about our prior need for a spiritual
recovery.
Today’s scriptures provide a glimpse into what’s really been
happening.
For example, God chose Amos—a businessman who owned a flock of sheep
and a sycamore grove—to leave his businesses behind and venture
forth to a new land where he’s
to prophesy to the people of Israel about their need to repent from
sin. How many of us—whom God is calling to be a leaven at work in
our world today—are willing to leave behind everything we prize to
wholeheartedly embrace
the task of confronting others with the values of God’s kingdom?
Then, too, St. Paul reminded us that our destiny is to give glory to
God. But, if the values of this world are what we truly prize,
how’s it possible to achieve our destiny, namely, that our lives
will ever give glory to God?
In the gospel, Jesus was pretty clear when he instructed his
disciples to take nothing but a walking stick as they journey from
Jerusalem and out into the world to
confront the unclean spirits afflicting the people in neighboring
locales. Forget those walking sticks, how many of us are
willing to listen to and follow
Jesus’ instructions about how we are to live our lives?
“Jesus summoned the Twelve….[and] he instructed
them….”
The questions we should be asking aren’t “What happened?” or “How
will the nation ever recover economically?” but “What is
Jesus summoning us and instructing us to do today if each of us is
to recover spiritually so that we can confront the unclean
spirits afflicting the people around us today?”
It’s that question which can spur us onwards toward the prior spiritual
recovery that’s really needed because, the sad fact of our daily and
weekly lives may very will be, all too
many of us really don’t give much of a hoot about the things of God’s
kingdom—what Jesus
is summoning
and instructing us to do today. Instead, we fret and are
worried about the things of this world
and, in particular,
what
the economy portends
for our material security.
The verb “to instruct” means “to build in.” That’s to say, when
Jesus instructs us, he builds into our souls those values and
attitudes that are not of this world but of God’s kingdom. In fact,
Jesus’ values and attitudes are the antithesis of this world’s
values and attitudes.
The image of “building in” is important because, if you’ve ever
watched those home renovation reality shows—“Holmes on Homes,” “Demo
Men,” “Disaster DYI” (any home improvement project I’ve
ever tried is a “Disaster DYI”). “Hidden Potential,” “Kitchen Impossible,” “My
Big Amazing Renovation,” and the like—demolition always precedes
renovation. And that’s precisely what Jesus’ instruction does: It
demolishes the worldly values and values that are present in our
souls so that he can “build in” spiritual
values and attitudes.
Demolition isn’t
a pretty sight nor does it make the homeowner feel good.
I’ve watched a number of those home renovation reality shows and
find myself experiencing distress as the crews come in and demolish
a kitchen, bathroom, a finished bathroom and, sometimes, the inside
of an entire house. I feel compassion for those people who see
everything being torn down and thrown out and then the contractor
tells them every two weeks,
“It’s gonna be two more weeks.” A three week, $10 thousand
dollar project ends up taking three months and costing $30 thousand
dollars.
I was incredulous watching
“Holmes
Inspection”
one evening as an
immigrant woman from Jamaica who worked as a nurse in the local
hospital and saved every penny possible to purchase a lovely, new home.
She took out a $30 thousand dollar loan to finish the basement. My
heart sunk when Holmes told here the entire job had to be demolished
because of the code violations that were causing numerous problems
and potential disasters. Doing the job right cost the woman an
additional $60 thousand dollars…that’s a total of $90 thousand
dollars...for a finished basement that, done right the first time,
would have cost $30 or perhaps $40 thousand dollars.
But that’s what it’s like when Jesus summons us and instructs us.
Everything we’ve done hasn’t worked must
be demolished. We have to be willing let Jesus demolish all of
that, to leave it behind,
and to be prepared to take nothing for the journey but a walking
stick.
What is that walking stick and what does it do for Jesus disciples?
As Catholics, that walking stick is Scripture and Church teaching
both of which communicate the values and attitudes associated with God’s kingdom…what it means
to be an authentic disciple whose love of God and neighbor compels
the disciple to journey into the world with the mission of driving out the
many demons and illnesses afflicting people’s
souls.
What that walking stick does is to assist the disciple remain balanced
and steady on that journey, providing the strength to continue
onward as well as the support that’s
needed when the disciple’s
strength is sapped and the disciple tires.
That we’re more worried about an economic recovery than we
are a spiritual recovery is a signal that something’s
terribly awry with us spiritually. How could any of us
possibly think that more money will solve everything, unless are
values and attitudes have been shaped by the world?
That we’re not much interested in the values and attitudes of God’s kingdom—as
attested to in the small amount of time, if any time at all during
the week that we devote to studying Scripture and Church teaching—is
another signal that something’s terribly awry with us spiritually.
That we think we know more about God and God’s will—evidencing
itself in a complete misunderstanding of what “primacy of
conscience” really means, thinking instead that it means “I am the
final arbiter of God’s will for me”—signals that something’s
terribly awry with us spiritually.
Yes, who of us would ever invite Jesus into our lives knowing full
well that he’s going to come in and demolish those values and
attitudes that make us children of this world?
Worse yet, who of us would ever invite Jesus into our lives knowing
full well that, after Jesus finishes his demolition and renovation work, he’ll be
sending us out into that world to preach to the people of that world
their need for repentance?
And perhaps most troubling of all, who of us would ever invite Jesus
into our lives knowing full well that the only support we’ll have
when we do preach is the support of Scripture and Church teaching?
The “idea” of being a disciple is comforting. The reality of the
demolition that is first required is disturbing. But, that our only
support in fulfilling our mission will be Scripture and Church
teaching, is downright frightening…just as it was to Amos, who told
Amaziah, “Look, Amaziah, I’m just a simple businessman. I’m no
prophet.”
We’re businesspeople, professionals, laborers, managers, and
clerks. Most likely, mo priest works in our businesses and
that’s
good because
Jesus is summoning
us to follow the example of Amos and to address the spiritual needs
of the people of our day. We prepare ourselves for this mission by
responding to Jesus’ summons so that he can instruct us,
that is,
perform the demolition
and renovation work that’s needed in our values and attitudes if we are to be successful in
using Scripture and Church teaching to drive out the many demons and
to anoint with oil the many who are sick, thinking that an economic
recovery will make everything okay again.
As St. Paul reminded us, “…the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ…chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be
holy and without blemish before him.” What the people of the world
think about us should matter not. That we worry and fret about what
they do think about us is another signal that something is terribly
awry spiritually with us.
Jesus is calling us to embark upon a journey and to bear that which
Jesus commits to us through his instruction—the walking stick of
Scripture and Church teaching. Allowing Jesus to do the demolition
and renovation work that’s required—the selfless love of God and
neighbor that’s required to be a disciple—is the only way we will
experience spiritual recovery, become spiritually mature, and
experience fulfillment as God’s beloved children.
|
HOMILY
