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Sts. Joseph & Paul Catholic Church |
Homily Archives | |
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24 Ordinary – B One of the
more popular games today is golf. Golf courses and driving ranges are
springing up everywhere. Lots of people pray for a good weather day, to
knock off from work early and play a few holes.
Even our parish has been bitten by the golf bug; a few weeks ago, we played our annual golf outing. I was asked to play on one of the foursomes. I tried to tell them that I’m not a golfer. I hit more air and grass than I do golf balls. I knew that I was in trouble when the coordinator of the event was selling “pitches” and “mulligans” for a buck, and he said, “And, if you don’t know what a mulligan is, you’re probably at the wrong event.” (I had no idea what a mulligan is. I know now that it is a do-over) Consider the amazement of my teammates, when on the 16th hole, after each had used up their mulligans, and now I was using mine, that I putted it in for a birdie. All of the Hail Marys, Glory Be’s and Our Fathers we had prayed finally bore fruit. Even more amazing, consider our joy, when the game ended, and we took first place with a score of 8 under par. If only our faith life could be played like a game of golf. Learn a few terms, say a few prayers, and be amazed at the outcome. But living a faith life takes so much more. Certainly, we need to know the terms of our faith; we need to say our prayers, and we even need to be amazed at what God can do. Living a life of faith requires making a total commitment. It takes a determination to make an interior agreement with God and to follow in the way of his son, Jesus. It takes a willingness within us, as Christians, to leave behind the games that we sometimes wish to play with God. You know the games: “God, if you do this for me, I promise to do that for you.” We call this bargaining with God. We are called to lives of faith, and we must be willing to follow in the steps of Jesus. Jesus can lead us many places if we are willing to go. Often that’s the problem; we don’t want to go where Jesus calls us to go. We want to go where we choose. It’s easier that way. When we go where Jesus leads us, more than likely we discover he is leading us to embrace some difficulty. That difficulty is our cross, and when we pick up the cross, we will be transformed by the grace of this willingness. The cross is a fundamental part of our Christian lives and when we pick it up, we will be changed. Like gold that is tested in a furnace, we will be made stronger and brighter in our lives of faith. Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They professed “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” And what about us? Who do we say Jesus is? Is Jesus only someone on whom we periodically call to help us through the game of life? Or is Jesus the one with whom we are totally honest, a friend, to whom we have made a total commitment? Do we leave home with him in the morning and bring him back with us at night? Do we ask Jesus to be a part of our everyday lives, with its joys and its struggles? A few years ago, a documentary film on the life of the now Blessed Mother Teresa showed her in San Francisco, looking over a house that was being built for her nuns. A priest narrates, “I was gently informed that the box springs, the mattresses and the carpeting could go.” She told a workman, who explained the hot water heater and the air conditioning system to her, “I don’t think we will be needing them. If we are to understand the poor, we must know what poverty is.” Mother Teresa was honest in her relationships, especially in her relationship with Jesus. She took Jesus into the joy of life, as well as the struggles. Her life of faith was no game for her; she picked up the cross, and she carried it. What about us?
sdrose@bellsouth.net |
