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Sts. Joseph & Paul Catholic Church |
Homily Archives | |
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13th
Sunday in Ordinary Time – C
Excuses, excuses, excuses! We’ve heard them, and we’ve made them.
We’re masters at manipulating others to get out of doing something
that we don’t want to do. Often, these excuses sound like this: “Yes,
I was going to get to that, but something else came up!” Kids make
excuses to their parents: “just a second; I’ll be right there.”
Parents make excuses to their children: “in a minute, I told you.”
Spouses make excuses to one another: “I just haven’t got around to
that yet.” And we, the church, make excuses when it comes to our
faith and God: “I will begin next Sunday; I promise, God.” We may be
able to make excuses with others, but can we really afford to make
excuses when it comes to our relationship with God? A tall, gangly, self-conscious seventh grade girl ran on the junior high girls’ track team. A track meet, scheduled for a particular Saturday, had to be postponed to the following Saturday because of bad weather. But the girl’s church had planned a community service project for the following Saturday, and she had already signed up to go. Thinking that her coach would understand, she told him about the conflict. He told her, “Your teammates are counting on you, and you can’t let them down. I expect you to be there for the track meet.” She went home in tears. The next day she decided to talk to him again. But this time he responded, “You either go on this track meet, or you can turn in your uniform.” After a sleepless night, she went to the coach’s office the next day; she turned in her uniform and turned and walked away. Her parents, her teammates, and her coach were very surprised that she took this stance. Her mom and dad even said that they could not believe that she chose God and church over her track team, even though they raised her that way. The girl simply said, “This is about God. And I won’t make excuses when it comes to God.” Jesus is beginning his journey to Jerusalem, and he is “resolutely determined” to go there. The phrase “resolutely determined” literally means “he set his face.” “Set” is a term that concrete workers use when the cement gets hard. When it “sets,” it turns to concrete. Jesus uses this language to speak of his determination to fulfill his mission. Even though this mission will be filled with hardship and sacrifice, he does not look back. He continues to move towards his final destination. This destination has at its end the cross, but the cross will give way to new life. The cross is not the end for Jesus; it is the beginning of a new life for him and for all of us. With his face set on Jerusalem, Jesus says to the disciples, “follow me.” Here, the disciples’ excuses begin. “But Lord, let me go bury my father first.” “But, Lord let me go say farewell to my family at home.” When it comes to following Jesus, we cannot hesitate or make excuses. Living the Gospel of Jesus does not mean we collect pious attitudes or responses to throw God’s way. Being authentic disciples means we find the courage to open our lives to God and get involved in the hard work, regardless of the cost, the difficulty, or the sacrifice. There can be no excuses when it comes to God. For all God wants to do is share his unconditional love with us, and why would we want to make excuses to avoid God’s love?
sdrose@bellsouth.net |
