Homilies

Years ago I read a story that is a modern day version of the parable we just heard, entitled, “Somebody’s Son.” It is about a runaway teenager named David who wrote a letter to his mother, expressing the hope that his father would forgive him for leaving home. He writes, “Dear Mom, in a few days I’ll be passing our farm. If Dad will take me back, ask him to tie a white cloth on the apple tree next to our house.”

Days later, David sat on the train that is approaching his home. He wonders if the tree will have a white cloth tied to a branch or not. As the train draws close to his family farm, his heart beats faster and faster.  David couldn’t bring himself to look at the tree as the train rounds the bend. He was afraid the white cloth would not be there. Turning to the man next to him, he asks nervously, “Mister, will you do me a favor? Soon, you’ll see a tree on the right. Tell me if there’s a white cloth tied to it.”

As the train rumbles past the tree, David stares straight ahead. Then in a quaking voice, he asks the man, “Mister, is a white cloth tied to one of the branches on the tree?” The man answers in a surprised tone of voice, “Why, son, there’s a white cloth tied to practically every branch!”

That story illustrates well what Jesus is saying in the first half of this well-known parable: God always forgives us when we sin and treats us afterwards as if we haven’t sinned.

The father embraces his wayward son to show that he is fully welcomed back with no strings attached. The father puts shoes on his son’s feet to show that he is fully forgiven. In biblical times, sandals were the sign of a free person; slaves went barefoot. Putting sandals on his son’s bare feet restores the sign that he is no longer a slave. Finally, the father gives his son a ring to show that he is fully restoring the status his son had before he ran away.

With this embrace, the robe, sandals, and the ring, the father welcomes his contrite son and forgives him fully. Like his son, the father was prodigal; that word means extravagant. Imagine God doing that for you when you hear the words of absolution from your confessor.

In the second half of the parable, the spot light shifts to the older son, who angrily refused to join the celebration despite his father’s pleas.  He protests that he was being treated unfairly since he had never been disobedient yet he was never given such a celebration. All those years he remained near his father but obviously not close.

When we reflect on this parable, we usually focus on the father’s willingness to forgive his young son but do we ever consider the other son’s attitude toward his brother? Notice that he resented his father’s extravagant generosity and failed to see how he too has been a recipient of it.

The good news of this timeless parable is that God rejoices when we reconcile with him and give him the opportunity to forgive us, just as the shepherd rejoiced to find his lost sheep or the woman rejoiced when she found her lost coin. That is why Jesus often associated with sinners. As we heard moments ago from Paul, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

But forgiveness is a two way street. This parable is telling us that we should forgive others just as God has forgiven us, which is what the older brother refused to do. Buried in the Lord’s Prayer is the line, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  When we refuse to forgive, we only victimize ourselves. We are acting like the older son, passing up the chance to let go of a hurtful past.

When hearing confessions, I rarely tell anyone to say a bunch of prayers for a penance. Instead, I invite the penitent to reflect on the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully and then ask themselves two questions. “Who do I need to forgive?” I suggest, “If a name comes to mind, ask God for the grace to forgive that person.” The second question is “Whose forgiveness do I need for what I have done or failed to do?” I then suggest, “If a name comes to mind, ask God to give that person the grace to forgive you.”

“I forgive you,” are powerful words that release us from a hurtful past. Forgiveness has to come from within and if you find yourself struggling to do so, trust God to give you the grace to be a prodigal forgiver.

Like the father who fully welcomed his wayward son back, we should receive those whom we forgive as generously as God receives us back, with a full welcome, full forgiveness, fully restoring them to their former status. That is how Jesus treated Peter who had publicly denied him on Holy Thursday. Jesus not only forgave Peter but also restored him to his status as the rock upon which he then built our Church. Jesus could have told Peter, “Sorry buddy, you failed me. You let me down. I’ll forgive you but I will count on another apostle to be the rock now.” But Jesus didn’t do that. He treated Peter as if he had never sinned.

If we treat those who sin against us in the same way that our prodigal God shows us when we repent, we can be sure that we too will see a tree with a white cloth tied to every branch when we approach the gates of heaven.

The passage from Wisdom shares a prayer attributed to King Solomon who asked God to give him wisdom to rule his people with holiness and righteousness. Wisdom, the first gift of the Holy Spirit, helps us to judge things as God sees them. We need that wisdom to understand what Jesus is telling us in this rather unusual gospel passage in which he is essentially asking, “What really matters to you?”

What came to mind as I pondered this gospel is the first commandment. “I am the Lord your God, you shall not have other gods before me.” We must not have idols in our lives and yet many of us do. Movie stars, rock stars, sports stars and politicians, idolized by their fans, command more of their attention than Jesus does.

Making Jesus a top priority in our lives challenges us to let go of other things that mean much to us. Years ago I read about a tribe in Africa that had a clever way of trapping wild monkeys. They would hollow a huge pumpkin and then cut holes just big enough for a monkey’s hand to slip through; fill the pumpkin with peanuts, tie the pumpkin to a tree and leave. When all is quiet, curious monkeys would investigate. Smelling the bait they would reach through a hole to grab the peanuts. But the opening is not big enough for the monkeys to pull out their clenched fists. Refusing to open their fists to release their prize, they are stuck. The hunters then would pick up the trapped monkeys and ship them off to live in a zoo… all because they were too stubborn to let go.

Often we refuse to “let go” of things that are making our lives so much less than we want them to be. We cling to the things that enable us to have the trappings of a lifestyle but at the cost of a life in which joy, love and fulfillment are the center. The gifts of God can only be grasped with the open hands of humility and prayer. The closed fists of materialism and self-centeredness condemn us to a life of emptiness.

Jesus used exaggeration to tell us what it takes to be one of his disciples. True discipleship isn’t a matter of convenience but of strong conviction in and commitment to the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. To get our attention, Jesus cautions that we cannot be his disciples without hating our parents, our spouse and children even our own lives. Huh? On the one hand Jesus tells us to love, so what gives?

The Hebrew word for hatred has no clear English equivalent; it does not necessarily mean reject or disdain. Rather, it has more to do with priority. Jesus seeks to be first in our lives. Our love for others and things must be less than our love for God. To be his disciple, nothing, as many saints have demonstrated, should keep us apart from Jesus, not even our families, what we own, our careers, or our idols, not even our very lives. Following Jesus sometimes means putting the Lord ahead of our loved ones. For example, when the values of the Gospel and your commitment to Christ cause you to differ with them.

To be his disciple, Jesus leaves the impression that we must turn our back on our loved ones, renounce our possessions and take up our cross. Judging by what he says elsewhere in the gospels, that makes no sense. I doubt Jesus wants us to live in poverty or abandon our families and friends, so what is the bottom line here?

Above all else, Jesus wants us to have a close relationship, not a casual one, with him. Obviously, the depth of our relationship with Jesus depends on the choices we make. If the relationships in our lives or our possessions or our idols matter more than our relationship with him, then we aren’t really one of his disciples. As he said, unless we take up our cross and follow him, we cannot be one of his disciples.

Becoming a Christian is not something that automatically happens at baptism, any more than gaining the endurance to run a marathon comes with putting on a pair of running shoes. Discipleship must be continually nurtured and that, Jesus says, must be a top priority in our lives. We do that through prayer, worship and service to others. We do that by placing God first in our lives.

If we ignore the demands of discipleship, our relationship with God in this lifetime will grow more distant with the passing of time. Just ask anyone who has fallen away from practicing his or her faith.

Nurturing our faith and carrying our cross doesn’t come easily but Jesus isn’t asking us to take this leap alone. Consider Paul, who risked much to follow Jesus. No matter what crisis he faced, he never wavered because he wisely knew that Christ loved him and died for him. Christ did the same for us.

What really matters to you? The idols in your life, whatever they may be, or Jesus? The choice is up to us. A deepening relationship with Christ can truly change our lives and our world just as it changed Paul. This is why the Holy Spirit has blessed us with wisdom to see the value of placing Jesus ahead of all other priorities in our lives, for none of them will grant us the gift of eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom or the fullness of a satisfying earthly life in the mean time.

The readings today touch on one of our much-needed virtues as disciples of Jesus: humility. Sirach tells us to conduct our affairs with humility. Do so and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.

As I ponder this essential virtue, I am reminded of a classmate from the seminary. Many afternoons after daily Mass while waiting for dinner to be served, some of us played backgammon in the rec room. Any time Andy was winning, he would sing off key, “Oh Lord its hard to be humble when you are as perfect as me.” I would mutter, “Shut up, Andy and roll the dice.”

I recall an incident years ago when I unintentionally offended a parishioner and as a way of apologizing, I showed up at his home with a blueberry pie, saying that I came to eat humble pie.  I imagine there are some former parishioners who feel that I should do that again since I offended them speaking out against the evil of the capitol riots 18 months ago. I did so not to belittle any political party or politician but to challenge us to carry on the works of Christmas as an antidote for confronting that evil.  Delivering an unpopular message is the risk every prophet takes.

Once again, Jesus did that.  He was a guest in the home of one of the leading Pharisees and the people there were observing him carefully, but that didn’t stop him from speaking his mind. He challenged them, as the saying goes to get off their duff and do something, namely care about those less fortunate than they were.

He told them, “when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The Pharisees did not conduct their affairs with humility. To the contrary, they were proud of their efforts to keep the many commandments of the Torah, and for that reason, they judged themselves to be holy and assured a place of honor at the banquet in heaven. Meanwhile, they judged every one whom Jesus mentioned to be sinners, hence unworthy of ever being seated at the banquet in heaven, much less in a place of honor.

Their pride hindered them from loving those less fortunate than themselves. In their opinion God rejected these outcasts because of their sins, thus they were crippled in some way. What else would explain their predicament in life for being less than whole?

Jesus wasn’t giving the Pharisees a lesson in etiquette but challenging them to see God’s generous love extends to all peoples. God is a generous host who invites all peoples to his banquet. Jesus stuns his listeners with the revelation that ultimately the beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind are the ones, not the Pharisees, who are likely to be given places of honor at the heavenly banquet for their lives radiated true humility.

Are we gathered here, fully expecting heaven to be our ultimate destiny? I hope so, but Jesus cautions us not to be so smug. Like the Pharisees, many Christians are quick to judge themselves not by the criteria God has in mind but in contrast to those around them. The drawback of such an attitude is that we can become nonchalant about our need to repent.

Authentic Christian humility is an honest recognition of our true status before God. Humility is a joyful acceptance of our gifts, talents, and abilities as coming from God to make this a better world. Humility inspires us to use these blessings for our own enrichment and for the glory of God, doing our part to bring about the kingdom of God here and now. Imagine how society might be impacted if we as followers of Jesus allowed humility to uproot our arrogance, anger, aggression, avarice and greed.

Rudyard Kipling, author of the Jungle Book, said once at a commencement, “Do not pay too much attention to fame, power, and money. Some day, you will meet a person who cares for none of these, and then you will know how poor you are.” May we have the humility to appreciate just how poor we really are in the sight of God. As Jesus said in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”

Why is this virtue so important? It is the one virtue Jesus used to describe himself. As we heard in the gospel acclamation, he said, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” Humility means living as Jesus did, not for ourselves, which is what the Pharisees did, but for others. To use our gifts and talents, as Jesus used his, not for our own glory, but for others and their needs. Humble yourself so that God may exalt you for following his son’s advice.

A car with Massachusetts plates drove up to a Canadian customs booth. When the agent asked the driver for his name, the driver was puzzled and asked, “How much?” The agent repeated the question and this time the driver answered, but when the agent attempted to question him further, the driver interrupted and told him that he wanted to pay the toll and be on his way.

“But sir, you’re not at a toll booth,” the agent patiently replied. “This is Canadian customs.” The driver paled. He had left Boston six hours earlier, heading for New York City.

How could he go so far and not notice where he was going? All it took was one wrong turn. Hopefully when that happens to us, thanks to today’s GPS systems, we discover our mistake soon enough and correct ourselves but pity that driver from Boston. He must have been dog tired by the time he got to New York City!

When we make the wrong turn on our faith journey, Jesus is here to redirect us but are we listening to him? In the Gospel, Jesus was asked, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Instead of responding, he said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

Strong enough? We need not be physically strong but we must be strong in our faith to stay on the right path as we venture through life toward our desired final destiny. Are we pursuing salvation with every ounce of our being?

God’s plan is that all peoples will be saved but Jesus warns us that not everyone will make it through the narrow gate to heaven. To make our way to heaven, we must enter into a living, lasting, growing friendship with Christ. Like any true friendship, our friendship with him involves effort, self-sacrifice, time and energy. Many people see themselves as being saved but they never really enter into a committed, life changing personal relationship with Jesus. To get through the narrow gate, we must love the Lord our God with all our strength, that is, wholeheartedly and we must also love our neighbor.

Jesus cautioned that many will be knocking and pleading to be let in. They presumed they were saved but the Master will say, “I do not know where you are from.” Despite their pleas, he then adds, “Depart from me, all you evildoers!”  Jesus laments that not everyone strives to enter the kingdom of God. The cost to enter is love. Of the many commandments that exist, the greatest is to love the Lord and to love our neighbor. Regrettably not everyone is willing to pay that cost.

Many opportunities arise daily for us to follow those two commands from caring about those whom we live and work with to taking time to worship God, not just here at Mass but also in our homes in daily prayer, from caring about the less fortunate in our community to respecting the sanctity of life. The task at times can be daunting and often we have to resist the temptation to ignore our mission as his disciples.

To be saved, we must know where we are going. Anytime we ignore what Jesus expects of his followers, we are apt to make a wrong turn and venture off course. Consequently we could be driving away from rather than toward our lifelong destination of eternal life with God. When we make that wrong turn, we are being led into sin and away from God. At the start of every Mass we seek God’s mercy so clearly we see ourselves as sinners, but if we make little effort to truly repent, we are being no different than those who found themselves wailing and grinding their teeth because they didn’t make it through the narrow gate to heaven.

Not everyone is focused enough to stay on the right track when it comes to following Jesus. Doing so takes discipline. That is the striving Jesus is speaking of when it comes to getting through the narrow gate. To direct us, God blesses us with a conscience, the means to discern right from wrong but to be effective, it must be informed.

A person with an uninformed conscience may fail to see the evil in what the Church sees as a sin. For example, many see nothing wrong with missing Mass on Sundays, or supporting abortion and capital punishment, even though the taking of a life violates the fifth commandment. An informed conscience is what we must strive for, which means seeking to understand why the Church teaches what it does, so we can see what danger we put ourselves in when we ignore moral teachings that we are inclined to disagree with.

That takes discipline, which is why Jesus cautions that not every one is strong enough to make it through the narrow gate. It takes discipline for a disciple to remain focused on this life long journey.

We were all baptized at the start of our Christian journey but baptism in itself is no insurance that we will be saved. Unless we actively strive to follow Christ’s blueprint for living through prayer and reconciliation, it is easy to veer off course and become a stranger to God. Jesus is eager to help us on our faith journey to get through the narrow gate but he can’t do his part unless we strive to do our part.

Today’s readings highlight the struggles that those who live by God’s word often experience. Jeremiah suffered for relaying messages from the Lord that his contemporaries didn’t want to hear. The passage from Hebrews is a reminder that committing our lives to Christ may entail suffering. And if you came to be comforted, that isn’t Jesus’ message today. He came to establish division not peace.

Sometimes we make choices that make a real difference in our lives and possibly the lives of others, from choosing our careers, our relationships, and our faith. Essentially these readings are challenging us to follow Jesus. Our presence suggests that we see ourselves as his disciples but are we willing to follow Jesus at any cost? Pulling no punches, Jesus warns his disciples that following him will not be easy.

One of Robert Frost’s best-known poems, The Road Not Taken, comes to mind as I pondered this rather uneasy gospel. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth…”  Ah, which way shall I go?

Before making a choice and taking that next step, we usually ponder the outcome and the cost. After we have considered our options, we consider the alternatives. “Then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear; though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same.”

Ah, the other path is tempting, so which path do we take? The path to follow Jesus or not? The one that leads to a deeper awareness of what Jesus is asking of us or the one that others won’t find so disturbing? “And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.”

Being a prophet isn’t easy yet a prophet sees the need to stand up for what is right to bring about a better world. Yogi Berra is remembered for saying, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” We must take a road, but which one will we venture down? That depends on where we ultimately want to go. Do we heed the Good News and what Jesus is asking of us and make our way to heaven or do we hesitate for fear that we offend others?

“I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”  Following Jesus and his wisdom has made all the difference as many have discovered.

Unless you want to stand forever where the two roads diverge, you have to make choices as you venture through life. We don’t want to create division but if we faithfully follow Jesus, that is bound to happen when the values we hold clash with the values others hold dear that are a obstacle to building God’s kingdom.

The values we profess, evident by the path we take as Catholics, could put us at odds with others even those closest to us. That fear, which Jesus foretells, could prompt us to go down the path they are venturing instead of following Jesus. Each day, ask yourself if you are being faithful to the gospel values and challenges Jesus has taught us.

Then and now, Christians have been ostracized for following Christ. The standards, which Jesus imposes on his followers, are often countercultural to the values of their peers. Speaking bluntly, Jesus cautions those who follow him that doing so will not always bring us peace and tranquility. Instead, one may experience rejection by those who don’t want to hear the Good News. As I said, that was what happened to Jeremiah.

Few of us live our faith with such drama but I can think of heroes who paid the price for following the prophetic example of Jeremiah and Jesus. Boldly they proclaimed the gospel and consequently they paid the price. The truth they learned was liberating yet divisive. Dietrich Bonheoffer, a Lutheran minister spoke out against Hitler and the Nazis and was killed in a concentration camp, as were St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Edith Stein.  

Martin Luther King, Jr., is remembered for sharing his dream that his children would be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Archbishop Oscar Romero was killed while celebrating Mass, for preaching the gospel of nonviolence. Both dared to speak out against the prevailing politics of their times.

Closer to home, we may even know people who have been ostracized by their family and friends because they made the choice to live their Catholic faith. Their choice to follow Jesus met harsh rejection from loved ones as Jesus foretold yet they still chose to continue down the road less traveled by. They come to realize that doing so offers them a sense of peace and security that all the wealth in the world cannot offer.