Sunday, February 26, 2017

Fast from worry this Lent

          Thank you for all who prayed for me last week while I was on retreat.  It was a refreshing week (and who would have thought that I would have enjoyed 70 degree weather in the Midwest in February?).  Let's pray for each other as we enter into this holy season of Lent on Wednesday!


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Homily: 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
          Today, we continue to read from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and we hear Jesus’ teaching that we must choose whom we will serve: God or the world—because, he teaches, if we try to serve both, we’ll end up serving neither well.
          Then he goes on to remind us about why we ought to choose to serve God, instead of the world.  Serving the world, Jesus teaches, gains us nothing.  This is because God is already disposed to provide us with everything that we need.  Thus, if we choose God, we get the best of both: we gain the satisfaction of having chosen the better thing while also suffering no real loss in the world for not having pursued it.
          And if this logic isn’t enough, Jesus goes on to demonstrate how God has already proven that he will follow through.  Look at the rest of creation, he says: look at how the birds do not toil on the earth to bring forth food, yet all of them have the food they need; and look at how the flowers of the field do not spin fine thread, yet all of them are clothed in majestic colors.  Why, therefore, would God fail to do the same for you, Jesus asks, who are of a higher order (and, therefore, more important) than the rest of creation?
          Still further, in the first reading from the book of Isaiah, we are provided with another example of this.  There, Isaiah assures the Israelite people, who are languishing in exile in Babylon, that God has not abandoned them.  The message from God that he relays to them is that God is more loving than a mother for her infant child.  And so, just as much as no mother, who is in her right mind, would purposely abandon her infant child, so, too, God has not abandoned them.  And just to be sure that the people understand this, God inspires Isaiah to assure them even beyond this example.  He says, “Even if [a mother] forget [her child]”, in other words, “even if something so abhorrent and so unthinkable would happen, thus creating some doubt in your hearts, do not doubt because” “[God] will never forget you”.
          Time and again, my brothers and sisters, God has proven the truth of these words that he spoke through the prophet Isaiah and that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.  Even for the martyrs, whom it seemed God had abandoned so completely that their enemies would have the opportunity to put them to death, he supplied faith and courage, that which they most needed in that time of trial.  Just think of the Coptic Christians murdered in Egypt a couple of years ago.  These men were “seeking the kingdom of God first and his righteousness” and God provided them with faith and courage so that they would be steadfast even when all (in this world, at least) seemed lost to them.  Because of this, they have gained everything, as they now enjoy eternal rest in God’s kingdom: that very thing for which they fervently sought.
          Or, perhaps, a less-bloody image would be the story of George Muller, a man who ran an orphanage and homeless shelter completely on prayer.  George never asked for funds.  Rather, he set himself to work for God’s kingdom by engaging these works of mercy and trusted that God would provide the rest.  On several occasions, it was almost time for dinner and there was no food nor any money to buy food.  George would not worry; rather, he would simply pray and trust that God would provide.  Every time, without fail, someone would come to the house with food.  God never failed to meet his needs, because he did not fail to seek God’s kingdom first and his righteousness.  My brothers and sisters, God will not fail to do the same for us, if we are truly serving him.
          Therefore, we must look at our lives and ask: “What do my daily actions reveal about who I am serving?”  None of us, I'm sure, will find that we are perfectly ordered to seeking God first and his kingdom.  Thus, this message comes to us at a perfect time.  This is because Lent begins this week and it is the opportunity, through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, to turn away from serving the world (and about worrying about the material needs of our bodies) and turn to serve God and to be stewards of the mysteries of God entrusted to us.  In other words, it is the opportunity to look more like Christians once again.
          Perhaps, for some of you, this has to do with chocolate or sugary drinks; and if so then fine: commit yourself to turn away from those things and back to God.  But if we're honest with ourselves, it usually has to do with something deeper: that is, a deeper seeded tendency not to trust in God.  Perhaps an example: instead of using Sunday as a day to finish up extra chores or run errands (like cleaning the house, mowing the yard, or going grocery shopping), why not honor it for what it is—a day of rest to worship the Lord and to spend time in communion with others: either family, or close friends and relatives.  Leaving off those "works" is an act of trust that the Lord will help you to take care of them when the time is right.  At the same time, you will be "seeking the kingdom of God first and his righteousness", an act, Jesus assures us, that God will not fail to reward.  Besides, it's the day of the Resurrection!  What more of our own making could we add to this day to make it even better than it is?  If you don't see that the answer to this question is “nothing”, then you DO have a lot of work to do this Lent!
          And so, let's fast from worry, this Lent, and take on greater trust—while helping others to do so, too—and what we will come to see is that which our faith tells us to be true: that only God is truly faithful, and that trusting in the world or our own capacities will only leave us disappointed.  Thus surprised by grace (as we will be), we will have a stronger faith; and we will be witnesses to God's faithfulness everywhere.  Further still, we will make ourselves ready to receive even greater things on the final day, when the reward prepared for those who have been faithful is made fully known: the reward of perfect communion that we experience here under sacramental signs in this Holy Eucharist.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – February 25th& 26th, 2017

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