Homily: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Friends,
we are quickly approaching the end of the liturgical year (there are just four
more weeks before Advent begins). As we
approach it, our readings for Mass are often doing two things: 1) they are
pointing us to the “final things” (that is, the things that are most important
for us when the end of time comes) and 2) they are reminding us of fundamental
things. Truly, these are often the same
thing, since that which is most important for us as human beings is also the
thing that is most fundamental for us. Having
spent nearly an entire year celebrating the Paschal Mystery of the life, death,
resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, and striving to become better
disciples of our Lord, the liturgy points us back to the most fundamental
things in order to prepare us to start the cycle again.
Today,
the liturgy helps to highlight one important fact about our lives: that being
is greater than doing. Another way of
saying it is this: who we are is more important than what we do. This is really important for us to
understand, because when we believe the opposite (that what we do is more
important than who we are) we lose a sense of meaning in our lives. When we stay grounded in who we are, however,
we discover a lasting meaning and value in our lives.
In
order to understand why, we have to understand something fundamental about our
identities. It is this: that our
identity flows from our relationships.
Just think about that for a moment.
If I asked you to describe yourself to me, how would you start? You’d probably start by telling me your name,
where you are from, to whom you are married or the names of your parents, where
you work, how many children you have or the number of your siblings. In other words, you’d identify yourself by
defining your relationships. Your last
name tells me you’re connected to a particular family lineage. Where you are from tells me about the types
of people and culture to which you are connected. The name of your spouse or your parents and
whether you have children and/or siblings further defines the relationships
that define you. This is all to say that
who we are is defined (and, in many ways conditioned) by our relationships.
Okay,
if who we are is more important than what we do, and if our relationships
define who we are, then it stands to reason that our relationships are the most
important things for us, right? If so,
then our most important relationships become the most important things for us. That being so, what are our most important
relationships? With our parents? Sure.
Talk about a relationship that you cannot escape! Everyone born of a woman has both a mother
and a father and there’s no escaping that.
What about the relationship between creator and creature?
In
our Gospel reading, Jesus is confronted again by the Pharisees who, at this
point, are very agitated by him. So,
they come to him again, trying to force him to say something by which they can
discredit him as a teacher. Here, they
ask him a very common question by which rabbis proved themselves: “Which
commandment in the law is the greatest?”
There were over 600 commandments in the Mosaic Law and rabbis often
distinguished themselves (and their knowledge of the law) if they were able to
pick out obscure precepts of the law and make good arguments for being the
greatest of the commandments. If they
could withstand the arguments of the Pharisees, then they would be respected.
The
Pharisees, of course, were concerned about the observance of the commandments
in the law. In other words, their focus
was always on doing (and doing correctly), instead of being. When Jesus considered the question, he turned
to an answer that would reflect the fact that being (and, thus, the
relationships that define our being) is more important than doing. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is this,
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind.” What is he
saying except that the most important commandment to follow is to be in
relationship with God?
God
gave ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai—each of which is a pretty big
deal—and yet Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to be in a loving relationship
with God! This must mean that the
relationship is more fundamental than the actions that the relationship
demands, and this is true. Because I
have a relationship with God, I do what the commandments prescribe. Those who believe that following the
commandments alone is sufficient, however, often find that it leaves them frustrated
and angry at God. This is the mistake of
the Pharisees. Their excessive concern
with doing resulted in their failing to recognize God himself in Jesus Christ. When we begin with loving God with all our
heart, all our soul, and all our mind, then we find that the commandments aren’t
a burden, but rather our relationship in action.
But
wait, let’s not forget that Jesus also tells us the second greatest
commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Interesting that he says that “the second is
like [the first]”. This must mean that,
since the first was about a relationship, the second must also be about
relationship, and so it is. If God is
Father to each one of us, then we are all brothers and sisters. The second most important commandment,
therefore, is to be in loving relationship with our brothers and sisters,
reminding us again that being is greater than doing.
Friends,
perhaps I can summarize this teaching of Jesus in another way by saying this: “Love
God and love others, then do what love demands.” If we stay faithful to this, even though we
may fail to fulfill it on many occasions, we will grow closer to God and to
those around us, and we will honor God in our lives. It’s that simple! (even though it often isn’t
easy) With God’s help, and with the
prayers of Mary and the saints, we can do this.
As we give thanks to God for the gift of sharing in his life here in
this Mass, may our thanksgiving express our love and commitment to him and to
one another; and may what we receive from this altar strengthen us to do what love
demands in the world.
Given in Spanish at St. Joseph Parish: Delphi, IN – October
29th, 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment