Homily: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
If any of us stopped to think about
receiving a valuable gift, chances are that many of us would think of receiving
something made out of gold. Gold is a
metal that we consider to be precious and valuable and so we only use it for
things that will be valued and preserved.
For example, we don’t make hammers out of gold because we expect them to
be used, abused, and eventually discarded.
Wedding rings, the vessels we use at Mass, and gifts that we receive
when retiring after a long career are made out of gold because they will be
treasured, preserved, and valued for many years to come.
What makes gold so precious to us is
both its rarity and its beauty. Its
rarity is a characteristic inherent to gold itself. There’s only so much gold in the world and to
find a mine of it is valuable because it is a valued commodity. Its beauty, however, is not something with
which it comes naturally. Rather, raw
gold ore must be refined before it will begin to show the beauty for which it
is highly prized; and this refining process is a violent one. There are actually a few different methods of
refining gold, but the most common method uses heat.
Refining with heat is one of the oldest
methods of refining metals. Mentioned
even in the bible, this form of refining involved a craftsman sitting next to a
hot fire with molten gold in a crucible being stirred and skimmed to remove the
impurities (or dross) that rose to the top of the molten metal. With flames reaching temperatures in excess of
1000 degrees Celsius, this job was definitely a dangerous occupation for the
gold refiner. The tradition remains
mostly the same today with the exception of a few advancements in safety and
precision.
As you can see, this process is very
violent! I mention it here today because
I think that it helps us to understand what our Scriptures are trying to tell
us.
Near the end of his time on earth,
Jesus starts to say some disturbing things to his disciples. He tells them that a time of violent unrest
will come upon them and that no one, even his disciples, will be kept free from
suffering. In fact, he tells them, they’ll
be persecuted and that some of them killed: even, perhaps, by their own family
members! This is not the image of
triumph that his followers were hoping the Messiah would bring and so I can
only imagine how disheartening Jesus’ words were to them.
Nevertheless, Jesus makes a
promise. At the end of these words of
“doom and gloom”, Jesus tells them, “…not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your
lives.” In this promise, Jesus shows his
followers that there is a way through this time of tribulation; and that way is
perseverance in faith. Perhaps, however,
this begs some questions: “If God is intent on preserving his faithful ones
through this time of tribulation, why not just prevent the tribulation in the
first place? Is he just trying to test
them to see if they will fail? Is this a
punishment for sins that they’ve committed, even though they were trying to
follow him?” The answer, I think, lies
in our understanding of how gold is refined.
The suffering that Jesus is predicting for
his followers is not the suffering of punishment or even the suffering of an
uncaring God who just refuses to keep them safe from it. I think, rather, that the suffering that is
predicted is a suffering of refinement. The tribulations that will befall Jesus’
followers are like the refiner’s fire: a violent aggression against the element
that nonetheless purges its impurities so that nothing but the pure, precious
element remains.
The human person, marred by sin, is
like raw gold ore: valuable more for what it could be than for what it is. Unrefined, it is marred by the impurities
that are mixed in with its chemical structure.
In order for its full beauty to be seen—and, therefore, its full value
to be known—it must go through the violent and painful process of refining:
stripping away its impurities, until nothing is left but pure gold, an element
of striking beauty.
In preparation for the second coming of
the Lord, the world—and, specifically, the human person—must also go through a
refining process, because only those who are pure can stand in the presence of
God. Perseverance in faith through
tribulations is like the gold maintaining the integrity of its chemical
composition throughout the refining process: having endured the violent
process, each person will emerge in the purity of his or her humanity and will
be a strikingly beautiful creature to behold.
The challenge, therefore, for
Christians is two-fold: One, not to fall away from the faith when the
tribulations come. Remember, Jesus said
“By your perseverance you will secure your lives!” The second challenge for Christians is to
hasten this transformation by living transformed lives here and now! If we are truly anticipating Jesus’ return
and the coming of God’s kingdom in its fullness, then we ought to be
"stoking the flames" of the refiner's fire by living transformed
lives and thus put into stark contrast the misdeeds of those who do evil. Living the corporal and spiritual works of
mercy is one major way to do this. In
other words, and this is counterintuitive, we prepare ourselves for the great
tribulation—and, in a real sense, hasten its coming—when we readily seek
tribulation in our lives: that is, opportunities to sacrifice ourselves in the
name of Jesus to build up his kingdom and to purge all that is dark and impure
within us.
Another way that we can prepare
ourselves for (and, thus, hasten) Jesus’ coming is our daily examination of
conscience and our frequent celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation. The examination is like a daily refiner’s
fire that causes all of our impurities (that is, our sins) to bubble to the
surface. Then, in the sacrament, Jesus,
the Divine Refiner, skims the dross of our impurities from the surface when we
confess our sins and receive absolution.
As purified gold we then go forth to shine in the world to show it that
purity is possible by the way we live our lives, now unhindered by the
impurities that once discolored us.
Sure, impurities will begin to attach themselves to us once again as we
intermingle with the world; and this means that this is a process that must be
continually renewed until the end of time.
I believe, however, that this is what Jesus meant when he said: "By
your perseverance you will secure your lives".
My brothers and sisters, as human
persons, many dark things separate us from one another and keep us from being
the amazingly beautiful and pure creation that God intended us to be: a visible
image of the communion of persons that he is in himself. Therefore, let us use these frightful words
that Jesus speaks to us today to inspire us to allow the refining process to
work in our lives and then to be prophets in the world by which others come to
acknowledge and accept their own need of refining. May the strength that can only come from God
bring this good work to fulfillment in our lives.
Given
in Spanish at Saint Paul Parish: Marion, IN – November 12th, 2022
Given in Spanish at Saint Joseph Parish: Delphi, IN and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish: Carmel, IN – November 13th, 2022
One of the most beautiful homilies I ever carefully listened and help me to understand a purpose of a not perfect life. Gracias Padre!
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