Weekly HOMILY fo August 28, 2011: Becoming More

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Saint Mary Magdalene Mission, Churchville
August 28, 2011

Becoming More
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


THE DANDELION, HARE, AND THE HUNTER

Once upon a time, a dandelion whispered to the nutrients in its soil: “How would you like to become a dandelion? You need only allow yourself to be dissolved in the earth’s water, and I will draw you up through my roots.

“Afterward you will be able to grow and flower and brighten the world.” The nutrients said: “Okay!”

The next morning, a rabbit hopped by and, feeling generous, said to the dandelion: “How would you like to become a rabbit? You would have to let me chew you up and swallow you, and you would lose your pretty petals.

“It would hurt at first, but afterward you would be able to hop around and wiggle your ears.” Not being rooted in just one place sounded good so the dandelion allowed itself to be munched and it became a rabbit.

The next day, a hunter spotted the rabbit, and being in a friendly mood, asked: “How would you like to become a human? Of course, you must let yourself be shot, skinned, stewed and eaten.

“That would be rather painful, but think of what you’d gain. You’d be able to think, laugh, cry, get 50 credit cards and watch football on a wide flat-screen TV.”

The rabbit was scared, but who could pass this up? So, he gave up the carefree life of a rabbit and became a human.

Years later, God noticed this human going about everyday human living. Feeling very fatherly, God said: “Hey! How would you like to become a super-human and live forever?”


BECOMING DIVINE

And that, my friends, is precisely the question God asks each human being.

And, in case we don’t know what is involved in this, God’s Son, Jesus, spells it out: “You have to lose your life to find it.”

Sports coaches and athletes say: “No pain; no gain.” Psychologists say: “Lose your false self to find your true self.” Spiritual writers talk about the “dark night before the dawn.”

What is it that we must lose and what do we gain? Well, the good news is that we don’t lose anything essential to our humanity.

We don’t lose anything that is good within us. All we really lose is our inhumanity, our bad self.


WHAT DO WE LOSE?

For example, we must lose our self-centeredness, which isolates us from other good people. We must lose our prejudices, which blind us to the truth.

We must lose our lust, which distorts our love. We must lose our insecurity, which restrains us from doing or saying what we believe is right.

We must lose our obsession with money, which prevents us from being generous. And we must lose our fear, which strangles our hope.


WHAT DO WE GAIN?

To the degree that we do this losing, we gain. We actually enlarge or expand our humanity.

We don’t have to get there all at once. We can do it step by step.

And we don’t have to advance in every department of life. Actually, most saints are imperfect and unfinished in some way.

The best part is that in fulfilling our humanity, we simultaneously become divine. We participate in divine life.

We become intimate with God and start thinking and loving in a Godly way. We engage in communion and conversation with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.


CONCLUSION

And here is the really best part. In losing our lives in God, we don’t really lose at all as the nutrients in the soil, the dandelion, or the rabbit.

Instead, we retain our own self and grow bigger.

But we have to remember: only with God and only in going through this process of losing can we gain and be our fullest self. And that is tough news and also the great news!

Weekly HOMILY for August 21, 2011: Deacon Preaching Weekend

Deacons preached this weekend at St. Margaret's and St. Marks where Father Nicholas celebrated Masses.

Weekly HOMILY for August 14, 2011: Father Nicholas is away on Vacation

Father Nicholas is away on Vacation this weekend.

Weekly HOMILY for August 7, 2011: Amazing Grace? Yes, It Is!

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A
St. Mark Parish, Fallston
August 7, 2011

AMAZING GRACE? YES, IT IS!


AMAZING GRACE

One of our classic Christian hymns is Amazing Grace.

We all know those opening lines: “Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!” We sing of God’s grace saving us.

In our Christian or Catholic vocabulary, we used to use the word grace much more frequently than we do today. Today we still believe in this reality, but we often use other words for it.

Today, more often we speak of the presence, the love, the strength, or the healing action of God. These words help to express the reality of what God does for us or who God is for us.

And, of course, in all of this, God is giving himself to us. God’s action is gratuitous, gratis, and from this we get the word grace.


GOD REACHES OUT

I see today’s Gospel as a story about the grace of God.

Jesus extends himself, his hand and arm, to Peter. Peter is afraid because of the wind and waves on the lake.

The whole point here is that Jesus is here for us when we have to deal with the winds and waves of life. God gratuitously reaches out to us.

God gives us his presence when we are afraid or anxious. God gives us his love when we feel abandoned or alone.

God gives us his strength when we find life difficult or burdensome. And God gives us his healing when we are spiritually injured or even physically ill.


WE REACH BACK

Yes, God reaches out himself to us and the experience of that contact, we call grace.

But, like Peter, we need to allow Jesus to take hold of us. We need to allow him to be present, to love, to strengthen and to heal us.

And to do this we need to keep our eyes fixed on God, on Jesus. Remember, Peter becomes afraid and gets into trouble when he takes his eyes off of Jesus.

He starts to sink when he just focuses on the wind and the waves. The same thing can happen to us.

There will be wind and waves in our lives too – a personal sickness, the death of a loved one, financial troubles, a son or daughter trapped in an addiction, and on it can go. Yes, we all experience winds and waves in our lives.

And in these times, if we keep our eyes focused just on the troubles, we will get overwhelmed and start sinking like Peter. The key is keep your eyes fixed on the Lord.


LOOKING AT JESUS

How do we do this?

My experience tells me that if we are going to keep our eyes on Jesus in the storms of life, we need a pattern for doing this every day, even when there is no storm.

I recommend three habits or actions for doing this.

FIRST, I suggest that every morning you offer a prayer to center yourself on the Lord. You can thank God just for the gift of a new day of life.

You can ask the Lord for strength and guidance in what you have to do in this new day. This kind of brief Morning Prayer, whether our personal weather is calm or stormy, helps us to develop a pattern of keeping our eyes fixed on the Lord.

SECOND, I recommend that we choose a one-sentence prayer and pray it often during the course of the day. For example, “I am with you always,” or “God is love” or “Lord, you are my refuge and my strength.”

A one-sentence prayer like one of these helps us to stay centered on the Lord throughout the day. It helps us to keep our eyes on the Lord whether our personal weather is calm or stormy.

AND THIRD, let’s learn a lesson from Elijah who was looking for God in extraordinary places like strong and heavy wind that was rending the mountains and crushing rocks. But, recall, the Lord was not in the wind. Or in the earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. Or the fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

Where did he find the Lord? In the tiny whispering sound! So Elijah hides his face in his cloak. It’s the same Lord we find in the sacraments using ordinary elements like water, oil, bread and wine. And right here in the ordinary and everyday we bow our heads over God’s reaching out to us.


CONCLUSION

When we respond to God in these ways, we are clearing the way for him to take hold of us and be the steady help he wants to be.

And that is Amazing Grace!