Weekly HOMILY for October 15, 2006: The Choices Before Us to Folow Jesus

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Our Lady of Grace
October 15, 2006

The Choices Before Us to Follow Jesus
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


Arid Land → Niagara Falls

Once upon a time, two men lived on the arid stretches of mesa in Arizona where it rained only briefly a couple times a year. Nothing grew there except cactus, lizards and sand fleas.

Both men had grown weary of being so thirsty in such a dusty place so they decided to travel to Niagara Falls.

Upon their arrival, the view was breathtaking! They witnessed water thundering down hundreds of feet in abundance, making the air heavy with mist, offering cool refreshment to all.

Overjoyed at their discovery, one of the men held out a large empty juice bottle and in a flash it was filled to overflowing. “I think I shall come here every six months with a bottle or two,” he said to his companion.

The other man shared his own idea. “I think I shall leave my home in Arizona and settle and build a home by the river.”


The Falls or the Desert?

Which of the two men showed himself to be truly wise, wise as Solomon in the first reading or wise as Jesus in the Gospel we just heard?

With which of the two men might you identify? Whose lead would you follow?

Probably only a few of us would dare to admit that we might choose to go back to life in the arid desert and rely on the occasional visit to the Falls for a much needed respite.

While we might long for relief from the aridity and dust, how many of us would be willing or wise enough to make such a life-changing decision and leave all that was familiar – however dreadful or unsatisfying – in order to embrace the unknown, the untried?

Would we dare risk our sure base of security? Would we chance the loss of everything that was so familiar?


Religious Status Quo

But this is precisely the choice placed by Jesus to the young man who runs up to him to ask about a share in everlasting life. And it is the choice placed before us today as we “run up” to Jesus in the Eucharist this evening/morning.

First, we can continue with our “religious status quo,” that is, keeping the rules that have been our guide since we were children, rules like not killing, not committing adultery, not stealing, not lying or defrauding, and honoring one’s parents and thinking we’re doing just fine.

Notice the comfort level we may have here and one that can be attained with a just a smidgen of faithfulness and perseverance.

Or we can let go of the comfortable easily kept rules and venture out into the unknown – the going beyond the rules – by being kind to others especially strangers, taking time to “turn the other cheek,” “walk the extra mile,” stepping up to the plate and offering to volunteer at my church?


Things we Posses and Treasure

Second, we can look at the things we posses and treasure, the things we go to great lengths to amass, and ask, “How much faith do I put into these things to bring me lasting happiness?”

Can I come away from the safe harbor of familiar objects, expensive “toys,” and things that glitter and vie for my attention?

Can I acknowledge that nothing satisfies like my relationship with Jesus Christ?

And if that is true, do I take the time to pursue that relationship with faithful attendance at weekly Mass, daily prayer, and acts of kindness?


Security Against the Future

Third, in my mind can I let go of what I consider “security against the future” that I have stored up against a rainy day, you know, my “hedge against inflation,” my secured savings?

Can I let go of what makes me feel invulnerable and prepared to face any and all emergencies?

It’s not having these securities that Jesus is calling us from, so much as it’s placing our trust in these things to keep us secure over Jesus’ relationship with me.

To all these things – “Religious status quo,” “Things we posses and treasure,” and “Security against the future” – that Jesus invites us to: “Come away, let go, and attach yourself to me as if to a lifeboat on a stormy sea.”


Conclusion

We need to be fully aware of the challenge Jesus is offering the young man in the Gospel who runs to him in eager anticipation, then goes away sad, his face fallen, his heart weighed down with blessings and burdens of many possessions.

Why? because Jesus is speaking the very same challenge to us today.

The question for us is, like the second man in the fairytale of Niagara, “Are we willing to build our home in Jesus Christ?”