Weekly HOMILY for November 25, 2007: It's All a Matter of Perspective

Thanksgiving Day, Cycle C
(Isaiah 63:7-9 / Colossians 3:12-17 / Mark 5:18-20)
Our Lady of Grace
November 22, 2007

Focus: Perspective counts in our spiritual life
Function: To teach folks how they can choose to be pessimistic or optimistic when it comes to looking at our past, present, and future
Form: Story / Reflection


It’s All a Matter of Perspective
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


Different Outlooks

There is a story about identical twins who had very different outlooks on life.

The one was a hope-filled optimist. He thought everything was always fine and, if it wasn’t, he believed it would turn out fine.

The other was a rather sad pessimist. He always saw the bad side of things.

The parents of these identical twins were worried and brought them to a psychologist. The psychologist offered the desperate mother a plan that was sure to balance the personalities of the two boys.

She said, “On their next birthday, put them in separate rooms to open their gifts. Give the pessimist the best toys you can afford, and give the optimist a box of manure.”

So, when the next birthday came for the boys, the parents carefully followed the psychologist’s instructions. They gave the boys their gifts and sent them to their rooms to open them.

The parents first peeked in on their little pessimist and heard him complaining. “I don’t like the color of this computer… My friend has a bigger toy car than this… This Ipod doesn’t have enough memory” and on and on it went.

The parents then tiptoed across the hallway and peeked in on their little optimist. He was giggling and jumping up and down and saying: “You can’t fool me. Where there’s this much manure, there’s got to be a pony close by.”


Thanksgiving: Our Outlook

That story highlights an important issue for us, especially on Thanksgiving Day.

We have the choice of being optimists or pessimists, like those twins. We can be hopeful or hopeless, grateful or ungrateful.

We can choose to look only at the negative aspects of life – at sicknes, failure, disappointment, and personal loss. And if we do that, we limit ourselves greatly.

On the other hand, we can look at the positive aspects of life – at the basics of food and clothing and housing, at family and friends, at our opportunities for education or travel, at our health and religion, and maybe even at some comforts we enjoy.

If we look at these things, then we can more easily come to peace with our past, even if it had some sadness and hardship.

We can also more easily deal with the present and see what God is calling us to do right now.

And we can more easily look ahead to the future with trust in the presence and love of God. In other words, we can be grateful to God for whatever has been and is and will be.


The Calling of the Scripture

This is what our Scripture passages convey to us this evening.

The prophet Isaiah in the first reading recalls the “glorious deeds of the Lord and all that the Lord has done for us.” He looks back to the past with gratitude even though the Scripture tells us that there had been a fair degree of hardship.

St. Paul in the second reading calls us to “dedicate ourselves to thankfulness and to sing gratefully to God from your hearts.” He sees a thankful, appreciative heart as leading us to live the present “with kindness, humility and patience.”

And finally, in the Gospel, Jesus tells the man he has healed how to live in the future. Jesus tells him to “go forth and tell others how much the Lord has done for you” because that will help this man and others to live the future well.”


Conclusion

So, the Word of God gives us both a calling and a choice.

On this Thanksgiving Eve, it calls us to be appreciative and grateful and thankful and these optimistic attitudes will open us more fully to the Lord’s presence as we gather with loved ones around our Thanksgiving table.