Weekly HOMILY for July 3, 2011: What’s Stronger, Wind or Sun? And Why?

14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A
St. Margaret, St. Mark
July 3, 2011

What’s Stronger, Wind or Sun? And Why?
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


AESOP'S FABLE

Seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth, there lived a Greek slave named Aesop.

This man compiled a collection of stories known as Aesop’s Fables. The stories have become a classic and they contain wonderful lessons for living.

One of Aesop’s Fables is tells of a dispute between the sun and the wind about which of them was stronger. The story goes that one day, a man dressed in an overcoat was walking down a country road.

The sun said to the wind, “Whoever gets the coat off that man first will be the stronger.” The wind agreed to the contest and agreed to go first.

And so, the wind blew and blew, but the more the wind blew, the tighter the man held on to his coat. Finally, the wind gave up.

Then it was the sun’s turn and she began to shine. Within a few minutes, the man removed his coat.

The sun won the contest and was declared stronger than the wind. The moral of Aesop’s tale is: you can achieve more by gentleness than by force.


JESUS' HUMBLENESS

Aesop’s moral is the lesson Jesus is teaching us today.

He says: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” I would suggest that gentleness requires one first to be humble.

Look at Jesus. Though God, he humbles himself to become one of us. He lives our life fully, embracing our humanity with all of its limitations and weaknesses and he loves what he sees in us.

In becoming just like us – yet without our sinfulness – Jesus gives our human nature dignity. Now that’s being humble!


JESUS' GENTLENESS

It is in his humbleness – God meeting us where we are and as we are that makes it possible for Jesus to be so gentle with us. He knows us from the inside.

His gentleness and understanding flow from that very intimate knowledge of us.

Unlike the forceful wind, Jesus is gentle like the warm sun and it’s a gentleness that gets played out in many ways throughout the Gospels.

For example, when Jesus forms a group of followers, he respects these ragtag individuals and their life situations and their freedom, so he simply invites them to follow him, never force or coercing them.

In another situation, Jesus refuses to get caught up in putting down or condemning a woman caught in adultery. He respects her as the person she is sins and all and simply exhorts her to avoid that behavior.

Or again, Jesus likens himself to a shepherd who searches and finds one lost sheep. He doesn’t beat or scold the sheep, but rejoices in finding it and carries it home in his arms.

In so many ways, Jesus shows himself exactly as he describes himself today. “I am gentle and humble of heart.”


"LEARN FROM ME“

Let’s not forget the three words that precede “I am gentle and humble of heart,” namely, “Learn from me.”

The invitation to learn is that we cultivate the traits of humbleness and gentleness in ourselves.

To be humble means we stay in touch with our humanity, that is, we remain aware of our own limitations, weaknesses, struggles, and infirmities.

When looking at someone whom we consider less than us, we understand the old adage: “There but for the grace of God go I” or the Native American saying, “We have to walk a mile in another person’s moccasins to understand them.”

And from this humbleness, will flow a new found gentleness.

(1) Gentleness toward those who do not seem to belong be it the country club, the Catholic Church, the white race, the political party, the ethnic group. Only kindness will reduce those divisions.

(2) Gentleness toward those living with addictions to sex or drugs, those living a lifestyle very different from our own. Only love will have them consider alternatives.

(3) Gentleness toward those who have left the Catholic Church and seem to be floundering not knowing what they believe. Only respect will help them consider their options for living with faith.


CONCLUSION

Aesop’s fable of the wind and the sun helps us to recall Jesus’ words today.

“Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” Jesus’ humbleness and gentleness will be our real strength in loving others as they are.