HOMILY for June 25, 2017: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle

12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

June 25, 2017

8:00 am St. Mary’s, Pylesville

11:00 am St. Matthew’s

Encouragement

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

 

Killing the Spirit

This morning, I want to talk about encouragement – the importance of encouraging one another.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to beware – in fact, to be afraid of those who can kill the spirit. And you probably know from your own experience that it is true. Our spirit can be killed.

We’ve seen it on sports teams, where the coach is always on the back of the players – often kids – for every dropped ball or missed point and never praises the players for their progress.  They can kill the spirit of a player.

This killing of the spirit happens with employees on work teams where a supervisor is always pressing for more and better results and never affirming the results that are there. 

This killing of the spirit happens at home when a husband or wife is always picking at what the other has not done well, without every affirming a good job that was done mowing the lawn, or preparing a meal, things like that.

We’ve seen it in schools and neighborhoods where a child is being bullied, being called names and being shunned. or refusing to play with her. 

A Study on Encouragement

Recently, an organization called the Gotman Institute did a study that focused on the ratio of words of criticism versus words of encouragement that the average person hears.  They found that the ratio is 6 to 1.

Imagine, the average person hears 6 words of criticism for every 1 word of encouragement.  Just tghink about that – isn’t that unfortunate and sad?

All that criticism creates an oppressive, negative, environment.  It explains why some teams, workplaces, and relationships are so toxic.

These words tear down self-esteem and self-worth.  To return to Jesus’ words in the Gospel, this heavy ratio of critical to encouraging words can “kill the spirit.”

Two truths about Encouragement

There are two truths about encouragment that we need to know.

First, everyone is hungry for encouragement.  I don’t care who you are, how successful, intelligent, attractive, popular, or talented you are – we all need encouragement.

This is a basic truth.  It is part of our humanity.

And the second truth is that everyone can be an encourager.  Regardless of your age, job, position, or personality type, you can be encourager of others. 

This is another basic truth.  Yes, we all can do this and we need to be aware of our power to do so.

Two Ways to Encourage

Now, there are two tips or strategies to keep in mind in becoming an encourager of others.

First, everyone wants to know that they are not alone.  Sometimes we feel down and that we are the only person in the world dealing with a certain issue or problem.

It could be a mom or day whose not sure they’re doing the right thing with their kids.  Or perhaps our finances are tight and we can’t take the kind of vacation that our nighbors are taking.

Or perhaps it’s a teen, young or older adult, who is experiencing a real identity issue.  In these and many other situations, we can feel very alone.

So it is important for each of us to be alert to one another, to listen and to let those around us that we understand or that we are dealing with the same issue or that we’ve got other things that we are dealing with. 

Our sharing vulnerability in ways like this is an important way of encouragement. It gives hope to the other person.  It helps them know that they are not alone.

And the second tip or strategy to be an encourager is that everyone wants to know that they’ve got what it takes.  So we need to affirm the potential and strengths of one another.

Perhaps that’s all they need to hear to apply for nursing school or starting a project. Perhaps that’s what someone needs to redirect them in a way that will really suit their God-given abilities.

Yes, we need to let others know that we believe in them.  We encourage them by letting them know that they’ve got what it takes.

Jesus Encourages

Listen again Jesus’ words of encouragement in today’s Gospel.

He knows that things will be tough at times and that we and the disciples will need encouragment to keep growing and developing and moving on, so he uses the example of a little sparrow and says that God watches and cares and knows every take-off and landing that a sparrow does.

The conclusion is obvious: If God does that for a sparrow, won’t he do much more for you?  After all, we count for so much more.

Jesus even says that God is so close to us and knows us so well that even the hairs on your head are counted.  That may not be too difficult for God to do with some of us guys, but I think you get the piont.

Jesus is encouraging us because he knows we all need encouragement.  And today he wants you and me to single out just one person to whom you can be an ecourager just as he has been for you.