Homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C SAG)
On this sixth Sunday in Ordinary time, the liturgy of the Word speaks to us in ways that reach deep into our senses and can evoke in us a response of trust and surrender as we realize just how blessed we are in the eyes of God. Sometimes, music can have a way of reaching us on a deeper level.
I love music – especially liturgical music or music which blends the right mix of chords and lyrics which praise God in the mass and puts proper and due worship of God which can lead us into the mystery of our faith…leads us to prayer. One such hymn I heard some time ago was “Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord.” It really set me reflecting on the readings today and that much of life is spent in not seeing through our “spiritual eyes.” We miss it so much. Not only that, but when we don’t have prayer roots – or an open and free dialogue with God every day, life can sometimes overwhelm us with it trials, sufferings, and seemingly meaningless happenings.
Listen to the words: “Open the eyes of my heart Lord, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you, I want to see you. To see you high and lifted up, shining in the light of your glory. Pour out your power and love, as we sing Holy, Holy, Holy… Holy, Holy Holy…” Talk about an open channel to God. Not asking for wealth, power, self-interest, but only to “see God…. with the eyes of our heart.” Spiritual insight. Spiritual eyesight.
Our readings today almost shout out the same message and do it by telling us how blessed we are if we put all of our trust in God, rather than be cursed and barren as in the first reading from Jeremiah, as the one who trusts and obsesses in human contriving and fleshly desires. We are even told in the Psalm how “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord” rather than walking “in the way of sinners.”
The Gospel of Luke makes this message even clearer. Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and those who are hated because of their faith in God. And conversely, woe to all those who put their trust in wealth, power, status, and worldly allurements which never can last. It fairly begs the question, “Where does true happiness lie?”
One of the saddest things to imagine is people who are at the end of their lives and who cannot pray, because they’ve never prayed in their lives, they believe they never needed to, and they can’t seem to start, because they can’t remember to pray. It is not a habit for them. Generally speaking, people die as they live. If they live their entire lives without having developed the habit of prayer, lives not centered around Christ in the Eucharist, if they never developed a hunger for the Eucharist, never tasted the joy that comes from spending time in the presence of God, or praying for others and growing in charity and the love of others, but instead have filled their lives with passing amusements, entertainment, good food and wine, travel, etc., they will die in real emptiness—if that’s all they lived for, as so many do. Habits take years to develop, and faith, hope, and charity, are habits, for they are virtues born of a lifetime of conversing with God. We die as we live.
And as Catholics, we have the greatest example of the most perfect prayer of self-sacrifice in the mass. Every time we see the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ elevated in the chalice and host and hear the words “Through Him, with Him, and in Him in the unity of the Holy Spirt, all glory and honor is Yours, Almighty Father, forever and ever. Amen” And then Jesus says from the cross, “Father, into Your hands, I commend my Spirit.” That moment is the moment of the greatest sacrifice offered to the Father for all of us. Once, for all, for all time.
Let that moment be a sign for all of us to offer to the Father, all that we have, all that we are or all that we will ever be in imitation of Him until it becomes a part of our daily lives. Whether you call it a morning offering or a simple turning of your heart and mind to Him every day, it can be a part of who you are before Him.
And if we have lived in the joy of the Lord thru the habitual turning of our minds and hearts to God so that everything we did was done ultimately for the love of the Lord, we will die in the Lord, and that is the one moment that matters, because it is that moment that determines our eternal destiny, whether we have achieved it, or missed it. And what a horrible thought to consider what it means to have missed that destiny for all eternity. But what joy will be in store for those whose life has become a pleasing offering to God, one that has already given praises to him and glorifies him. That alone is a successful life.
And a consistent life of prayer can ultimately lead us to the conclusion that everything is gift – gift to be used, but, firstly, to be appreciated. Our approach to life is so much richer when we accept everything simply as gift.
A thankful heart is not a heavy heart. Seeing our world as gift means not seeing it simply as mine, to be possessed and accumulated and to be hung on to selfishly – but as given to us by God. The Our Father reminds us that it is NOT Give ME this day MY daily bread, but “Give US this day OUR daily bread: A direct call to Be appreciative; Be generous.
So how can we cultivate this attitude of gratitude? It all comes back to our prayer life. In every RCIA class the suggestion, which is most telling, is to always ask how the candidate’s prayer life is coming. Every class. In time, the Spirit works on people who begin to see that their motives, actions, circumstances can all lead back to a dialogue with God. They become sensitized to all of the different opportunities they have throughout their day to share with God their hopes, dreams, worries, fears, anxieties, developing a “spiritual antenna” which can build on an attitude of hope and trust.
Toward the end of all of our diaconal classes in formation many years ago, the very last class brought all the others to a climax, leaving us with one recurring theme which brought home a truth that was inescapable: That because of our baptism, all of us are charged with returning the gifts to God which we’ve been blessed with by giving them away. In meditation, we were to contemplate the deeper meaning of just what we would need to serve others. Quietly, we listened to and learned a hymn which formed the perfect prayer request. Like a light bulb in darkness, it illuminated the mind and gave a strong reminder to the nature and source of all true gifts: a loving Father who awaits our perfect surrender to Him.
The hymn: These Alone Are Enough.
“Take my heart O Lord, take my hopes and dreams. Take my mind with all its plans and schemes. Give me nothing more than your love and grace. These alone O Lord, are enough for me.
I surrender Lord, all I have and hold. I return to you your gifts untold. Give me nothing more than your love and grace. These alone O Lord, are enough for me.”
See how these words echo what Jesus says in the Gospel. Our greatest joy is when we fully realize that our greatest joy is realized when we surrender everything to Him that we have been given. The beatitudes of the Gospel are a blueprint of what it means to be happy, to be “Blessed.” “Blessed” literally means, “to be made holy” or “sanctified.” When we more fully realize that we have acted with charity in all of the sacrifice we’ve made for others, we will indeed be “made holy” in God eyes.
So what about you? Where is your true treasure? How much of this world’s wealth – whether through money, accumulated material things, or the God given gifts you’ve been given - is enough? And where does your true wealth lie? And what will you do with it? All good questions for meditation and prayer. And may your answers take you to a place that recognizes the origin of every good gift: a loving God who has already showered us with two precious gifts through the total self-offering of His Son on the cross: His love and His grace. And may the gratitude you feel be a sure sign you have received them. And most importantly, may they be “enough” for you to let go and give them away.
May God grant us the grace. To God be the glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.
Fr. Anthony D Lawir, Pastor, St. Agnes and Our Lady of the Snows Parishes, Pittsfield and Dexter.