Homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Sept 23, 2006)
intro: Where do wars
come from? James says that our conflicts with other people come from the
passions inside us – our
greed and envy leads us into combat; our desire to have control others
leads us into war. Jesus tells his disciples they should stop arguing
over who is the greatest?
* October 1st
will be Respect For Life Sunday, while this weekend the Jews celebrate Rosh
Hashanah and the Moslems begin the penitential
month of Ramadan. Certainly this would be a good time for all
of us to examine how we contribute to the conflicts in our
families and the wars in our world.
Is it not the greed and
envy within us? Or the pride
which drives us to want to be considered the
greatest? The
greatest country.. the best golf or football team.
The best church? or the greatest of the disciples?
Because nations want to
control others, all around us there are wars and threats of more wars.
Because we think we are the greatest, there are conflicts in our country
and within our Catholic Church. There may also be conflicts in your
family.
* How does Jesus ask us
to respond? What attitudes does James ask us to adopt?
- Jesus tells his
disciples that rather than worrying about which one of them is the
greatest – which one will be master over the others, they should
compete to see who can become true servant,
laying down their life for the community. Bishops should not
be chosen because they are the most like kings, but because they have
given the most service to people in need. It’s not whether you win the
most family arguments, but how you reach out to the most broken member
of your family. The greatest
nation in the world is the one which cares
the most about the people suffering at home and in other nations.
- To counteract envy, greed and pride,
James calls us to grow in purity,
mercy and sincere humility as the road to peace. It is true that
Paul encourages us to run the race so as to win the crown of glory. But
if you look closer Paul is speaking about the race to give ourselves in
love for and service to our sisters and brothers.
* Of course if you choose
to go the way of peace and mercy it may cost you your life, as it
did many of the Christians in
Rwanda
, and as it did Jesus.
Jesus
makes it clear that he is choosing
to lay down his life, to suffer and to die. As the
servant of the human race he lays down his life as a model for
all of us. Christ’s is the ultimate victory over sin and death, war
and division. As the servant of all Jesus
is the greatest of all.
Story: Charles
Duke, a former NASA astronaut did not come to Christ until some
years after making his historic walk on the moon. As you can imagine
life after being an astronaut tended to be rather flat – lacking
purpose and meaning for Duke. His wife, Dottie,
also experienced that lack of meaning and contemplated suicide. But then
Dottie began to attend a church where she gave her life to Christ. She
wanted to share her new-found joy with her husband. At his wife’s
Bible study group, Charles Duke also gave his life to Christ. He found a
new meaning and compelling purpose for his life. He later commented: “Walking
on the moon cannot begin to compare with walking on earth with Jesus.”
Conclusion: The
purpose of life is ultimately to serve the Lord. Being considered the
greatest at something may have meaning for a time, but it can never be
one’s ultimate purpose. Having control over other people may make
us feel more secure, but putting Christ in charge of our lives, serving our sisters and
brothers in Christ is the only
way to true happiness.
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