2020
January 16 _ 3rd Sunday (A)_
•
Isaiah
8:23-9:3 • Psalm 27 • 1 Corinthians
1:10-13, 17 • + Matthew 4:12-23 •
[__01__] In 2006,
my mother and father were having difficulty caring for my elderly grandfather
and grandmother who were 96 and 98 years old.
I recall during this time of anxiety and stress saying something I
should not have said to my mother. Knowing I was in the wrong.
When you are very close to someone as a child
to a parent, husband-to-wife, or siblings, you realize immediately that you
said something wrong. But, then, it’s
really hard to admit you are wrong. Even though you know you are in the wrong. And, in this case it
took me some time to admit that I was wrong.
Change can be frightening. Change can be
difficult.
[__02__] It
is, however, the Gospel Good News to believe that change is good.
In the Gospel, Jesus calls, Peter,
Andrew, James and John, not just because they are good right now, but because
he knows that they are capable of change and we also are capable of change in
our lives.
It is the Gospel Good News to believe
the in the goodness of change, the goodness of development.
It is part of our ethic of life, our
belief in the sanctity of life, to believe in the value of a change, of the
value of a changing child, a child who is not yet born or in a person who may
be in decline or a person who may be dying.
Every person has a dignity that we
cannot always quantify or see.
On Friday, I went to the March for
Life in Washington DC, an event that is a testament to the human / Christian /
Catholic value of the sanctity of life and the dignity of every human person.
The March for Life is not about one
sitting president nor it is about any single court decision or judge, but it is
about the conversion of our hearts, to believe in the sanctity of every human
life, a person who is dying, a person who is living, a person who is being born
into this world.
We believe that change is good and
that life is always changing.
Life is not something we can just possess
and keep for ourselves. Life is a value we inherit and we called to pass it
down to others. Change is good.
[__03__] In the year 2000, a young college football
quarterback graduated from the University of Michigan and hoped to play
professional football.
He was not highly rated or highly regarded. He
had had only played 2 seasons in college and the scouts did not believe he would
be successful going from the lower college level to the higher professional
level.
Now..I know this is the weekend after the playoffs
and before the Super Bowl, so there are no games this weekend. We are starving
for NFL content. I am trying to give you some.
The NFL professional football league
has a tryout system called the “combine” at which players are asked to perform,
to run, throw, to catch, to jump, to lift weights and to be measured and
evaluated for all of the above.
He had a less-than-stellar and
not-excellent performance evaluation. He was regarded too skinny in his body,
too slow on his feet, too lackluster in his jumping ability, and and he did not
throw the football with the right technique. So for this reason, when the NFL
teams made their selection, he was selected as the 199th player and
7th quarterback overall.
He went to the New England Patriots
and immediately became a backup quarterback to their star at the time. Perhaps,
he was lucky to be selected at all !
[__04__] One year later, the star quarterback of the
N.E. Patriots was seriously injured and this “backup” named Tom Brady who was
the 199th player selected…. He went into the game and started his
career. He is the now very famous and highly regarded Tom Brady. Some people
think Tom Brady is now the greatest QB of all time, or at least one of the best
having played in 9 Super Bowl games and been the winner for 6 of the 9. He did
not start out that way.
[__05__] Our salvation is also based on our
cooperation with God’s changes in our lives.
There is a theologian from Germany
named Dietrich von Hildebrand who was very influential on Pope John Paul II.
Dietrich von Hildebrand wrote that God does
not put limits on our ability to change:
“If am really intent on becoming [a
new person], I will not claim the right to determine the limits [of change or
conversion or New Testament metanoia]….
[in other words]
We are not ourselves able or
entitled to determine the measure of our transformation …
God will be merciful to those who
also possess only a limited readiness to change, but he alone whose readiness
to change and whose spiritual [flexibility] are unlimited can attain to
sanctity [to holiness.] (Dietrich
von Hildebrand, "Readiness to Change" Transformation in Christ,
Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 2000, p. 13-17)
We can grow in sanctity, in
holiness, we can be forgiven even of sins that we think are too serious or
unforgivable. What does St. Paul write say…where sin abounds, grace abounds all
the more.
Or, in the example of the sinful
woman who comes into the house of Simon the Pharisee, and Jesus teaches Simon
and others that this so-called sinful woman also has been forgiven much and
shows great mercy. (cf. Luke 7:36-50)
And, conversely, if I think I only need to be
forgiven a little, then I am only going to be a little bit forgiving.
Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more
and calls us to be forgiving.
[__07__] In
the incident with my mother, after I recognized I was wrong and turned my car
around…. And drove back to the house, it was the summer of 2006. And, I did not have to do some long apology…
But, my mother was able to forgive …. – and
not just because she is my mother but because she has the wisdom of years and
age.
In other words, she had a certain gentleness and
compassion that is the reward of age.
As we grow up we come to recognize that our bodies become less flexible. Yet, this rigidity can also be a survival mechanism.
For example, knowing that I am less flexible physically, I would avoid
gymnastic balance beams, diving platforms at pools, and jump ropes. Because I
am less flexible physically.
But, we are called to a different
flexibility, to take the things away that get us in the way before God or
before the love of others.
Take those things away.
Change is good.
My mother was able to do that.
It was the summer of 2006 and that was a
World Cup Soccer summer. So, after our little reconciliation, we sat down in in
the middle of the day to watch FIFA international soccer from Germany. The World Cup reminds me of this that change
is good.
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