HML • 2019 August 15 • Assumption BVM
• Revelation 11:19a,
12:1-6a, 10ab • Psalm 45 • 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 • +Luke 1:39-56 •
Title: Catch Me if You Can [_01_] This feast day, the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, starts with this Gospel of the Visitation, the Good News
acknowledged by Elizabeth that the Messiah – Jesus – is to be born of Mary as
his mother and Mary as our Blessed Mother as well.
This
is called the mystery of the Incarnation that Jesus comes to us as human and
divine person. And, in a sermon of many years ago, Cardinal John Henry Newman
observed that God did not have to save us in this way, through this birth and
Incarnation of God.
We
might imagine that Jesus could have descended directly from heaven, similar to
an astronaut splashing down in the ocean, such as after Neil Armstrong and the
other astronauts landed on the moon.
Jesus,
the Son of God, could have just come down to earth, already a hero …and been
welcomed with a parade in lower Manhattan, like he just landed on the moon or
won the World Cup or something.
But,
Jesus comes in a humbler, quieter way – born of our blessed Mother and turns
what is fragile into something strong.
And,
to take what may seem to be only private and personal into something public…
Father Ronald Knox wrote that Joseph and Mary come to
understand that that their child – Jesus - belongs not to them but to the whole
human race. He came to gave his life as
a ransom for many. And, he came to live and be among us.
And,
in our journey of conversion, to transform what is evil into something that is
good.
Example
? St. Paul who was a persecutor of Christians and then becomes the greatest
promoter of Christianity in his day.
[_02_] I’d like to give an example of this – this
transformation, this conversion. This is from a non-fiction and true story –
which became a movie – several years ago. The movie was entitled: Catch Me if You Can.
This
is the true-life story line.
The central person in the movie is Frank
Abegnale and the young Frank who is a teenager when the movie opens is a con
man, criminal and the target of an FBI federal investigation. Frank is played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
The
young Frank is a teenager when he runs away from home, from a troubled home and
while he is away, he learns to survive on the street by stealing money, by
impersonating other people, by pretending to be an airline pilot, among other
people that he impersonates.
And,
while he is stealing and cheating his way through life, he even buys a Pan Am airline
pilot’s uniform so that he can fly for free as an apparent employee of the
airline. He also gets a lot of free food and free hotel rooms. Do not try this at home ?
So
everyone think that this kid – who knows nothing about taking off or landing –
worked for Pan Am.
After
a while, the FBI and federal agents – and Pan Am – start to notice money being
stolen.
So,
they are after him. And the young Frank becomes one of, shall we say, “America’s
Most Wanted”.
But,
Frank who is played in the movie by
Leonardo DiCaprio – is such an excellent con man – that he is so “good” at
being “bad”, so ingenious at being an impersonator, that the FBI keeps missing
him, failing to arrest him.
Thus
the title of the movie: “Catch Me If You Can”.
Spoiler
alert: the FBI does finally catch him in the movie. I must admit that while
watching this.. I was rooting for the “bad guy”. If you watch this movie, you
might end up rooting for the bad guy.
In
other words, turning what is evil into something good.
[_03] What happens next is remarkable, after Frank
Abegnale is caught, arrested.
What
happens next is an analogy of our own hope of redemption, of conversion.
We
might ask – we are we forgiven of our sins? Why are we redeemed? Why do we
receive mercy? What is God’s plan?
[**
pause ** ]
[_04_] This question is summarized by Elizabeth
the mother of John the Baptist in the Gospel today: this “why” “how does it happen that the mother of my
Lord should come to me?”
When
we receive a very special guest or some special access, we might ask the same:
WHY?
Or,
do I deserve this? Am I receiving what I deserved?
On
the other hand, when we do not receive the access or affection we expected, we
might also ask à
WHY?
Why
am I not getting what I think that I deserved?
[_05_] Jesus does not simply give himself up for
our sins so that we can be “excused” or given a free pass. Rather, he gives
himself up for our sins so that we will also willing to sacrifice ourselves.
The
analogy would be that a mother/father recognizes that children who very small
and tiny are innocent are to be protected, sheltered from “sin” and that the
parents would do anything – even giving up their lives – to protect a child
from anything harmful.
In
a way, the parents are taking additional responsibility..they did not create
the sinful world..but they want to protect the child from it.
And,
as the child grows up, a parent does not simply want to excuse or cover over
every sin …but to teach the child about love and sacrifice, to replace what is
“evil” with something that is good.
As
grown-ups, we might ask also – if for example the evil of anger can be replaced
or transformed into something good, into a desire of true justice, a justice
that is not vengeance, or a prayer…and a prayer that is not a fantasy but
rooted in reality.
[_06_] What happens next is remarkable, after Frank
Abegnale is caught, arrested by the FBI, when he is around 20 years old
What
happens next is an analogy of our own hope of redemption, of conversion.
After
some time in jail, the FBI offered Frank to redeem himself and to avoid more jail
time , if only he turn what is evil into something good.
Specifically,
the FBI want him to work for the FBI. He gets a job with the FBI, he becomes an
FBI agent and teaches them about his own methods of stealing and deception.
He
later retires from the FBI
It’s
not a traditional jail sentence, it’s really a convergence of JUSTICE and
MERCY. Perhaps, it’s also a great example of the punishment fitting the crime.
[_07_] Ultimately, Frank works for the FBI. But,
more remarkable than this is his personal life and witness to the importance of
FAITHFULNESS
and FAMILY.
Frank
Abegnale’s wrote:
“People
say… "Well, you know, you were brilliant." "You were a
genius." I was neither. I was just 16 years old. Had I been brilliant, had
I been a genius, I don’t think I would have found it necessary to break the law
in order just to survive. I know that people are fascinated by what I did as a
teenager but what I did was immoral, illegal, unethical, and something that I
am not proud of -- nor will I ever be proud of. Only a fool would believe that
you can continually break the law and not get caught. The law sometimes sleeps,
but the law never dies. It was just a matter of time. I was caught, I went to
some very bad places.”
[_08_] Why did Frank Abegnale go on the run, run
away?
This
is his testimony:
“When
I was 16 years old I was just a child. All 16-year-olds are just children. And
like all children I needed my mother and I needed my father. All children need
their mother and their father. All children are entitled to their mother and
their father. And though it is not popular to say so, divorce is a very
devastating thing for a child to deal with, and then have to deal with the rest
of their natural life. For [Frank], a complete stranger told [Frank] …that he had
to choose one parent over the other parent. I’ve never made that choice. It was
a lot easier to turn and run.”
Frank
continues: “SUCCESS…
has absolutely nothing to do with money, achievements, skills, professions,
degrees, accomplishments. A real man loves his wife. A real man is faithful to
his wife. And a real man, next to God and his country, put[s] his wife and his
children as the most important thing in his life. Steven Spielberg made a
wonderful movie, but the truth is I’ve done nothing greater, nothing more
rewarding, nothing more worthwhile, nothing has brought me more peace, more
joy, more happiness, more content in my life than simply being a good husband,
a good father,”
[_09_]
The feast of the Assumption reminds us that we have both a mother and father
in heaven. A father who also sent his Son to
us not just once but every day in Holy Communion, the Body of Christ, a father
who has blessed us with our mother, Mary, our connection between the Holy
Spirit and Jesus.
This
feast reminds us Mary, our mother, falling asleep, her assumption into heaven
where we also hope to be caught up one day.
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