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Homily – Nov 3, 2024 / 31st Sunday (Year B) ● Deuteronomy 6:2-6 ● Psalm 18 ● Hebrews 7:23-28 ● + Mark 12:28b-34 ●
[__01__] The Gospel of Mark offers us the familiar but eternal wisdom of the Holy Trinity through the Commandments that unify around God’s love for us and our love for God and our neighbors in return. I’d like to talk about the Commandments marking a crossroads, intersection, and decision point in our lives. As an example …
[__01__] Recently, I was standing outside the house
of my sister and brother-in-law, the house where they are mother and father to
3 children, the youngest of whom is 7 years old and named Henry.
Henry rides a scooter.
And, the scooter riding is often
taking place in front of their house where the road reaching a point on a path
where the road splits into two separate directions, forcing you to choose which
way to go. Young Henry was riding his scooter on the road when he noticed a piece
of discarded plastic cutlery on the ground and he shouted to me saying,
“there’s a fork in the road.” Perhaps he expected me to pick it up. He had
places to go on his scooter. I picked it up and then said, “Hey, Henry, this is
amazing what you noticed lying on the ground.”
He did not know where I was going
with this.
I asked him “Henry, do you know what
these 2 separate streets going out like this are called?”
He said, “an intersection [question
mark] ?”.
“Well, yes, this is an intersection,
but this is also called a fork in the road because of how the 2 streets appear
if you were to view them from up above, like from a helicopter.”
A few minutes later, his mother
appeared and Henry explained, “Mom, we
found a fork in the road and this is fork in the road because if you went up
high and looked down you would see it looks like a fork.” He was enthusiastic to learn about a fork in
the road and I was glad to share it with him.
[__02__]
Children, in these instances and in their innocence, have ways of
impressing us with their awareness, intelligence and interpretations.
A child may surpass expectations in
this way.
[__03_]
The Gospel this Sunday demonstrates an
example of an intersection and crossroads.
Jesus encounters a scribe who engages
him in conversation about the Commandments and their basis.
The encounter stands out because
Jesus and the scribe appear on equal footing intellectually and spiritually.
They see eye to eye.
They demonstrate love and trust to
each other.
[__04_] This is a scribe who has not been in
Jesus’ inner circle of disciples, but gets the message better than Jesus’
“regular” and close followers.
For example, Jesus’ own disciples are
known to argue with pride among themselves as to who is # 1, who is the
greatest, who has more “likes”.
Jesus asks for their commitment, and
sadly they give him their competitiveness.
Have we not done the same ourselves
to prove ourselves better in our own eyes or in the eyes of others?
Jesus wants them to know and us to
know His Wisdom - that true greatness is based on our willingness and ability
to love and this summarized in what is known as the greatest commandment in
Gospel today:
“You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul,
with
all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.”
[__05_] Thomas Merton, a Catholic contemplative
and writer, observed this about the definition of true love and charity and how
our love is truly made perfect.
That is, our love is not perfected or
upgraded based on emotion or passion or gift-giving.
See “No Man Is an Island, Sentences
on Hope, p. 170”
Charity, Merton writes, in order to
be perfect needs an equal [an equal partner].
The lover is not content to love others as
inferiors or subordinates but rather raises them to his own level. A lover wants to share everything with his or
her beloved.
Also, when we love someone we desire
the perfection of the other person, not just perfection in ourselves but in
their goodness, virtue and well-being.
St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that love is simply willing the good of
another for the sake of that other person, not ourselves.
This is also the motive in coming to
church as friends and family that we are seeking heavenly perfection
together. And Jesus offers us Himself
out of love at each and every Mass in the Eucharist as we offer ourselves and
our gifts to Him. When we receive Him in
the Blessed Sacrament worthily, we can know experience His love, a love that
softens and transforms our hearts and even our relationships if we let Him.
[__06_] When I realized that young Henry could
understand both “intersection” and “fork in the road”, I was reminded that he
may be shorter in stature but equal in status and value. We need to understand that each Mass, indeed
each day, places us at that fork in the road in today’s Gospel.
[__07_] Jesus’ message about love and equality
embedded in the greatest commandment is direct but not always clear in the
circumstances of our lives:
To love your neighbor as you love
yourself.
Sometimes, I find this being an
interpreted as “take care of others and don’t forget to take care of yourself.”
But that modern holistic perspective
is not the commandment. Rather, it means that we are called to follow God’s way
to love others as much as we love and care about ourselves.
I care about my own health, well
being, happiness, recognition, very much. Do I apply the same level of focus to
others? Do you?
If we do this, I believe that we will
naturally and intentionally follow the commandments:
è
Honor thy father and thy mother, because rather than finding fault with our
parents (which we can easily do), we are called to recognize them as our equals
è
If you are an adult child taking care of a parent or family member, you might
be tempted to regard them as inferior. Your sick, infirm, elderly loved one is
your equal.
è
The same is true for parents welcoming children – the child is your equal. The
unborn child is also your equal.
Love
is perfected by recognizing the dignity and equality of other people, for
equality can only be understood properly in relation to one’s God-given
dignity.
And,
this Christian ideal of equality helps us to follow all the commandments, thou
shalt not steal, commit adultery, bear false witness, kill or endanger innocent
lives…
Despite our differences – politically, culturally, socially – we are all joint heirs – loved by God and inheritors of his grace. By seeking his wisdom and help to love each other according this equality of status, we are not far from the kingdom of God. [__end__]
