HOMILY NOTES
LUKE 12: 49-53
I
think of myself as a hay rancher. One
day the ranchmeister said that if I wanted to be a “real” hay rancher, I would
have to grease the tractor parts. I had
a sudden dread that I was about to experience something unpleasant. He showed me where the grease gun was
located. When I took hold of the
canister, it was heavy. There is a small
rubber hose that comes out of one end of the canister, with an end piece that
has to attach to these small metal points that stick out from impossible places
to reach on the rake machine. “Get down
on the ground,” he said. The ground has
all kinds of unpleasant animal leavings on it.
“No whining,” he said. So I got
down on the ground, and while I was catching bubonic plague, or something, I
reached to attach the hose to a metal point.
I dropped the canister. When I
finally got everything in place, moaning and groaning, I could not get my hand
around the handle of the canister to pump the grease into the machine. You need gigantic hands for this. My hands are fragile! “Take your gloves off,” he said. My bare hands on all this grease and
metal! My hands are ordained to hold
God. People want to receive the blood of
Jesus, not my blood! I took off my
gloves and did the best I could.
After
all this dreadful episode was over, I thought of what a wretched monk this is,
who makes me do all this to become a real rancher. As I drove my 4 wheeler away, the light came
on for me. This is not a wretched monk,
but a monk who is a conduit of grace from God to me. Say what?
Well, I thought I was a good enough rancher, staying in my comfort zone,
with slight inconveniences, as we all have.
To become a real rancher, more of a rancher, I had to begin to do things
that went against my will. Is it not the
same with the Christian life?
There
is the “Good Enough Christian.” They,
like me, are surely good enough, doing what they can, trying to follow Jesus,
but in a certain comfort zone. What if
these people want to have transforming union with God? If so, this path is through doing things they
don’t want to do. The only way to a
deeper union with God is through the crucified Christ. If a young person asks me what to do with
their life, I would say that they should find something that attracts them,
suits them, fulfills them. If they were
to ask me as an older person, that they now hunger to grow closer to God, after
they have found what suits them, I would say that now they have to begin to do
things they do not want to do.
I
am 70 years old and some say that I should kick back and enjoy doing whatever I
want. I am not done yet! God wants more of my will. God wants more of me. Moses was an old man when the burning bush
showed up. He was settled in his ways
and life, but the fire of God came and said there was much more for Moses.
Moses whined. We all do at first when
the spark of the fire comes to us. The
disciples followed Jesus when they were in their comfort zone. Then Jesus said
the he had a fire within him that would set people apart. The disciples left him. They were not ready for the fire of his
giving all to the Father. The fire of
Pentecost was their invitation to begin to do unpleasant things that would make
them all God wanted them to be.
When
someone in a family gets the fire to give all, that person will be on a
different page than the rest of the family who is used to a certain way with
one another. You want to go on a field
trip to Mexico to help the poor, you and your classmates? That will turn out to be fun. You want to then become a missionary to a
third world place? See if your family
agrees with that! You want to become a
nun? Look at all those women princesses
who wanted to give all to Christ and their fathers went nuts because the parent
wanted to marry them off to some noble family.
We all get into a comfort zone with one another, and the fire of giving
all to God comes at different times to each one of us, and maybe never to
some. If I want to move to transforming
union, I have to let go of my will and my comfort zone.
If
you notice a little tractor grease along with the host, you will be receiving
Jesus, but also getting your joints lubricated at the same time.
When I was younger, I was enthralled with the notions of utopian societies. The part that was always the hardest was the idea that all contributions should be counted equally. The street sweeper and banker both are contributing equally and their labors should be counted equally.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to work in the "real world" I found myself valuing work that happened in an office done by well dressed people above that done by delivery people, tradesmen, and laborers. If I am honest about my true feelings, I still harbor some of those feelings. Now I own a business and I am called to do everything from desk work to scrubbing bins. They all count equally toward creating a successful business - but I have that asterisk in my head - desk work is more important.
It is my vanity - thinking work is more important than manual labor. Praying work must be top of the list in importance of work.
What matters most is to cheerfully attempt to do each task and to value and esteem one's fellow workers - where ever they toil.
Good story and analogy. If this isn't already a sermon, it should be.
ReplyDeleteOur work is never done. And that can be a good thing.
Thank-you Father Terry for the comment ,"the only way to a deeper union with God is thru the crucified Christ". I think that maybe for me ,faith in suffering. I don't know, I have more questions than answers these days. I was the fertile feild that no seed was allowed to be planted in. I was "called to companion, to teach, to serve. This discernment was confirmed. Then, illness, impairment of a progressive nature. I literally have become a leper, one of the unclean. God keeps calling my name though, Sometimes I whine too, enough Father, you know I am at the end of my tether." Other times I cry to my Gram, my Ma, Aunts and uncles in the communion of saints, to pray for me. One Aunt, my mothers favorite sister; came to me in a dream that was more than a dream. She literally appeared, said nothing; but in her beuatific smile was the felt presence of God. I heard Fear not, You are loved. Sometimes I think maybe the Beloved knows and hears my hearts desire, He also knows "I do not do what I want, but do what I do not want to do" do you think that the gift can be the fertile feild left? to become no-one? to be alone because God wants you for himself? Do you think the FIRE can be suffering without consolation, or only snacthes of consolation? Sometimes it feels as though I am being leveled so that only Gods name will be on my lips. Last week while doing a walking meditation, a hummingbird flew toward the intersection of my street. She hung mid-air , 10 seconds looking at me. She did this to the east ,south, west and north. My mouth was hanging open, rocketed to another dimension. Her message which came from the small still voice within was, "You are not alone, you are not alone, I have been with you always" Does this make any sense to you? Peace be with your spirit, Barbara "Little Bird" Rodriguez
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