Having given the homily I posted here on Saturday at the 5 pm Mass, I was dissatisfied with it. So, I revised it before I went to bed on Saturday night, and when I couldn’t sleep, revised it again around 1 am. What is below is the homily I gave on Sunday morning, one with which I was more satisfied.
Homily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 2016
When I was very little, like many of us, my mom and dad would read to me. I would sit on either side of mom or dad on the couch and my brother, Bill, or sister, Mary Ruth would sit on the other side, as they would read stories to us. They read us many stories from Golden Books, all richly and elaborately illustrated. And, then there were two books, I called them the red and green book, that was read to us. These two books more than likely were bought by my mom.
The red book was about manners. The proper table manners, asking to be excused from the dinner table, how to address people, especially adults, politely. The green book was about behaviors. There were two characters in the green book, Me First and You First. Me First described his behavior. He budged into line ahead of others, he was rude, he interrupted people, he would hog all the dessert for himself and so on. You First, always placed the needs of others first. Obviously, the point that mom was trying to get across to us kids, was that we should emulate the example of You First, NOT Me First. In the simplistic terms of the green book, the gospel today is asking us to make a choice between being either a Me First or a You First.
From the beginning of creation, God created us in God’s own image. We have the DNA of God’s Divinity within us. This Divine DNA stirs within us the desire for divinity. In the last part of the gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that they have got to make a choice as to who to serve. Will they serve God, or will they serve Mammon? This is an important choice, for who they wish to serve will dictate the path they will follow in their lives.
In choosing to serve God, they will follow the path in becoming Godlike. If they choose Mammon, they will follow the path in trying to become a god. Mammon is the name given to the demon of wealth. It is important to note that Jesus is not condemning money. Money is neither good or evil. Money is only a tool. However, money can be used for either good or evil. Jesus is telling his disciples that if they choose to intentionally choose to be his disciple then the path they must follow is that of serving God, the path into becoming Godlike. This is not the first time that people are asked to make a choice between God or something else. From the very beginning of Genesis, people have had to make similar choices.
Let us revisit Adam and Eve. As we recall, in the Garden of Eden, they had all their needs and wants lovingly met by God. However, that was not enough for them. They were greedy. They wanted more than just to be creatures of a loving God. They wanted to become gods. The serpent tells them to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. In doing so, they would become gods. As we all know, they ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and in so doing they brought ruin upon themselves and all of their descendants, a ruin that continues to afflict humanity today. They introduce into the DNA of humanity, the evil DNA of Original Sin.
All of us struggle with this desire to become Godlike or to become a god. Wouldn’t we all like to have the world revolve around us? The difficulty in becoming a god, is there can only be one god. You can’t have multiple gods, and in becoming a god, the lives of many people will be ruined. Some seeing the power that money wields in the world, believe that they can buy their way into becoming a god. Money can buy power. Money can buy influence. Money can buy people, and can control them. However, in pursuing the path in becoming a god, a path of self-service, only ruin will occur and the one trying to become a god, will ultimately end up serving Mammon, the demon of wealth.
Jesus tells us that if we truly wish to be his disciples, we must choose the path of becoming Godlike. To become Godlike is not achieved in building up the self with wealth and power, rather it is achieved in diminishing the self. To become Godlike is to follow and emulate the life of Jesus. Jesus did not use his divinity to increase his divinity. Rather he used his divinity in order to increase the goodness of his humanity. We could say, that he impoverished his divinity so that he could become truly human, the humanity which God intended at the moment of Creation, the humanity at which Adam and Eve so miserably failed. Very rightly so, St. Paul in observing the life of Jesus calls Jesus the “New Adam.”
If we truly wish to be disciples of Jesus, if we truly wish to be Godlike, then we are called to take all the gifts in which God has given us, whatever those gifts may be, and use them in service of those most in need, especially the poor. We may be gifted with wealth. We may have been given the gift of teaching, or the gift of caring. No matter what gifts we may possess, Jesus calls us to use them in service to others.
The one person who excelled at using the gifts that God gave her for others is Mother Teresa, whom the Church canonized a saint last Sunday. Mother Teresa took all that God had given her and used it in serving the poor, the destitute, and the dying of Calcutta. She had a tremendous amount of fame throughout the world, but used that fame not to advance herself, but used it on behalf of the poor she served. In observing her life, we could see the DNA of God grow and grow within her. And, if we were to point that out to her, she would abruptly say that we were mistaken. Nevertheless, it was very evident that the presence of God within her was tremendous.
Over and over throughout all of the gospels, Jesus tells those who wish to follow him to sell all that we have, give it to the poor, take up our cross and follow him. If we wish to become Godlike, we must follow the example of Jesus and use all that which God has given us in service to God and others, especially those most in need.
We have a choice to make today. Do we serve God or do we serve Mammon? Do we wish to become Godlike, or do we wish to become a god? Do we wish to be “You First”, or do we wish to be a “Me First?” Which will we choose?
