Monday, October 27, 2003
great homilies
there are some priests who can preach well, there are some who can't. i went to another retreat this weekend up in big bear with the sacred heart sisters. it was nice, relaxing, beautiful with clean air up in the mountains (no ash or smoke in their area). we had Mass of course and on sunday, we went to their parish-st. joseph's and father mike had a fantastic homily. gl, especially, is used to very charismatic and evangelistic speakers from calvary chapel-those with very very good speaking/preaching skills. fr. mike had that kind of aura to him, just a very spiritual, wise, and charismatic feel to his sermon. he spoke in a way that would make you take a stand in your faith and foster and urge a deeper relationship with God.
the gospel was about bartimaeus, who was blind, immediately being restored his sight after asking Jesus, "Master, i want to see." fr. mike contrasted this with last week's gospel where james and john were asking Jesus if they'd appoint them at his right and left hand when He comes into glory, basically asking if they'd be next in line for command/rule. you see, they saw Jesus as an earthly king and leader, and very powerful of course since He's actually king of heaven & earth. and they wanted to have that power too. they asked very specifically, Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left. it was actually quite arrogant of them to ask that, while bartimaeus simply said when asked what he wanted, Master, i want to see. his phrasing is very significant, because he didn't just ask for physical sight. whether he knew or intended it, bartimaeus was actually asking to see the truth and the light-to have wisdom. he didn't ask to be rich or powerful, he was asking for healing-physical vision as well as spiritual vision. james and john were asking for power. what they didn't understand was that being the kind of leader that Jesus was, entailed a life of service. those who wish to be great will be the servants, and those who wish to be the greatest will be the slave of all.
father mike went on to relate this to how we live our lives. especially with the fires going on around us (there was even a family who had to leave mass early as they found out that their house was on fire!), father mike reminded us that with all the material things we have in our lives, with all that we work for in order to buy that house or attain our degrees and accomplishments, to get that promotion or achieve social status... we need to recognize that in the end, there is nothing but God. we have nothing but God. people get so caught up in the american way of living-the spirit of competition, to have the best, to be the best, to work so hard in order to achieve and buy that house and get those degrees, to have power and control. but like some people are finding, when all those are gone up in the smoke of the fires, what will you have? all there is is faith in the Lord. if we don't live for God, then our lives are empty.
i went on to think about my friends, who at one point or another, many have asked, "is this it? is this all life is-work during the week, hanging out during the weekends?" well, crap, if that's all you do, even if it brings you money and you have fun, it gets old after a while, right? i've heard that the most fulfilling jobs in the world are those of service. and i know that's ideal and all, and that in the world we live in, it's hard to do that because we need money. and i don't know exactly who i'm "serving" in this job of mine where all i do is make sure that the poor, destitute doctors get paid their hundreds of thousands. but the time that i have outside of work, i hope i'm serving God and His people. and it's stressful & busy at times, but i think i'm closer to being happy these days than when i was just doing things for my own self and glory.
the gospel was about bartimaeus, who was blind, immediately being restored his sight after asking Jesus, "Master, i want to see." fr. mike contrasted this with last week's gospel where james and john were asking Jesus if they'd appoint them at his right and left hand when He comes into glory, basically asking if they'd be next in line for command/rule. you see, they saw Jesus as an earthly king and leader, and very powerful of course since He's actually king of heaven & earth. and they wanted to have that power too. they asked very specifically, Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left. it was actually quite arrogant of them to ask that, while bartimaeus simply said when asked what he wanted, Master, i want to see. his phrasing is very significant, because he didn't just ask for physical sight. whether he knew or intended it, bartimaeus was actually asking to see the truth and the light-to have wisdom. he didn't ask to be rich or powerful, he was asking for healing-physical vision as well as spiritual vision. james and john were asking for power. what they didn't understand was that being the kind of leader that Jesus was, entailed a life of service. those who wish to be great will be the servants, and those who wish to be the greatest will be the slave of all.
father mike went on to relate this to how we live our lives. especially with the fires going on around us (there was even a family who had to leave mass early as they found out that their house was on fire!), father mike reminded us that with all the material things we have in our lives, with all that we work for in order to buy that house or attain our degrees and accomplishments, to get that promotion or achieve social status... we need to recognize that in the end, there is nothing but God. we have nothing but God. people get so caught up in the american way of living-the spirit of competition, to have the best, to be the best, to work so hard in order to achieve and buy that house and get those degrees, to have power and control. but like some people are finding, when all those are gone up in the smoke of the fires, what will you have? all there is is faith in the Lord. if we don't live for God, then our lives are empty.
i went on to think about my friends, who at one point or another, many have asked, "is this it? is this all life is-work during the week, hanging out during the weekends?" well, crap, if that's all you do, even if it brings you money and you have fun, it gets old after a while, right? i've heard that the most fulfilling jobs in the world are those of service. and i know that's ideal and all, and that in the world we live in, it's hard to do that because we need money. and i don't know exactly who i'm "serving" in this job of mine where all i do is make sure that the
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quotable quotes
-
"To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the
greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who risks
nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid
suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, live, and love."
~unknown
"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues."
~ Abraham Lincoln
"live a life that others will remember years from now, NOT because it pointed to you but because of how it pointed to the One who made you."
~ Mark Hart, the Bible Geek
"we grow up learning to become self-reliant, but really we need to be God-reliant"
"we could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box"
"never wound hearts that love u, never give them the endless pain, because wounded hearts are like roses that never bloom"
"there comes a time when we have to stop loving someone not because that person has stopped loving us but because we have found out that they'd be happier if we'd let go"
