Father Rick Bolte's Homily

C: Twenty Third Sunday of Ordinary Time              2007-09-09

When we reflect on how Christian others are, whether in school, work, or play, we evaluate what they say and do.  We all know that true faith shows in what we do.  But when we ask ourselves if we are truly Christian, we can’t just be looking at our words and actions.  For us the question is much more about what’s inside.  Our first reading today asks rhetorical questions about who knows God’s intent or who can give counsel to God?  The author of the Book of Wisdom wants us to remember to be humble in the sight of God.  As much as we might question God and even from our perspective wonder if God is really fair, we need to remember how little we really know compared to God.  In truth we have no way of challenging God.

As a path to wisdom, we are reminded by the psalmist to “number our days aright.”  A thousand years are but a day in God’s sight and we are but like grass that comes and goes.  Hard words to hear but a reality that is part of our life.  We tend to want to ignore our death as too morbid to think about and hopefully far enough away as to safely ignore.  But the reality of our death and the relative shortness of our lives gives us important perspective.  Without the awareness of our temporary nature, we are inclined to see the things of this world as if they were all that matters.  We usually judge God to be unfair because the things of this world are not distributed fairly as if this is the reality that matters.  We wonder why God distributes talents, wealth, opportunities, etc. unequally.  When we remember these are only temporary, we can remember it’s not about what we have but how we use whatever we’ve been given.

That’s where Jesus’ shocking sayings in today’s Gospel begin to make sense.  When Jesus says we must hate our families and renounce our possessions, he’s reminding us that these are all temporary.  Taking up our cross and following Jesus is our only priority.  Everything - family members, friends, talents, reputation, and possessions – has value according to how they are a part of our following Jesus.  Our parents, spouses, children, siblings and others are usually a very important part of our learning to follow Jesus as they teach us and challenge us to love as he did.  Our talents and possessions give us opportunities to make our love complete as it gets expressed as a sacrifice freely given.

Following Jesus makes little sense if we consider the things of the world as more than just temporary.  When we compromise the Gospel message, we end up still selfishly seeking the things of this world in a nice or legal way.  We try to “look” Christian by what others see, our external actions.  Jesus calls for a much larger change.  Jesus is concerned about what is in our hearts.  If we choose to follow him, we have to consider the cost.  Like the builder and the king in Jesus’ parables, we have to consider, “Are we willing to pay the cost of discipleship?”  To say yes is to choose to accept that nothing in this temporary world has value except according to how it helps us carry our cross and follow Jesus.