Homily Notes 2-26-17

Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time.

A Motely Crew

Everyone has a role to play in the church. We read this in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In #916 it states, “Each person, through the gifts given to them, are at once the witness and the living instruments of the mission of the Church, belonging undeniably to her life and holiness.” We can see that this can have several applications.

In the movie, Ben Hur, there is a segment where the hero is unjustly condemned to be a galley slave. We get a sense of what the life of such slaves was like. The men were put in the bowels of a ship where they rowed giant oars to propel the ship through the water. The slaves, in the movie, were chained to their oars. A man pounded on a drum to keep them in rhythm. With each beat of the drum they pulled once. Without the galley slaves the ship would not move through the water. The men are necessary. The rowers are important, but it is not an existence that anyone would want to have.

Why do I bring that up? I do so because, in the passage from St. Paul to the Corinthians today, we hear Paul refer to members of the church in two ways. He first calls the baptized, servants. But the word he uses in Greek really means galley slave. The implication is that, we, as members of the church, propel the church forward in the same way that rower pushes a ship forward. Without the members of the church exerting themselves, the church will not go anywhere. As we hear, about this image we probably realize we are important, but, again, it is not a satisfying picture. We get a sense that the laity’s lot is simply to act on directions from above.

But then we have the second word that Paul uses to describe church members. He calls us stewards of the mysteries of the church. A steward is a different concept. What is a steward like? A steward has responsibility. When a wealth master went away from home, in Biblical times, it was the head servant who was left in charge. Such a person was responsible for buying provisions, keeping up the master’s property, paying bills, as well as host of other things. A steward had to be able to think, to use their brain. If a steward worked hard the master would smile on them. Stewards could save their money. Eventually, they could buy their freedom. What that implies for us as disciples of Jesus is that we have the freedom to take initiative.

Often, in the church, we can get in trouble because no one wants to take the dirty job. Perhaps no one wants to cooperate. We could say that it is like the slaves rowing the boat, but everyone is rowing in their own rhythm. We can end up going around in circles. We, also, can have a few people rowing while everyone else sits on their oars. We don’t get very far in that way.

The second mistake that we can make in the church is that we do not use the unique talents that each person has. We need people who are ready to take up the task of leadership. Quite often the response to a call to lead can be, “I will help, but don’t ask me to be in charge.” If no one will chart the course the ship sits in one place. We may have many people willing to row, but might go in a completely wrong direction.

We take as our model Jesus, who knew that he would not succeed if he did not delegate. He picked out a motley crew. Someone once speculated that if Jesus had submitted profiles of his apostles to a personnel firm he probably would have gotten a result like this: ___

Dear Sir:

Thank you for submitting the resumes of the 12 men you have picked for management positions….It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking.

Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has no qualities of leadership. James and John place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. Alphaeus and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic depressive scale.

We wish you every success in your new venture….Jordan Management Consultants

Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow in the gospel which did not mean that he did not make provisions for the mission of his church. No, he made an investment in us. He has left the church in our hands. He knows our human limitations. He also realizes that if his disciples respond to the spirit, pull together, share resources, are not afraid to take the lead, the church will be the dynamic force in the world it is meant to be.