Homily Third Tuesday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 28-32) “It’s What We Do That Matters”
Homily Third Tuesday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 28-32) “It’s What We Do That Matters”
I had an aunt who was very opinionated. She had many disappointments in her life which gave her a hard edge. She was maddingly frugal. Most of the time she had a very sour expression on her face.
My aunt had one son who she held to a very high standard. I heard her say on any number of occasions when I was a child that if her son made certain mistakes, she would throw him out. I am sure my cousin feared what his mother would do.
As time went on my cousin got into various scrapes. He made mistakes and made bad choices. At one point he even ended up in prison. Each time my aunt would get angry. I thought she would disown my cousin. Each time she would bail him out of whatever jam he got into.
At the end of my aunt’s life, she had reconciled with my cousin and he had made peace with her. When all was said and done my aunt said she would be unforgiving, but she was extremely charitable. She practiced her Christianity and reconciled.
Jesus says in the Gospel today that it does not matter what we say, but it matters what we do. We have a lot of people who talk about how much they follow Jesus, but then they do very sinful things which they do not seem to think matter.
We also have people say that they are not going to be charitable and then when it comes to the moment when they are asked to be generous and they are more benevolent than anyone else.
During this season of year, we have all kinds of stories that we reflect on in movies and books that tell of unexpected goodness. All these stories seem to relate to the Christmas story. God gave his only Son to the world. The Lord’s gift has inspired other gifts for two thousand years. How does it inspire us?
Reflection Questions:
- Have I known people whose bark was worse than their bite? Who were they?
- What inspires me to be forgiving? Have I ever been more generous with people than they deserve?
Dear Parishioners,
Today I am working on my annual Christmas letter. I tell myself ever year that I am going to cut my list down, but I seldom do. The cards I get in return tell me about what has gone on in peoples lives. There is still a connection after many years. Some people even say they like hearing from me. I try to keep my letter to one page, and I try not to talk about my latest vacation or accomplishments.
This year these letters might mean more than any other year. We feel so far away from people right now. A good advent practice today might be to drop a card in the mail to someone who needs an encouraging word.
Blessings,
Fr. Mark