Shawn The Baptist - Sunday Scriptures

What prize are you running after in life? What are you grasping at? St. Paul gives us his answer in today's second reading.

When we realize that God has the ultimate plan for our happiness, the greatest moments in life might just be those that seem unplanned.

Charlton Heston, falling buildings, The University of Kansas, Moses, and a pile of manure. This homily has something for everyone.

Dealing with discouragement is one of the most important things we can learn in the Christian life. Today's readings give us some insights.

In today's gospel, Jesus encounters and angel, the devil, and is tested. We often forget the presence of the angels, both good and bad.

Watch your thoughts for they become words,

watch your words for they become actions,

watch your actions, for they become habits,

watch your habits for they become your character,

watch your character for it becomes your destiny.

I couldn't remember where I first heard this quote, but it came to my mind as I read this weekend's readings about the connection between our thoughts and the words that come out of our mouth. It turns out that there is quite a long history to various versions of this quote. It's not clear who said it first, but the final line of today's gospel has a similar start: "From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."

We tend to focus a lot on actions and habits, but Jesus wants to get to the root. He wants us to look at our hearts. Whatever actions we are doing, for good or ill, it starts with our thoughts and what what is in our hearts. Like a tree, if we are bearing bad fruit, it must be because there is something bad from the roots. To fix the fruit, you have to fix the root. If you want to change your habits and make a new start, listen to your heart.

"Do you see that I am your friend? Can you see that you will always be my friend?" These are the words of Wind in His Hair to Dances with Wolves in the 1990 movie of that name. These two characters would have had reason to stay enemies. Yet, they manage to overcome the misunderstandings and false narratives that unnecessarily divide them, and instead grow to have a deep friendship. The gift of mercy and reconciliation that they give to each other brings about healing and allows the truly beautiful gift of friendship to grow instead of hurt and blame.

In today's first reading, we see David trying to offer this gift of mercy to King Saul. David and Saul had been friends. David had only been good to Saul. Sadly, Saul lost his love for David through sin and jealously. As we pick up the story in the first reading, David has fled and Saul is pursuing him to try to destroy him. Through God's providence, a deep sleep is cast upon Saul and his men, and David is able to walk right up to him. He could easily have killed him. Saul was trying to kill him, so this would even be a just thing to do. But David refused.

David refuses to fight back against Saul. Instead of killing him with his own spear, he takes the spear and stands off at a distance. Much like Wind in His Hair, David yells to Saul that he has always been his friend. He has nothing to fear from him. Despite Saul's unjust treatment of him, David does not try to get even, but instead offers mercy. Rather than kill him, David simply shows Saul the spear, proving that he could have killed him but chose not to. This powerful act of mercy is similar to the native American practice known as "counting coup" in which a warrior, instead of killing his enemy in battle, merely taps him with a special stick and receives an eagle feather as proof of his heroic deed. He was powerful enough to kill his enemy, but even more powerful in choosing not to.

We too have a choice to make when faced with great suffering that is unjustly inflicted on us. In today's society, it is common and even easy to go chasing after "justice" when we've been hurt. If someone hurts us, we want to get even. There can be times when fighting back is called for. Indeed, if there were no life after death, then we'd have to fight to the death to "settle the score." But the fact that we believe in a life yet to come gives us another option. We can forego strict justice and retribution in this life, in view of the better life to come. God's merciful gift of eternal life allows us to offer the gift of mercy to those who hurt us.

The really good news is that this gift of mercy is not just a "delayed gratification" as we store up treasure in heaven. Choosing to be merciful makes our lives, and even the entire world, a better place right now! Jesus showed us the true power of mercy from the cross. He was the most unjustly attacked person ever, yet he willingly laid down his life for the very people attacking him. God has been so merciful with us! Who is God asking you to forgive today? Where are you being invited to offer mercy? Maybe there is even someone from whom you need to beg mercy for yourself. If there is some way that you can add mercy where there is only the ugly cycle of hurt and retribution, you might just be surprised at the beautiful relationship God can bring about.

This homily was given on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of the death of Msgr. Luigi Giovanni Guissani, founder of the Communion and Liberation movement. Msgr. Guissani considered personal experience to play a key role in the life of faith. Tonight's homily considers the example of St. Peter, his personal encounter with Jesus, and the personal encounter each of us is called to have and share.

One of the blessings of living in Kansas is that we get all four seasons here. Spring and Fall always seem to be too short, and this winter seems to be giving us an inordinate amount of snowfall, but I've come to see the variety of weather in Kansas as a blessing. Sometimes things are best appreciated when there is contrast.

Life is a lot like the weather, filled with ups and downs, and best appreciated through contrasts. Our readings today give us some interesting contrasts. Jesus contrasts the human experiences of being poor vs. rich, well thought of vs. despised, etc. The strange thing is that Jesus tells us that we are actually blessed if we experience the difficult side of these comparisons.

How can he call the poor blessed, or the despised blessed? It seems like being rich and well thought of would be blessings, but he actually warns those people to watch out. The reason is simple. Jesus doesn't want us to just be happy. He wants us to be blessed. Our ultimate experience of blessedness is being with God forever in heaven. We call it the beatific vision.

So if our goal is beatitude in heaven, then riches might just get in the way. Compromising to fit in with society might lead us away from God. These might in fact be dangers to our salvation. But if you're poor or despised, if this causes you to focus on heaven and trust less in yourself and more in God, well then, blessed are you.

I'm used to being asked questions about the faith. I like answering questions. But this last week, I got one that was totally unexpected. I was teaching a class for those who want to become Catholic. A Muslim man was there for the first time and he raised his hand and asked simply, "How did Jesus die?"

I don't think I've ever been asked that question. We just assume that most everyone we meet has heard at least the basics of the story of Christianity. But here I was with an opportunity not just to explain how Jesus died, but tell this man the story of Christianity for the first time... and do it in about 20 seconds. What an amazing moment. Telling this man "the story" of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus for the first time made me remember just how amazing this story really is.

If you had to summarize the Christian story in 20 seconds, what would you say? I ended up saying basically what St. Paul wrote in our second reading today to the Corinthians. We all need to be able to know our story, and hear it again for the first time with amazement.

After we've got the basic 20 second story down, then we need to have a 15 minute version that includes our own personal witness. Why do you personally believe this story and what difference does it make in your life? The 15 minute story is a chance to connect more personally. If you think that you're not up for this, don't worry... Isaiah and Peter said the same thing, and they turned out to be pretty good evangelists.

When you get a chance to tell the story, do not be afraid. As St. Paul reminds us, you're not the one doing the work; it's "the grace of God that is within." So go cast your net with complete trust. You believe in a god who became man, laid down his life for you, was dead in a tomb for three days, and then rose from the dead, appearing to over 500 people at once, who you believe is present to you now in such a powerful way that you stake your life on it. That's an incredible story to share. In fact, it's the greatest story ever told.