{"id":1157,"date":"2008-07-19T13:18:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-19T13:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/07\/homily-for-july-20-2008-15th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html"},"modified":"2008-07-19T13:18:00","modified_gmt":"2008-07-19T13:18:00","slug":"homily-for-july-20-2008-15th-sunday-in-ordinary-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/07\/homily-for-july-20-2008-15th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html","title":{"rendered":"Homily for July 20, 2008: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, you may have seen this item in the New York Times: there are doubts being raised about who really wrote the Serenity Prayer. <\/p>\n

Most of us know it by heart: <\/p>\n

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It has appeared around the world, on everything from coffee mugs to calendars \u2013 and it is perhaps best known to those in the recovery movement. That brief prayer has helped countless men and women to get through another long night without taking a drink. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And for the last 60 years or so, it has been attributed to the great Protestant theologian and preacher Reinhold Neibuhr. <\/p>\n

But now a researcher says he\u2019s found other versions of that prayer that date to the early part of the last century, long before Neibuhr.<\/p>\n

After that story appeared, the writer Amy Welborn reminded readers about some famous Catholic sayings, including two that are associated with Francis of Assisi: the Prayer of St. Francis, and his well-known quote, \u201cPreach the gospel always, use words if necessary.\u201d Scholars haven\u2019t been able to find any evidence that St. Francis wrote or said either of them.<\/p>\n

It would be tempting to think of all that as an exercise in myth-busting — some examples of theological urban legends proven to be false.<\/p>\n

And cynics could see it that way.<\/p>\n

But I think that misses a vital and valuable truth. <\/p>\n

It overlooks something fundamental \u2013 and something that is brought out again in this weekend\u2019s scriptures.<\/p>\n

These prayers and sayings that have uplifted and inspired so many through the generations all have their roots elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The inspiration, and the truth, come from another source. The source of all possibility, and all prayer. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s right there, in the first word of the Serenity Prayer.<\/p>\n

God.<\/p>\n

That is where it all begins. He is the ultimate author. <\/p>\n

He is also the one we turn to in need, or yearning, or hope.<\/p>\n

And even when we can\u2019t find the words to express what is in our hearts, He is eager to help us. <\/p>\n

And we do<\/u> need help. <\/p>\n

Paul wrote to the Romans that \u201cwe do not know how to pray as we ought,\u201d and so \u201cthe spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.\u201d He intercedes with \u201cinexpressible groanings\u201d and searches our hearts. <\/p>\n

The Author of Life is always at work, His lamp burning, His pen scribbling.<\/p>\n

To look at it another way, consider Matthew\u2019s gospel for today.<\/p>\n

Jesus speaks of a man who sows good seed in his field. That, he explains, is the Kingdom of God. <\/p>\n

And that, in fact, is life. <\/p>\n

God is constantly sowing seed \u2013 planting His word. And you never know where or when or how it might begin to grow. <\/p>\n

Or who may bring it to fruition. <\/p>\n

Last week, the world lost another talented journalist, Tony Snow. Most people knew him just from his briefings at the White House, or his appearances on television. Many didn\u2019t realize he was also a gifted, often eloquent writer. <\/p>\n

In the spring of 2007, after his cancer had come back, he was asked to give the commencement address at Catholic University. I think he knew that he was living on borrowed time \u2013 and that his time may well have begun to run out. <\/p>\n

He spoke that day, at length, about love. <\/p>\n

This is some of what he had to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cTo love,\u201d he said, \u201cis to place others before you and to make their needs your priority. Do it. When you put somebody else at the center of the frame, your entire world changes\u2026When you are drawn into the lives of others, you enter their problems, their hopes, their dreams.\u201d And he continued: \u201cSome day in the dim and distant future, when you\u2019re looking back at it, you\u2019re not going to think about your car or your career or your gold watch. You\u2019ll think about a chewed up teddy bear you had as a baby or maybe your child\u2019s smile on a Christmas morning. The only things that are sure to endure are the artifacts of love. So go out and build as many as you can.\u201d <\/p>\n

He concluded by saying: \u201cNever forget at this moment you have a precious blessing. You\u2019ve got the breath of life. While God doesn\u2019t promise tomorrow, he does promise eternity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tony Snow will always be known as the one who spoke those words. <\/p>\n

But the author was someone else. <\/p>\n

The author is the one who crafted the Book of Wisdom. The one who guided the pen of a tax collector named Matthew\u2026and whispered inexpressible groanings to a tentmaker named Paul. <\/p>\n

The same one who taught the world to believe in the power of serenity, wisdom and courage. <\/p>\n

God is prolific. He is generous. And he rarely works alone. He needs our help. He wants to collaborate with us on the work that never ends: continuing the creation that He began\u2026nurturing and cultivating the seeds that He has sown, the word waiting to be brought forth.<\/p>\n

I think Tony Snow did that. At his funeral, the homilist, the president of Catholic University, said that the measure of a man lies in his efforts to please God.<\/p>\n

The challenge of daily living is never to lose sight of that. <\/p>\n

To keep our hearts open, and alert, and ready. To seek always to please God.<\/p>\n

And we do that, in part, by listening for those \u201cinexpressible groanings,\u201d and giving them expression. <\/p>\n

Inspired by the great Author of Life.. who knows what prayers we might compose \u2013 not just with words, but with our lives?<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, you may have seen this item in the New York Times: there are doubts being raised about who really wrote the Serenity Prayer. Most of us know it by heart: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot changeThe courage to change the things I canAnd the wisdom to know…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies"],"yoast_head":"\nHomily for July 20, 2008: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/07\/homily-for-july-20-2008-15th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Homily for July 20, 2008: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last weekend, you may have seen this item in the New York Times: there are doubts being raised about who really wrote the Serenity Prayer. 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