{"id":1701,"date":"2007-08-11T16:36:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-11T16:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2007\/08\/homily-for-august-12-2007-19th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html"},"modified":"2007-08-11T16:36:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-11T16:36:00","slug":"homily-for-august-12-2007-19th-sunday-in-ordinary-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/08\/homily-for-august-12-2007-19th-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html","title":{"rendered":"Homily for August 12, 2007: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>You can collect almost anything these days. The Franklin Mint is making a mint selling everything from replicas of antique cars to porcelain scenes from \u201cGone With the Wind.\u201d When I was growing up, the mother of my best friend collected little Hummel figurines. <\/p>\n

Well, I have a collection of my own: these three-dollar umbrellas. I must have 20 of them at home. I have one with the Velcro closure. I have one with the snap closure. I have one with a gold button. I have some with wooden handles. I have black ones and navy ones and tan ones. It all depends on where I was when the thunderstorm hit. And every time it happens, I tell myself, I\u2019m not going to buy another one, and then about half a block from the subway, when I\u2019m soaking wet, I give in and buy one at the newsstand. And then, a week or two later, when the weatherman is predicting rain, I forget it go out of the house without one. <\/p>\n

So what I\u2019m about to say falls under the category of \u201cDo as I say, not as I do.\u201d <\/p>\n

Because I do exactly what Jesus tells us NOT to do in today\u2019s gospel. I end up not being prepared. And I get soaked. I sometimes think I\u2019m single-handedly keeping the umbrella industry afloat. <\/p>\n

But Christ today tells us something every Boy Scout knows by heart.
Be prepared. <\/p>\n

Be like the servant who is awaiting the master\u2019s return. Have the lamps lit. Be at the door, ready to greet him. <\/p>\n

There is an almost anxious tone to this gospel \u2013 and I suspect we often think of it in terms of the second coming, or the last judgment. Be prepared for Christ\u2019s return, and to have to give an accounting of your life. Be prepared to be judged. <\/p>\n

That is part of it. <\/p>\n

But I\u2019d like to suggest another way of approaching this passage. One more hopeful. Because this particular gospel is not about an ending\u2026but a beginning. <\/p>\n

Be prepared\u2026for something wonderful. <\/p>\n

Be prepared for God to come into your life. <\/p>\n

Be prepared to open the door to Christ\u2026and let him in, and to serve him. <\/p>\n

In a way, this gospel is nothing less than a profound parable about vocations. Not just vocations as we know them, to religious life. But also, I think, the vocation to the Christian life. <\/p>\n

Because we are all called. Each of us has a vocation, a calling to fulfill for God. But are we able to answer it? Are we listening for it? <\/p>\n

Are we ready for whatever God wants us to do with our lives? <\/p>\n

Are we looking for Him, anticipating Him? <\/p>\n

Are we ready to give Him what He wants and needs \u2013 our time, our talent, even perhaps our lives? <\/p>\n

Are we prepared? <\/p>\n

Several years ago, I wrote and produced a documentary for the History Channel on the Kennedy family. And this gospel reading was one that Rose Kennedy drilled into her children again and again: \u201cMuch will be required of the person entrusted with much\u2026and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.\u201d <\/p>\n

Her message to her children was this: because you are so well-off, because you have had advantages that others have not, you need to give something back. It undoubtedly had an impact. To this day, many of the Kennedys are committed to some form of public service, whether it\u2019s through politics, or the Special Olympics, or various forms of public advocacy. <\/p>\n

But I think it\u2019s misguided to think of this as just referring to material wealth. After all, last week, we heard Christ telling his disciples that life does not consist of possessions. <\/p>\n

No, I think this passage goes deeper. What we have been entrusted with can\u2019t be measured in dollars, or kept in a bank. People like the Kennedys won\u2019t be stashing it away in a safe deposit box or a trust fund.<\/p>\n

We have been entrusted with something better, the most monumental gift: our faith. As the letter to the Hebrews puts it so eloquently: that faith \u201cis the realization of what is hoped for, and evidence of things not seen.\u201d It is something beautiful and mysterious. And it is ours. <\/p>\n

Our Catholic Christian faith has withstood two millennia of persecution and denial and doubt. And it has been passed on to us \u2013 the deposit of faith.<\/p>\n

In short: we have been entrusted with much. And much will be required. <\/p>\n

You can never know when God might come to your door, asking you to give something back. <\/p>\n

Be prepared. <\/p>\n

Be prepared\u2026to love <\/p>\n

Be prepared to feed the hungry\u2026to shelter the homeless. <\/p>\n

Be prepared to listen to a child who is hurting\u2026or comfort a friend who is lonely\u2026or pray for a stranger in intensive care. <\/p>\n

Be prepared to stand up for those who have no one to stand up for them. The weak, the frightened, the old, the unborn. <\/p>\n

Be prepared to live your life as a follower of Christ \u2013 a Christian. Because this faith is what we are, and what we have been given. <\/p>\n

Much will be required of the person entrusted with much. And still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more. <\/p>\n

Look around you at the faith that has been handed to us. And look before you, to the tabernacle, where the Eucharist, Christ himself, waits for us. And look to the altar, where the greatest mystery of our faith is about to unfold. <\/p>\n

We have been entrusted with everything. <\/p>\n

What will we do with that? <\/p>\n

This morning, we pray to be ready whenever God comes, for whatever He may ask us to do. <\/p>\n

Light the lamp. Wait by the door. Be prepared. <\/p>\n

Be prepared…for something wonderful. <\/p>\n

And of course, if you don\u2019t remember anything else I\u2019ve told you this morning, please remember this: <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t leave home without your umbrella.<\/p>\n

Photo: from the AP<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You can collect almost anything these days. The Franklin Mint is making a mint selling everything from replicas of antique cars to porcelain scenes from \u201cGone With the Wind.\u201d When I was growing up, the mother of my best friend collected little Hummel figurines. 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