Homily for Mass @ CHS Homecoming Week October 8, 2018
Fr. Albert Catholic High, New Iberia
[Recording Lost]
Love. That’s the answer to the only question that matters, the question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life.” The scribe asks this question as a test, but at least part of him really does want the answer. Who wouldn’t? Who here honestly doesn’t want to be happy? And not just happy like I’ve got a date to the homecoming dance happy, but perfectly happy, without stress or pain or fear… and to be like that forever?
So, yeah, it’s a worthwhile question. And that answer can really be boiled down to that one, terribly overused and misused word: love. Of course, the Lord knows we abuse the heck out of that word and make it mean all sorts of things it doesn’t mean. We do like to play word games with ourselves, to come up with ways to interpret the rules so that technically, we’re doing the right thing. Like the scribe in the Gospel, we wish to justify ourselves. To justify – to make just, to prove that we have done the just thing, the right thing.
“I only copied that homework because I didn’t have time. And it’s not like it’s important anyway. I’ll still learn the important stuff. No big deal.” “I only repeated what I heard about Joe and Sally because it was better than being left out.” “I only looked up those pictures and videos because I was stressed out.”
Bogus. All of it. Actually, the second you even try to “justify” yourself, you’ve already messed up. Because, the simple fact is, you. Can. Never. Justify. Yourself. That’s kind of the whole point of Jesus. It’s impossible for human beings to be justified – to be just – in the eyes of God. That’s why we call the Gospel “good news.” It’s the same Gospel that St. Paul is so vehemently defending in his letter to the Galatians one thousand nine hundred and sixty years ago. It’s the good news that, even though you can’t justify yourself, there is someone who can and will justify you: Jesus Christ Crucified. And that’s important because if you want eternal life – happiness both in this world and the one to come – then you need to be justified.
But its not magic. Even Jesus says you have to do something. What is that? Love. Now we’re back where we started. Okay, I have to love to inherit eternal life. But what does that mean? The scribe and Jesus both give us something to go on. At least we know who to love: Love God and love our neighbor. But, there’s still wiggle room, and the scribe still wants to justify himself, so he decides to play games with the words, to prove himself “just” based on a technicality. “Who is my neighbor?”
The parable of the good Samaritan mostly speaks for itself: everyone who is in need is your neighbor. The weird kid, the quiet one, the one with all the coolest gadgets, and the one without any gadgets or devices at all. The kids from Loureaville and even the kids from Notre Dame. The teachers and students whose homes and cars you damage with your paintballs… all of them are your neighbors. Yes, your eternal fate really is connected to how you treat all those people, especially when they are in need. To love your neighbor means to want what is best for them, even when that is inconvenient or difficult for you, when it costs you money or interferes with all the fun you’re having. Love your neighbor includes can also include the fun stuff, but Jesus knows we especially need to work on the whole “sacrificing for others” part.
But you already knew that. Basically everyone in America knows the story of the Good Samaritan, even if we are terrible at following it. Love your neighbor, especially the ones in the most need.
Now, Jesus does say to “love your neighbor as yourself,” but he first says to love God with our whole heart, being, strength, and mind. What does that mean? Well, it means a lot of things, but above all, it means that your spiritual life – your relationship with God – like any other relationship, takes work and effort. Let’s break it down.
Love God with all your heart: Pray daily even when… no, especially when you don’t feel like it. A good relationship, one that comes from the heart, is rooted in regular interaction.
Love God with all your strength: This one includes helping other people with your physical strength. It might also include something like being willing to kneel in an uncomfortable place.
Love God with all your mind: I think most teachers will agree that most students do not give enough mental effort. Paying attention in Mass, just like paying attention in Mass, is crucial. Actually struggling to think through a problem instead of just shrugging and saying “I don’t know.” How often do you really think about God? How hard do you try to understand what is being said and done during the eucharistic prayer?
Finally, love God with all your being: What does this kind of love look like? Martyrdom. Being killed for your faith is the fullest expression of loving God with your whole being. Most of you won’t have to do that, so what else? Maybe this will seem an odd answer: You can love God with your being by singing.
Yes, singing. Human beings are the only creatures that can sing. We say birds “sing,” but that’s really their only form of communication. It is to them what talking is to us. But we can talk, and on top of that, we can sing. And that’s what makes singing a method of loving with your whole being. When you talk, its mostly effortless. You just spit out the words in your mind. When you sing, there is an extra act of the will, an additional deliberate decision to not only communicate, but to embellish and add to that communication. And with practice, it can even add real beauty and even meaning to the communication.
As one saint put it, when you sing, you pray twice. But singing can be awkward and embarrassing for a lot of people. Do it anyway. When you love someone, you go above and beyond the minimum. At Mass, the minimum way to love God is to respond with words like “holy, holy, holy” “amen” and “our father.” But, we often have the opportunity to sing those same words. To give God more than an inattentive, half-hearted, passive grunt of a word “amen.”
And yes, most of you sing your hearts out… when it’s a song you like. I see you sing when it’s something that’s fun for you. But, wait… is that why we have Mass? For you to have fun? No, it is here for many reasons, but above all as an expression of Love for God. At pep rallies and with songs you think are fun – for the moment at least – you guys seem to put your whole being into shouting and singing along. But the second you are asked to simply chant along “holy, holy, holy” most of you don’t even try. That song, that chant is literally a song written by the angels for the sake of praising God. But because it’s awkward, or different, or not as fun and emotional, so many people don’t even try. But it can be quite emotional. It can be quite powerful, but only if you put your whole being into it.
The Mass is supposed to be strange and different. It is about God, not us. The best way to get something out of Mass – the whole Mass – is to put everything you have into it, to try with your all your heart, mind, strength – your whole being – to worship God in the way he has asked us to worship him. And then… it stops being weird. It stops being uncomfortable. It stops being boring. Why? Because you choose to care. And that’s what love is. Love is the deliberate choice to care. It’s the deliberate choice to care about your annoying sibling and the weird kid people are picking on. It’s the choice to care enough to talk to God every day. It’s the choice to participate in the Mass not because Mrs. Angie and Ms. Stegall go out of their way to make it fun for you, but because you want to give everything – including your voice, good, bad, or ugly – to God out of love.
And when you do that, you will stop worrying about Justifying yourself. Then you just might begin to understand that eternal life is not something in the distant future. It starts now because eternal life is love and you have the choice now. Will you do it? Will you Love?