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"The
word on
he 
ord"
27 Ordinary A 2008
St. Raphael,
I’m
always amazed where I hear little words of wisdom. Sometimes I hear profound things my little
nieces and nephews say; at times I’ve heard deep thoughts from people I meet
briefly while traveling; I’ve even heard Dc. Chuck say a couple of wise things
(which is the most amazing of all!). I
also enjoy reading the signs in front of Protestant churches: they have some
real nuggets of wisdom, don’t they? For
example, one said, “Free coffee, everlasting life; yes, membership has its
privileges.” Another one read: “Don’t be
so open minded: your brains fall out!”
Or, consider this one: “Wal-mart is not the only saving place.” Here’s a last one: “There are some questions
that can’t be answered by Google.”
But
recently a Protestant friend was explaining how he understands giving to the
church, his tithe. He said that at first
he didn’t know why he should give; he figured the church had enough money
anyway, and so he gave seldom and sparingly.
But one day he made a life-changing discovery: he understood that everything
he has – his money, his car, his job, his family – really belongs to God, and
he’s just borrowing it for a little while.
So, this is how he now understands his tithe: it’s as if he were saying,
“God, of all these gifts, which are really your anyway, I’ll give you
10%.” Sounds rather silly, doesn’t
it? But that’s the truth, and that’s
wisdom. Man, we need to convert that guy
and make him Catholic! No. What we really need to do is convert Catholics,
so that we begin to see that we are merely stewards. All we have really belongs to God, and we
just borrow it for a little while.
Now,
listen again to Jesus’ parable of the tenant farmers, but this time listen with
the ears of my Protestant friend. The
landowner who builds the vineyard is God, and the tenants to whom He leases His
vineyard are you and me. And you
remember how the parable ends: the tenants kill the messengers of the landlord
– who just wants his share of the vineyard – and then they kill the landlord’s
own son. Why do they do that? Are the tenants just defending their right to
private property? Has the landlord come
to claim something that was never his to begin with? No.
The problem in the parable is that the tenants have forgotten they are merely
stewards. They begin to believe that
what they have is all theirs; they give to the landlord seldom and they give sparingly. Does that sound familiar? Does that hit a little too close to
home? There’s a great Scripture passage that
goes: “What do you have that you have not received? But if you have received it, why do you act
as if you had not received it?”
We all
know that our country is in the midst of a severe financial crisis. Now, I’m not an economist, but I do know a few
things about morality. And, by the way,
economics and morality are not as far apart as some people might like to
think. As I listen to the news about the
financial crisis, several people have asserted that the root cause of the
problem is greed, and everybody has their “hand in the cookie jar”: there is
corporate greed, government greed, and individual greed. But what I’ve not heard anyone explain is
what is at the root of the greed? In
other words, why are we greedy? We’re
greedy because we’ve forgotten that we are merely stewards: none of this really
belongs to us to begin with; it’s all God’s, and He’s just letting us borrow it
for a little while. Folks, let me assure
you that until we make that fundamental, life-changing discovery that my Protestant
friend made, we will face these financial crises again, and again, and again.
My
friends, let me ask you: what do you have that you have not received? Some times we think this body of ours really
belongs to us, and that we can do whatever we want with it – eating or drinking
or not resting or sexually. How often do
we hear people insist: “I can do what I want with my body!” But we can’t: God is just letting us borrow
it for a little while. You know, I’m not
a fan of Rush Linbaugh, but he’s half-right when he brags that his intelligence
is “on loan from God.” You can guess
which half he’s right about. Think about
the car you drive, or the house you own – hopefully, it’s not about to be
foreclosed! – the stocks you have invested in, the retirement plan you hope to
cash in on. Do you really believe that
is all yours, or do you believe that it’s been leased to you for a little
while? What about this parish that we
love: does it really belong to us? What
about this country what we live in and are ready to die to protect: is it
really “ours”? What do you have that you
have not received? But if you have
received it, why do you act as if you have not received it?
You
know, after hearing this homily today, I’m not sure if we’re going to have a
better collection than usual. I hope
so! And even if as a nation we become
good stewards I’m not sure we’ll avoid a future stock market collapse or a
financial crisis. But I am sure of this:
everything we see is on loan to us from God.
And some day, He’s going to want it back.
Praised
be Jesus Christ!
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