Homily - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 10, 2013)

A New Beginning

          When the Selfish Giant[1] returned from a long trip abroad, he was furious to find children playing in his garden, climbing his peach trees and swinging from their gnarled branches.  He angrily chased them away and built a high wall around his garden to keep them out.  Time passed, and the seasons changed, but not in the garden.  The Giant’s garden was stuck in a cold, barren, endless winter.  Then one morning the Giant awoke to find that spring had sprung in his garden at last.  You see, the children had dug a hole under the wall and were playing in the garden again.  He realized how selfish he had been, so he welcomed the children into the garden. But the Giant noticed that one corner of the garden was till snowy and bare.  A young boy was standing there under a leafless peach tree, crying because he was too small to climb it.  So the Giant rushed to the boy and helped him into the tree; and in an instant, spring returned to the whole garden.  The Selfish Giant’s encounter with that little boy gave him a chance at a new beginning.  And that’s what today’s readings are talking about.

          This morning we experience the rare occasion when all three readings present the same theme:  vocation – God’s invitation to his people.  We hear God’s call to Isaiah, Paul and Simon Peter and how similar their experiences were.  All three men were overwhelmed by the presence of God.  All three confessed impurity and unworthiness as they stood in stark contrast to the divine holiness.  And all three men were purified by God’s cleansing power, giving them a chance at a new beginning.  I’d like to address each of these experiences in turn. 

          St. Anselm of Canterbury once described God as that which nothing greater can be conceived,[2] and Scripture tells us that we cannot see the face of God and live (Exodus 33:20).  God is more than we can imagine, perfect in every way and too much for a human to bear.  The fact of the matter is that God is our Creator, and we are his creatures; so “the fullness and abundance of the divine reality dwarfs [us].”[3]  Realizing where we stand in relation to our Creator can be overwhelming, and it should be because that is our proper orientation toward the Almighty God.

          So what’s our proper response to the immensity of God?  Well, remember that all three men in our readings expressed fear and confessed their impurity and unworthiness.  That’s because the awesome light of divine perfection illuminates our weakness and sinfulness.  Standing before God, we see who we really are, and we realize that maybe we’re not quite as perfect as we thought we were.  But “the presence of God in our lives not only illuminates our weakness, but strengthens and emboldens us as it transforms us,”[4] if we let it.  So we face a choice, acknowledge our weakness and sinfulness and invite God into our lives to transform us, or turn away from God and remain in the cold, barren, endless winter of sin.  “Recognizing our shortcomings is a crucial first step on the path to making better decisions, creating better societies, and fixing our [world].”[5]  You know, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and many more religions have purification rituals for a reason:  they give us “opportunities to collect ourselves, stop the deterioration, and turn a new page.”[6]   Our encounter with God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation gives us a chance at a new beginning.

          Now, we have to remember that “Jesus [didn’t] come to drive sinners from his presence.  He . . . associates sinners with himself in his ministry, if they will put their trust in him.”[7]  Through confession, Isaiah, Paul and Peter were purified by God and empowered to accept the chance at a new beginning.  And “the same God who came to Isaiah, Simon Peter and Paul is still calling us in the Church and beyond to encounter the living God, to be purified by his cleansing power, to cast off fear and respond to the call to be transformed by God’s grace.”[8]  Our encounters with God may or may not be as dramatic as Isaiah’s, as jarring as Paul’s or as miraculous as Peter’s, but they are every bit as grace-filled and transformative as theirs were.  And I’ll say it again, every encounter with God brings with it a chance at a new beginning. 

          We don’t know when or how that chance for a new beginning will come to us.  “God’s call is as unpredictable as it is unmerited.”[9] 

╬ We may encounter God in the roar of the ocean or on a wind-swept mountain peak;  

╬ We may encounter God in the loneliness of illness or despair;

╬ We may encounter God in the patient, enduring love of our spouse as we celebrate World Marriage Day today;

╬ We may encounter God in the fading eyes of a dying parent; and 

 ╬ We may even encounter God in a little boy who needs help climbing a tree.

          The Selfish Giant was transformed into a new man.  He spent his days playing with the children in that beautiful garden, telling them stories of his great adventures and making them laugh.  But the Giant always wondered what happened to the little boy he had helped into the tree.  He hadn’t seen him since the day spring returned to the garden.  Then one day as the Giant sat in the garden in his old age, the young boy appeared to him.  The Giant was overwhelmed with joy that quickly turned to anger when he saw that someone had injured the small boy – the boy had nail holes in his hands and feet.  The young boy said, “Please don’t be angry.  I did this for you because I love you.  And now, because you loved me and all of these children, I’m going to take you to my garden in paradise.” 

          Every encounter with God is a chance at a new beginning.

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[1] Oscar Wilde, The Selfish Giant, Bill Bell, illus. (New York, Derrydale, 2001.

[2] “Anselm’s Proslogium or Discourse on the Existence of God,” Anselm of Canterbury, trans. by Sidney N. Deane, Medieval Source Book (New York, Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies), retrieved February 9, 2013, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anselm-proslogium.html.

[3] John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers and Teachers, Year C:  The Relentless Widow  (Collegeville, Liturgical Press, 2006) at 39.

[4] John W. Martens, “The Transformers,” America, vol. 208, no. 3 (February 4, 2013) at 46.

[5] Dan Ariely, The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty (New York, Harper Collins Publishers, 2012) at 247.

[6] Id. at 249. 

[7] Jerome Kodell, “Luke,” The Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament, Robert J. Karris, ed. (Collegeville, The Liturgical Press, 1992) at 946.

[8] Martens at 46.

[9] R. Alan Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. IX (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1995) at 12.