HOMILY FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.
THEME: ARE WE OVERRATED?
BY: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong
1. Joke. Here’s a relevant one-liner joke. “Love is overrated: it is worth only 7 points in scrabble”. Continuing His sermon on the mount, our Lord Jesus Christ looked at his disciples in today’s Gospel reading and said to them: “You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the world” (Matt 5:13,14). Applying these words to myself right now, I feel completely overrated. What about you? No matter how you feel, our world is still in need of light amidst the darkness of violence, and other challenges at this time. Permit me to mention just 3 out of my many friends whose good deeds I have seen, for which I glorify God. There are of course millions and billions of people doing countless good deeds, including those by Pope Francis, Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby and Church of Scotland Moderator Iain Greenshields, as the three of them together visit war-ravaged South Sudan, this weekend, appealing for peace and reconciliation.
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2. Works of Mercy. The light I have seen in these my 3 friends is actually the light of Jesus Christ, shining through them. This resonates with today’s Gospel acclamation: “I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life”. (Jn 8:12). The good deeds performed by my 3 friends are among those mentioned in today’s 1st reading (Is 58:7-10): “Thus says the Lord: Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2447 makes it easy for us to remember these good deeds by listing them as the 7 Corporal Works of Mercy: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead. Since we have both bodily and spiritual needs, it is important to add the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy as good deeds which also make us light of the world and salt of the earth, namely: to instruct the ignorant; to counsel the doubtful; to admonish the sinner; to bear wrongs patiently; to forgive offenses willingly; to comfort the afflicted; to pray for the living and the dead.
3. Three Friends. So, my 3 friends who have given me wonderful examples of Christian social justice and charity are 1: my pre-COVID Spiritual Director, Fr Charlie Baumann, SJ, who, while in the Creighton Jesuit Community, spent most of his time volunteering at Siena Francis House where the homeless are sheltered, just 1.3 miles down the road from this Church. 2. Martina Saltamacchia who volunteers to give free lessons to the 712 prisoners at the Omaha Correctional Facilities just 4 miles from our Church. 3. Yourself, listening to this homily (or reading it). You could have spent this time walking your dog, etc, but you have joined us in worshipping our Creator who provides all that we have and all that we share with the less privileged. Fr Charlie Bauman not only joined in sheltering the homeless but volunteered for the Rehousing & Reintegration Department to help the homeless acquire appropriate and affordable housing. From giving rides to homeless guests as they keep their appointments with case managers, to monitoring computer labs for the homeless, what I saw in Fr Charlie was the radiant joy of serving the poor. Same with Martina who is a Professor at UNO but spent her sabbatical year doing something for prisoners. In the end, it is both ways. Yes, as Shakespeare wrote, “The quality of mercy is not strained…It is twice blessed. It blesses him that gives and him that takes.” Martina told me not long ago that having been a teacher most of her life, the prisoners turned out to be her very best students, making her shed tears of joy often, realizing their inner goodness, in spite of the wrong turns they made in life! Finally, yourself. You know very well all the charity, Church donations, etc, God has used you to perform, and you know that there is a lot more to be done. It turns out that as long as you continue these good deeds, you are letting the light of Christ shine through you. Hence, you are not overrated. You are the light of the world. Keep shining. To God be the glory. I now apply to you the words of the Holy Spirit given through Isaiah in today’s first reading: as you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted in any way, may light rise for you in the darkness of this passing world, and may every gloom become for you like midday. Amen.
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