Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 9:36-10:8
WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10, SOME OF MY CLASSMATES TOOK PRIDE IN PETTY THEFT. THEY WOULD GO INTO A STORE AND STEAL SMALL OBJECTS-- MINIATURE SQUIRT GUNS BEING ONE PRIZED ITEM. AT FIRST I JUST WATCHED MY FRIENDS WITH ENVY, BUT FINALLY GOT ENOUGH NERVE TO STEAL MY FIRST SQUIRT GUN. I GOT AWAY WITH IT! A COUPLE MORE PETTY THEFTS FOLLOWED; I CAPTURED A HERSHEY BAR, A COUPLE OF ROLLS OF LIFE SAVERS, A PEN. ONE EVENING MY DAD, MY SISTER AND I WERE VISITING MY GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER. GETTING BORED WITH GROWN UP TALK, SHE AND I ASKED TO BE ALLOWED TO GO TO THE LITTLE CORNER STORE. AS USUAL, SHE WENT OVER TO THE CANDY COUNTER AND LOOKED AT CANDY, WHILE I STUDIED THE COMIC BOOKS. IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT SINCE I WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED THIEF, I SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM IN STUFFING A FEW OF MY FAVORITE COMIC BOOKS UNDER MY JACKET. I DID. AS WE WALKED OUT THE DOOR, I FELT A HAND GRAB MY SHOULDER. I WAS BUSTED! I HAD VISIONS OF GOING TO JAIL, OF ENDING UP IN REFORM SCHOOL, OF A LIFE RUINED. MY SISTER WAS CRYING. I MAY HAVE BEEN AS WELL. THE STORE OWNER KEPT ASKING ME MY NAME, AND WHEN I BLUBBERED IT OUT, HE ASKED ME HOW HE COULD GET IN TOUCH WITH MY PARENTS. I GAVE HIM MY GRANDMOTHER'S NUMBER. OVER THE NEXT FEW MINUTES, SEVERAL PAINFUL HOURS WENT BY, AND THEN MY DAD SHOWED UP. THE STORE OWNER WAS ANGRY, AND HE LET MY FATHER KNOW HOW UPSET HE WAS THAT KIDS WERE TAKING THINGS FROM HIS STORE, AND HE COULDN'T JUST BLAME THE KIDS, IT WAS THEIR PARENTS FAULT AS WELL. MY FATHER STOOD THERE AND DIDN'T SAY A WORD. WHEN THE MAN FINISHED, MY DAD APOLOGIZED ON MY BEHALF, AND SINCE NOTHING HAD ACTUALLY BEEN STOLEN, I WAS ALLOWED TO GO. MY FATHER WAS VERY QUIET. I KNEW I WOULD BE GROUNDED, I KNEW I WOULD BE PUNISHED, AND MOST OF ALL, I KNEW THAT WHEN MY MOTHER FOUND OUT, I WOULD REALLY BE IN TROUBLE. AND THEN HE SPOKE. “I'M DISAPPOINTED,” HE SAID. “I THOUGHT YOU NEW BETTER.” I TOLD HIM THAT I DID, AND I PROMISED THAT I'D NEVER STEAL ANYTHING AGAIN. AND I NEVER DID, NOT BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID OF GETTING CAUGHT, BUT BECAUSE I NEVER WANTED TO DISAPPOINT MY FATHER LIKE THAT AGAIN. MY FATHER DIDN'T PUNISH ME, DIDN'T GROUND ME, DIDN'T EVEN TELL MY MOTHER. IN FACT, HE NEVER MENTIONED IT AGAIN. IT WAS AS THOUGH HE FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT.
I LEARNED SOME THINGS THAT DAY. I WITNESSED MY FATHER BEING HUMILIATED IN MY PLACE; I LEARNED THAT HE LOVED ME AND FORGAVE ME COMPLETELY; AND I HAD A SENSE AT TEN YEARS OLD THAT MY FATHER WOULD BE THERE TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT WHEN I WENT WRONG.
THAT IS WHAT ST. PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT; IT IS PRECISELY IN THIS THAT GOD PROVES HIS LOVE FOR US; WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US. AND IN THE GOSPEL, JESUS DEMONSTRATES THIS; HE IS MOVED WITH PITY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LEADERLESS, WHO SEEM TO HAVE NO DIRECTION, NO PURPOSE. HE GIVES HIS APOSTLES A SHARE IN HIS POWER, AND SENDS THEM OUT TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT JESUS WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW IS THAT WE HAVE A FATHER WHO LOVES US, WHO IS THERE WITH US, SHARING OUR JOYS AND OUR PAINS, A FATHER WHO IN THE PERSON OF HIS SON TAKES ON HIMSELF WHAT WE DESERVE FOR DISOBEYING HIM, FOR OFFENDING HIM; A FATHER WHO GUARANTEES THAT NO MATTER HOW THINGS LOOK NOW, ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE.
IN ANOTHER PART OF THE GOSPEL, YOU REMEMBER WHEN JOHN THE BAPTIST SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS IF HE IS THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, THE ONE WHO IS TO USHER IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD; AND HE REPLIES, GO TELL JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN, THE LAME WALK, THE BLIND SEE, THE POOR HAVE THE GOOD NEWS PREACHED TO THEM. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THERE WHEN WE DO THE WORKS OF JESUS, WHEN WE LIVE AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT SOMEONE TO LIVE WHO HAS SO WONDERFUL, SO GREAT A FATHER.
WHEN ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS WAS ABOUT TEN, I GOT A CALL FROM A LOCAL CLOTHING STORE, ASKING ME TO COME DOWN BECAUSE MY DAUGHTER HAD BEEN CAUGHT WALKING OUT OF THE STORE WITH A SCARF THAT SHE HAD NOT PAID FOR. WHEN I WENT IN, SHE SITTING ON A CHAIR WITH TEARS RUNNING DOWN HER FACE, BARELY ABLE TO CATCH HER BREATH FOR CRYING. THE MANAGER LECTURED ME ABOUT MY RESPONSIBILITIES AS A FATHER, AND I WAS TEMPTED TO POINT OUT THAT SHE WAS JUST A KID, AND THERE HAD BEEN NO REAL HARM DONE, AND I WOULD TAKE CARE OF MAKING SURE SHE WAS ADEQUATELY PUNISHED. BUT OF COURSE I COULD NOT FORGET HOW MY OWN FATHER HAD HANDLED THE SITUATION; SO I EVENTUALLY APOLOGIZED, ACCEPTED THE BLAME, AND WALKED OUT WITH MY DAUGHTER. AND AS I WAS THINKING UP THE PUNISHMENT I WAS GOING TO GIVE HER, I LOOKED AT HER AND KNEW THAT SHE HAD LEARNED HER LESSON, AND I TOLD HER THAT I WAS DISAPPOINTED, AND THAT SHE KNEW BETTER, AND THEN I LET IT GO.
JESUS SAID, “THE GIFT YOU HAVE RECEIVED, GIVE AS A GIFT”.
JESUS COMMISSIONED HIS APOSTLES AND US TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. IF WE ARE TO DO THAT, WE NEED TO EXPERIENCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN OUR OWN LIVES, AS I DID SO MANY YEARS AGO, AS MY DAUGHTER DID. WE NEED TO REFLECT ON THE FATHER WHO LOVES US AND GIVES EVERYTHING TO US. WE NEED TO LOOK AT ALL THE GIFTS THAT HE HAS GIVEN US, EVEN SOMETIMES THOSE THINGS WHICH WE DON'T SEE AS GIFTS RIGHT AWAY – BECAUSE SOMETIMES AN ILLNESS IS A GIFT, LOSING SOMETHING IS A GIFT, AND THERE ARE GIFTS THAT WE NEVER REALIZE ARE GIFTS UNTIL MANY YEARS LATER. IN FACT, OUR WHOLE LIFE IS A GIFT, EVERYTHING IN IT IS A GIFT. THAT IS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM.
AND EVERY TIME WE DO A WORK OF GOD, A WORK OF HEALING, A WORK OF INCLUDING SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN EXCLUDED, A WORK OF BRINGING A PERSON WHO WAS DEAD TO THE LIFE THAT IS JESUS – THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES -- WE SHOW THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
AND FEW OF US MEET THE MARK. SO LET US PRAY TODAY THAT WE WILL TAKE SERIOUSLY THE MISSION THAT JESUS GIVES US. AFTER ALL, EVERYTHING JESUS DID AND CONTINUES TO DO, HAS ONLY ONE PURPOSE, TO SHOW THE GLORY OF THE FATHER. AND THAT IS WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO AS WELL.