Sunday, September 5, 2010

Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 14:25-33
IF YOU WANT TO BE A DISCIPLE, YOU HAVE TO HATE YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR LIFE, TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND GO WHERE JESUS GOES – TO CALVARY. AND JESUS WARNS THAT WE BETTER MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO DO – BECAUSE IT WILL TAKE EVERYTHING WE HAVE.
AND IMMEDIATELY OUR MINDS GO TO PEOPLE LIKE SAINT FRANCIS, OR MOTHER THERESA, OR MARTYRS, OR MISSIONARIES OR MONKS. BECAUSE SURELY, WE SAY, WE CAN'T DO THIS – OR MAYBE WE COULD, BUT FACE IT, WE DON'T WANT TO. SO WE PUT THIS TROUBLING GOSPEL ASIDE AND TRY NOT TO THINK ABOUT IT. IT'S EASIER TO LISTEN TO JESUS TELL US SOOTHING THINGS, LIKE “MY YOKE IS LIGHT AND MY BURDEN IS SWEET”.
LUIGI QUATTROCHI MET MARIA CORSINI WHEN HE WAS 25 AND SHE WAS 21. BOTH WERE WELL-EDUCATED; LUIGI WAS A LAWYER AND MARIA HAD A DEGREE IN EDUCATION. THEY MARRIED IN 1905. IN RAPID SUCCESSION THEY HAD THREE CHILDREN. LATER A FOURTH WOULD BE BORN, AND SINCE THE DOCTORS DIDN'T THINK MARIA OR THE BABY WOULD SURVIVE, THEY ADVISED AN ABORTION. THE COUPLE REFUSED, AND THE BABY AND MARIA SURVIVED. LUIGI WAS HEAVILY INVOLVED IN HIS CAREER, AND ENTERED GOVERNMENT SERVICE. MARIA, IN ADDITION TO RAISING HER FAMILY, FOUND TIME TO PROMOTE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS ESPECIALLY FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN IN ROME. THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES THEY THREW PARTIES FOR THEIR FRIENDS, AND TOOK THEIR CHILDREN CAMPING; THEY LIVED SIMPLY, BUT WERE COMFORTABLY MIDDLE CLASS. THEY GOT IN THE HABIT OF A DAILY ROSARY, PARTICIPATED IN A HOLY HOUR BEFORE THE BLESSED SACRAMENT ONCE A WEEK, AND WENT ON A PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES. WHEN LUIGI DIED IN 1951 OF A HEART ATTACK, HE WAS DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE ITALIAN STATE. MARIA SPENT THE LATER PART OF HER LIFE AS A CO-FOUNDER OF THE SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY IN ROME. DURING WORLD WAR II THEY WERE HEAVILY INVOLVED IN HELPING SETTLE REFUGEES.
PEOPLE WHO KNEW THEM RECALLED THEIR GENEROSITY, SENSE OF HUMOR, AND OBVIOUS LOVE FOR EACH OTHER AND FOR THEIR FAMILY; THEIR CHILDREN DESCRIBED THEM AS WONDERFUL PARENTS.
POPE JOHN PAUL II IN AN UNPRECEDENTED ACT, BEATIFIED THIS COUPLE IN 2001, AND THEIR FEAST DAY IS THE DAY OF THEIR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY, NOVEMBER 25TH.
THE REASON TO THINK ABOUT LUIGI AND MARIA IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS GOSPEL IS THAT THEY TOO WERE DISCIPLES; BUT YOU AND I KNOW PEOPLE JUST LIKE THEM, MANY IN THIS PARISH. BECAUSE MOST OF US ARE CALLED TO BE DISCIPLES THROUGH OUR ORDINARY LIVES, AND I THINK IT MAY BE HARDER TO BE A DISCIPLE IN ORDINARY LIFE THAN TO BE A SAINT FRANCIS OR MOTHER THERESA, A MARTYR OR A MISSIONARY OR A MONK.
JESUS CALLS US TO DISCIPLESHIP RIGHT WHERE WE ARE. THERE WILL BE MOMENTS WHEN WE HAVE TO HATE OUR LIVES AND OUR LOVED ONES – HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A MARRIAGE WHERE ONE SPOUSE SACRIFICES EVERYTHING FOR THE SAKE OF THE OTHER, WHO MAY BE SICK, MAY BE MENTALLY ILL, MAY BE VERY DIFFICULT TO LOVE; OR WHERE A CHILD BETRAYS EVERY VALUE THE PARENTS TRIED TO INSTILL – THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THE ONLY REASON YOU CAN LOVE SOMEONE IS BECAUSE YOU PUT JESUS FIRST, WHO COMMANDED THAT WE LOVE EACH OTHER. THERE WILL BE TIMES WHEN YOU WORK AT A JOB YOU HATE, OR FEEL THAT YOU CAN'T CLEAN UP ONE MORE GLASS OF SPILLED MILK; AND YOU WILL BE BEARING YOUR CROSS, YOU WILL BE ENTERING INTO THE CRUCIFIXION ALONGSIDE JESUS. AND EACH MORNING, YOU WILL HAVE TO MARSHAL ALL YOUR STRENGTH TO GET THROUGH THE DAY, NOT JUST TO GET THROUGH IT, BUT TO DO EACH TASK AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, TO NOT JUST APPEAR CHEERFUL, BUT TO BE CHEERFUL; AND SOME DAYS YOU WILL STRUGGLE TO SEE GOD'S PLAN FOR YOU THAT DAY. OH, TO BE A MARTYR AND DIE IN A GLORIOUS MOMENT FOR GOD! INSTEAD, WE DIE A LITTLE AT A TIME, DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY.
MOST OF US ARE CALLED TO WORK IN THE WORLD. FATHER ESCRIVA, THE FOUNDER OF OPUS DEI AND NOW A SAINT, SPENT HIS LIFE TRYING TO SHOW PEOPLE HOW WORK WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT HAD TO BE DONE SO THAT WE COULD DEVOTE OURSELVES TO PRAYER AND CHARITY DURING OUR SPARE TIME; WORK IN THE WORLD WAS IN FACT THE WAY MOST OF US ARE GOING TO BE SANCTIFIED. A CHRISTIAN DOES THE WORK TO WHICH HE OR SHE IS CALLED WITH THE INTENTION OF DOING IT AS WELL AS IT CAN BE DONE. AND HOLINESS COMES ABOUT AS A RESULT. FIRST, THE CHRISTIAN MAKES THE WORK HOLY, BECAUSE IT IS AS THOUGH JESUS HIMSELF IS DOING IT; WE ARE AFTER ALL, MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST, BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE LORD. SECOND, THE CHRISTIAN MAKES HIMSELF OR HERSELF HOLY BECAUSE OF THE WORK, NOT IN SPITE OF IT. BECAUSE HUMAN BEINGS ARE MEANT TO WORK; GOD TOLD ADAM, BEFORE ORIGINAL SIN TOOK PLACE, THAT HE WAS TO CULTIVATE AND TEND TO THE GARDEN OF EDEN. WHEN WE WORK, WE ARE VERY CLOSE TO GOD BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW DEMEANING THE TASK MAY SEEM TO BE, WORK IS CREATIVE. AND WE ARE VERY CLOSE TO MARY AND JOSEPH, WHO WORKED ALL THEIR LIVES. FINALLY, THE CHRISTIAN MAKES THE WORLD HOLY THROUGH WORK. BECAUSE WE ARE CALLED TO BUILD THE KINGDOM OF GOD. THAT ISN'T PIE IN THE SKY; IT ISN'T THE SAME THING AS GOING TO HEAVEN. EACH OF US SHOULD HAVE A CLEAR IDEA HOW THE WORK WE DO FITS INTO GOD'S PLAN FOR THE WORLD. AND IT DOES. AND WHEN WE GO ABOUT OUR WORK KNOWING THAT REPRESENTING A PERSON IN COURT OR FIXING A BROKEN SINK, OR MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR OUR FELLOW CITIZENS TO PURCHASE SOME GOOD OR SERVICE THAT ENHANCES THEIR LIVES AND SAVES THEM TIME, WE BEGAN TO SEE THE BIG PICTURE; THE KINGDOM THAT JESUS DIED TO ESTABLISH CAN ONLY HAPPEN IF WE DO OUR WORK IN THE WORLD, AND THAT'S HOW WE MAKE THE WORLD HOLY.
IT'S VERY HARD TO BE A DISCIPLE OF JESUS. IT TAKES EVERYTHING WE HAVE. BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO ENVY THE GREAT SAINTS WHO DID SPECTACULAR THINGS. LIKE BLESSED LUIGI AND BLESSED MARIA QUATROCCHI, IF WE LIVE OUR ORDINARY LIVES WITH EXTRAORDINARY LOVE, THAT IS ALL JESUS WANTS.
THIS IS LABOR DAY WEEKEND. WE HONOR HUMAN LABOR BECAUSE LABOR IS THE REASON GOD PUT US HERE, AND OUR OWN LABOR IS THE MEANS BY WHICH WE BECOME DISCIPLES AND WE BRING ABOUT GOD'S KINGDOM. SO LET US ASK BLESSED LUIGI AND MARIA FOR A RENEWED APPRECIATION FOR THIS WONDERFUL GIFT GOD HAS GIVEN US TO MAKE US HOLY.