Here is the homily I gave this past Sunday at St Wenceslaus in New Prague.
Because my dad’s work caused us to move a number of times, my family lived in quite a few homes. My favorite house was on Parkview Ave overlooking Como Lake in St Paul. The street was built on a hill with my house located at the bottom of the hill. Behind the house was an alley, equally hilly. When I was 10 years old, one of the favorite activities us neighborhood kids had was to sweep all the sand and dirt into a big pile at the bottom of the alley. We would then ride our bikes to the top of the alley and race down the alley as fast as we could, slamming on our coaster brakes the moment the rear tire of our bikes hit that pile of sand and dirt. This would send our bikes out of control, skidding and careening usually into the hedges that lined either side of the alley at the bottom of the hill. This is what we called fun. Bruised and scraped, we would sweep the sand and dirt again into a big pile, ride our bikes up to the top of the alley and do it all over again. As I raced down that alley, it was if my guardian angel, Fred … from the time I was a kid, I have always thought my guardian angel’s name was Fred. He looks a lot like and has the disposition of Fred Mertz from the TV show “I Love Lucy” … Anyway, as I raced down that alley it was if my guardian angel, Fred, sat on the handle bars of my bike, white knuckled, and screaming at me to not be so insanely stupid, while at the same time, trying to protect me from harm. As a parent and grandparent, I look back on that time and am utterly aghast at the sheer stupidity of what I did as a kid. Amazingly, aside from the scrapes and bruises and an occasional bloody knee, not a one of us kids suffered any serious injuries from this insane fun, something I attribute to the guardian angels riding all our handlebars.
In the readings today, think of the prophet Jeremiah, St Paul, and Jesus fulfilling the same task as my curmudgeonly, loving, guardian angel, Fred, warning us not to do something insanely stupid. Today, we are asked the question, “Whom do you trust?” We are given a simple A or B choice. Do we trust A) God, or, do we trust B) something other than God. The other can be anything from other human beings, political ideologies, wealth, abundance, fame and the like.
Jeremiah cuts right to the chase. He says if we trust God we are blessed. However, if we place our trust in anything that is not God, then we are cursed. St Paul tells the Corinthian community that if they trust only in human wisdom, they are not saved. Our trust must transcend human wisdom and seek instead the wisdom of God. Jesus, in his sermon on the plain, like the prophet, Jeremiah, calls all those who place their trust in God, Blessed. However, those who trust only in the things of this earth are doomed.
Those who are “Blessed” are those who are happy or fortunate in the sight of God. Jesus numbers those who are poor, those who are hungry, those who are mourning, and those who are persecuted among the Blessed of God. Why? Because the poor, the hungry, those who mourn and those who are persecuted know how much they must rely on God in order to get through every day. They have and possess nothing. The only thing they possess is God’s love for them.
Throughout all holy scripture, we are told that only in God will we find true happiness. Wealth is very fleeting on earth. Fortunes are made and lost in a heartbeat. Everlasting wealth can be found only in God. The food and the drink we consume on earth only satisfies us for a moment. However, the food and drink that God provides for us will last for eternity. While some turn to alcohol, substances, entertainments to distract themselves from the losses they grieve, it is only in God we can find the consolation and comfort we seek. The terrible hurts that are inflicted upon us by meanspirited and cruel people cannot be healed by throwing those who persecute us in prison or in seeking to hurt them in return. The only place in which to find any refuge, healing, and peace from the deep emotional, spiritual, and physical harm we have suffered is in God who loves us beyond all love. To sum it all up, all for which we long as human beings can only satisfied in God.
This is why Jesus says, “Woe to you”, who are rich, “Woe to you” who seek self-gratification in food, drink, fame, and all other pleasures of life. If we trust that our happiness is found only in the stuff of this earth, we will find that our happiness will be limited to only the here and now. Hence, Jesus’ words to the rich, and all who seek happiness in self-gratification, “You have already received your consolation.” Happiness will be denied them for eternity.
Why is this? When our lives are filled with abundant wealth, and every whim and desire is satisfied, we have no need of God. Our wealth, our abundance, our own self-gratification becomes our gods. The psalmist warns us in Psalm 135, “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths but do not speak; they have eyes but do not see; They have ears but do not hear; nor is there breath in their mouths. Their makers will become like them, and anyone who trusts in them.”
In their song, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, even the Beatles grasped that true love cannot be bought. Remember the refrain of the song? “Can’t buy me love, everybody tells me so. Can’t buy me love, no, no, no, no!” Money cannot buy us consolation and comfort when we are devastated by grief and loss. All the food and drink in the world cannot satisfy us if we can only receive nourishment through a feeding tube. When our final illness confines us motionless in a bed, all the wealth and abundance we have will not save our lives. This is why in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus warns us, “For what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mt 8: 36).
To be disciples of Jesus, we need to understand the true meaning of happiness. True happiness is comprised in placing all our trust, all our love in God who created us. Or, as Jesus says in the Great Commandment, love God with all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength. If we do this we will find everlasting happiness and contentment in our lives. If we do not, it’s as if we are riding our bikes down a steep alley and as we slam our brakes on a pile of sand and dirt we are hurled into everlasting disaster. And there will be no guardian angel by the name of Fred riding on the handlebars to save us from the disaster awaiting us.
