This Sunday's homily in advance...

Sunday, November 21, 2009
Homily

These beautiful days in November are a gift to us. In the normal course of things we would expect grey days, cold rain, snow, and ground frozen hard like stone. But such has not been the case for most of this month. The air is cool but the sun is bright and we’ve been given a reprieve from the inevitable if only for a week or two.

We know from years of living in this area that weather can change in a heartbeat and so people are using these days, this break in the normal climate, to get things done, to complete tasks that normally would be impossible now. Leaves are raked, painting is done, roofs are repaired, roads are being cared for, and the harvest is being brought it. The clock is ticking. One day in the near future we’ll look out our windows and see the snow flying and with it the understanding that everything will have to wait until spring.

It’s wise to be prepared, to have good tires on your car, a furnace that works, food tucked away, money in the bank, and everything in good repair. This would seem to be common sense but in our culture where we live from day to day, paycheck to paycheck, and party to party we often forget this only to learn painful lessons when times get lean.

Yet as wise as it is to be prepared for the ups and downs of life, to live frugally and wisely so we are not caught unaware and vulnerable in the ebbs and flows of time, to rake the leaves and make sure everything is ready before the snow flies, there is a greater preparation, greater but often ignored.

How are we preparing our soul?

The Gospel for this day reminds us that the preparation of things and possessions is without value if not accompanied by an equal or greater desire to store up virtue, faith, and all the needs of the soul. The Gospels tell us that we can possess everything and still lose our soul. We can build bigger barns and still leave life empty of that which matters most. We can have false confidence in what we can acquire and in so doing find ourselves spiritually poor even in the presence of worldly abundance.

Imagine what the world would be like if the Christians inhabiting it would place as much of their lives into their faith as they did their 401k’s. How would things be different if we prepared our souls with the same care we use for our house or car? Could we fathom a culture where people dedicated themselves to holiness with the same passion as their career path? What if we loved God as much as we love our television sets?

I stand convicted of being careful about things earthly and careless with things heavenly. I’m guilty of taking so many parts of my life seriously and leaving God the scraps to work with. I often wonder how I would be different if I prepared to stand before Christ with the same effort I’ve used for my retirement. It’s almost certain that I’ve not taken a fraction of the time I use to practice for an audience as a musician to prepare to one day stand before Christ.

Some day everything I’ve done will be meaningless and everything I’ve acquired will be sold or given to someone else. Only a soul carefully tended with prayer and holy things will remain and yet I feel so unready. In truth many of us are as well.

Yet the mercy of God is beyond our comprehension. One flickering candle of piety in our hearts is met with pure and holy light, one act of virtue with a flood of grace, one moment of repentance with an eternal mercy.

We, you and I, can recall what matters most in the end and change our path, redirect our existence towards that which truly matters, and find the peace we desire here and the salvation we crave for eternity. Seize this day with a holy urgency and be saved.