HOMILY Nineteenth Sunday of Ord Time Cycle C Aug 8, 2022

 HOMILY   Nineteenth Sunday of Ord Time  Cycle C  Aug 8, 2022

 If you are a fan of horror films, which I am not, you may have come across the phrase, “Be afraid.  Be very afraid.”  Anyone ever heard that?     

Unfortunately, you do not have to watch horror movies to have this sentiment.  All you have to do is watch the news, which I contend is much scarier than any fictitious film.  Inflation, recession, monkey pox, war in Ukraine with the ominous shadow of nuclear war, runaway climate change with drought, endless days of triple digits, huge floods in the mid-West and Kentucky, growing tensions with China, widening splits in the Church, increasing violence and crime, …and oh yes, Covid.  It sounds sensible and realistic to be afraid, be very afraid.

However, Jesus, Who knows all about this stuff, in the first line of our Gospel today states: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock…”  

Why, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, does Jesus instruct us to not be afraid?   Is Jesus out of touch, overly optimistic, not based in reality?  No.   Jesus tells us why we are not to be afraid in the very next line: “for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”

The Father is pleased to give us, all of us, the kingdom.

I would like you to note two things:  First, the reason we can let go of fear is not anything that we have done.  It is not anything that we accomplish.  It is not our doing.  It is totally because of God.  “your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”  We cannot accomplish this, but neither can we screw this up. It doesn’t depend on us.  It depends on God.

Secondly, what the Father gives us is not any limited, partial, temporary benefit, something that will fade and pass, but rather the kingdom, the kingdom of God which lasts for all eternity. 

          God’s Kingdom is indestructible and enduring.  And the Father is please to give us the kingdom.  So says Jesus.

While this is wonderful, and totally is God’s gracious gift, it does require a response from us: a response of trust and hope.  Jesus tells us to start living the Kingdom of God.  “Sell your belongings and give alms.”   Jesus radically calls us to make real our hope, not in the things of this world, but in the promise of God.

Jesus goes on: “Gird your loins and light your lamps…”   OK.  ¿Are your loins girded?  Or girt?   What does this mean?  The NRSV translates this as “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.”  Girding your loins has to do with the long robe people wore in the time of Jesus.  Girding your loins means to tuck up the bottom of your robe into your belt so that you can move more freely and quickly.  Maybe you have seen me pick up the bottom of my robe when I go up or down steps to that I don’t trip on it.  Girding your loins means getting ready for action.

The point here is that we cannot simply sit on our virtues and wait for God’s Kingdom to come along on its own.  Jesus tells us “Blessed are those servants (that is us, we are the servants), Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.”

To be vigilant means to be prepared and ready for action; the action of building up the Kingdom of God.  And that starts by not living in fear, but rather living in hope.

Fear is very real and prevalent in our world today.  So many people turn to hate, to division, to drugs and alcohol, to violence and acting out, to crazy conspiracy theories.  At the root of this self-destructive behavior is fear.  People are very afraid, afraid that they are irrelevant, that they don’t matter, that they have no say or control over their future.  So they hate and kill and destroy to make themselves feel potent,    that they matter.

But Jesus tells us, “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock…”  

We have to do something about that.  Not by our words, but by our actions, living out our faith that God is pleased to give us the Kingdom:   the Kingdom of righteousness, the Kingdom of compassion, the Kingdom of truth, the Kingdom of love.  God’s Kingdom. 

So gird your loins for action.  Light your lamps against the darkness of cynicism and despair.  Let your light shine.  And know that in doing so you are truly blessed.  AMEN.