Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton
HOMILY
Charismatic Conference – August 8, 2010
“Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be given unto you.”
When I hear those words, I think back to a life altering moment that occurred a way back in 1975. I was in my freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh. I was living a great life like any young person away from home for the first time with dreams and ambitions. I wanted to be a dentist. I never dreamt of becoming a priest, let alone a bishop.
And one day a good friend of mine invited me to go on a retreat that was being sponsored by campus ministry. Reluctantly I went. I knew some people so it wasn’t all that bad. I’d put in my time and get home early enough on Sunday to still have some fun on the weekend. … And Friday evening, a talk was given by a man who had worked with Dr. King in the civil rights movement. His name was Dr. John Perkins, a Baptist minister. I listened with interest in his reflections on the movement. And then he launched into a discussion about faith. And among the many things he said was this: You can be a religious person. You can go to church. You can go through all sorts of motions. But if you don’t have faith – faith in Jesus – if you don’t get to know him as a friend – your life will be empty with no meaning or purpose. … And my comfortable little world came crashing down. He was talking about me. … And thus began a spiritual transformation that has brought me to where I am today through the power and presence of God.
And do you know what song I heard for the first time that was sung all throughout that weekend in the fall of 1974? “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God.”
“Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be given unto you.”
That passage that means so much to us all is also the verse immediately prior to the beginning of today’s gospel on this 19th Sunday in the Church year.
And what a wonderful gospel to hear today as we reflect upon life, faith and the presence of God in our midst.
For all of the images in today’s gospel, listen especially to the words of Jesus right at the beginning: “Do not live in fear. You have been given the kingdom. So sell what you have and give to the poor. Make for yourselves an inexhaustible treasure in heaven. … Where your treasure lies, there your heart will be.”
Yet, also implicit in today’s gospel is the notion of accountability. We’re accountable for what we’ve been given through our faith in Jesus. And we fulfill that reality best in service. Indeed, the concluding words of the gospel passage sum up the entire spirit of today’s message: “Much will be demanded of the one to whom much has been entrusted.”
Some time before his death a few years ago, the author Kurt Vonnegut was at a lavish party hosted by a multi-billionaire at his estate on Long Island. He met up with a friend, the author Joseph Heller, the author of the well known novel Catch 22. Vonnegut recalled how he said asked Heller: “Joe, how does it make you feel to know that only yesterday, our host probably made more money than Catch 22, one of the most popular books of all time – has grossed over the past forty years?”
Here’s what Joseph Heller said in reply: “Kurt, it doesn’t bother me at all, because I have something that our host will never have. I have the knowledge that I have ENOUGH in life.”
What a powerful observation. To be able to possess the sense that we have ENOUGH from God is a mark of discipleship; of sanctity.
Some of us will always go through life thinking that we’ve come up short in terms of blessings and gifts from God.
Others of us, for some reason, are able to grasp the heart of today’s gospel and appreciate that we’ve been given all that we need in life – not in terms of material wealth, position or power – but all that we need in order to feel fulfilled, to have meaning and a purpose – all that we need in terms of faith and love – all that we need for salvation.
Have you ever stopped to appreciate what you’ve been given by God? I’m not talking about a new car, a raise in pay or a lottery jackpot. If you have those things, that’s great. I’m not talking about a perfect world free from pain and suffering – as much as we all pray that. Jesus’ world wasn’t perfect and surely not free from pain and suffering.
I’m talking about the lasting things of God … the gift of life, however long or short that it may be – loving relationships with family and friends – forgiveness when we need it – faith that enables us to face each day with hope – peace at our center, regardless of what life brings. We’ve ALL been given some of these gifts.
Just the other day, I was in a parish celebrating a mass and I met a woman whom I had known many years ago from one of my assignments. I hadn’t seen her in at least twenty years. She told me that her daughter died last year from pancreatic cancer at the same time that her son was diagnosed with ALS. She said that he died just a few months ago. But she recalled for me her last visit with him. He has lost the use of his right arm and both of his legs. In the course of her visit, he asked her for a drink and she turned away from his bed to get the glass of water and as she did, he touched her shoulder with his left hand, the only limb that still had movement. She looked at me and said: Isn’t that something? Right at the end, shortly before he died, he gave me the one thing that he still had. The use of his left hand.
If we are blessed with the wisdom to recognize all that we’ve been given – if we’re blessed to see that in life, God has given us ENOUGH to survive well through the love of Jesus, we have no choice but to take the lasting treasures of God and give them away to others who so desperately need them. Give to the poor, feed the hungry, forgive, welcome the stranger and love without counting the cost, generously and selflessly.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, talks at length about the love that God has given to us and our response to that love. And he roots our response to God’s love in the love that we have for our neighbor. He says that “for the Church, the People of God, love of our neighbor is a part of our very nature, an indispensable expression of our very being.” “How can we love God whom we cannot see if we fail to love and support and care for our brother or sister whom we have seen?”
Are there challenges to this invitation of our Holy Father and to living out the words of St. Luke’s gospel today to love generously and selflessly? Certainly there are. There are scandals in the Church today, the effects of which have taken considerable toll on many of the faithful who struggle to live their faith. And sadly, as Pope Benedict said recently: “The greatest persecution of the Church does not come from enemies on the outside, but is born of sin within the Church.”
The kingdom of God has been under attack from the very beginning and will continue to be – for the Church is made up of fragile, broken individuals very much in need of Jesus’ saving grace. Yet, our hope is rooted in that same Jesus, who when a storm that enveloped his disciples as they journeyed on the Sea of Galilee, was with them in the midst of turmoil … and in his time calmed the seas and brought peace to his disciples.
Amid the brokenness and turbulence of life, the words of Pope Paul VI bring us right back to the words of St. Luke spoken to us this day. “We are cleansed through the presence of Jesus in our lives and strengthened to live not for ourselves but for God, and to be united in love with our brothers and sisters.”
Today’s gospel reminds us that while gifted by God, while challenged by our broken world, we are STILL accountable for what we have been given.
Somebody once said that at the end of our lives, we will never regret missing out on one more business deal or one more car to buy or one more trip to take. We will however, regret time not spent with family members and friends. We will regret missed opportunities to share from our bounty with others; to forgive and be at peace; and to love. We will regret moments in which we failed to truly embrace the gospel values of Jesus in our lives.
We’ve all been given ENOUGH of what we truly need in life. You know that and so do I. We’ve been given the treasure of the Kingdom of God – a Kingdom of forgiveness – peace – love – and life. We’ve been giving the living presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The question that we need to confront every day of our lives is this: What have we done with what we have? What have we done with the treasures of the Kingdom that God has given to us?
