Sunday Homily, February 11, 2007 – 6th Sunday, Ordinary Time
Readings: Jeremiah 17, 5-8; Psalm 1; 1 Corinthians 15, 12-20; Luke 6, 17-26.
Jeremiah – Picture this: all the students & faculty are assembled. You go before them and tell them that they are all lazy, selfish, egotistical, and fat. Change or you will fail in life. They boo you. The principal, too, gets up and says the same. You and the principal love these people.
After school you pass through the parking lot & the kids curse you, trash you, throw rocks at your car, and spit on you. Same with the principal. The atmosphere in the school and attitude of the students goes down.
This is where we find Jeremiah and Yahweh. They have warned the people and the people have rebelled. Both Jeremiah and Yahweh are downhearted. What we read is Yahweh’s response while he is in this depressed mood, in the eyes of the writer.
Corinthians – Paul continues to address the people of Corinth, this time about the resurrection.
Trust No One?
When I first came home from East Africa, I spent the winter at the Jesuit church in downtown Houston until I could get a program in Dallas. One early evening after visiting my mom here in Dallas, I was returning to Houston. I had my airline ticket and went to Love Field. I stood in that Houston line, got to the counter, gave the attendant my ticket, and she says to me, “You are at the wrong airport.”
Talk about feeling like a fool. I had an A.A. ticket instead of Southwest. To compound my feelings, when the girl asked if I would like to buy a ticket, I realized I had about $20 in change, no more. No credit or debit card yet. I was just back from Africa. Plus, now I was alone, because my mom had gone back home. No cell phone naturally.
Despite the desire I had to crawl in a hole and disappear, I figured I had to do something dramatic quickly. So I turned around, faced the long line of afternoon commuters, addressed everyone, and asked if someone could loan me the fare, which was only about $35 those days.
Guess what happened. Yes, a lady from Victoria stepped up and loaned me the money. What would I have done if everyone had just ignored me? Wow, it scares me to imagine it. She was very cordial and I sent her the money later from Houston.
“Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings.” Remember what I said about Yahweh being depressed and hurt by his people’s behavior. The writer of Jeremiah is imagining what Yahweh’s response would have been. The writer might have just been hurt by his best friend.
Trouble is, the person who trusts not one single person, that person is poverty stricken, truly poor. You hear occasionally of people whose attitude toward others is that everyone is out to get you. Pretty pessimistic. Probably a sentiment resulting from hurts earlier in life.
Today with our gift of the New Testament, we might modify this. I would suggest that we arrive at the Kingdom today by trusting in God and by trusting people. We enter the Kingdom more easily with a community, like we enjoy here.
If I did not trust people, I would not have asked the crowd for air fare. If the lady from Victoria did not trust, I would not have received a gift. As it was, we both arrived in the Kingdom—Houston Hobby.
When was the last time you were blessed by trusting?