Sunday Homily 2-27-11, 8th Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 49, 14-15; Psalm 62, Rest in God alone, my Soul; 1 Corinthians 4, 1-5; Matthew 6, 24-34.
Isaiah reminders—
Author: This is Isaiah #2, the composer of chapters 40-55. January 6 we had a first reading from this same chapter 49, verses 4-5, talking about Yahweh’s people being a servant and light to the nations. I talked about the taxi driver whose son had been killed for his pickup truck in Cuernavaca.
Date: Ca. 575 before Christ. The Jewish people of Jerusalem are defeated, crushed, & in the Babylonian Captivity. Isaiah #3, chapters 56-66, is writing after the Babylonian Captivity.
Today’s Message: Even though life is bad, Yahweh says he will never forget his people, somewhat similar to the reading from January 6.
Sources: Good News Bible
Don’ Worry About Tomorrow?
Yesterday afternoon I did a funeral celebration for a lady named Rebecca Sides. It took place at Turrentine Funeral Home on Ridgeview. She died of cancer at 58.
I did not ever know Rebecca personally. I knew her through Jean Atwood’s son Sean, who married one of Rebecca’s three daughters, Terra. Rebecca was the payroll supervisor for the city of Plano, so there were numerous Plano City people there, including her supervisor and an assistance police chief, both of whom gave excellent talks.
Of all the things I heard about Rebecca the quality that struck me the most was the way she had her priorities in order. Her number one priority was her family. She seemed like the family matriarch, a magnetic force that brought members together, especially her 4 grand kids.
I talk about her because she exemplified what Matthew’s two lessons are trying to teach us today and what he has been trying to teach us all during this sermon on the mount. Namely, getting our priorities in order.
I want to say a word about each of Matthew’s points, serving two masters and not worrying about tomorrow. One preliminary reminder.
Matthew is again using exaggeration, hyperbole, and infinite demand to convey his message. Do you not want to say, ‘Are you nuts, are you crazy?’ There is another half, infinite acceptance, like the line, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in love.” Psalm 103 & other places.
First, ‘Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, your body, what you will wear. All these things will be given to you.’ Everyone can see this is like crazy. And this is the negative aspect. So it all gets dismissed.
The positive is the word ‘worry’ repeated four times and the reference to the birds and flowers. We can have our priorities and goals without worry. We can emulate the birds and flowers to a point. Worry leads to anxiety, to high blood pressure, and to strokes.
Secondly, the idea that we cannot serve two masters. The negative part of this lesson is that it is either/or, black or white, God or mammon. More exaggeration.
More positively, do we not serve a number of masters in our life? God may be an ultimate master. Do we not have numerous sub-masters? Could it be possible I am my own master? I wonder.
All these lessons seem to be telling us to get our priorities in order. From what I heard, Rebecca had hers in order.
What are your 3 biggest priorities in life?
Picture 1: Leo with his baby sitter, Lynda
Picture 2: Marlene & Cindy
Picture 3: Penny
Picture 4: Zoe