Homily

After a certain number of birthdays, you begin to wonder how many more birthdays you have left in you. You look at the obituaries and see a number of people younger than you who are dead, and then there are those who are older than you but they look younger than you. Then I came across this piece by St. Augustine, and pardon me if I paraphrase. He says,

"There are two kinds of blessings, temporal (or material, or worldly) blessings and eternal blessings. Temporal blessings are health, honor, friends, a home, children, a wife, and other things of this life in which we are travelers. We are guests in this hotel of life as travelers passing on, not as owners who intend to remain."

For me that's a very comforting reminder. There is nothing here that I truly own, nothing here that will not change and pass away. I am only a traveler.

St. Augustine continues,

"But eternal blessings are, first, eternal life itself, the incorruption and the immortality of body and soul, the society of angels, the heavenly city, unfailing glory, the Father and our homeland, and He is without death and in our homeland there are no enemies. Let us desire these blessings with all our heart, and persevere in asking for them.... For eternal blessings are always good for those who have them and they never cause any harm."

I'm always glad to be reminded that this is not my real and lasting home. Sometimes when I'm thinking "maybe I should vacuum this month" the thought occurs to me, "Don't worry, this is not your real home." But you know it's true—we were not made to vacuum for eternity. We were made to know, love, and serve God in this brief life on earth, and to be happy with Him for all eternity when this life is over. NOT TO VACUUM—NOT EVEN TO RAISE A FAMILY, NOT EVEN TO DO GOOD WORKS—BUT HAPPY WITH GOD.

St. Augustine has more to say:

"Temporal, worldly good things sometimes help a person and sometimes harm a person. Poverty has profited many people and wealth has harmed many: a quiet, private life has helped many, while fame and publicity have harmed many. And again money has profited some people and fame has profited some if they know how to use them well. But for those who do not use them well, having them has caused more damage than if they had never been rich or famous."

The temptation is to think that if I had a lot of money, I would do well, I would do better with it, I would know how to use it. O Lord, please put me to the test! And yet we don't have to look far to see how easily and how thoroughly money and fame can ruin a person's life.

St. Augustine says,

"Brethren, let us ask for those worldly blessings too, but in moderation, being sure that He Who knows what is good for us will give them to us if they will truly do us good. Trust in your Father Who will give you what is truly good for you."

This is also a fine reminder and certainly true. Is there something I absolutely need and God is holding back from me like a miser, or a tyrant, or a cruel Father Who has no love for His children? Is this how our heavenly Father treats us? I don't think so; but I need reminders; maybe just as your children do.

St. Augustine:

"Just as your own son may not understand how the world works and you know that, so are you also lacking in the understanding of God's ways and purposes. Let's say your own son asks for a knife and you will not give it to him lest he harm himself. He cries all day long for what he wants, but you don't give in because of his tears because you do not want to cry over his death. He may cry and beat himself and throw himself on the ground because he wants to ride a horse, but you will not allow him to do it because he does not know how to control a horse and it may throw him off and kill him. You refuse your son this thing, this part, so that all of him will be preserved. You will not give even a little thing that will be dangerous to him."

We have all made choices for things that we thought would be good for us only to discover later that they were harmful or even dangerous. Obviously some of them may have been morally wrong and we paid a price for that. Others may not have been sinful in any way and yet they still were not good for us. We do not have the knowledge of God, we cannot safely predict in every time and every place what or how things will turn out. But certainly we should trust that God will never give us any evil thing, nor will He give us any good thing that might for some reason cause us harm because we cannot, or will not use it for good.

So we pray, but we also trust in our Father's total love for us. We hear today the word "journey" used so very often. People say they are on a "journey" of self-discovery, or an experience, or a TV singing competition—today it seems everyone is on some kind of journey. There is only one journey that matters: we are travelling through this life and we're on our way back home. All this is passing, temporary, good enough for now but not forever. Our Father calls us home. He sent His Son to bring us back to Him. The Son too wants us to come home, and if we seek Him out as the Magi did He will never fail to help us because He became a man, giving up everything He had, even His own life, so that all of us could go home. May we always follow Him so closely that our lives are in His hands.