Homily

I have absolutely no interest in the Academy Awards show, but last Monday I read a headline about an incident that took place there, so I read the news piece. You probably know about this, but for those of you who may not, here is a short summary of what happened. The comedian Chris Rock was onstage. Sitting up front was the actor Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett, who had a shaved head. The comedian made a joke about her look and mentioned maybe she would be starring in G.I.Jane 2. Her husband, Will Smith, then came onstage and slapped Chris Rock. Returning to his seat he yelled out twice, “You keep my wife’s name out of your blankety-blank mouth.”

This incident came up when I was talking with a parishioner and he said, “Did you know they have an ‘open marriage’?” What? I had no idea. So it appears that it is okay if another man has relations with his wife, but if you make a joke about her shaved head you have stepped over the line and you’re gonna get slapped. Unbelievable. And friends this is why I chose not to become a movie star.

I read one article about this incident. Then I read another one about what happened the next day. And another one. Then yesterday there was a video that was taken from behind the couple showing her laughing at the joke. And then I thought: what are you doing reading and watching this stuff? Okay maybe one article but why are you continuing to waste time on these wealthy, immoral celebrities? What is wrong with you? (And I should never ask myself that question because it takes hours to answer it.)

In our modern times we have access to so much information and even disinformation that it is absolutely amazing to think about it. When I was in college you received information through books, magazines, newspapers, tv, radio and people you were talking with. Those of you who are older know what I am talking about. Today you just plug in to the internet and you can spend hours and hours going here and there and everywhere in an instant. I put the word “information” into a Google search and it came up with 5 billion, three-hundred and thirty million results in half a second. I put in the word “sex” and the results were 4 billion, five-hundred, seventy-million articles, and the first article at the top of the list is by Planned Parenthood, of course. Don’t think that Satan doesn’t have his hand on the world-wide-web.

Our newsfeeds offer headlines to try and pull you in to their advertising. Things like, “40 Secrets Only Target Employees Know About” and “Celebrity Nannies Tell All About Their Wicked Bosses”, and “Singer Katy Perry Says Daughter’s Unconditional Love Always Helps Her Mental Health.” Wow! All this important, life-changing information. But, of course, so much of what we encounter on the internet is designed to pull you in, keep you there and get you to see ads so you will buy something. To go to this site or that site so money can be made from your reading and your watching. What will it take to pull you in?

It made me think once again about how much discipline I ought to have when it comes to using the internet. Of course, there is good, uplifting, useful and thought-provoking information on the internet. For example, Carl is the editor of Catholic World Report, an excellent website for good reading about spiritual and moral topics and I encourage you to go there often. (I was not paid to make this recommendation…at least not yet.) Our own parish website has tons of information about our parish and the Church, and unlike so many small church websites it is always up to date and refreshed, thank you Steve Chipman.

But I realize that for myself I waste too much time on internet junk, and so many times out of a stupid, curious desire. I didn’t read about the 40 secrets only Target employees know about, but you understand how such tactics work. What? 40 secrets only they know about? I want to know too! And in you go. At the beginning of last month I was reading article after article about the war in Ukraine. And I started to realize that so many of the articles were repeating the same information, over and over again. It is good to be informed, but not to waste my time going over and over the same old stuff or every little thing about the war. I need to be much more discriminating. I now choose to read only those pieces that really are helpful in understanding what is going on, and not just trying to get me to click on the article. It would be more helpful to spend more time praying for Ukraine rather than just swallowing every article the media wants to put on my plate.

I know I still need to be even more careful about how I spend my time on the internet, how much time I spend on the internet, and making sure that I am definitely in control of how I am using the internet, rather than letting the internet use me. And that’s a real danger. That I am not using the internet, but the internet is using me.

Yesterday, during the Akathist, one of the texts read, “Let us estrange ourselves from the world and turn our minds to heaven.” Nothing good or helpful is going to come to me by reading about Will Smith or Jada Pinkett, so how much time should I put in there? Wouldn’t it be better to turn my mind toward heaven instead? Wouldn’t it be better to think about our Lord and His great love for us? About the saints, none of whom ever attended the Academy Awards, but they led lives of virtue and love and honor and godliness? To read a bit more from the Bible instead of a stupid online article that tempts our curiosity? To watch something that is thoughtful and uplifting rather than something scandalous and degrading? And how much time should we be spending on the internet simply because we are bored and looking for something to stimulate us?

“Let us estrange ourselves from the world and turn our minds to heaven.” What a beautiful thought, because the things of heaven are indeed beautiful and uplifting, encouraging and hopeful. Lent is time to turn our minds to heaven and be less involved in worldly confusion and temptation. It doesn’t happen so very easily. We need to choose to lift our minds up to heaven, because there are countless temptations to get us so thoroughly involved in the struggles of the world, we forget that God is the Lord. Lift our minds to heaven in prayer, in reading, in watching, in discussions, and in our thoughts. The war in Ukraine did not begin because of people whose minds were fixed on the things of heaven. And no matter what the future may bring in Ukraine, the true victory will always be in the hands of people who do have their minds set on faith in the Lord. That’s true for us also. That is where we will find our own personal victory in Jesus Christ our Lord, so let us think even more about that glorious truth. Two weeks left for this Great Fast and I believe we can still do better to refocus our lives where they ought to be. And the Lord will help us to do so, if we only ask Him.