Homily for January 17, 2016 - Ordinary Time 2

Homily for January 17, 2016

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

We Become What We Believe In

 

            One of my favorite Christian hip-hop artists (yes, there is such a thing) is a man named Lecrae…yes, that’s his full name. He had quite a remarkable conversion story. Like many fatherless black men, he grew up on the streets of Dallas, becoming a drug dealer by the time he was sixteen. His grandma had given him a bible, but he never looked at it, just threw it on the backseat of his car as a good-luck charm.

            One day he was pulled over by a cop and busted for drugs. But as the officer was searching the car for drugs, he found the bible in the backseat. The officer told him that he would let him off and wouldn’t arrest him, if he promised to start reading the Bible. Of course Lecrae agreed…and it slowly started to change his life. Although he didn’t change overnight, that was the opening to allow the Holy Spirit to transform him. He’s now a faithful Christian artist, ministering to many fatherless urban youth through his music.

            As one of my favorite alternative bands sings, “We become what we believe in.” The key to today’s Gospel is in the last sentence: “This was the first of Jesus’ miracles, and His disciples began to believe in Him.” There are all sorts of things you can take from this miracle – Jesus sanctifying marriage by His presence at the wedding feast, His love for His mother in respecting her request for more wine, the great love of God for us in caring even about the mundane problems of life like running out of wine at a party – but the overarching reality is that this miracle drives home the weight of Jesus Himself. Yes, this man here truly is the Son of God, Who has power to change water into wine, who has power to walk on water, to change bread into His Body, to raise the dead.

            We become what we believe in. What if we took seriously the words of Jesus? What if we got rid of this false idea that those words in the Gospels are just nice words, high ideals, but not actually how we are supposed to live? I fear that we don’t really believe in Jesus. We think He’s some sort of myth that’s supposed to make us feel good. Last year I visited our religious education kids to talk about Jesus’ Resurrection and one of the kids said to me, “Wait, you mean to tell me that really happened?” Uh, yeah, it did. And until we realize that what Jesus said is absolutely real – as real as the science we believe in, as real as the politics we follow, more real than all of the worries and cares and concerns of our daily lives – than our lives will not be changed by Him and by His grace. We become what we believe in.

             Once we believe – like Mary did, like the disciples did – then Mary’s exhortation makes sense: Do whatever He tells you. If Jesus is a myth, don’t bother. But if Jesus is real, and He is who He says He is, then His words are our directions for life. Pick up your Cross and follow Me. If something causes you to sin, cut it off. Forgive your enemies. Strive to become a saint. We become what we believe in.

            I can testify that this is countercultural, even among Christians. One time I went out to lunch with one of the deacons at a different parish, and he was encouraging me to order dessert. I told him, jokingly, “Nah, I’ve got two goals in life: to be a saint, and to be a thin priest. And I think both of them will be equally difficult!” His face grew very dark and he shot back, “You think you can be a saint? Who do you think you are?” Woah! Come on, man, aren’t you a deacon? I mean, I know I’m nothing special, but shouldn’t that be everyone’s goal? Doesn’t the Gospel mean anything? He didn’t really believe that we should take Jesus’ words seriously. We become what we believe in.

            It boils down to this: Jesus is real. He proved it through miracles, like at the Wedding Feast of Cana. I can testify that He has proved it over and over again in my life. This Faith we believe is not a myth. It’s the Truth. And if you believe in the Truth – not halfheartedly, but with your entire life - you will become what you believe in: you will become a saint.