Homily for
Ordinary Time 22
August 28, 2016
Love Without
Counting the Cost
Have you
ever watched those late-night infomercials? You know, the ones that try to sell
you a gadget you didn’t know you needed, for only $19.95 (plus shipping and
handling). Why is it that these gadgets aren’t enticing enough by themselves…they
always have a classic “but wait! There’s more!” part where they promise that
they’ll throw in something free? I mean, who cares that this newfangled piece
of machinery slices and dices vegetables, waxes your car, and removes unsightly
eyebrow hair…you ALSO need the gadget’s little cousin which files your taxes
and pets your dog for you. Advertisers throw in that “extra” because they know
we want to get our money’s worth!
Whenever
we buy something we’re always asking two things. First, how much is it going to
cost? Second, am I getting value for my money? We want to pay very little but receive
quite a bit. We say, “Hmm, that used car costs $2,000 but only has 90,000 miles
on it…I can probably drive it for five years…is it a good deal?” We want to
know that we’re getting a good deal, that we’re coming out on top, that we’re
getting back more value on our investments, that the reward will be greater
than the cost.
Unfortunately
some of us carry this mentality over into our relationships as well. We say, “What’s
in it for me?” with our human relationships. We want to spend time with
wealthy, successful people so that we can climb the career ladder – we call
that “networking”. We cultivate a friendship with someone we hope will help us
out in the long run. We are kind and patient for a friend…and secretly we hope
that they will return the favor. I see this in married couples all the time –
the wife is able to go away for a weekend with her girlfriends, so the husband expects
to have a similar trip with his fishing buddies. The husband spends a hundred
dollars on a new power tool, and the wife wants the same for herself.
It’s human nature to want to
count the cost when we give. But this attitude is foreign to Christianity –
Jesus tells us in the Gospel to give a banquet for those who can’t repay us. In
other words, we must love without counting the cost!
There is a wonderful religious
order of nuns in France called the “Little Sisters Disciples of the Lamb” which
is unique because the order contains several sisters who have Downs’ Syndrome.
With the help of the non-disabled sisters, those nuns with Downs’ Syndrome live
a common life together in prayer, sacrifice, and manual labor. Their life is
beautiful – it recognizes the dignity of all human beings, both those who are
healthy and those with disabilities. And, I am sure, those non-disabled sisters
receive so much love and affection from their disabled sisters…their life must
be filled with abundant joy!
We find
that when we love and sacrifice without expecting anything in return, we end up
getting more than we could ever have asked for. Those nuns who have given their
life to serve their sisters with Downs’ Syndrome have received back far more
love and joy than they give. As a wise priest once told me, “Where there’s
love, sacrifice is easy.”
So, let’s
talk about how to give without counting the cost:
First,
giving to God. We have three things we can give to God – our time, our talents,
and our treasure. We give God our time by spending it in prayer and worship.
There is a great story of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests who was
the pastor of a tiny country parish in France…he continually encouraged all of
his parishioners to make sure Sunday was a day of rest and worship at Mass.
There was one harvest season where the harvesters were working extra hard to
harvest the grain on a Saturday night. The holy priest went out to the fields
and asked them if they planned to take a rest on Sunday. The men refused,
saying that storms were coming and they needed to get all of the wheat into the
barn before the heavy storms destroyed the crops. The saint promised them that
if they came to Mass and rested on Sunday, God would not allow a storm to touch
their crops. Reluctantly the men agreed…so the next morning they came to Mass
amidst black clouds that threatened rain. All afternoon they rested, fearful of
torrential downpours that would wipe out their crops. But as it turned out, the
storm cloud passed over them without destroying their crops, and they were able
to resume harvesting on Monday, which turned out to be a beautiful day! They
discovered that when they gave the proper time to God, He would bless their
efforts and labors.
Second, giving
to others. We ought to strive to love without counting the cost – whether it is
listening to a lonely relative when we could be busy, playing with our kids
when we’d rather be watching TV, making food for a friend going through a tough
time. Again, when we give to others, we give them our time, our talents (our
love, energy, attention), and our treasure. We must make sure our motivations
are pure, that we are giving because the other person is made in God’s image
and likeness, and not just so we can “get” something from them. We should
always choose to give to those who have little, so that it will be God who
repays us – and He repays generously!
We will find that when we give
without counting the cost, without expecting anything in return, we end up richer
than in the first place – rich in God’s grace, rich in virtue, rich in
rewarding relationships with one another. And those are the true riches that
really count!
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