Homily for Ordinary Time 3 - January 21, 2018

Homily for January 21, 2018

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

Sin & Repentance

            Some people tell me that the Church talks way too much about sin. But it seems to me that sin is the greatest cause of unhappiness in the world. And the church wants people to be happy with that deep joy that comes from God alone!

            Saying the Church talks too much about sin is like saying, “I don’t go to my doctor anymore because he just kept talking about my high cholesterol. That’s all he ever talked about – cholesterol this, heart attack that. I wish he would talk about the good things instead of such negativity!” Well, why would someone’s doctor constantly be talking about cholesterol? Maybe because he knows you need to focus on fixing it in order to be in good health!

            Likewise, our relationship with God isn’t healthy if we persist in unrepentant sin. And that’s precisely what sin is – it’s wounding a relationship, not breaking a rule. All relationships have unwritten rules about them. For example, if you’re married, it’s an unwritten rule that you have to remember your anniversary. Imagine if a man (sorry guys, it’s usually the husband) forgot his anniversary, and his wife got mad about it. The man might try to say, “What’s the big deal? You know I love you. It’s a silly rule that I have to remember our anniversary anyway.” To which the woman might respond, “It’s not a silly rule! It shows that you love me and you value our marriage!” And then he has to sleep on the couch for the night.

            That’s why Jesus’ first words are “Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Repent – turn away from your sins, those selfish and harmful actions and thoughts which destroy our peace and our relationships. The Kingdom of God is at hand – we turn our thoughts, words, and actions over to Christ’s dominion, finding freedom in obedience to His commands and seeking to live for His glory.

            Jesus Christ came specifically to conquer sin. It was because of our sin that He died; it is to conquer sin that He rose. It’s no surprise that on Easter Sunday night, the very first time He appeared to His disciples after the Resurrection, the first gift He gave them was the ability to forgive sins! He knew that sin was an obstacle blocking His grace from flowing into the souls of men and women, so for His victory to take root in their lives they needed to confess and repent of their sin!

            We sin because we think sin will make us happier. St. Augustine tells a great story in his autobiography Confessions. When Augustine was a young man, he was walking with some companions by a pear orchard. He saw a tree that was loaded with pears, and a sinful desire began to take root in his heart. He thought about the pears and how delicious it would be to steal one. He jumped the fence and quickly stole a pear from the tree. But when he bit into it, he found it to be terribly hard and underripe! Later reflecting on the experience, he realized that he savored the thought of the pear, but when he actually did it, it ended up being very empty.

            And isn’t that how it is with us? We sin when we pursue counterfeit goods, instead of the true Good – God Himself. One time when I was a young seminarian, I accompanied our eighth-graders on a trip to New York (we were all from Baltimore, so New York was quite a treat). One of the kids, a boy named Alex, went shopping in Battery Park from one of those hucksters who sells cheap knock-off stuff illegally. Afterward, on the bus ride home, he was showing me his fake Rolex watch. He was so happy that he got it for only ten dollars! I kept telling him, “That’s not a real Rolex! Don’t you know it’s a fake?” But he kept insisting that it was a real one, after all, “The guy who sold it to me said it was real!” Yeah, right. About ten minutes later, he came back to me and showed me the watch. “It’s not ticking anymore. It doesn’t seem to be working!” he lamented. Of course not, Alex. He sold you fake goods.

            Same way with sin. Sin tempts us with pleasure – don’t you want to say that unkind word? Won’t it be fun to tell that dirty joke? Just this once, it’s no big deal if you cheat on the test. But when push comes to shove, that happiness is as fake as a Rolex from Battery Park. It lasts just a moment, and leaves us with emptiness.

            So what is the remedy? Exactly what Jesus tells us to do – repent, and put our lives under His Kingship. I am amazed, in the Gospel, at how quickly Peter, Andrew, James, and John leave everything behind to follow Jesus. Perhaps they tried out a life of sin and found it miserable. Perhaps they were looking for a deeper happiness, and they only found it in Christ. I do know that we should be equally as quick to leave behind our sin, get to Confession, and follow Jesus Christ by putting our entire lives under His Kingship.

            I leave you with two questions: what do you need to repent of? And what part of your life is God inviting you to submit to His Kingship?