Homily for Fifth Sunday of Lent - April 7, 2019

Homily for April 7, 2019

Fifth Sunday of Easter

All Is Rubbish

            A few years ago, I had the privilege of meeting a remarkable man by the name of Eric Mahl. Eric had had an incredible life – he was a starting lineman on the Cleveland Browns back in 2005. Talented, kind-hearted, he had everything a man could want. But something was missing. He already had a deep faith in God, but he sensed God calling him to give up the money and the fame to pursue the Lord in a deeper way. So he did – after one season in the NFL, he walked away from it all and became a hermit for three years, trying to discern God’s will. After that, he began to minister among the homeless in Cleveland – as a poor man himself, having given away literally all of his possessions. He has since begun a ministry to bring the Divine Mercy message to the poor. When I met him, I was struck by his joy – he gave away everything earthly, but gained everything heavenly. He and I played Frisbee together out in the parking lot of the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge, and he was sharing how free he felt, and you could see it – God shone forth from his eyes. Literally, he had counted everything as rubbish for the surpassing joy of knowing Christ.

            St. Paul tells us that he counts everything as rubbish – as trash, as garbage – compared to knowing and pursuing Christ. All that stuff we want – the nice body, the good looks, the bank account, the college scholarship – is about as worthless as the stuff in our dumpster compared to the riches of the Lord Jesus.

St. John Vianney once said, “If people did for God what they do for the world, how many great saints there would be!”

            And consider what people do for success in the world! To get a fit body, people will spend endless hours in a gym, picking things up and putting them down. People tell me prayer is boring to them, but to me there is nothing more boring than lifting barbells over and over and over again! Plus, they often drink these incredibly disgusting protein shakes and swear off donuts forever. All this for a body that is going to become worm food in seventy years!

            Or to earn a big bank account, people often work long hours – sixty, seventy hour weeks – at a job they may not like that much, fighting traffic on 95 all the way down into the city, missing their kids’ sports games and family time. People tell me Mass takes too much time but they certainly have no problem working seven days a week! And for what? To buy a nice Mazerati that is just going to rust in a decade?

Now don’t get me wrong – it isn’t sinful to work out, make money, or succeed in life. On the contrary, God wants you to use your gifts and talents for Him. But when they take the place of holiness as the goal of our lives, that’s when we must remember that, in the long run, riches and fame and pleasure isn’t worth much compared to knowing the Lord!

Why? Because our deepest desires aren’t to be rich or famous or good-looking or to have lots of fun. Our deepest desire is to be loved, and to have a meaningful life. And only God can love us perfectly, infinitely, unconditionally. The greatest meaning in our life, then, is to live our lives in love with Him.

I want to be like St. Paul! I want my life to be lived with reckless abandon, pursuing Christ with the same passion that the saints had! Athletes seek after physical perfection, sacrificing everything to have it; executives often seek after money with total dedication; rock stars want fame and fortune more than anything. I want Christ to become literally the only goal of my life – to know His love and to love Him in return!

But St. Paul is realistic. He goes on to say, “I haven’t quite attained that goal yet!” He recognizes that he does not pursue the Lord perfectly, it’s something he needs to grow in. But listen to his words: “I forget the past but strain forward to what lies ahead!” Daily he seeks to grow in Christian maturity and in holiness. He already possesses Christ, but not perfectly – that is a growth on a daily basis.

Likewise, if you love the Lord and are a disciple, you already possess Christ. But not yet perfectly! That’s the whole point of Lent – to rid ourselves of the distractions of this world so that through prayer, fasting, and generosity to the poor, we become less attached to the pleasures and money and popularity of this world, so we can be free to pursue Christ daily. All that other stuff – yeah, it’s rubbish, trash, garbage – compared to the treasure of knowing the depths of God’s love for us, and knowing that our life is about giving glory to Him.