Homily
for Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
November
15, 2020
Growing
The Treasure
What is the greatest treasure you
have been given? Your health, your life, your gifts and talents, your family,
your possessions? No – our greatest gift, our greatest treasure is our Catholic
Faith. Without our Faith – without the knowledge of God’s love and hope of
everlasting life – what would be the purpose of everything else? It would be
utterly empty if not for the Faith that animates our life.
But Jesus makes it clear that the
treasure we have received is not static – it must grow. It cannot be buried in
the ground – in other words, we cannot say, “I come to Sunday Mass and believe
in Jesus, therefore I’ve done all I need to do.” No, faith is a living reality,
and all living things are either growing or dying. Things grow when you feed
them; they die when you starve them.
So what are you doing to feed your
faith, that it may grow? Here are a few suggestions.
First, spiritual reading. Do you
read the Bible or other spiritual books? Great saints were made through the
reading of spiritual books! In the 1300s, an Italian merchant named John
Colombino was rich, short-tempered, and unhappily married. One day he came home
from his warehouse late, very hungry, and when he arrived he was angered to see
that his wife hadn’t finished cooking dinner yet. He began to rage at her, but
she responded by saying, “Your dinner will be ready in a moment! While you
wait, here, read this book!” And she handed him the Lives of the Saints.
John threw the book on the floor,
saying, “All this is just fairy tales!” and went to sulk in the corner. But as
dinner was delayed even longer, out of boredom he picked up the book and began
to read the life of a saint. He was immediately drawn in, and in a couple
minutes when dinner was ready, his wife called him but he responded, “No, no,
let me finish reading.”
He read long into the night, and was
so moved by the stories of the saints that his life changed dramatically. He
eventually began giving alms, serving the poor and sick, and, with the
permission of his wife, began a religious order of brothers who served the
least fortunate. He is now St. John Colombino, whose life was changed because
of a book lying around the house!
Read solid Catholic books – and, as
we live in the 21st Century, you can also listen to good Catholic
podcasts (such as “Restless”, which is produced by the young adults here at our
parish) or watch good Catholic youtube videos. This is a great way to nourish
your faith that it may grow.
Another suggestion is to go on a
retreat or a pilgrimage. Even despite our post-Covid world, there are still
retreats available – the Sisters of Life in north Stamford offer retreats, or
you could make a private retreat at the Bridgettine Convent in Darien. There
are lots of great places to take pilgrimages around here: from the Lourdes
Shrine in Litchfield County, to the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge, MA, and
many others. Unplugging from the frantic pace of daily life and instead opening
yourself up to the peace and joy of Christ will powerfully grow your faith.
In the year 2000, a worldly young
Irish teenager named Clare Crockett was invited to go with some friends on a
retreat for Holy Week in Spain. Clare went along just for the fun of it, as she
was not religious at all. At the time, her life consisted of parties and boys
and acting (she had gotten a contract to star in a show on Nickelodeon). During
the retreat, she spent most of the time sunbathing, smoking cigarettes, and flirting
with boys. But on Good Friday, the retreat master forced all the teens into the
chapel for the Good Friday service where they venerated the crucifix by kissing
our Crucified Lord. This struck Clare deeply – she sat in the back of the
church weeping for hours afterward, realizing that Jesus Christ loved her
enough to die for her. When the retreat ended, she was a changed young woman.
When she returned to her acting gig, she realized how empty it was, and began
to pursue the Lord seriously. After a while, she became a nun and served the
poor in Spain, Florida, and Ecuador. While in Ecuador serving at a Catholic
school, a terrible earthquake hit her town in 2016 and she tragically perished
in the disaster…but her cause for canonization is now open, as she is being
considered for sainthood – all because of a retreat. The same deep encounter
with God’s love will happen to you, as well!
Finally, if you have not done so,
seek out fellowship with other Catholics which can grow your faith
tremendously. One of my co-hosts on the Restless show, Lauren, used to be a
lukewarm Catholic who only went to Mass on Sundays, but never took her faith
seriously otherwise. But one day my predecessor, Fr. Andy Vill, invited her to
come to Faith On Tap. For the first time she met other young adult Catholics
who were passionate about their Faith. From there, he invited her to join his
RCIA class, which helped her understand her Faith deeper, and then she went to
Spain for a retreat with Fr. Andy’s community…and now she is on-fire with love
for Christ, hosting a Catholic radio show, coming frequently to daily Mass…all
because of a simple invitation to come and hang out with other Catholics! We
have our Holy Name Society here for men, our youth group for young people, and
a Bible Study and study of Humanae Vitae for women…so the opportunities are out
there!
Of course, in addition to these
three suggestions, the main Catholic practices of prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving are powerful ways to grow your faith. Pray in a new way or a new
location; practice some self-denial which will conform you closer to Christ;
give of your time or money to others – and you will be amazed at how your
relationship with the Lord has grown!
This gift of our relationship to the
Lord Jesus through our Catholic Faith is the greatest treasure we could ever
receive, for it is the hope of everlasting life. But this gift of our faith is
not meant to be “buried” in the ground, as if we could merely come to Mass and
say our evening prayers and that’s enough. Rather, this treasure must grow and
grow until we can return to the Lord a life consumed by love for Him – and hope
to hear those beautiful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
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