Homily for Ordinary Time 24 - September 12, 2021

 

Homily for September 12, 2021

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

No Shortcuts to Heaven

 

            We all like shortcuts to achieving our goals. You may see ads or headlines that read, “Three easy steps to becoming a millionaire!” or “Eat this one food and lose twenty pounds!” or “Here’s the secret to looking young forever!” We all want that one shortcut that is going to keep us healthy, or help us earn lots of money, or keep our brains active in our senior years.

            But the truth is, there is no shortcut to real fulfillment. Having good health doesn’t require “three easy steps” – it requires us to eat right and work out, both of which are not always easy. Making money isn’t easy – it requires working hard, saving, and using our money wisely. There are no “quick tips” to a happy marriage – it requires the daily sacrifice, love, and faithfulness from two persons. The world wants to make things easy, convenient, pleasant – but true fulfillment comes from sacrifice, discipline, self-denial.

            Hence Jesus’ admonition to Peter: “You are thinking, not as God does, but as human beings do!” Peter wanted salvation without the Cross – he wanted Jesus to find an easy, convenient, three-step shortcut to saving the world. But Jesus says no – He would have to take the long, difficult, painful road to the Cross – and in doing so, He shows us where our salvation lies.

            Pope Benedict XVI once said, “The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness!” Not just greatness in the worldly sense, but to be truly free, joyful, authentic, virtuous, intimately united to the Lord – and all of this demands nothing less than the Cross.

            This is the paradox: truly living for Christ means the Cross, but it is also the way to authentic fulfillment and happiness. Consider: which is easier, to watch TV or to pray? But which one leads to greater joy? Is it easier to sleep in, or go to Mass? And yet don’t we always walk out of Mass and think, “Yeah, that was good, I’m glad I went!”? It’s easier to get a dog than to be generous with God and have another child, but which one leads to more fulfillment? It’s easier to hold a grudge than to forgive, but which one sets us free? It’s easier to sleep with your boyfriend or girlfriend rather than waiting for marriage, but which one leads to more joy on the wedding night? It’s more pleasant to go on a costly vacation than to give to the poor, but which one brings us the joy of a clean conscience?

            I truly believe that the main reason why people, especially young people, stop attending Mass and following the Lord isn’t because they have an intellectual objection to the Faith. Rather, they leave because being a disciple is difficult, challenging, costly. It’s just plain easier and more pleasant to sleep in on Sunday, live selfishly, indulge every desire for alcohol and fun and sex. And I will not lie to you – following Christ demands nothing less than the Cross. As GK Chesterton said, “It isn’t that the Christian ideal has been tried and found wanting. Rather, it has been found difficult, and left untried.”

            But the Christian ideal is also the only thing that truly fulfills us. Just last weekend I spoke with a young man who said that since he had returned to the Lord, he was happier than he had been since his childhood – even though he had to give up a lot of sins and addictions. He who loses his life for Christ, will find it.

            A beautiful example of this is Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. He was born into a wealthy, influential family in Turin, Italy in 1901. His father was the editor of the largest newspaper in Italy – and he was an atheist. His mother only went to church twice per year. But from his youngest days, Pier was drawn to God, and would often stop into churches to pray and walk himself to Mass. His relationship with the Lord Jesus had practical, difficult consequences. Often he would be walking outside on a cold winter’s day and find a poor man who was freezing, and young Pier would give his coat to him. Upon returning home, his mother would be furious that he had lost his coat, and Pier would never tell her where it went. As a teen, he began to skip out on family vacations to instead serve the poor of Turin, using his own generous allowance to buy them medicine and food. His family began to think that he was crazy for not living the lavish lifestyle they were accustomed to, but Pier received greater joy from simplicity and generosity than they had from posh living. Due to his work with the sick and poor, Pier caught polio when he was only 24 years old – but faced this cross with joy, trying to hide his physical weakness from his family so that they wouldn’t worry about him. His family, for their part, still thought he was just plain crazy for being so super-religious. It was only after his death from polio that they glimpsed his holiness – at his funeral, over 2,000 people attended, mostly the poor who had been helped by Pier’s generosity. Although he could have lived a wealthy, relaxing life, he knew that discipleship demanded so much more – and he gave away the wealth, the vacations, and even lost his family’s respect because of Christ. And yet he is now numbered among the saints!

            There are no shortcuts to Heaven. There is no easy way to become a saint. Rather, we must daily take up our Cross, conform our lives to Him, and in doing so, we will find a richer, more fulfilling life both here and in the life to come, better than any of the empty pleasures that the world can offer.