Feb. 6, 2011: 5th Sunday Ordinary (A)
Click to hear audio homily
A Few days ago I went to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital to visit a parishioner from my previous parish. When I entered the room, the parishioner was about to eat lunch, so I first gave him the anointing and sat down with his family member to chat. Meanwhile, the patient was having difficulty opening up the tray of food he received. His left hand was previously amputated, and he only has his right hand to pry open the tightly wrapped fork and knife and tightly sealed juice cup. I was debating with myself whether to help him or not, for I did not want to take away his sense of independence and hurt his feelings. I ignored my internal debate and sprang up to help him get situated with his food. When he said, "Thank you," I sat down again, wondering to myself what else can I do for him.
On the TV above the bed was playing America's Funniest Video. A 3-year old boy was taking a bath, and on a plastic stool nearby, was his white cat watching him with curiosity. The little boy must have thought that his 'friend' was missing out on all the fun of bathing, so the little boy grabbed hold of the paws of his cat and pulled him into the bath tub. Once in the water, the cat frantically tried to swim out of the slippery bath tub. After multiple tries, the cat finally got himself out of the water, and the boy watched with surprise as to why his furry buddy didn't like a bath. The family member and I laughed and laughed. I sat there the next 20 minutes with the family caretaker watching and laughing at more clips of bloopers. I got up, said my goodbyes, and walked to the door. I wondered to myself, 'I wasn't much help to the patient; I just watched TV.' Then as I was walking toward the elevator, a thought occurred to me. 'He has been in and out of the hospital for the past 3-4 weeks with much pain and suffering. He probably hasn't heard much laughing lately. I hope our laughing helped to give him a sense of normalcy.'
Sometimes we wonder, what did we do for God today? All too often our answer is, 'Nothing,' similar to what I felt when I left the hospital room. When we hear Jesus say to us in the Gospel, “You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world," we may say to ourselves, "I haven't been the salt of the earth or the light of the world today. What good was I?" We heard in the First Reading, "Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed..." And we say to ourselves, 'I haven't fed a hungry person off the street, I haven't provided shelter to the homeless.'
Perhaps God is not asking us to look outside of our surroundings to be His Salt and His Light. When some people think of doing the work of God, they immediately think of places such as soup kitchen and homeless shelters. While these are wonderful works of charity, we must also look closer to home and places of work. Mother Teresa said, ”We forget, sometimes, that we are called to give God’s love and compassion first to our families, those are the very life of our life. So often, in our heart, there is bitterness; on our tongue, there are ugly words; in our attitude, there is pride. To think that in that very heart Jesus comes; so on that very tongue we receive Jesus; and that attitude is so unworthy of us who are called to belong to Christ...Much of the hurt in our homes comes from uncontrolled use of words, said anywhere, in front of other people. Let us open our eyes to the harm we do."
She continues, "More and more, make your homes places of love and peace. Don’t let the devil cheat you by his evil ways, tempting you to be unkind and harsh to one another. Enjoy each other. Love one another as Jesus has loved you. “See how they love each other,” Jesus said. Let us be faithful to his teaching. Do not spoil the work of God by your unkindness...The simplest way to become his light is to be kind and loving, thoughtful and sincere with each other."
A Few days ago I went to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital to visit a parishioner from my previous parish. When I entered the room, the parishioner was about to eat lunch, so I first gave him the anointing and sat down with his family member to chat. Meanwhile, the patient was having difficulty opening up the tray of food he received. His left hand was previously amputated, and he only has his right hand to pry open the tightly wrapped fork and knife and tightly sealed juice cup. I was debating with myself whether to help him or not, for I did not want to take away his sense of independence and hurt his feelings. I ignored my internal debate and sprang up to help him get situated with his food. When he said, "Thank you," I sat down again, wondering to myself what else can I do for him.
On the TV above the bed was playing America's Funniest Video. A 3-year old boy was taking a bath, and on a plastic stool nearby, was his white cat watching him with curiosity. The little boy must have thought that his 'friend' was missing out on all the fun of bathing, so the little boy grabbed hold of the paws of his cat and pulled him into the bath tub. Once in the water, the cat frantically tried to swim out of the slippery bath tub. After multiple tries, the cat finally got himself out of the water, and the boy watched with surprise as to why his furry buddy didn't like a bath. The family member and I laughed and laughed. I sat there the next 20 minutes with the family caretaker watching and laughing at more clips of bloopers. I got up, said my goodbyes, and walked to the door. I wondered to myself, 'I wasn't much help to the patient; I just watched TV.' Then as I was walking toward the elevator, a thought occurred to me. 'He has been in and out of the hospital for the past 3-4 weeks with much pain and suffering. He probably hasn't heard much laughing lately. I hope our laughing helped to give him a sense of normalcy.'
Sometimes we wonder, what did we do for God today? All too often our answer is, 'Nothing,' similar to what I felt when I left the hospital room. When we hear Jesus say to us in the Gospel, “You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world," we may say to ourselves, "I haven't been the salt of the earth or the light of the world today. What good was I?" We heard in the First Reading, "Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed..." And we say to ourselves, 'I haven't fed a hungry person off the street, I haven't provided shelter to the homeless.'
She continues, "More and more, make your homes places of love and peace. Don’t let the devil cheat you by his evil ways, tempting you to be unkind and harsh to one another. Enjoy each other. Love one another as Jesus has loved you. “See how they love each other,” Jesus said. Let us be faithful to his teaching. Do not spoil the work of God by your unkindness...The simplest way to become his light is to be kind and loving, thoughtful and sincere with each other."
