July 17, 2011: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Click to hear audio homily
People have told me that the first week that Fr. Phil was assigned here at Ascension of Our Lord seven years ago, he presided over six funerals. So the parishioners are not surprised when in my first week here at Ascension I have faced four funerals. Over the past three years as a young priest I have presided over many funerals. For some of those who died, I journeyed with them from their advanced stage of illness to their last breath. I think Catholic priests have a unique privilege of witnessing souls putting closure on a very short-term earthly life to begin a very long-term eternal life in Heaven.

It's my experience that some souls are better prepared to put closure on their earthly life than others. I remember visiting a man whose cancer had spread through his entire body. When I entered his room, he had a beer in his hand and was joking with friends who were visiting him. The moment I mentioned preparing for dying and receiving the anointing, he jolted and dropped his beer, which spilled over his blanket. I left that house thinking this man was not prepared to put closure on his very short earthly life. A few days later I heard from his wife that he had passed. Some souls I encounter do not even have time to unpack for this earthly life. I remember standing over incubators at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Woman's Hospital with anxious new moms and dads. One child I was called to visit lived only two hours outside his mama's womb. I baptized the child and he was ready for his heavenly home but his mom and dad were not ready for him to go.

Knowing that our life on earth can be as short as two hours or as short as 90 years, how should we prepare for the new life in Heaven that will unfold when we die? There is a popular saying that says, "Think with end in mind." I would tweak that and say, "Live your life as if you are already living in Heaven." I came across a man who is doing just that. He came to the church where I was a couple of years ago to give a testimony. He said that at one time he was a wealthy man, who owned many businesses and also competed as a semi-pro body builder. Then his high-soaring life came to a screeching halt when his wife left him. He pleaded with her, "But honey, we just built this new house, our garages are full of new cars, and we have enough money in the bank account." That was not reason enough for his wife who had enough of his selfish and egocentric ways. Alone and in his darkest hour, someone suggested that he take a pilgrimage to regain peace in his life. While on the pilgrimage, he said to God, "My God, if You're really real, and I'm Your son, and Jesus is Your Son, that means He's my Brother. That makes us brothers. I probably don't deserve anything because of the way I have squandered everything that You've given me, and the way I've lived my life so selfishly, but I'm here and I have about seven days left, so I'll give you a chance...Reveal Yourself to me. And if not, we'll go on our separate ways, and You can have Your life, and I'll have mine." The very next day he went to a prayer service at a church and after receiving a blessing from a Catholic priest he returned to his pew to pray. From that blessing, he began to feel peace and an overwhelming sense that he was loved. Then he saw before him, the altar and people disappear and the vivid scenes of his own life replayed right before him. God was showing him the 'movie of his life.'

He said, “I kept crying, and as I looked up, I saw like a movie screen – that’s the only way I can explain it. My life was flashing before me…I saw my life and my sins, and it was not a pretty sight. It was a really, really ugly sight. I was trying to see something that I would be proud of, and there was really nothing there, because everything I did, I did it in my name, and I did it for me…I wasn’t doing anything for Jesus or Mary or God the Father or the Holy Spirit or the saints. Everything was about me. I was kind of like my own idol…I was devastated. I was crying some more, and now I have a puddle underneath me…I was just devastated – the sins that I saw.”

The part of the 'movie' where he cried the most was when he was shown the moments when his mom called to check on him.  He said, "I was just so busy trying to make my millions, I just didn't have time to talk to her. I was on my way to the gym to work out and I'd be short with her...God showed me how I hurt her, not only in that moment, but for the rest of the day and maybe even the rest of the week."

He said, "In this experience I saw the way God saw me. There was so much pain in my heart and so much remorse. I just kept saying, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Forgive me.’ He said he was led to confession and he came to realize that he was given a great gift and he thought, ‘I can change that hour!!!’ I can make it better. I can make amends. I can ask for forgiveness for all the people I’ve hurt.'"

Our Lord mentions in the gospel today what the kingdom of heaven is like. When you think of heaven and the people who live there, do you picture persons who are selfish, prideful, and greedy? Rather, we believe that persons living in heaven are self-giving, humble, and loving. If today Our Lord calls us to heaven, can we honestly say to Him, "Yep, I'm qualified to enter?" So Our Lord uses a parable of the weeds in the field to describe what happens at the end, where He will send His angels to separate out the ones who sinned and caused others to sin. A deeper meaning of this parable is that Our Lord sows daily the good seeds in us--the gifts to be able to be self-giving, to be compassionate, and to be loving. Yet we also have to contend with the enemy's attempts to sow weeds--selfishness, pride, anger, and greed. Each day we're called to look at our lives, to see that we are a reflection of God's love. Where do we see ourselves right now? Sorted with the good seeds or sorted with the weeds? It's a sobering question for all of us, that without God's mercy not one of us can confidently say that we deserve heaven. It's time for us to humbly admit that we need Our Lord to be the gardener of our hearts, carefully weeding out our selfishness. It is time to encounter this good, kind, and compassionate Gardener of our hearts through prayer, through Eucharist, and through Reconciliation. Our Lord has placed all of this grace before us and waits for us to ask Him for His help.