Halloween is the one night of the year that a child allows their imagination to go to work. They can become anything that they want to be for one night only. The only limit that they face is the limit of their own imagination. Will they become a ghost, a character from a movie or cartoon that they adore, or will they create a new type of being all together? All of this is up to them, but no matter how much they try or how close they look to the real thing they will never truly become their costume. They will always remain what lies on the inside which is the child who was filled with the wonder and imagination that led them to choosing this costume.
Today's Gospel is concerned with what going inside of our hearts and souls. No matter how many times we want to place a costume over ourselves, so that nobody will know what is going inside, we are reminded how important it is to dwell here to evaluate why we do what we do. We live in a society which is concerned about number one. Who is myself; who is yourself. Our society wants to ignore the importance of those who are around us and desires us to become more and more of an individual. When this becomes our motivation we are concerned only with ourselves and want the world to see what we do so that we can receive it's praise.
In this Gospel passage from Matthew we see the scribes and Pharisees concerned about their outward appearance. They believed that the length of tassels or being seen at the head of a banquet table would make a person stop and exclaim that they must be a highly exalted individual. Christ turns the tables upon them because he was not concerned about these outward appearances, but only cared about what was going on in the inside of these people. He reminded them of the importance of these signs and how they lead them closer and closer into a relationship with God instead of these signs making them exalted in the eyes of their peers.
So my brothers and sisters "What is our motivation?" Are we motivated by the community that surrounds us right now or do we only care about ourselves and what we can get out of life? As a preacher I am asked to stand before this community and make the readings of the day come alive in the life of the Church. It can become easy for me to enjoy the power and authority that comes along with preaching and do it for the sake of fueling my own ego. It is nice to hear that I have done a good job, but this affirmation cannot be the sole purpose of my preaching. This same example carries over into all of our daily lives. We do many great things daily, but what is the driving force behind what we do? Are we tackling this because we are able to see the importance of the community or is the driving force behind us feeding our own ego and not caring for those who surround us? Do we want people to stop when they see us and exclaim that you must be an highly exalted individual?
When we place this costume of pride over our souls we are feeding the fuel of our individualism. The only answer to this comes at the end of the Gospel passage when we are instructed by Christ to act with humility. Humility is the only way that we can tear this costume away and begin to become an authentic person. In this manner we are present in all of our strengths and weaknesses. We will realize that there are other people who surround us and we desire to do what we do not only for ourselves, but also for them. We realize that in some places we are to weak to do this alone, and that we actually need the aid of another.
Our second reading shows the humility that even the apostles had. They acknowledged that they were not preaching the word of humans, but were instead preaching the word of God. May we to acknowledge that we are limited by our own humanity, and yet can be strengthened through the graces of God. In order to grow in humility we must trust in the grace of God instead of trusting in ourselves. We must understand how we are truly powerless without our connection with God. It is in the Lord alone that we will be able to find our peace.
If we look towards what is to come in this upcoming week we will see many examples of humility played out in the life of the Church. On November 1st we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. On this day we come together as a community to recall the lives of a countless amount of men and women who have laid down all the actions of their lives for the service of God. These men and women who we now call saints each had their own strengths and weaknesses, but used them for the greater glory of God the Father. These saints were not caught up in serving themselves and their own needs alone, but were concerned with the needs of the entire community. May these holy men and women continue to inspire us to grow in humility for through this virtue we may finally be exalted.
We can also look to November 2nd when we commemorate All Soul's Day. On this great day we pray for all who have died in hope that they may one day be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven. All Soul's Day gives us a reminder of our own mortality and that this life is fleeting. We cannot accept this knowledge with pride, but must do so with humility. If we can humbly accept this now we may be exalted on the day of our death, but if we do not heed this knowledge and live life to be exalted we will first need to be humbled.
Let us therefore become exalted through and ever growing strength in humility. Let us especially remember this as we approach the Altar of God to receive the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ. We do not come to receive Christ as an individual, but come to receive Him as piece of this community. Yes we have many areas where we acknowledge that we must grow, such as the virtue of humility, but we know that the grace will be given to us through the reception of this great Sacrament. As we leave this Church today and encounter the many trick or treaters of the world may we call to mind the costume that we place over our souls. May we realize that humility will be the only way that we can truly become exalted.
No comments:
Post a Comment