Homily for Tuesday, 11 July 2017– Memorial of St. Benedict

Readings of the day: Genesis 32:23-33; Psalm 17:1b, 2-3, 6-7ab, 8b, 15; Matthew 9:32-38

Tuesday of the 14th week in Ordinary Time

Is there anybody here who has ever wrestled or who enjoys wrestling? I must admit that wrestling is not my favourite sport. Yet today we hear in our readings the continued story of Jacob. We hear about Jesus’ confrontation with the mute man with a demon, and we celebrate this feast day of St. Benedict of Nursia, the sixth-century abbot whose Rule is the basis for life in many religious orders to this day. Jacob, Jesus, and Benedict were all expert wrestlers.

Of course, they were not wrestlers in the sense of the sport we are familiar with today. They are wrestlers in a spiritual sense, at least in the case of Jesus and St. Benedict. But do we not have to admit that each were involved in some epic wrestling matches? Even if we, like Jacob, were quite confident in our wrestling abilities, how many of us would dare to wrestle with God? Talk about a heavyweight class matchup! I wonder what our best chance would be against an opponent as powerful as God. Would we opt for Greco-Roman wrestling, or maybe freestyle? Or maybe we might try oil wrestling, which I understand is the national sport of Turkey, or beach wrestling (yes, this is actually a type of wrestling)? In any case, I do not think many of us would stand much of a chance in a wrestling match against God!

But Jacob holds his own. This wrestling match goes on all night, “until daybreak.” And then, in the upset for the ages, Jacob actually wins his match against God, disguised as a man in our reading from Genesis. Sure, Jacob ends up with a dislocated hip, but this is not bad for somebody who has just emerged from an all-night wrestling match against God! Jacob gets a blessing from God after his victory. We know that God is a good sport; even if he dislocates your hip, he will give you a blessing, especially if you ask as Jacob did. Jacob also gets a new name, Israel, which, Genesis tells us, means one who has wrestled or “striven with God.” And in memory of Jacob’s unprecedented victory, his having “seen God face to face” and lived, the people of Israel no longer eat “the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket” of animals.

Jesus’ wrestling match with the mute demoniac is described more briefly in Matthew’s Gospel than Jacob’s match with God is in Genesis. But it is as much or more of a classic match as that of Jacob. In fact, this match between God and demonic forces, against Satan himself, is still going on. God has promised us that he will win this match.

But God, through Jesus Christ, has asked for our help. We might follow the example of St. Benedict, who saw the Christian life as a participation in a spiritual battle; a wrestling match. The Rule of St. Benedict says, “When you begin a good work, earnestly pray to God to bring it to perfection.” St. Benedict invites us to prayer. Jesus invites us to the harvest, and to pray for more “labourers” to join the harvest. They, along with Jacob, invite us to wrestle with God and with demons. The best part is that, if we accept this invitation to wrestle, we are guaranteed victory.

Homily for Wednesday, 20 August 2014– Memorial of St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Wednesday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Ezekiel 34:1=11; Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Matthew 20:1-16

How fair would it be if somebody were to arrive at work on time or early every day without fail, and then if somebody else were to arrive late consistently or not at all many days? What if, on pay day, the employer were to give the same wage and bonuses to both employees? I do not think this would be very fair of the employer.

Now, what if this employer were God? Our God may be exceedingly generous with the late-arriving employee to the vineyard in today’s Gospel, but unless God intends to stir up anger in the workplace, to give the same wage to the late arrival as to the employee who has worked all day is not a very fair employment practice!

“The last will be first, and the first will be last.” Would not the workers in the vineyard who have worked all day be justified in complaining about the late arrivals receiving the same daily wage as they do? And yet does not our Gospel reading today remind us not only of God’s generosity, but first and foremost to ask ourselves: What have we already received from God’s generosity; God’s mercy; God’s grace?

Our competitive social environment does not do well with “the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Competition in a society can be positive. Our society glorifies “the last” who rise to be “the first.” We call this “the American dream”: that anyone who works hard, at least ideally, can reap the prosperity of our land. But we do not regard well those who are prosperous seemingly with little effort of their own.

How does this affect our Christian faith? Let us take the example of the person who comes into our faith; our Church late in life, or the person who has lived a dissolute lifestyle who repents late in life? Are these people not to receive the same eternal life as all of us are promised; the same wage as those who have worked in the vineyard all day, to use the metaphor of our Gospel reading today?

“The last will be first, and the first will be last,” precisely because we cannot earn entry into God’s Kingdom. Our God is more generous than we could ever be through our generosity in return. Christ died and rose so that “the first” and “the last” would inherit God’s Kingdom together.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, whose feast we celebrate today, once said that many people want to be canals of God’s grace when it would be better if we thought of ourselves as reservoirs. Water, like God’s grace, flows through a canal; it is not allowed to build up as in a reservoir. When the reservoir becomes full, it overflows. So it is with God’s saving grace to the world if we let it fill us to overflowing. Once we are full, we cannot lose anything; we remain full while the overflow enriches the world.

God’s generosity; God’s grace saves us; fills us to overflowing if we let ourselves be reservoirs of this generosity; this grace. And so “the last will be first, and the first will be last,” with no distinction among the faithful in God’s vineyard; God’s Kingdom.