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Exploring the word

16 Nov 2014 - Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Raise your hand if you’re as busy as I am! Most people I know claim to be running flat out all the time. “Crazy-busy” is a term I hear a lot. We all have a high regard for the amount of industry we pack into the average day. But with all the energy and activity and verbiage we generate, with all the mileage we cover and events we attend, is anything really getting done? Or perhaps the more precise word is: accomplished? I try to take stock of what really gets done each day, to see how efficient I am. Which leads to the next discernment: What counts as accomplishment? Work compensated with money? Meetings attended and logged? Laundry washed and folded and stored? Food purchased and meals prepared? Time spent on a porch swing with a grandchild? In Proverbs today we hear about the woman worth more than pearls. Judging from her description, I’d say she’s worth more than an entire department in many companies! If you read her full description in Proverbs 31, you learn that she keeps the house, makes the clothes, plants the food, raises the kids, and runs her own business on the side in order to pay all the bills. This frees up her husband to sit at the town gate and play at local politics with the other elders. How nice for him. Contrast the portrait of the Pearl Woman with the three fellows in the parable about investment banking in first-century Palestine. Two of them make trades that gain profits that double their capital. Either they demonstrate good business acuity or were very lucky. The third fellow, however, is neither discerning nor lucky. Fear prevents him from doing anything meaningful with the money. He hides it. For this maneuver he earns the very wrath he was hoping to sidestep. Fear remains possibly the worst reason to do anything—or to do nothing. Fear accomplishes nothing and can lead ironically to the realization of what we fear. Try to make your life “safe”—and discover 101 ways you are less safe than you ever imagined. The recent health news about antibacterial components found in everything from hand soap to shoes to children’s toys is that the antibacterial trend is actually causing the spawn of bigger, badder bacteria. Operating from fear is generally the wrong approach. The virtue that makes the wise investors and even the Pearl Woman successful is fortitude. Fortitude is a cross between courage and perseverance. Fortitude pushes and progresses, whereas fear hides and freezes. Our real accomplishments each day are the things that move us forward and make more from less. That can include spending time on a swing with someone you love. Related scripture links Hidden gifts in ordinary people: Gen. 12:1-3, 16:1-16; 1 Sam. 16:1-13; Luke 1:26-38, 23:39-43 Vocations according to Paul: 1 Cor. 12:27-28 Spiritual gifts according to Paul: 1 Cor. 12:4-11 Fruits of the Spirit: Gal. 5:22-23 Catechism links Vocation: CCC 1-3; 543; 825; 1695 Spiritual fruits: CCC 736; 1832 Day of the Lord: CCC 668-679; 2849 Talents: CCC 546; 1720; 1936; 2683

Authors Alice Camille

accomplishment fortitude

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Exploring the word

11 Oct 2009 - Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Parents can’t help being proud of their children and the futures they imagine for them. “My daughter is in pre-med.” “My son will take over the family business one day.” Bumper stickers announce each child making the honor role. When a son or daughter gets accepted at university, it’s as if the parents have gotten a gold star on their own report cards. But one thing you rarely hear on the parental dream list for children is this statement: “I hope she is wise. I hope he always maintains his integrity.” The path of wisdom and truth has no monetary gain attached. It does not promise the shiniest car or the best address. Often the way of wisdom is a road of sacrifice that garners little prestige. No bumper stickers advertise our advancement in the ranks of the wise. Yet wisdom is indispensable for those who would live well. Throughout biblical wisdom literature, contrasts are made between the wise and the foolish, or the way of happiness and the way of sorrow. These are interchangeable categories, for wisdom leads to the only true happiness, and foolishness to bone-deep sorrow. The Book of Wisdom is written in the voice of Solomon who, as a boy, inherited a kingdom—which made him very afraid. Already we sense this boy has the wisdom gene: He knew enough to know he didn’t know much. So he prays and even pleads for wisdom, this passage tells us. He knows he needs wisdom beyond health and handsomeness, beyond wealth and splendor. A king inherits enough power with his throne to possess a lot of things. But wisdom is something that money can’t buy. And the smart ruler knows it’s the one commodity that can’t be done without. Those who seek power without wisdom find in time that they have nothing in their grasp. So the boy who inherits a kingdom turns to God for the one thing only God can supply. How do we attain wisdom? How can we help our children acquire it? It would be fine if we could send them off to “monk camp” some place. But it would be better for us to go there ourselves, because our children will naturally want what we want and value what we hold up as precious. We can demonstrate that we’re on the trail of wisdom by showing humility rather than arrogance in our discernment; by seeking guidance through prayer instead of parroting commentators from network news programs. The quest for wisdom doesn’t lead to the possession of absolute truths we can spread fan-like on the table or badger our friends with. But it does lead us, as Jesus tells the man who calls him Teacher, to discipleship. The wise do not own wisdom, it turns out. They simply follow it. Related scripture links Teachings about riches: Matt. 5:3 (Luke 6:20); Matt. 6:2-4, 19-21, 24-33 (Luke 12:22-34; 16:13) Stories about money: Luke 12:13-21; 16:19-31; Mark 12:41-44 (Luke 21:1-4) Extreme poverty: Luke 14:33 The love of money is evil: 1 Tim. 6:6-10 Discipleship and freedom: Matt. 10:37-39 (Luke 14:26-27); Matt. 16:26 (Mark 8:36-37; Luke 9:25) Catechism links Material wealth: CCC 1905-1917; 1928-1942; 2401-2449; 2534-2550 Salvation: CCC 161; 169

Authors Alice Camille

Wisdom integrity accomplishment Success solomon Wealth power

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Homily themes

11 Oct 2009 - Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Indeed the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts,” the author of Hebrews writes in reference to Psalm 95, several verses before today’s reading. The Word of God is alive, and it is alive today. It is a Word that enters into us completely. We can hide nothing from it. It helps us to know ourselves and discern what’s most important. And we return this Word with a word of our own: what we believe, what we pray, how we live. Homily points Perfection is not a characteristic of our mortality. But that doesn’t stop us from pretending. Jesus called the man with the perfect record to task for trying to purchase eternal life by his own efforts. Material wealth is neither a byproduct of virtue nor an indicator of vice. But what we do with it does matter. Salvation is a gift from God for those who let God be God and live in the confidence of that faith.

Authors Joel Schorn

word of god Success Wealth accomplishment

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