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18 Feb 2018 - First Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

Dorothy singing "Over the Rainbow" to Toto remains one of the most magical moments recorded on film. It touched something deep within many people’s hearts. In many ways, the only thing more delicate and ethereal than the colors of a rainbow in the still-glistening sky, its darkness being overcome by the bright light of the sun, is the look on a child’s face when he or she sees a rainbow for the first time. What is it about a rainbow that is so special for young and old alike? How do we reconcile our beginning of this season of Lent—what is supposed to be an austere time of introspection, repentance, penance, and forgiveness—with the bright image of the rainbow? It is most unlikely for Jesus to see a rainbow as he prays in the desert. Like Jesus, our 40 days in the Lenten desert will be filled with temptations and wild beasts bent on drawing us away from the task of reconnecting ourselves with God. God promises that God’s loving presence will always be with us. God makes a covenant with us, and the rainbow is a sign of that promise. But when we go searching for rainbows we seldom find them. They seem, rather, to find us, to appear when we least expect them to. This Lent, perhaps it would be better not to spend our time in the desert scanning the horizon. We might be looking in vain for what is already present in our own hearts.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

rainbows covenant 40 days wizard of oz

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Exploring the word

06 May 2018 - Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B

Back in high school—and who knows, maybe in high schools even today—love was defined by carving two sets of initials into a locker, a tree, or a park bench. I had a friend who preferred the less permanent approach: She wrote them in ink on the rubber part of her sneakers. That way, if the love object changed, she could always rub him out and put the new lucky fellow in his place! Along with the initials, traditionally circumscribed with a heart, there would often be another assortment of letters describing precisely what sort of alliance this was. The most common one was T.L.F.—True Love Forever. Teenagers are often very ambitious and idealistic about romance. “Forever,” while a very long time, did not seem an abnormal period to commit to. I remember a boy who won my heart for some years. I bought him a watch inscribed with our initials and the declaration W.T.L.—With Timeless Love. It seemed the right thing to say on a watch. But I regret to say I don’t know what happened to the timepiece, or its owner No greater love The problem with our “forevers” is not our sincerity so much as our limitations. We are mortal; that is, material with an expiration date that will be sooner than we think, no matter what we think. And everything else about us has its limits, too: patience, talent, endurance, health, compassion, kindness, and love included. When we make our vows and speak our “forevers,” we always do it while holding our breath. We hope to be faithful forever. At least, we’re sure gonna try. Meanwhile, in that same breath, sin is at work in us and in our world, doing its darnedest to make liars of us. Sin lurks at the edges of our goodness and our best intentions. Its victory is in our failure and, ultimately, in the death of our will to so much as try. The ultimate victory for sin used to be in its supreme price: the sting of death, the obliteration of the final chance to try. But something looms larger than death on the horizon of our humanity: God’s love for us. Because God has no problem when it comes to “forever.” God could sell futures in forever—and does. So we believe. No one has a greater love to show us than this. The compassion of Jesus, faithful all the way to the cross, demonstrates that love beyond a shadow of a doubt. If we’re really looking for true love forever, this is it. And if we hold fast to it, we are promised a joy so complete, nothing will be lacking ever again. The Tin Man’s heart One of the lines from the great American myth The Wizard of Oz used to puzzle me even as a kid. When the Wizard finally presents the Tin Man with his honorarium, a ticking heart to fill his sense of emptiness, he advises him with these words, “Remember, my friend: A heart is not judged by how much you love but by how much you are loved by others.” This saying confounded me. It went against everything I had been taught about evaluating myself according to the volume of my efforts. If my “work” in the business of love was not the standard and the message, then what was? The love that came back to me seemed an arbitrary measure indeed. What seems clearer to me in adulthood is that we cannot be at the center of our efforts to love. Of course we must have healthy self-regard and take care of ourselves and all that before we begin. But love, by definition, is a movement toward the other and for the sake of the other. The Beloved is always at the center. We can never be the measure of our own love. If we attempt to evaluate the success of our love by our experience, we have already failed. If the Wizard’s advice to the Tin Man doesn’t win you over, then consider the writer of the First Letter of John: “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that God loved us and sent the Son as expiation for our sins.” All of salvation is dependent, not on our efforts, but on God’s. God’s love is at the heart of the Christian faith, not ours. Our love may be quite sincere, much of the time, and our works of love may be considerable. But in the end, all the love we finite folk are capable of isn’t enough to save our necks or our souls. Fear not: God’s got an infinite amount of love to give, and it’s being lavished in our direction. Related scripture links God’s love endures forever: Psalm 136 The eternal covenant: Gen. 17:7; 2 Sam. 7:16; Isa. 49:15, 55:3 Lo, I am with you always: Matt. 28:20b Sin vs. eternal life: Rom. 6:23 Love fulfills the law: Rom. 13:8-10 Catechism links Joy: CCC 301; 736, 1723; 1829; 1832 Remaining in love: CCC 459; 609; 614; 1823-1829; 1972; 2074; 2615; 2745

Authors Alice Camille

forever God's unconditional love wizard of oz

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Homily stories

30 Jul 2023 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Remember the story of The Wizard of Oz? Four characters—the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and of course Dorothy—are in search of what they believe will make them complete. The Scarecrow wants a brain, the Tin Man needs a heart, the Cowardly Lion seeks courage, and Dorothy just wants to go home. Together they make a perilous journey to the Land of Oz where they encounter a wonderful wizard who shows them that everything they desire is already in their possession. To awaken them to this truth, the wizard gives them outward signs of their inward realities. The Scarecrow gets a diploma, the Tin Man a testimonial, the Cowardly Lion a medal for bravery, and Dorothy finds out that home is where her heart is. Like our four heroes, we are all in search of the treasure of life, the priceless pearl of fulfillment. It is for this reason that God made us. “I came that you might have life,” Jesus says, “and have it to the fullest” (John 10:10). All that we seek is within us. But to obtain this buried treasure of God’s kingdom, it is necessary to divest ourselves of worldly attachments. The seekers of the parable sell all that they have. What good are the wealth, power, security, and comfort of this passing world if we never achieve the real treasure of God’s lasting kingdom?

Authors Father Paul Boudreau

the wizard of oz treasures priceless pearl

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