Homily Twelfth Monday of Ordinary Time (Matt. 7:1-5) “Looks Are Deceiving”
Homily Twelfth Monday of Ordinary Time (Matt. 7:1-5) “Looks Are Deceiving”
We probably feel that being nonjudgmental is a nice quality to have. We might despair if we thought it was essential to our salvation. But the Jewish Rabbis of Jesus’ time felt that refraining from judging others was an essential religious work.
They laid down that there were six great religious works. The six were: study, visiting the sick, hospitality, devotion in prayer, the education of children in the law and thinking the best of other people.
One of the starkest examples of judging another person that I have ever seen occurred on April 11, 2009. A woman named Susan Boyle went on a television show in England called Britain’s Got Talent. Susan Boyle is a rather plain looking woman. She was 47 at the time.
Part of the appeal of the show was to make fun of people who thought they had talent. Many people would come on the show and they were so bad they were laughed off the stage.
Susan Boyle had seldom been out of her little village in Scotland. She is a Catholic who never married. She took care of her mother until she died. After that she spent a lot of time as a Eucharistic minister visiting the sick. Always she sang in the church choir.
When Susan Boyle came on stage the judges and the whole audience rolled their eyes….no one expected anything from her. Then she started to sing “I Dreamed a Dream.” A sense of shock descended over the room. Susan had an extraordinary voice. From the second line of the song people stood and cheered. Also, there was a sense of shame in the crowd. Because everyone realized that had judged Susan on appearance alone.
Susan has used the fame she has gained since her debut to help charitable causes of all kinds. She obviously has a heart filled with charity. If you want to be challenged and uplifted today her original television performance is on YouTube.
1. How quick I am to judge others? Have I ever been wrong about someone?
2. It is necessary to evaluate others? What is the key to not writing someone off before we give them a chance?
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Dear Parishioners,
We will be having Mass in the church all week at 8 a.m. this week. On Tuesday and Thursday Holy Communion will be distributed in the parking lot after we live stream the Mass. We will livestream on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 4 p.m. Mass. We will also distribute communion after the 4 p.m. Mass.
Many thanks to Mike and Sam Maynard for their work installing the equipment for the live stream. This has not been an easy proposition, but we are slowly working at getting the kinks worked out of the broadcast. I will be monitoring how this week goes and we will make decisions about our services based on attendance and other factors.
This past week we had about 160 people at our three indoor Masses and between 200 and 250 people at our 9 a.m. outside Mass. People who are at risk should stay home. We pray for the end to the pandemic that is so disruptive to our parish life.
May Our Lady and All the angels and saints protect us today.
Fr. Mark