Saturday 25th Week in Ordinary Time @ St. Apollinaris Church

HOMILY - SATURDAY 25TH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME
SEPTEMBER 24, 2016
8:45 AM ORDINARY FORM MASS

Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is credited with having written 66 books during his life. Even after his death, his talks have been transcribed into book form as well.

One such book is titled, Your Life Is Worth Living: The Christian Philosophy of Life, where in 50 chapters and 375 pages, Sheen covers just about every topic under the sun.

At the beginning of the book he states:

There are two ways of waking up in the morning. One is to say, “Good morning, God,” and the other is to say,“Good God, [it’s] morning!”

And here we are on another beautiful Napa Saturday morning, honoring our Blessed Mother and joining our lives at the altar of sacrifice.

Today’s first reading is long. It’s from the end of Ecclesiastes, part of the Hebrew Bible known as the Wisdom Books. The title comes from the word “Qohal” which means “assembly.” This got translated into Greek as “Ecclesiastes” which in the New Testament is translated as “church.”

In this particular book, the author examines life and asks, “Is it really worth living?”

And indeed it is.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples:

“Pay attention to what I am telling you. / The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” /But they did not understand this saying; / its meaning was hidden from them / so that they should not understand it, / and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

So much seems outside of our grasp. Perhaps not for want of understanding, but in our own day and age, perhaps from lack of time.

At the end of Sheen’s book, he says:

It will not be hard to save your soul; however, being a Catholic will never prevent you from sinning, but it will take all the fun out of it because once you have loved, you know what love is. Sin in the scriptures is always called adultery because it is a false love. I know you will find people who cut corners, play loose, cheat, commit adultery, avoid paying their taxes, and ruin their neighbor’s reputation.They do not seem to have any bumps on their consciences, but they have no peace. If we are to love, we have to have the cross of Christ.We cannot escape it though we try.

And so, the answer to the question posed in the Old Testament wisdom reading, Is live worth living? is quite simply, “Yes.” It’s not hard, but it certainly means being counter-cultural.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us pray for the grace to “understand.” We cannot escape the cross, but in embracing it, we will have peace and we will know love.

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