{"id":1839,"date":"2013-08-18T00:51:33","date_gmt":"2013-08-18T00:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/?page_id=1839"},"modified":"2022-01-24T17:24:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T22:24:19","slug":"a-11th-sunday-in-ordinary-time","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/homilies\/cycle-a-2\/a-11th-sunday-in-ordinary-time\/","title":{"rendered":"A: 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Teaching for Our Sake<\/strong><\/h2>\n
June 12, 2005<\/h5>\n

Matthew 9:36–10:8<\/h3>\n

One of the problems that many of us have in following the teachings of Jesus is that we see those teachings as a series of obligations, as a list of commands against which we are asked to measure our discipleship.\u00a0 Some of us might even see them as a set of hurdles over which we are asked to jump in order to demonstrate our love for God.\u00a0 Now, as disciples we are clearly obliged to follow the teachings of Jesus.\u00a0 But to understand them as some kind of test or burden that we are asked to bear is to approach them in an exactly wrong direction.<\/p>\n

Consider the teaching of Jesus that comes at the end of today\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 Jesus says, \u201cThe gift you have received, give as a gift.\u201d\u00a0 Our inclination is to approach this teaching as an obligation.\u00a0 \u201cYes,\u201d we say, \u201cI should be more giving.\u00a0 I should be more generous. If I were more generous, I would more clearly show that I am a follower of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 Now this is true.\u00a0 But, approaching the teaching as a simple command, overlooks another benefit of the teaching. Jesus\u2019 teaching that we be generous is not commanded for God\u2019s sake or even simply for our neighbor\u2019s sake. Jesus gives us this teaching for our sake, for our benefit.\u00a0 When Jesus asks us to be generous, He is not giving us an obligation to be met, but a secret to be lived.\u00a0 The secret is this: when we are generous, we are happy. This teaching of generosity leads us to a deeper life.<\/p>\n

Carl Menninger was one of the founders of modern psychotherapy, and he spent his life work diagnosing various mental illnesses.\u00a0 Menninger recounts a therapy session with a very wealthy client who was beset with depression and fear.\u00a0 In the course of that session, the doctor asked the client, \u201cWhat do you plan to do with all your money?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d said the client, \u201cprobably just worry about it, worry about keeping it, worry about making more of it.\u201d\u00a0 So, Menninger asked, \u201cTell me this, is this worrying about your money giving you pleasure?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d the man sighed, \u201cnot at all.\u00a0 It is only making me more fearful and depressed\u2014yet, the thought of giving up any of my money terrifies me.\u201d\u00a0 It was out of this encounter that Menninger devised one of the central principles of his philosophy: generous people are seldom mentally ill\u2014generous people tend to be healthy people.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 teaching on generosity is not simply a command given for our neighbor\u2019s sake. It is for our sake because it introduces us to a way of living that increases our freedom and increases our joy.\u00a0 When there is something good in our lives, our natural inclination is to hold onto that good thing, to keep it safe.\u00a0 Jesus is telling us that if we wish to be happy, we should be generous, we should give what we have away.<\/p>\n

This teaching of Jesus emphasizes that many of the most valuable things in our life are not things that we have earned or paid for.\u00a0 Have we earned our health?\u00a0 Have we paid for our family and friends?\u00a0 Have we created our sense of humor, our ability to understand, our sense of compassion?\u00a0 No, all of these things are free gifts, things that we have received without any kind of payment. Jesus says that if we want to be happy we need to find a way of giving those gifts back.\u00a0 \u201cYou have received without payment, give without payment.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what the gospel challenges us to do is to identify what are the gifts that I have been given and then to find a way of giving that gift to someone else.\u00a0 Perhaps you have developed professional skills in medicine, law, or business.\u00a0 What are you doing to see that that skill not only benefits you and your family, but others who need it?\u00a0 Perhaps you are a person that is able to listen, to connect with other people.\u00a0 What can you do to use that gift not only to build your own relationships, but to deepen the lives of others?\u00a0 Perhaps you are someone who can work with your hands, to build something useful.\u00a0 Are you passing that skill on?\u00a0 Perhaps you are a creative person, a person who can imagine ideas and possibilities that others cannot see.\u00a0 How do you use that creativity to bring beauty and hope into the world?<\/p>\n

The gifts of God are given in abundance. There is not one person here today who has not received a gift.\u00a0 All of us have received something from God without any cost or payment.\u00a0 The Gospel today invites us to identify what is the gift we have received and then to listen to the teaching of Jesus. \u201cThe gift you have received, give as a gift.\u201d\u00a0 That teaching is not an obligation.\u00a0 Jesus is not placing some burden upon us.\u00a0 Jesus is showing us the way to happiness, the way to life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Teaching for Our Sake June 12, 2005 Matthew 9:36–10:8 One of the problems that many of us have in following the teachings of Jesus is that we see those teachings as a series of obligations, as a list of commands against which we are asked to measure our discipleship.\u00a0 Some of us might even … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5879,"featured_media":0,"parent":584,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5431,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1839\/revisions\/5431"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}