To be able to Say: "Be Imitators of Me, as I am of Christ."

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – February 11, 2024

7:30am Mass, The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica

 

Intro:

•         Good morning!

◦         Great to be with you!

 

Body:

1. “Be Imitators of Me”:

•         Mark Twain once said: ‘People worry about the parts of the Bible they don’t understand. It’s the parts I do understand that worry me.’

◦         Today we have one of those “parts”

▪         We have a very scary and dangerous line

◦         The Second Reading ends with St. Paul telling the Corinthians: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

▪         ‘Oh, you want to be like God? Just do as I do, I got it all figured out.’

•         Normally, when I hear people talk like this, I run the other way

◦         There are plenty of people in psychiatric wards who have the ‘god complex;’ who think they are God, or think they’re so close to God

◦         Typically when people tell you how close they are to God, that is a surefire sign that they are miles away from Him

◦         But, this is coming from Saint Paul, and is the inspired Word of God

▪         So, there’s got to be something to it

 

•         St. Paul is speaking from his role as spiritual father to the flock:

•         “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

▪         This is really a line that any father or mother ought to be able to say to his or her children

◦         A priest ought to be so dedicated to following the Lord, that he can say to his congregation, in all humility: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

◦         In marriage, the Church teaches that there are two “goods” of marriage

•         The first good, is the good of the spouses:

◦         The spouses are supposed to get each other to heaven

•         The second good, is the good of the children:

◦         The parents are supposed to get their children to heaven

▪         So, husband and wife ought to be able to say to each other: “Imitate me, as I imitate Christ.”

▪         And parents ought to be able to say to their children: “Imitate us, as we imitate Christ.”

 

◦         I know a couple—they have gone to the Lord now—at the husbands funeral, the wife was at the casket, and pointed and said: “Because of him, I know who God is.”

▪         If spouses can show each other who God is, that’s a good, “successful” marriage

▪         If parents can show their children who God is, those are good parents

 

2. “Do Everything for the Glory of God”:

•         But, obviously, none of us are perfect

▪         How can we say—“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”—with any kind of integrity?

◦         I think the key comes earlier in the Second Reading:

▪         St. Paul tells us: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”

•         This is a challenging line

◦         Am I doing everything for the glory of God?

◦         When I eat or drink, is it done for the glory of God?

 

•         Personally, one of the things I have been consciously attempting for the last few years, is to live life as a Christian …

◦         A few years ago, I went to the store on a Sunday

▪         The store was absolutely packed!

◦         About this time the Archbishop put out a pastoral note on why the Catholic sports leagues have quick playing sports on Sundays

▪         It got me reflecting on the Ten Commandments

•         The Third Commandment is to Keep Holy the Sabbath Day:

◦         “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates” (Exodus 20:8-10)

◦         The Lord doesn’t even want our cattle to work on the Sabbath, but we go to stores, and we go to restaurants, and Amazon delivers late into the evening on Sundays

▪         Do we live like Christians? Are we doing everything for the glory of God? …

•         Or do we just live like, everyone else?

◦         Going into that packed store on Sunday, a few years ago, scandalized me

▪         I was living like everyone else

◦         Since then—even though I am far from perfect—I have really been making a conscious effort to do “everything for the glory of God”

 

•         I still go to the movies—not on Sundays—but I want it to be formative in some way, shape, or form

▪         St. Thomas Aquinas writes about how artists have a way of reading the signs of the times, and conveying a philosophy before even the philosophers have picked it up

•         I go to movies, but on the lookout for truths that are being expressed, where the people are, and how it effects their relationship with God

◦         I still listen to comedians—I love comedians (that’s what I want to be when I grow up)

▪         Comedians have a way of seeing a truth from a different angle

•         When half of the people see it this way, and half of the people see it that way, a good comedian will see it a third way, which sheds light on a truth

▪         You know Who else is a pro at the “Third Way?”

•         Jesus!

◦         ‘Do you pay taxes or don’t you?”

▪         “Render unto Ceasar”

◦         ‘Moses said divorce is all right. Are you with him or against him?’

▪         “I am here to fulfill the law”

▪         I don’t think Jesus would be a conservative or a liberal

•         He would find a “third way”

◦         Books

▪         I still read lots of books, but I try to read books that really capture the truths of humanity

•         Autobiographies, classic novels

◦         I still love music

▪         But it has been cleaned up over the years

▪         And I’m looking for those great truths that only artists can capture

◦         I still play sports

▪         It’s good for the body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit

▪         And it’s good for comradery

•         There’s something about being in a foxhole together, where people “get” each other at a very deep and profound level

 

•         So, when we really, consciously work at putting everything we say and do in the service of the Lord—that is, doing everything for the glory of God—there are going to be some consequences:

◦         A. Some things are going to have to change

▪         I have cleaned up my music

▪         There are some comedians I don’t listen to

▪         There are some friends that are better not to hang out with too much

▪         I don’t go out on Sundays

◦         B. Other things have a new focus

▪         Movies, music, comedians, sports, books

•         On the outside, those things haven’t changed that much

◦         But on the inside, now they are all clearly directed to the Lord

 

 

Conclusion: Lent:

•         So, Lent starts in three days

▪         It tends to catch many of us by surprise

•         It may be good to pray about these questions:

◦         “Lord, how can I do everything for Your glory?”

◦         “Lord, what do I have to do, so that I can say with integrity: ‘Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ’?”

▪         “What has to go? What should I stop? What should I get rid of?”

▪         “What needs a new focus? How do I get that focus?”

 

•         Take this to prayer, this really wouldn’t be a bad thing to work on throughout Lent:

◦         “Lord, how can I do everything for Your glory?”

◦         And “How can we—me and You, Lord—use Lent to achieve this?”

 

•         God will answer

◦         He is always thrilled to bring His children closer to Him

 

 

“God Love You!”