St. Paul’s trustworthy saying and Winston Churchill… huh?

+ J. M. J. +

Homily Outline for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Our 2nd reading concludes with these pithy words:

This saying is trustworthy: If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

There is a great deal offered to us here, a great deal to think about, a great deal to put into practice!

First… “if we have died with him, we shall also live with him.” This is the Paschal Mystery at the heart of Christian Faith: Jesus Christ died and rose, He conquered death by death. Normally a hero succeeds by avoiding death and defeat, but Jesus definitively emptied death and defeat of their power over us by walking straight into the bloody maw of death and conquering it from within. We are invited to follow in His footsteps. Indeed, unless we follow in His footsteps, we are not able to enter into His victory. We must die with Christ so as to live with Him now and in eternity. For this reason we keep the Crucifix always before our eyes, reminding us that in all distress and pain, Jesus is at our side!

This mystery is present in God’s healing in our 1st reading and Gospel. Naaman the Syrian had been suddenly afflicted with leprosy just as he had risen to worldly power, but one of his servants was an Israelite, and she suggested he seek out the Prophet Elisha. At first Naaman had resisted Elisha’s instructions out of arrogance, but persuaded by his servants, he finally agreed to follow the prophet’s instruction, to bathe in the waters of the Jordan. He was instantly healed of his leprosy, that dread disease. It seems that he was also healed of a far more dangerous illness, arrogance and pride, because he admits his folly to Elisha, and he makes an act of faith in God, who Elisha serves. In sickness and folly, God offered Naaman healing and faith. He worked through the lowly, and yet offered Himself even to the rich and haughty!

Similarly, in our Gospel, we have this healing of the ten lepers. Like Naaman, but perhaps with greater humility, they seek Jesus out, and following the law that prevented them from approaching anyone healthy, they cried out from a distance, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” They do not have to be cajoled or convinced, they immediately follow Jesus’ instructions, going off to show themselves to the priests who by law must declare them clean and healed, free of leprosy, before they can enter back into the life of the community. That act of obedience opens them up to God’s blessing, and while they are en route, they are healed!

Naaman had to die to himself, swallow his pride, and follow the advice of a foreign prophet. In that act of humility, he was opened up to God’s healing. The ten lepers cried out in their need, much more open to God than the wealthy and powerful Naaman, and when Jesus gave them instructions, they immediately carried them out. By this obedience, they were opened up to God’s healing. God does not save and heal us without our choice, without our consent, without our response. If we will choose to die with him, we will live.

In our daily lives the choice to follow Christ, to obey Him, to imitate Him, often involves many daily choices, rather than one dramatic moment. St. Paul’s saying continues, “if we persevere we shall also reign with him.” An authentic following of Christ, an authentic Catholic life, will necessarily involve a great deal of perseverance. We keep going to Mass, even if the priest or the choir or our fellow parishioners aren’t always at the top of their game! We keep praying, even as we struggle with distraction or experience a time of dryness. We keep going to confession and receiving God’s mercy even though we often continue to struggle with the same sins. We keep responding to those around us with patience and generosity, with kindness, even if they don’t always, or perhaps often, respond in kind. We keep choosing to forgive, even as we are close to drowning under waves of bitterness, anger, hatred, or numbness. Jesus fell three times, and he kept getting up. The saints are men, women, and children like us, weak, sinful, and yet they kept getting up, they kept crying out for healing, they kept trusting God’s mercy.

I’ve been reading a biography about Winston Churchill, and the part I’m reading now describes the long political exile he experienced during the most of the years between WWI and WWII. He was on the outs for years, unable to exercise the high office he had reached as a very young man. He was blamed as incompetent for decisions that history has shown were right on target. As the Nazi menace grew from the early 1930’s on, he kept crying out in the wilderness that the world and Great Britain must be willing to stop Hitler. Almost nobody listened, and Churchill was often dismissed, ignored, ridiculed or insulted in the House of Parliament and in the press. Hitler gobbled up the Rhineland, and no one did anything; Hitler gobbled up Austria, and no one did anything; Hitler gobbled up Czechoslovakia, and no one did anything. Churchill was in the midst of despair and sadness as no one in power was willing to respond to the rapidly growing danger. In 1939 Hitler invaded Poland, and finally, as if waking up out of a drugged stupor, the world realized it was in big trouble, and suddenly England turned to Churchill. In short order he was Prime Minister, fighting for survival in terrible circumstances that he had tried to address constantly for 10 years prior. What would have happened if he had given up? What would have happened if he had simply backed away from the struggle, from the battle, and devoted himself to writing and painting? It is not easy to imagine someone else leading England through the bitter years that followed, and we might well be speaking German here if Churchill hadn’t stayed the course!




The principal applies to our daily lives! “If we persevere with him, we shall also reign with him.” Is it a persistent sin or vice that causes you discouragement or shame? Keep seeking God’s mercy in confession! Is it a wound or sin from the past that keeps dragging you down? Keep renewing your trust and faith in God! Is it the need to forgive some hurt that seems beyond your strength to forgive? Keep surrendering it to the Lord! Does God seem far away, does your life seem disconnected from God and His Church? Keep opening the door, keep crying out, keep seeking the Lord? Do some of the people you love seem to be far from God and running farther away as fast as they can? Keep praying for them, loving them, and seeking to be more converted to the Lord yourself! Only by refusing to seek the Lord, only by refusing to ask for His mercy, only by denying Him do we shut the door. And yet, even then, as St. Paul tells us, “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.” Jesus is for us, and when we seek God’s mercy, His answer is always, “Yes!”

St. Paul’s words are short and to the point, let’s listen to them once more as we prepare to approach this altar, where we will receive Jesus Christ, who is always faithful to us:

If we have died with him we shall also live with him;
if we persevere we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

Asking God for the gift of faith, the gift of perseverance, the gift of hope, we prepare our hearts, we open the door, to God who gives us Himself.

+ A. M. D. G. +