733 James I. Harrison Jr. Parkway East - Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35405

Browsing Father Michael Deering's Sunday Homilies

Did you use all your strength?

Homily originally presented July 8, 2018.

 

Last Sunday, many of you got the chance to meet my nephew, Seminarian Chuck Deering, after he served Mass.   As you could see, at age 29, Chuck is a big strong guy.

 

Well, I can remember some 20 years ago when Chuck was just 8 and he was helping his Dad lay irrigation pipe in their back yard to control some drainage problems.

 

They were using a pick and shovel to make a trench for the pipe and at one point they came upon a pretty good size boulder right in their path.

They dug around it and loosened the dirt on all sides and then little CJ said,

Let me get it Dad.”

So he bent down to pick it up, but he couldn’t budge it.

 

As he stood up, his Dad asked him, “Did you use all your strength?”

To which CJ replied, “Well, let me try it again.”

 

So he bent down and pulled and strained with all his might,

but he still couldn’t move the boulder.

 

As he stood up, his Dad asked him again, “Son, did you use all your strength? Exasperated, CJ answered, “I certainly did!”            To which his Dad replied,

“No you didn’t ...  you didn’t use all your strength … because you didn’t use me!”

 

He said, “Now you grab onto that end I’ll take this end and let’s lift this thing.

And sure enough ... together they lifted that boulder out of the trench!

 

You see, the fullness of CJ’s strength was not to be found in him alone!

The fullness of CJ’s strength was standing right next to him in his Dad

a grown man with 3 times his strength.

And when they worked together they were strong enough for the task at hand.

 

As we wrestle with all the problems that come our way each day,

      the question we need to ask ourselves is,    “Are we using all our strength?”

Are we calling upon the people around us to help us?

And most importantly, are we calling upon our All-Powerful God to help us?

 

Many people in this world try to do things alone. Somehow they got this attitude that they’re independent ... or they want to be ...  or they need to be independent.

 

They’re enamored with this image of themselves as a person in control and they take great pride in being self-sufficient, of being able to do things on their own.

 

They fail to see that God made us to live in community …

He made us social human beings each with different gifts to be shared

and we flourish when we work together for the common good.

 

You see, no matter how independent we may think we are,

  • we are highly dependent on other people, and
  • we are absolutely dependent on God!

 

So if a person’s intention is to be strong, then the smartest thing they could ever do ... would be to tap into the strength of the people around them ...

           and the strength of the God above them

 

Wisdom tells us that the fullness of our strength is outside ourselves!

  • A significant part of our strength is to be found in other people.
  • And, the greatest part of our strength is to be found in God.

 

We’re not independent ...

We’re inter-dependent … on one another ... and  ...

We’re totally dependent … on God.

 

Please think about this the next time you whip out your smart phone

 to text a friend ... find directions ... or look something up on Google.

  

  And you’re feeling pretty powerful and independent!

 

Consider ... you didn’t make that smart phone!   A whole company of people did.

You didn’t put up the cellphone tower that transmits your call; another company did.

You didn’t launch the satellite in outer space that connects you to the www.

A whole industry of countless other people was responsible for that.

And when you charge your phone each night, that power doesn’t come from you.

Alabama Power provides it ... another huge group of workers.    

So your ability to communicate is based on the help of thousands of other people.

 

And the next time you’re out driving your shiny new car or truck down the road feeling pretty powerful and independent ... think about this:

 

You didn’t make that car!    A whole factory of other people did.

And you didn’t pave those roads you’re driving on. A whole crew of people did.

And you didn’t drill for the oil that was refined into gasoline to power your car. Another whole industry of people was responsible for doing that.

 

Just think about it and you’ll see ... that you’re not so in-dependent

No, you’re very inter-dependent ... like the inter-locking pieces of a puzzle.

 

And to take it a step further, you wouldn’t be able to talk on your phone or drive your car if you didn’t have the gifts of your senses of sight and hearing and touch. None of your actions would be possible if your didn’t have your health and your senses, which you didn’t acquire by yourself; no, they were given you by God.

 

You know, all of us moan and groan about paying our taxes.

But one benefit we get in paying our taxes is

the reminder of just how inter-dependent we are.

 

Isn’t it nice to get a letter or your check in the US mail?

Isn’t it nice to be able to drive to work, or church or to visit family on US highways?

Isn’t it comforting to live in peace & security thanks to US armed forces protecting us?

 

That’s why we pay taxesso that other people can help us to live better lives.

The electric company ... the gas company ... the water board ... the school district ...   

   the court system ...  the hospital system ... the prison system

 try living without them and see how in-dependent you are.

 

You can’t strike a match or put papers together with a paper clip

without admitting that you’re dependent on other people.

Someone else made that match.     Someone else made that paper clip.

 

And recognizing how vitally dependent we are on God and others,

should move us to appreciate where our power comes from.

 

Where is the fullness of our strength?

The fullness of our strength is outside of ourselves.

A large part of our strength is in other people;

and the greatest part of our strength is in God.

 

If people really understood that the fullness of their strength is in God and others, this church would be full … and not just on Sundays … but every day of the week.

 

This is where we come to offer our most powerful request for the God’s help.

     And this is where we get to recognize the gifts God has given to others.

 

The accomplishments of the Knights of Columbus and the Ladies Aux/ Guild are powerful examples of how strength comes from community, not individuality.

 

Just as my little Nephew was unable to move a boulder by himself, none of us are equipped to take on all of the obstacles of everyday life by ourselves

We need other people and most of all, we need God.

It’s humbling to realize that alone we’re not so strong. But that humble realization

can motivate us to tap into the surpassing strength of God.

 

St. Paul explains this in our passage today from 2nd Corinthians;

 

You see, Paul had some mighty special visions of Jesus, miraculous encounters with the Lord that might make Paul feel aloof or better than others, independent.

 

So, God dampened his pride by leaving Paul with some type of cross to bear ...

a thorn in his side ... as Paul calls it..

 

We don’t know if it was mental or physical or spiritual.

All we know is that it humbled Paul to lean on God and others.

 

He admits today,      “That I Paul might not become too elated,

because of the abundance of the revelations, a thorn of the flesh was given to me,

an angel of Satan to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.

 

Yes, the potential is there for any of us to think that we’re pretty great …

 that we’re independent and that we don’t need anyone’s help.

 

But that’s not true! The fullness of our strength is not in ourselves

it’s in God … and in others.

 

Jesus revealed this when He said to Paul,  

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

And that revelation moved Paul to boast of his weaknesses, saying

“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

Yes, it’s in weakness that we’re moved to reach out to God and others for help.

 

If we insist on moving the boulders in our life by ourselves, we’ll be operating at significantly less than full power as we leave God and others on the sidelines.

 

But, if we humble ourselves and invite God and others to help us,

then together we’ll be able to move mountains.

 

As you climb into bed at the end of the day, hear the Lord asking you,

Did you use all your strength today?

 

If you went through the day without calling upon the Lord,

    then as my brother said to his son ...  hear the Lord say to you,

“No, you didn’t use all your strength … because you didn’t use Me.”

 

Let’s temper any feelings of independence with an awareness of

our great inter-dependence on other people and our utter dependence on God.

 

Let’s readily admit of our weaknesses and develop the habit of

inviting God into everything we do and every decision we make.

 

Only then will we be operating at full strength!

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