Homily originally presented February 24, 2019
Bear the image of the Heavenly One!
Growing up in Chicago, I was blessed to be part of a big extended family ...
with many Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. In my younger years
we’d get together regularly and everyone seemed to have a great time.
But as I got older, I recall that two of my Aunts, my Aunt Lu and my Aunt Dorothy had a falling out over some misunderstanding and they stopped talking to each other.
They lived just a few miles apart ... but they refused to visit one another.
And these two Aunts of mine were sisters!
Somehow, someway, there was a big misunderstanding ... feelings were hurt ...
and so they wanted nothing to do with one another.
Countless attempts were made by other family members to get
these two to reconcile, but each Aunt insisted that they’d only make up
if the other one apologized first.
And so year after year went by as they wallowed in their anger & resentment.
They went 30 years without speaking to each other; then Aunt Dorothy died.
10 years later Aunt Lu died.
I had two other Aunts up in Chicago, my Aunt Rita and my Aunt Mary. They too had a falling out back in 1980. And they too were no longer on speaking terms.
5 years later in 1985 my brothers, my sister and I gave a big party in Chicago to celebrate our Parent’s 35th Wedding Anniversary & these two Aunts were there.
Toward the end of the banquet, my Dad went over to Aunt Mary and asked if, on the occasion of his Anniversary, she would speak to Aunt Rita. And she agreed.
These two ladies talked ... and hugged ... and cried.
They took the opportunity to be reconciled ... and they remained friends ...
for the next 30 years ... till my Aunt Rita died in 2015!
Two different situations. In which of the two is the presence of God more visible?
Here’s a little hint:
- God is Unity
- The Devil is Division
God is Trinity ... God is Three Persons so united ... that they are One.
And by creating us in His Image and Likeness ...
God desires us to be one too ... united ... with Him ... and with each other.
St. Paul speaks of this in our Second Reading from 1st Corinthians ...
describing us as having both an earthly and a heavenly nature.
You see, God blessed us with a first installment of our heavenly nature when we underwent the waters of Baptism. It was then that we were configured to Christ and became temples of God’s Holy Spirit.
As a result of this, Paul says, “we … bear the image of the heavenly one.”
So, knowing no more than you do, which of my Aunts would you say
bore the image of the Heavenly One?
The two Aunts who had a problem and never spoke to one another again?
Or the two Aunts, who had a problem and were reconciled with one another?
It’s so clear ... one relationship ended in division ...
one relationship ended in union.
In our Gospel, Jesus, the Heavenly One, calls us to be reconciled with one another, even to the point of loving our enemies.
In our humanness, we’re inclined to quickly respond, “Yeah, right!”
Which is why we need to interrupt ourselves and listen closely to Jesus ...
trusting that He wants us to be one with Him in Heaven.
In this short passage from Luke, He says not once but twice ...
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”
That’s not natural ... no ... it’s supernatural.
You see, God is calling us to do the supernatural ...
because He’s empowered us to do the supernatural .
Paul says, “Just as we’ve borne the image of the earthly one (Adam),
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one (Jesus).
We took on Jesus’ image at Baptism, an image that was clarified at Confirmation,
an image that is repaired in Confession ... and perfected in Holy Communion.
You know it’s realizing that the image of God dwells in others that should move us to treat them with kindness and care. We heard an example of this in our Reading from 1st Samuel ... where King David is standing over his enemy, King Saul, who is sleeping. David’s amour bearer says “Let me nail him to the ground ... with one thrust of his own spear. But David says, “Do not harm him,
for who can lay hands on the Lord’s anointed and remain unpunished?”
We need to remember that all Christians are anointed with God’s Holy Spirit.
So, how are things in your family?
What about that brother or sister, that aunt or uncle that you might be at odds with?
Can you reach out to them and seek reconciliation with them for the love of God?
Do your actions toward them bear the image of the Heavenly One?
Do you treat them with kindness and care even though they mistreat you?
This will certainly be pleasing to God ... and ...
it will end up being very pleasing to you too!
For if we do as Jesus asks, He promises:
“then your reward will be great and you will be called children of the Most High.”
The Reward Jesus is speaking of ... is Heaven ...
and it’s ours only if we bear the image of the Heavenly one.
The reality of our human nature is that we are pretty darn fragile.
First of all, we are fallible human beings.
That means that our intellect is not infallible and we can be wrong!
We can be so sure that we’re right and we can be dead wrong!
Moreover, our intellect can be clouded by sin.
Sin affects the way we think and the decisions we make.
Sin contributes to us becoming self-righteous … that’s the feeling that we’re right and everyone else is wrong … that my way is the only way.
Couple this with the fact that we are emotional human beings
and that our feelings can be hurt
and the potential is definitely there for separation and division between people.
So we see that maintaining our love for one another is not necessarily easy.
And because this is so, God gives us a powerful incentive to motivate us
to love our neighbor. Jesus warns us,
“For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you!”
Ouch! Do you consciously withhold your love and your forgiveness from others?
Then you can expect to have love and forgiveness withheld from you.
That’s certainly not our desire. When we know we’re wrong we want to be forgiven. That’s what moves people to go to Confession. They want to start over.
And what does God do in that Sacrament? Our Responsorial Psalm says it best,
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us.”
God forgives & forgets, removing our sin from us as far as the east is from the west!
It’s in Confession that we are reconciled with God,
that’s why it’s called the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
God restores the union we lost by sinning.
And He expects us to do the same with other people ... all other people ... even our enemies. Because then and only then will we bear the image of the Heavenly One.
We need to remind ourselves that there’s nothing in Heaven that is not love.
That’s because God is in Heaven and God is love.
If it’s our intention to go to Heaven then we need to get rid of anything that is not love, because nothing else will fit! Your grudges and contempt … your hatred ... and hardness of heart ... must all be gone before you enter into Heaven.
Now you can choose to get rid of this on earth, or you can carry it to the grave.
But then, it will need to be purged in Purgatory ... that mandatory Time Out where the burning love of God will mold your heart into the Heavenly image.
Either way ... “division” has got to go because there’s only “unity” in God’s house.
Wisdom tells us that it’s to our advantage to let go of these things now by choice rather than have them burned away in the process of purification in Purgatory.
You know, as little children our Parents taught us the Golden Rule.
It’s a very simple guide to our relations with others.
Where does the Golden Rule come from? It comes from Jesus!
In Luke 6:31 just proclaimed, Jesus says,
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
It’s never too late to start to practice this rule!
If you’re really moved to follow the Rule, perhaps you can start close to home.
Are you reconciled with everyone in your family?
Do you speak to all your brothers and sisters? Or have you cut them off because you’ve made the determination that you’re right and they’re wrong?
Do you speak to your parents, your aunts and uncles?
Do you act to bring reconciliation between them?
Do you reach out to your children, your nieces and nephews ... your in-laws ...
regardless of the lives they’re leading?
If not, then now is the time to start.
There’s no guarantee that you or they will be here tomorrow. And the best part of all this is that you only stand to benefit from the process of reconciliation.
Since they reconciled with one another in 1985, my Aunt Mary and Aunt Rita
enjoyed 30 years of relationship instead of 30 years of separation …
they enjoyed 30 years of peace instead of 30 years of anguish.
Today, let’s ask God for the courage and the words to be reconciled with everyone we know. For only in this way will we bear the image ... of the Heavenly One.
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