Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O. de M.
Listen to this homily on audio
There is a car commercial currently on TV which features a father and son. The father has just driven into the driveway with his new car. The son comes out to greet his dad driving his own electronic toy car. The dad says to his son, “How would you like to try this one?” (offering him the keys). The dream sequence enters as the viewers see the six-year old boy driving around in his father’s car. It is truly funny to see the young boy dropping his dad off at work, stuck in traffic, and running errands. As the dream ends, we are brought back to reality where the boy responds to his father’s offer by saying, “No thanks!”
This commercial is so effective because it portrays something common to all who go through childhood, the desire to imitate our parents. Most healthy children want to be like their parents, especially those of the same sex. We can all remember pretending to mow the lawn with our toy lawnmower or fixing things with our toy workbench. Inevitably, though, we move on from this stage to recognize and appreciate ourselves as distinct persons. However, hopefully we retain some of that admiration and desire to imitate the good that our parents have done.
To be God or to be like God?
Human beings, created in the image and likeness of God (Gn. 1:27), possess an innate desire to imitate God. This desire deep within us can be referred to as the call to holiness. It is seen in the Garden of Eden where man and woman lived in communion with all of creation. Yet, also, we see in our first parents the deadly temptation to desire to be God. Adam and Eve succumb to the temptation to take from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. They were told by the serpent that it would make them “like God, knowing good and evil.” This Original Sin is essentially falling into the temptation to be God or to determine what is right and wrong.
We see this also in the Gospel parable today. The tenants of the vineyard view the coming of the “son” or “heir” as an opportunity to “acquire the inheritance”. They believe that by killing the son they will receive all that the master possesses. Essentially, they want to be the master. The same is true of Jesus. The Jewish leaders and many of the people were very comfortable with the “religion” they had created for themselves. They had distorted true Revelation by adding to and manipulating the law and the prophets. Christ came to free the people from these inaccuracies and fulfill the true message given to the Israelite people in the Old Testament. Jesus, who proclaimed himself to be God, shattered the false conceptions which had been created. He seriously threatened the establishment’s ability to create God in their own Image and for their own purposes. Thus, they had to kill Him in order to reestablish their control.
It would be inaccurate to see this temptation to pride as existing only 2,000 years ago. The temptation to be God is at the heart of our fallen nature. We want to determine our own fate, to decide what is right and wrong, and to have control over others. Yes, we have all fallen in Original Sin. We struggle and are tempted to pride. But, in Christ we have received the forgiveness of our sins and grace to rise above our fallen nature. In the Sacraments, we are given the grace to overcome our desire to be God and strive instead to be like God or to be holy.
Love Virtue
St. Paul talks about this striving in the second reading today. We are called to put on the mind of God: “whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” The practice of allowing God to purify our minds is the path to holiness. This process always begins with guarding our senses. We must keep careful watch over what comes into our souls through our eyes, ears, and other senses. What we listen to or view or take part in becomes our thoughts. These thoughts over time become our actions. And, these actions become habits: vices or virtues which have power over our day to day behaviors. Finally, our habits will determine who we really have become. If we have killed, then we are a murderer. If we steal, then we are a thief. However, if we tell the truth we have become honest. And, if we do good to others we are truly charitable.
We all have an innate desire to be like the Father in heaven. Yet, because of the Fall there is also the strong temptation to become little gods. Let us with God’s grace learn to guard our senses, thoughts, and actions so as to allow God to mold us into all that He desires us to be. What God wants more than anything is to fulfill our inmost aspiration, which is to become more and more like Him. This is to be truly human. To be holy.