Homily for 19 Jan 2016

19 January 2016

Appearances can be deceiving.  They aren’t always; they don’t have to be; but often times they can be.  And so, it’s important to dig deeper—to use our heads and our hearts as we go through life. 

Now, today, we heard that young David was “ruddy, a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance.”  But, you know, the king (Saul) whom David replaced had also been described as “handsome.”  It was said that: “There was no other child of Israel more handsome than Saul; he stood head and shoulders above the people.” 

But appearances can be deceiving.  Even though he was attractive, King Saul was a terrible leader; he was bad for the people.  And so, when David came along and people said, “Oh, he’s handsome,” God said: “Don’t judge him on his appearance.”  God chose David because of who and what David was in his soul.

And this little story about the shift of power from King Saul to King David is important.  And it’s important to us because we’ll have people leading us throughout our whole life; the question is: Who do we follow?  Who are the people we look to as an example?  Who do we hold up as our heroes, our champions, our mentors and teachers? 

Now, with some people we simply have faith that they’re an okay person to follow: you know, our teachers in school, our pastors, the bishops, the pope, our parents, doctors.  But with a lot of people we have to stop and think: Should I be listening to this person?  Is he or she a good example?  Is this person good for me, or is this person bad for me?

And to answer those questions, we have to look more deeply . . . because appearances can be deceiving.  Now, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t trust others; on the contrary.  But it does mean we should live life intelligently, using our mind and our heart.  We’re always going to have examples and leaders and mentors in life: and we need to follow them with trust and with intelligence, looking deeply to see who they are . . . because we’re going to become like them.

Jesus’ disciples followed him because they saw that he was (and is) a genuine person.  He has a genuine heart of mercy, and he’s always interested in the good of others—in our good.  There’s nothing but truth and goodness and beauty in him.  That’s why they followed him: to be like him.  They knew they would be like their teacher.  And so, when we choose our leaders, our examples and heroes, God reminds us to look deeply . . . because appearances can be deceiving.