Homily for 28 Feb 2016

28 Feb 2016

3^rd Sunday in Lent, Year C

There once was a young lady who had a piano in her house.  It was shiny black, with the pattern of a grapevine carved into the legs.  She always had the piano by the living room window, so others could see it as they walked by.  The young lady was a pleasant person; unassuming and even quiet spoken.  And she remained that her whole life.

In the summer, people could often hear beautiful music coming through the open windows; and they remarked to each other what a fantastic pianist she was.  And then, one afternoon, when she was a ripe old age, a little boy came to her door and asked if he could come in and listen to her piano playing.  She welcomed him in with eagerness.  But instead of going to sit at the piano, she went over and put the needle down on her record: “The Best of Beethoven.”

She couldn’t play a single note on the piano!  She’d imagined herself to be a great pianist, and dreamt about it her whole life.  But, in the end, she wasn’t.  She had the piano; she had the desire; she had the inspiration . . . but it wasn’t enough—you have to actually sit down and spend the time and the effort to practice, and to actually be what you aspire to be.

And that’s what Jesus seems to say today: It isn’t enough to just plant a fig tree in the ground; you have to “cultivate and fertilize the ground around it” if it’s going to be anything.  In just the same way, it isn’t enough to call ourselves Catholic Christians; we have to “cultivate and fertilize the ground in which we live” so that we can actually be who and what we say we are.

And this is why Jesus says: “Repent, or you will perish”. . . “Change your hearts and minds, or you’ll end up missing out on life.” It’s always tempting to get “stuck in a rut,” or to just go through life or faith without really thinking about it.  Like that lady with the piano, we can be tempted to just let the piano sit there, and let somebody else provide the music; meanwhile, our potential doesn’t become anything.

“Repent,” Jesus says: “Get out of the rut of indifference, or the habit of pessimism, or the assumption that we practice our Catholic faith well-enough.” 

I remember several times in life trying to make a plant grow.  And I’d stick the little stem or seed in the dirt, and it would die.  So I’d do it again.  And that one would die.  And the next, and the next.  Of course, making a little plant takes more than just “sticking in the dirt.”  It has to be watered (but not over-watered); it has to be fed (but not over-fed); the pH balance of the soil has to be considered, and even the type of soil is important.  And then there’s the question of sunlight: How much?  How little?  How often?  There’s a certain commitment to doing the work of growing a plant if you’re going to actually grow a plant.

And we can say the same thing about practically everything we’re trying to do.  If you’re in sports, you have to practice, you have to train, you have to eat right.  If you’re in music, you have to practice, you have to study, you have to nurture a sense of patience.  Cooking, baking, mechanics, having a pet in the house, having a house, having a job, a career . . . With just about everything Jesus could say the same thing: “Don’t get in a rut; repent, change your mind and heart, and stay fresh and alert so you can be and grow into what you have the potential to be.”

And it should go without saying that we apply this to our life of faith.  It isn’t enough to come to Mass.  It isn’t enough to be baptized.  It isn’t enough to profess our faith with our lips.  Instead, we have to actually participate in Mass; we have to actually live out our baptism by letting Christ cleanse us and change our hearts; we have to actually believe in our hearts that: “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, and so on.”  This is what Saint Paul is getting at when he says, “Whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall."

About the time we start to be “mechanical” and “unthinking” in our faith, that’s when we should “be careful not to fall.”  That’s when we need to start “cultivating” the ground us and asking God to “fertilize” it with the Holy Spirit.

There’s always the potential in us to grow and become children of God.  Are we living that potential?  Or are we letting somebody else provide the beautiful music, while we just sit back?