Homily for 21 Sep 2017

21 Sep 2017

Feast of Saint Matthew

(School Mass)

Saint Matthew was an important person.  He knew Jesus personally, and he shared his faith with many, many people.  And we still read from his gospel thousands of years later.  Saint Matthew is a very important person for us.

And there are a lot of other saints, too.  But, you know, quite a few of them we’ve probably never heard of; saints like: Saint Athwulf of Thorney, or Saint Erconwald of London, or Saint Enda of Aran.  But just because we haven’t heard of them doesn’t mean they’re not important.  They each have a part to play in God’s kingdom.

It doesn’t matter if we’re popular or not.  The important thing is that we’re faithful to God, and that we are who God made us to be.  We each have a part to play—and only you can play that part.

Now the other day, my little pinky finger was saying, “I’m tired of being the little finger.  In fact, I don’t want to be a finger anymore at all; I want to be an eye—an eye is much more important than being just a little finger.” 

And I said, “Well, Pinky, if you stop being my little finger, how am I going to count up to 10?  How am I going to balance my hand when I’m writing?  And what about your neighbor, the ring finger—what’s he going to do without his little buddy next to him?”

And Pinky said to me, “You’re right.  An eye is important, but so am I, even though people don’t notice me too much.”  And ever since, he’s been happy to be my little pinky finger.

God put each of us into the world for a reason.  We each have a part to play—whether it’s a big part or a little part.  The important thing is to say, “God, what do you want me to do today?”  And then do it with happiness and peace in our heart.