20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 19, 2018 (Deacon Jim Thill)

Holy Spirit Parish | Deacon Jim Thill

 

We get to choose.

     We have a decision to make.

          It is not a matter of opting out of making the decision.

              We are making this decision as we live…making this decision drives how we live.

I walked into Ace Hardware on South Locust.

   -10 feet inside the door…a woman leaving the store…stops and says to me…

        “Sir, do you know your pants are unzipped.”

             Never without a quick comeback I said, “Yes. I have a really busy day…

                  and in order to get done all I need to get done I’m saving all the time I can…

                      so I’m leaving my pants unzipped all day.”

                          She started laughing.

                              I said to her, “Thank you” and we walked on.

          Coming to the first aisle…I turned left…looked around… seeing no one … I zipped my pants.

     -as I continued in the store I thought

          “Man I really looked like a fool when I entered the store.

                and with my comeback I looked like a fool again.”

     -it dawned on me…we are all fools…

         the decision we have is will I be a fool for the world or a fool for Jesus.

 

READING 1   (Proverbs 9:1-6)

    -If we are going to be a fool for the world…that is foolishness…

                                                                     and we are called to forsake that foolishness.

    -If we are going to be a fool for Jesus…we seek wisdom…

                                                                           and we live and we build our lives on wisdom.

 

READING 2   (Ephesians 5:15-20)

    -Paul exhorts us…

        -To not live as fools for the world…or…as Paul writes as foolish persons.

                          ***but***

        -To live as fools for the Lord…to live as wise persons.

 

    -Paul tells us “fools for the world” in these evil days…live in ignorance…

                                                                live in drunkenness…live in debauchery.

                          ***but***

                “fools for Jesus” live as wise people...

                                       who seek to understand the will of the Lord…

                                           who seek to be filled with the Spirit…

                                                and are thankful to the Lord.

To this point I am sharing…to some degree…the ideal…

      and I would fail you to do just that…without also getting practical.

 Come with me to the…

GOSPEL   (John 6:51-58)

    -Jesus says “Eat my body…drink my blood>”

    -the Gospel takes us to the source and summit of our faith…THE EUCHARIST!!!

    -IN THE EUCHARIST:

         -is the source of New Life within us now.

         -is the promise of the new life to come…the promised eternal life.

         -Jesus remains in us and we remain in Him.

         -we live forever.

     -this Mass…the Mass is crucial for us…

             for we hear the Scriptures proclaimed…we hear a homily that fleshes those

                Scriptures for our everyday life…we have the opportunity to offer ourselves

                   to the Lord at the Offertory…we receive Jesus in Communion…and we are

                      charged in the Dismissal to go living as Missionary Disciples.

 

    THE EUCHARIST…AND THE MASS…

         -are both miracle and mystery…

         -for in it and through it we become

                  “fools for Jesus”

                       live as wise people...

                           who seek to understand the will of the Lord…

                                 we seek to be filled with the Spirit…

                                                and we are thankful to the Lord.

An old Pentecostal song… “Under the spout where the glory comes out” 

    -the theological unsound part… “where there’s no grief or pain”, all life has grief and pain.

    -sound, useable, part…a down spout…water rushing down (water a symbol of grace)…

                                                                                 we place ourselves under that spout.

    -we position ourselves under that grace spout when we pray…when we read scripture…

            when we are fruitful, active members of the community, the parish…

                   and when we live as servants.

    -we are positioned most powerfully under that spout when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist.

We get to choose.

     We have a decision to make.

          It is not a matter of opting out of making the decision.

              We are making this decision as we live…making this decision drives how we live.

Joshua said (Joshua 24:15) “Decide whom you will serve.

                                As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Choose to reject being a fool for the world…the foolishness of the world…

                                                                  Choose to be a fool for Jesus.