Homily - Sunday
Deacon David Lewis
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach / San Diego, CA
A
couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in my chair and as I looked out, I noticed a
few longtime parishioners who, at one time were coming to Church with their
families. An awareness came over me that they were now sitting alone. Some of
them were alone, perhaps because of schedule
issues the rest of the family was going to come to a different Mass, while
others had children that had grown older and were now away on their own, and
others yet, have experienced the loss of a spouse, and are now widows, or
widowers, whatever the reason, they were now alone as they attended Mass. And I
wondered why God brought my attention to them, why this clear awareness of
these particular people?
Then about a week later I again had one of these moments,
It was Ash Wednesday, and just after the distribution of ashes I looked across
the church with its full pews, I saw a sea of heads… pew, after pew, after pew,
each visible forehead with a blackened cross of ash on it, and suddenly I had a
vision of the national cemetery in Arlington,
VA with its slow rolling hills of headstone after headstone each row going on all
the way until it disappeared over the horizon, each tombstone marking a life given
in service to the military and the resting place of the deceased, but these
ashen crosses on the foreheads, instead of marking the dead these crosses marked
the living, each remembering they are offered eternal life through Jesus,
beyond the life of our bodies that will return to dust.
These two events of clear thought,
highlighted to me that we are only here on earth for a such a short time. That,
in one moment we are children going to Mass with our parents, the next we have
found a spouse, and are having children of our own, the next they are in
school, and so quickly they are grown and as we become grandparents and about
that time we often find ourselves burying our own parents. But when we bury a
loved one, their story doesn’t end there, they have leave behind their legacy. They
often have spent a lifetime spreading seeds, building a family, providing for
that family, passing on traditions, and morals to those around them. Teaching
others the values that are dear to them.
As I reflected on these two moments of clarity that
I had, and, also the reading today, I thought about Jacob, and the legacy he
left behind in that well. I thought about the faith Jacob must have had to come
to this spot and begin to dig, and dig, and dig. Likely tired, dirty, certainly
thirsty, seeking the water that would eventually be found.
But before you envision a nice soft dirt getting dug
out by the shovel full, you must realize that Jacob’s well, the well of Sychar,
was hewn from stone. This may sound eerily familiar to the first reading when
Moses also drew water from stone. But, unlike Moses instantly getting water from
the rock just by striking it with his staff, Jacob’s working at the stone was likely
a very slow process. The determination, to keep digging, fighting against the
despair that water had not yet been found, and having to continue to hammer,
dig and hammer and dig. And for what? So that he could have water, of course,
but not just for him, but for his family, his neighbors, his livestock, and his
fields, this was life-giving water. But it was not just for Jacob and his contemporaries
(those that lived during the same time as him) but this well went on to exist
long after Jacob.
It still existed in Jesus’s time, setting the scene
for today’s Gospel reading. Jacob’s hard work had a lasting impact not only on
those around him, but for generations yet to come. In fact, the well still
exists today, a holy place, and over the years the site of churches honoring
Jesus’ visit there, and His act of forgiveness upon the Samaritan woman.
Going back to those moments in Mass, the connection
to the readings became visible when I realized that our lives go on. That we
have an impact on those around us, that our actions may be the planting of
seeds in others to go forth, giving them the confidence to blossom into greatness.
That while we are here on earth our acts of kindness, love, and forgiveness
that we live out, may provide the hope those we encounter, to release them from
whatever demons chain them down. And that our hard work, may bear fruit in the
lives of those around us, to make their lives richer, happier, or even easier,
like Jacob’s well.
You may be thinking, I’m too young or that it’s too
late to make an impact, to that I agree with Matthew Kelly, a well know
Catholic speaker and author, from his book the Rhythm of Life, he said that
it you are never too old or too young when he pointed out :
Mozart
was only eight when he wrote his first symphony.
Anne
Frank was thirteen when she began her diary.
Ralph
Waldo Emerson was fourteen when he enrolled at Harvard.
Bill
Gates was nineteen when he cofounded Microsoft and only thirty-one when he
became a billionaire.
Thomas
Jefferson was thirty-three when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
Saint
Teresa of Culcutta, was forty when she founded the Missionaries of Charity.
Henry
Ford was fifty when he started his first manufacturing assembly line.
Ray
Kroc was fifty-two when he started McDonalds.
Dom
Perignon was sixty when he produced his first champagne.
Winston
Churchill was sixty-five when he became Britain's prime minister.
Nelson
Mandela was seventy-one when he was released from a South African prison, and
seventy-five when he was elected president.
Michelangelo
was seventy-two when he designed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Dimitrion
Yordanidis was ninety-eight years old when he ran a marathon in seven hours and
thirty-three minutes, in Athens, Greece.
Ichijirou
Araya was one hundred when he climbed Mount Fuji.
Whatever your age, the rest of your life is ahead of
you. You can’t go back and change
anything about your past, but you can change your future, and possibly the
future of others. Now is your time to
take the steps, to live a life worth writing about, to live a life worthy of people
putting your name forward for Sainthood, to live a life that leaves the world a
better place for those to come, to live a life utilizing your time, talents,
and treasure through acts of love toward God and your neighbors. So just as we
say at the end of Mass, go in peace glorifying the Lord by your life.
