Homily
Ash Wednesday
5 March 2019
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Free dirt. Free insults.
That's the Catholic marketing strategy for today. And you fell for it. Lucky you. Welcome to Ash Wednesday Mass, everybody - we're glad you're here!
Our other Catholic marketing strategies stink. We've tried to be the friendliest Church, but you seem to prefer Mass street to our Mass. We serve lots of free food, and the needle moves a little. You do get hungry. We even serve free beer. We're Catholics and you're college students - you can't blame us for trying what we know. Yet you think of the Bermuda triangle first. The Catholic Church is actually the world's best marketer of guilt! We have the most intimidating and offensive behavior code available. You better not eat meat today . . or have sex out of marriage . . or else! Yet you seem to be able to feel badly about yourself on your own. You don't need Catholicism for this.
You probably do actually need more money and more free parking. You seem to be very broke and some of you have so many fines you will never see a KU diploma. But I'm sorry - we're out of parking too, and out of money so we can't help.
What we can offer uniquely today is free dirt and free insults. You are very welcome. Thanks for coming.
I really have no idea why you are here. I wish I did, but I don't. It's awesome to be together, and I'm glad you're here, but you're not obligated to be here.
I do know why I am here. I am here to get more honesty. There is a strange freedom in having a stranger throw dirt on your forehead and tell you you're going to die. There's a truthful irony that we allow a Church that is riddled with scandal and hypocrisy insult us and tell us we're not that great.
The honesty is that it doesn't really matter who's perfect and who's not. What matters is that we all struggle. We admit that together on Ash Wednesday. What matters is who is still in the game - who hasn't settled or quit - who is still trying. What matters is that we're all in this together, and we have the gift of each other - and that's a good thing.
Jesus in today's powerful Gospel calls out the world of appearances that we are all trapped in. He knows that we put a label, a timer and a price tag on the outside of everyone, and the same is done to us. But little of it is honest - those labels, price tags and timers are fake. He speaks to our need to live inside out, not outside in, and invites his disciples into this sacred honesty.
You see coming forward for free dirt and free insults is a more honest thing than the labels, price tags and timers we put on each other. The ashes invite us to live not in the tyranny of instant gratification, but starting with how we want our lives to end. The insult gets us in touch with how we deeply we want to be humble and real, with how we want and need to change and get better.
Lent invites us into honest conversation with God and each other. Conversation that dares to ask honest questions that don't have quick and easy answers. Who am I really? Who loves me really? Does my story really matter? What makes life worth living? Is there anything really stronger than death, or are we just pretending?
Free dirt and insults actually works because the honesty they represent invites us beyond the fake and into the real. With honesty comes freedom, the freedom to really change and the freedom to live a really great life. And let's face it, that's even better than free parking. So I dare you to answer a question that is not free, but one that will cost you - where do you need more honesty in your life?
The Good News is that the honesty of Ash Wednesday doesn't just have to be a day. It can be a way of life. It's what I dream that our Catholic Church may one day be - the place of greatest honesty. A place where labels, price tags and timers give way to inside-out conversations that bring reasons to hope.
The Catholic Church needs you to help us build this kind of community - one that is trustworthy. Can we build a family where free dirt and free insults are more than a once-a-year gimmick, but where we really and everyday dare the question - where do I need more honesty?
Ash Wednesday
5 March 2019
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Free dirt. Free insults.
That's the Catholic marketing strategy for today. And you fell for it. Lucky you. Welcome to Ash Wednesday Mass, everybody - we're glad you're here!
Our other Catholic marketing strategies stink. We've tried to be the friendliest Church, but you seem to prefer Mass street to our Mass. We serve lots of free food, and the needle moves a little. You do get hungry. We even serve free beer. We're Catholics and you're college students - you can't blame us for trying what we know. Yet you think of the Bermuda triangle first. The Catholic Church is actually the world's best marketer of guilt! We have the most intimidating and offensive behavior code available. You better not eat meat today . . or have sex out of marriage . . or else! Yet you seem to be able to feel badly about yourself on your own. You don't need Catholicism for this.
You probably do actually need more money and more free parking. You seem to be very broke and some of you have so many fines you will never see a KU diploma. But I'm sorry - we're out of parking too, and out of money so we can't help.
What we can offer uniquely today is free dirt and free insults. You are very welcome. Thanks for coming.
I really have no idea why you are here. I wish I did, but I don't. It's awesome to be together, and I'm glad you're here, but you're not obligated to be here.
I do know why I am here. I am here to get more honesty. There is a strange freedom in having a stranger throw dirt on your forehead and tell you you're going to die. There's a truthful irony that we allow a Church that is riddled with scandal and hypocrisy insult us and tell us we're not that great.
The honesty is that it doesn't really matter who's perfect and who's not. What matters is that we all struggle. We admit that together on Ash Wednesday. What matters is who is still in the game - who hasn't settled or quit - who is still trying. What matters is that we're all in this together, and we have the gift of each other - and that's a good thing.
Jesus in today's powerful Gospel calls out the world of appearances that we are all trapped in. He knows that we put a label, a timer and a price tag on the outside of everyone, and the same is done to us. But little of it is honest - those labels, price tags and timers are fake. He speaks to our need to live inside out, not outside in, and invites his disciples into this sacred honesty.
You see coming forward for free dirt and free insults is a more honest thing than the labels, price tags and timers we put on each other. The ashes invite us to live not in the tyranny of instant gratification, but starting with how we want our lives to end. The insult gets us in touch with how we deeply we want to be humble and real, with how we want and need to change and get better.
Lent invites us into honest conversation with God and each other. Conversation that dares to ask honest questions that don't have quick and easy answers. Who am I really? Who loves me really? Does my story really matter? What makes life worth living? Is there anything really stronger than death, or are we just pretending?
Free dirt and insults actually works because the honesty they represent invites us beyond the fake and into the real. With honesty comes freedom, the freedom to really change and the freedom to live a really great life. And let's face it, that's even better than free parking. So I dare you to answer a question that is not free, but one that will cost you - where do you need more honesty in your life?
The Good News is that the honesty of Ash Wednesday doesn't just have to be a day. It can be a way of life. It's what I dream that our Catholic Church may one day be - the place of greatest honesty. A place where labels, price tags and timers give way to inside-out conversations that bring reasons to hope.
The Catholic Church needs you to help us build this kind of community - one that is trustworthy. Can we build a family where free dirt and free insults are more than a once-a-year gimmick, but where we really and everyday dare the question - where do I need more honesty?
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