Who do you trust with a key to your house?

 Homily

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time A

St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas

23 August 2020

AMDG +JMJ +m

Who do you trust with a key to your house?

For me, that's easy.  My house isn't even mine.  It belongs to the Archbishop and the people of God.  I didn't earn it or pay for it.  So it's all yours.  Anybody can have a key.  In fact it's open right now if anyone wants to leave a gift!  Now of course I'd be upset if you took or moved my stuff, but I'd get over it pretty quick.  Mi casa es su casa.

Same with my phone.  You can have my passcode - 052904 - the day I was ordained.  There's confidential stuff in there I probably should keep private, but there's nothing I'm trying to hide.  If there is, I hope I get caught so I can correct it as soon as possible.  

So you're welcome to my house and my phone - just don't prank me please!

Anybody can have my keys or my phone.  But don't think I'm a virtuous person.  I'm a control freak to the max - as good as anyone I know.  You can't touch my schedule.  It's mine.  I like to work hard, pray hard, play hard - so nothing gets on my schedule without my controlling it.

Same with my work.  I hoard as much work as possible, and delegate only when I absolutely have to.  Cause nobody does things the way I want them done.  I'm a do-it-yourself American.  If you ever ask me how you can help - expect a stiff arm.  I got this.  I'll do it my way.

The problem is - my way is not Jesus' way.

He delights in sharing his mission.  I think it's his worst move in the Gospels - sharing the most important mission ever entrusted to man - to keep evil itself from having the last say and to defeat the gates of hell - with a sinner like Peter.  With sinners like you and me.  Really, Jesus?  Are you out of your mind?  There could not be a worse plan.  I mean Peter gets his confession right today, but we all know he's just like us - he gets more wrong than right.

I just want to scream - Jesus don't do it!  You know you can do this mission better yourself.  But there's nothing Jesus doesn't share - especially his job description!  He could do it better himself, but he delights in watching me mess it up instead.  That's humility friends.  That's Jesus way.

If I am a disciple of Jesus then, there's nothing that has been entrusted to me that is meant for me to hoard - everything I have - even my job description - has a destiny to be shared - it belongs ultimately to someone else.  The only things we lose are the things that we fail to give away.  Jesus teaches this better than anyone.

A key part of being a Christian is to share our mission to solve problems and defeat evils with each other.  To delight in watching another person learn and grow because of the space and mission I entrusted to them.

The heart of the mission of St. Lawrence is to guide KU students to learning their capacity to solve the biggest problems and defeat the greatest evils.  If you do not know what those are, please ask a friend soon!  We're here as well to delight in the stories you are writing with your lives.  It's why St. Lawrence Center exists.  It's why you're here in a Catholic Church today.  To let God and his family believe in you, and delight in seeing you come alive.

And that great mission that you will lay hold of during your time at KU, it ultimately will be shared with someone else the Lord will put in front of you.  Pray for that person now, whoever it is.

Who do you trust with the keys to your house?