Am I exceptional?

Homily

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time C2

18 September 2022

St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas

AMDG

Am I exceptional?

When it comes to the Gospel, I think I am, but I'm not.

Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money.  Who wants to talk about money?  No one ever does, which is why the Gospel talks about it so much.  Greed is such an easy way to lose my soul, so this cardinal sin has to be confronted at every turn of my life.  Get used to the Gospel challenging my relationship to money for the rest of my life.  And thank God is does, for the sake of my soul.

Everyone thinks they can cheat in regards to money, that I can have my cake and eat it to, that I can have things yet not love them more than God.  Everyone thinks they are exceptional.  No one is.  The Gospel cannot be clearer.  If you cheat in small ways, you will cheat when all the chips are down.  You CANNOT serve both God and mammon.

Yea but what if I don't have as much as others? What if I'm more generous than the person next to me?  It doesn't matter!  There are no 'yea buts,' no exceptions, when it comes to matters of life and death, the salvation of my soul.  I can't have it all, but I can have one thing if I dare it. That thing is the salvation of my soul, which is nothing less than the capacity to suffer and die for who I love.

No one gets around this decision, no matter how much I try to excuse, avoid or put it off.  Will I suffer and die for who I love?  No one gets out of this world without deciding.  The salvation of my soul is always at stake, whether I like it or not.  At an hour I least expect, the chance to suffer and die for who I love will surely come.  The best predictor of whether I will give my life when the chips are down is to look at my bank account, my schedule and my stuff right now.

So how am I doing with that?  I'm not ready, everyone!  I have a cluttered life, one that has plenty of evidence that I am not ready or able to suffer and die for who I love.  I think I am the exception to the rule that you can't love both God and mammon.  Yet I'm not, and Jesus does me the great favor at every turn in my life of calling me out.

The Gospel standard is simple. Give 10% to God first. Then give to the poor. Then meet your responsibilities.  Do this and you will live.  There are no exceptions, no matter how much or little you have.  There are no exceptions, even if I have a hard time trusting the Church or the poor with my money.  It's not about the Church's need or the need of the poor.  It's about my soul.  If I cheat now I also will cheat when my soul is at stake. 

I can't have it all.  Yet the good news is that I can have one thing, the salvation of my soul by giving my life to suffer and die for who I love.

If only I don't try to be exceptional to the Gospel.

Am I exceptional?  In regards to the Gospel, I think I am, but I'm really not.