Who gets under my skin?

Homily

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time B2

25 August 2024

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

Who gets under my skin?

I once played golf with a guy who wanted to shock me right off the bat.  On the first tee, he cursed God, then turned to me and said - Father, did that bother you?  Of course I said it did, very much so.  Then he yelled out for all to hear - Good! Get used to it!  It was his shocking way of saying everyone had permission to be themselves, even playing with a priest, and that he and I could tease each other.  Still, his approach got under my skin.  I'll never forget it.

There was a wrestler, my archnemesis in high school, that god under my mom's skin.  We will just call him LS.  I know you're not supposed to hate anyone, but to love and pray for your enemies, but I hope the Lord lets my mom slide on this one.  LS was so cocky.  He used to taunt me every match, and my mom hated him. She showed up once for my match with LS in the midst of her chemotherapy treatments when she had zero immunity, and was supposed to avoid crowds.  LS was definitely under her skin.

I have a lot of pet peeves.  Do you?  I can't stand people who sit on countertops or tables!  Why would somebody but their buttocks, from whence bad things come out, on surfaces where food is served?  I don't get it, and it gets under my skin.

Who gets under your skin?

Ladies, did St. Paul get under your skin today?  He said not once, but twice, that wives should be subordinate to their husbands.  To modern sensibilities, this can be quite insulting.  Yet it's not nearly the most offensive thing St. Paul says; in other place, he says women should be plain, quiet and out of the way.  Still, the most offensive thing he says in Ephesians 5 is toward husbands, who are told they cannot treat their wives or families as property, nor can they use them.  Husbands must bathe their families in the sacrifice of their own bodies, as Christ loves his bride the Church.  Guys, did St. Paul get under your skin?

You might recognize that our kicker, Harrison Butker, gave essentially the same speech at Benedictine College for graduation this May.  Boy did Harrison get under people's skin!  I'm not sure a graduation speech was the right time to talk about marriage, but he did, and boy did he make people mad!  Why?

It's because he reminded us that marriage is the most important thing in life, and unless we are good at marriage we will die.  Guess what?  He was right, and we know it.  At almost every funeral, when I ask people what the ultimate meaning of life is, the answer is family!  Mother Teresa says that if you want to save the world, go home and love your family!  That's all Harrison was saying.  We enter into life by promising to lay down our lives for each other.  It's our greatest accomplishment, serving the good and mission of our families.  Yet because of our addictions to privacy and choice, we are tempted to cancel anyone who dares point 

Will I cancel Jesus, because he says the same thing in John 6.  Unless you marry me, and unless you feed on me and we are faithful to each other in the Eucharist, you will die.  Jesus takes the original sacrament of marriage given to our first parents Adam and Even, and elevates it into the ultimate sacrament, the gift of his body and blood, through which we enter into a nuptial one flesh union with Christ.  The Eucharist is the ultimate sacrament of eternal life.  Jesus says unless you marry me here, and feed on me, you will die.

It's the most challenging, offensive and disgusting thing anyone has ever said.  Jesus says it in love, because he can't stand the thought of losing you to death.  He speaks it as your spouse, who wants to subordinate his life to your good.  He speaks it so that your decision today to say 'Amen' or to cancel him, is a matter of life and death.

He speaks it because He is the one who most desperately wants to get under your skin. 

+mj