Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Homily)
August 21, 2016 7:00 am · Father Dan Vanyo
Sloth, tepidity, lukewarmness, sluggishness, acedia, blah, lifeless, laziness. If you connected with any of those words, OK. There are some people at this Mass who would rather be giving blood, than be here. Maybe they are here because they don't want to go to hell, and I'm glad you're here, because that is a good first step. But you should want more, it shouldn't be that way. You should have more, I want you to have more, I think everybody here wants you to have more. It shouldn't be like that, where you're just bored. And it doesn't have to be like that.
In the first reading, "I will send fugitives to the nations and they shall proclaim my glory". Fugitives,let's use that metaphor. Fugitives are on the run, they are running. They are moving. We only take the metaphor so far, we don't want to run away from the world. But, we are running through the world, because we're not staying here. Walking if you prefer if you are beyond your running years, fine. We're not staying here, we are here and then we are out of here. So don't get used to it if you want to go to heaven. In that opening prayer you heard, that is where true gladness is to be found. Yes we contribute to the world here, we try to do some good, we participate in the ways, try to act well, grow in virtue, yes. But we're moving through it, we are not staying.
