HOMILY WEEK 28 03 – Year II
Claiming our Inheritance and Called to Conversion:
Memorial of St. Marguerite d’Youville
(Gal 5:18-22; Ps 1; Luke 11:42-46)
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Have you heard the expression “The spiritual life is more a journey than a destination?” There is some truth to that statement.
Today’s readings call us to conversion, and to claim our inheritance of the kingdom of God. They invite us to let go of the works of the flesh, to live by the Spirit, be guided by the Spirit, and to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Does Paul’s list of the works of the flesh sound all too familiar? In your spiritual life, have you ever felt sort of hopeless in a struggle with some particular sinful habit or character defect? Like there has been no progress?
While that may be our reality from our perspective, that is not how God sees us. We belong to him. Our sinful passions were crucified in Baptism, and we are now filled with his Spirit.
So why do we still falter? Because conversion and the call to holiness is a process, and our sins don’t disappear overnight. In a sense, the spiritual life is more a journey than a destination. God sees the bigger picture, knows our weakness, and never forgets the Spirit he has placed within us or the natural goodness that we have. A beautiful encouraging thought coming from Sr. Teresita Kambeitz OSU is: “God accepts us as we are, and believes in whom we can become.” And never forget – God does not make junk. Every time we say “no” to some temptation, or reach out to others beyond ourselves, we make some progress, and that makes God smile.
Ron Rolheiser OMI speaks of conversion in two senses. The first is based on the word metanoia. Meta means higher, and nous has to do with mind. Conversion, then, involves putting on our higher, trusting mind. The opposite is paranoia, a divided, fearful and distrustful mind. The symbol of metanoia is open hands, totally trusting and open like Jesus on the cross. The symbol of paranoia is a clenched fist, defensive, closed and ready to strike back.
On a second level, Rolheiser reminds us that conversion is a life-long process. We don’t convert and then become disciples. On the contrary, we become disciples, and then enter into a life-long process of conversion, of growth towards holiness, and transformation into the likeness of Christ.
In the 12 Step program, members often hear the words “we seek progress, not perfection.” That is what the readings are about today. Jesus in the Gospel points out to the Pharisees where they have gone astray, putting external observances of the law before the law of love, and invites them to conversion. And St. Paul also invites us to conversion, to let go of the works of the flesh, to live in the Spirit that produces spiritual gifts within us, and to be guided by that Spirit. It is good to remember that good spirituality is all about letting go, or as St. Paul puts it, “crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires.”
The process of conversion involves self-awareness, an admission that we may suffer from the spiritual blindess of the Pharisees, which often leads us to project our shadow and defects we fail to see in ourselves, onto others (the teaching of Jesus about seeing the splinter in the eyes of others rather than the log in our own). The lawyers in the gospel were not aware they were lacking in compassion and genuine caring about the burdens others were carrying, some of those burdens the result of the lawyers own doing. All of them had neglected the priorities of God, which are fairness, justice and the reality that God is lavish love, not just a giver of laws.
St Marguerite d’Youville
Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lejemmerais was born at Varennes, Quebec, on October 15, 1701. Following the death of her father in 1708, Marguerite’s family lived in poverty. Thanks to generous relatives, Marguerite was able to study at the Ursuline Convent in Quebec for two years. When she returned home, she taught her five younger brothers and sisters.
In 1722, she married Francois d’Youville, who proved to be a selfish and indifferent husband, involved in illegal liquor trading. When Francois died eight years later, he left Marguerite with two children (four infants had died) and enormous debts. When she had overcome her financial difficulties, Marguerite rented a house in Montreal in 1737 where she and three companions, the first Grey Nuns, sheltered needy women. For several years, the four were slandered and persecuted, accused of being drunkards and prostitutes.
In 1747, Marguerite was given charge of the colony’s general hospital which was deep in debt. Trusting in Providence, she worked hard and saved the hospital. In 1765, fire destroyed the hospital but she rebuilt it within four years. Following a brief illness, she died on December 23, 1771. Marguerite was declared blessed in 1959 and on December 9, 1990, the first Canadian-born saint.
The Eucharist is a sharing in the work of the Spirit who transforms humble gifts of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus the Christ. May our participation in this celebration grant us forgiveness, heal us of our shortcomings, and take us a little further along the path of conversion, of metanoia, so that we can serve our Lord more fully and joyfully.
