HOMILY WEEK 25 01 – YEAR A

Paying Attention and Listening

(Ezra 1:1-6; Ps 126; Lk 8:16-18)

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“To those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.”

Those paradoxical words of Jesus from the gospel today can be rather puzzling to us and seem rather unfair. What are we to make of them?

Perhaps the teaching of Jesus the precedes this phrase gives us both a clue, and a message: “Pay attention to how you listen.”

The parable of the sower that Jesus recounts elsewhere in the Gospel basically teaches us the same lesson. We are to not just hear the word of God with our ears, but to listen to it with our hearts, pay close attention to it, take it seriously, put it into practice, and allow it to bear fruit in our lives through good works. So, let us pay close attention to the readings today, listen attentively and learn what lies in the heart of Jesus within these paradoxical words.

The gospel begins with the statement about a lamp that also ends up being rather paradoxical. The problem with Jesus saying that a lamp is put on a lampstand so that those who enter may “see the light” is that we cannot see light itself – we can only see by light. A rainbow or a prism that refracts light into the seven basic colors is the only way we can actually see what makes up light and its inner beauty.

Then Jesus goes on to clarify his statement about the light: there is nothing hidden or secret that will not become known and “come to light”. Perhaps the deeper meaning here is that the Word of God is that prism that will reveal the true nature and value of our thoughts and actions, whether they are worthy of the kingdom, or have no kingdom value whatsoever.

So those who have faith in Jesus, who trust in him and ponder his Word through study, meditation and contemplation, will let the light of Christ’s love shine in the dark areas of their lives, receive his forgiveness for any sins they confess, and also receive his healing of any negative attitudes, defects of character and even addictions. In the words of St. Paul, we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another, until we come to the likeness of Christ (2 Cor 3:18). In that sense, to these faithful who have, more will be given.

However, those who lack faith in Jesus, who either ignore his word or do not take it seriously, who are hard, rocky soil or whose lives are full of brambles or just all about them, who hardly ever pray – even the little faith they seem to have will be taken away, or as the saying goes, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”

In the first reading from Ezra, two Old Testament personages heard the word of the Lord and kept it – the prophet Jeremiah first and then through him, amazingly, King Cyrus of Persia whose spirit was stirred up by that word to allow the exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Perhaps Jesus was thinking of them when he uttered the words, “Then pay attention to how you listen.”

Two New Testament persons who truly listened to the word of the Lord, paid attention to it, and lived it fully are St. Cosmos and Damian, whom we honor today. According to the Living With Christ, legend has it that they were twins, both physicians who practiced without charging fees, and who suffered martyrdom during a period of persecution. Around this legend grew another – a gruesome story of their suffering as well as a history of miraculous cures. After Emperor Justinian I claimed to have been cured of illness through their intercession, he honored the city of Cyr, which had the relics of the saints, and encouraged devotion to them. In the 16^th century, both an oratory and a basilica were built in their honor. Along with the apostle Luke, Cosmos and Damian are patron saints of physicians and surgeons.

The Eucharist invites us to pay attention and listen attentively to the word of God in the liturgy of the Word, to celebrate the Real Presence of Jesus in the liturgy of the Eucharist, and then to live out the word of God in our daily lives as proof that we have indeed paid attention and listened, as did Jeremiah and Cyrus, Cosmos and Damian.