Faith-Humility. René Fumoleau-Saints Pontian & Hippolytus

HOMILY WEEK 19 02 – Week I

Childlike Humility – Key to the Kingdom of God

Optional Memorial: Saints Pontian and Hippolytus

(Dt 31:1-8; Dt 32; Mt 18:1-14)

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Veteran missionary priest and former Oblate René Fumoleau died recently in

Yellowknife on his 93^rdbirthday, shortly after sharing with those at his bedside he had lived a good life and was a happy person. A well-known photographer, linguist, pastor, historian and writer, he had tirelessly lobbied for the rights of the Dené peoples through such works as his landmark book, As Long as This Land Shall Last.Understandably, tributes began to pour in from all directions. One of the tributes given to him by one who knew him well, spoke of him as a humble man, with humility defined not so much as “thinking less of one’s self,” but rather as “thinking of one’s self less.”

René’s gentle manner and self-effacing humility connects directly with the message of Jesus in today’s gospel – to be humble and childlike as the key to entering the kingdom of heaven.

This is a teaching so many of us, in and out of the church, seem to pass over so blithely, and not take as seriously as we should, especially as we read the words that unless we do so “you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!” As the youth would say today, “Hello!” Did we not read this at all? Why is there so much of a struggle in our church today with precisely the opposite of this critical teaching of Jesus – taking the shape of rising clericalism on one hand, rampant sexual abuse scandals on the other (which is really a sick need for power over an innocent child), and an all too often preoccupation with power and control in the middle?

It seems we are being tempted, and often succumbing to, the same temptations the Israelites faced in the wilderness – money, fame and power. These can be fleshed out as allowing ourselves to get overly attached to possessions and pleasure, prestige and fame, power and control. These, according to Thomas Keating, are emotional childhood strategies for happiness which, if not met with unconditional love, turn into false gods with which we over-identify and to which we attach, sometimes to the point of addiction.

The teaching of Jesus is clear. He faced these in the desert, and, secure in the Father’s love for him, rejected them all. He now calls all of us to do likewise – to change, do metanoia, put on our highest, best mind or way of thinking, reset our values, check our attitudes, and above all, become childlike in our “way of being” – our habitual way of thinking, feeling and acting in this world.

To be childlike is to be innocent, open, transparent, without guile, speaking only our inner truth, trusting in God’s providence, care-free in a deep spiritual way, playful, full of wonder and awe. Does that describe us? Are we at least moving in that direction?

As we grow older and are buffeted by life’s unfairness and injustices, wounded by other’s carelessness and lack of love, we start to lose our childlike naivité, build protective walls, and start carrying within us an invisible burden of anger and resentment, shock and shame, sadness and self-pity, guilt and fear. We lose touch with our true selves and begin to develop a protective false self that is an illusion more than a reality, making it harder for others to really know us, because in many instances we hardly know ourselves.

To be humble as a child means at some point we need to hit bottom, face our deepest fears and inner reality, and follow Jesus through our own paschal mystery of healing. We need to learn to forgive anyone who has ever hurt us; to mourn and grieve our losses, and to be reconciled with any one we may have hurt by acting out of our inner pain instead of forgiving along the way.

Another way of putting this is the claim that spiritual and mental health involves being able to face reality (who we really are), accept that reality (name it, claim it, don’t blame it) and deal with that reality (heal it and then we can “aim it” or help others in their healing journey).

Jesus then goes on to recount the parable of the shepherd leaving ninety-nine sheep on the mountain to rescue one who has gone astray. This story carries some deep messages for us. First, it challenges us with the question – does God love sinners more than righteous people who don’t seem to go astray? The answer, according to Ron Rolheiser OMI, is “no” – there are no righteous people! We are all sinners who fall short of who God wants us to be (harmatia). The ninety-nine sheep left behind are also lost in the wilderness and on the mountain.

The deeper meaning of the parable, however, lies in the numbers. One hundred is a perfect number in Hebrew numerology – symbolizing wholeness, completeness, infinity. Ninety-nine is an incomplete number, symbolizing imperfection, dysfunction, a lack of some kind. God is a loving parent who wants all of God’s children at home, back in an intimate family relationship with the Trinity, and is willing to go to the ends of the earth to restore unity to God’s creation.

An analogy might be someone working on a puzzle only to find one piece missing at the end. The hunt is then on to find that one missing piece, because without it, the puzzle is incomplete. Another example might be a family gathering where one of the members of the family is a kind of lost sheep – missing from the event. Until the parents have some kind of contact with that one missing person, the family gathering is incomplete, and the parents joy is mitigated until that one person is found or somehow reconciled with the family. Almost every human family can identify with this parable. To be childlike and humble is to face this reality and do all we can to both find healing for ourselves and strive to bring reconciliation to any incomplete situation we might find ourselves in.

Today, the church honors two saints, Pontian and Hippolytus, whose stories, while different, intersect and fit the parable of the lost sheep. Saint Pontian succeeded Pope Urban I in 230. When Maximus became emperor in 235, a period of persecution began during which Pontian was exiled to the mines of Sardinia. He resigned his office and died a martyr. St. Hippolytus was a priest in the early third century, a well-known scholar and theologian. A few of his works survive, including a prayer on which our Eucharistic Prayer II is based. When Callistus became pope in 217, Hippolytus rebelled for some reason, and became that lost sheep. In 235, banished to the Sardinian mines, Hippolytus met the exiled Pontian, was reconciled to the Church, and died a martyr’s death.

The Eucharist is a humble meal in which very earthy gifts of bread and wine are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the body and blood of Jesus. We who receive, sinners all who profess we are not worthy, are then transformed into the body of Christ, and sent out to bring this message of childlike humility as key to the kingdom of God to a struggling church and into a very wounded world.