HOMILY WEEK 31 05 – Year II
The Primacy of Relationships:
Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo
(Phil 3:17-21; 4:1; Ps 122; Lk 16:1-8)
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Did you know that the most recent addiction in our world is being right? One party in a relationship is convinced she is right and the other wrong, while the other party is convinced he is right and she is wrong. So, what drops out? – the relationship! What is more important, being right, or the relationship? Looking back now, I realize that was my addiction as well – I lost 15 years of a quality relationship with my father because I was convinced he had raised us the wrong way, and was determined to change and correct him, which only made matters worse, before I smartened up and we were reconciled.
Today’s readings are an invitation for us to make relationships a priority in our lives – first, our relationship to Jesus, and then our relationship to each other, ourselves and all of God’s creation.
In the gospel, Jesus recounts the story of a manager who was being fired for mismanagement. The shock of this sudden crisis made him realize what was most important in life – not money, but relationships. So, what he did was contact all his master customers, and dropping his commission, settled their accounts to their great satisfaction. His motivation was preserving and building relationships – he “wanted to be welcomed into their homes.” He sacrificed some of his income for the sake of relationships. In today’s terms, we would call that short-term pain for long-term gain. The master then praises the manager for his astuteness, and Jesus uses that parable to encourage his followers to be able to do the same – to make relationships a priority in our lives, even at the cost of some sacrifice.
For his part, St. Paul in the first reading stresses that our faith in Jesus Christ, and our relationship with him, must be the top priority. He points out that our faith in Jesus is transformative. As the Messiah, Jesus had a two-fold mission – to redeem and to sanctify, to forgive and to heal. In faith, we are to come to him for forgiveness of all our sins, and for healing of all our sinfulness (that which made us sin). In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul puts it this way: “We are being transformed from one degree of glory to another through the Lord who is Spirit.” For St. Paul, that faith-filled relationship with Jesus not only transforms us, it also makes us citizens of heaven, called to stand firm in the Lord.
There are four levels of relationship in our lives: with God, others, ourselves, and all of God’s creation. In many ways, we have mismanaged our stewardship of God’s creation, placing profits and greed before our relationship with not only the earth, but also with the poor who are most affected by that neglect and abuse of the gift of creation. Surely, these readings are a call for us to make changes and improve our caring for the earth and the environment.
These readings fit in well with the Worldwide Marriage Encounter experience, which certainly is based on faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, as Redeemer and Messiah, and which has as its goal the lifting of marital relationships to a higher level.
A few years ago, I helped deliver a virtual Worldwide Marriage Encounter experience out of Vancouver. What a joy it was to see a couple who, after 50 years of marriage, finally were able to begin sharing feelings. As she had shared during the weekend, she had pleaded, prayed and cried for this to happen for 50 years. They had even tried marriage counselling and it didn’t help. It was such a joy to see them during a follow-up session three weeks later, sitting close together, and sharing their experience of their new-found closeness and intimacy. They were also living these readings.
Today, we honor Charles Borromeo, who lived during the Catholic Reformation. He was born in 1538 into an aristocratic family and, as second son, was expected to serve the Church. When his uncle became Pope Pius IV, Charles, only 22 years old, was created Cardinal Archbishop of Milan and Papal Secretary of State. Charles resided in Milan until his death in 1584. As archbishop, he chose to live an ascetic life, imposing severe discipline on both clergy and laity, thus provoking much opposition. His dedicated life entailed great personal sacrifice. He is a patron of catechist and catechumens.
The Eucharist is a profound act of faith in Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who gave his life for us. It is also a moment of deeply relational event as we listen to his word and communion with his body and blood as a faith-community. May our celebration strengthen our faith in him, and deepen our relationship with our spouses and families especially, but also with all of God’s creation.
