Homespun Homily: Being a power for good with my limitations and diminishments
By Lori Fontana
We’re all on the road “home” to God. We all want to get to heaven…though not today, Lord. But we’re not just in a holding pattern here. What are we doing “while we wait” for entrance into our eternal home? The chorus from a 60’s church song contains my two main thoughts:
Love one another; love one another, as I have loved you.
Care for each other; care for each other, as I have cared for you.
And bear one another’s burdens, and share each other’s joys.
Love one another; love one another, and bring each other home.
First, I recognize and embrace that I am a beloved child of God; and in this love, God gives me gifts and talents. None of us has ALL the gifts, nor are our gifts perfect; but each gift is valuable. It’s important that I not measure my worth according to a false hierarchy of gifts. When St Paul talks about the parts of the body, each part has a different function, but all parts are valued and needed. 1 Corinthians 12: 14 – 22
Secondly, who I am and the gifts I have – these are meant for me and for others, for the community. The Christian life is not just God and me.
The Christian life is a shared life. All love, including God’s love, is made real in the giving and the receiving. In the famous Rublev Trinity icon, the figures representing God the Father, God the Son – Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit are arranged in a circle, acknowledging each other. They are depicted in relationship with each other!
Each of us is created and loved by God. But from the moment we are born, we are diminishing, whether through illness or injury, external calamities such as job loss or natural disasters, or simply by aging. Where do we draw purpose and hope in light of diminishment? St. Paul offers a hopeful message: that even while we may appear to be “wasting away,” we are growing closer to our eternal glory in God. But we’re not called to retreat to a private corner and waste away. In the time we are given here, we are called to use our gifts to build up the reign of God, to be a power for good in the world. 2 Corinthians 4:7 – 10, 16 – 18
Our Catholic tradition offers the saints, people who, even though suffering limitations, were a power for good. Plus, there are saintly people all around us – “saints-in-the-making.” Here are a few examples.
Sr. Thea Bowman was an African American woman, born in rural Mississippi in the 1930’s. Hers was a loving family, but being a woman and an African American, in the rural south – these were challenges. Taught by Franciscan sisters, she was inspired to join their convent in Wisconsin – a group of all white women, some of whom had never seen a black person. Sr. Thea’s strong confidence in God’s love and purpose for her life carried her forward. She was a natural teacher, using all the gifts of her black Christian culture – song, dance, a deep faith honed through persecution – to guide her students. Until the end of her 50-some years of life, she remained hope-filled and faith-filled until finally succumbing to a painful cancer. In the midst of her illness, Sr. Thea famously said: “Part of my approach to my illness has been to say I want to choose life. I want to keep going. I want to live fully until I die.” Sr. Thea – a power for good!
My mom just turned 93 which brings with it the diminishment of physical and mental abilities and energy. In Mount St Vincent assisted living, she is welcoming and kind to everyone, a “missionary” for the love of Jesus. Though hard of hearing most of her life, she is otherwise quite healthy and gets up each morning with purpose. Even though she is shy, she reaches out to the people around her because she knows the challenges people face when moving into assisted living, and she wants to help. My mom – a power for good!
Joey K – Our friend Joey is a young adult who has Downs Syndrome. Some might say Joey has a difficult challenge. However, Joey doesn’t see it that way. He lives a full, successful life, energized by his desire to help – in his family, community, church, and workplace. From a very young age, he visited the elderly with his family. Now, Joey works at the retirement home. He does his job with great love and care, and he is a friend to all! Outside of work, Joey is a lead usher at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, and he always serves at funeral Masses. He is a member of the board of directors for the local Downs Syndrome Community organization. Joey is positive, outgoing, generous in sharing his gifts, and confident that he is loved by God. In that confidence, he loves others. He recognizes others’ gifts and draws them out. Joey – a power for good!
Each of you, I’m sure, knows many folks who, though dealing with their own challenges, use their gifts to help others. Each is a power for God’s goodness in the world. Every one of us is called to be a power for good. Even while, as St Paul says, we are “wasting away” in this life, we can be the hands and feet, heart and voice of Jesus in our world, as our own circumstances allow. We can be a power for good within the providence of our everyday life. What we do and how we do it will look different for each person; but we all can do something!
Mother Teresa encourages us with, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” And as Erma Bombeck, an author, humorist and devout Catholic, said:
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.’”
That’s being a power for good!
