I heard a story recently, that I immediately knew I wanted to share on this laetare Sunday.
A holy man was walking down the road when a robber jumped
out, held a knife to his throat and said ‘Give me everything you have.’ Without hesitation, the holy man gave the
robber everything, but as the robber was leaving, the holy man stopped him and
said, “Wait. I have a ruby in my
sandal.” He handed it over to the robber
saying, “It’s yours now.” The next day,
walking down the same road, the same robber approached the holy man. The holy man said, “What are you doing? I gave you everything I had yesterday, I have
nothing left.” The robber said, “I want
what you have that made you give me the ruby.”
True wealth, one writer put it, is not determined by how
much we have, but by how little we need.
Christians know that we need so little, we are free to give away even
precious gems because we have already received the greatest treasure, the most precious
gift.
In talking with the school kids about what they were giving
up for Lent, I am always a little saddened when I challenge them to give up
video games and television, and they say, “no, I couldn’t live without
that.” It’s not like the human race
survived and flourished without iphones for thousands of years or anything.
Lent challenges us to examine those things from which we
derive inordinate joy and to practice detachment from them.
This week our 6th, 7th, and 8th
graders attended a showing of the new “Son of God” movie about the life of
Jesus Christ. Some of you may have seen
Mel Gibson’s somewhat more graphic film, “The Passion of the Christ.” To watch these films, and to pray the
stations of the cross or the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary, to meditate on
Jesus’ passion, we can’t help but ask, what made him do it? What did he have that enabled him to give up
his life—to freely shed his ruby red blood?
Where did his strength to carry that heavy cross come from; to stand up
after falling three times, to allow the guards to drive nails into his hands
and feet?
Do you want we he had that enabled him to walk the way of
the cross?
Today we are wearing rose-colored vestments, because today, the Fourth Sunday
of Lent, is "Laetare Sunday".
Laetare means rejoice. We rejoice in the salvation Christ has won for us
through his Passion and Death. We
rejoice in the forgiveness of our sins, which otherwise would mean eternal
death. For only the Christian, out of
all the world’s religions can know the joy of hearing the words, “your sins are
forgiven.”
Pope Francis tweeted recently that our deepest joy comes
from Christ: remaining with him, walking with him, being his disciples.
In the last year, Pope Francis has really made
headlines. From his first moment in the
spotlight, he seemed to radiate with a joy that is sadly lacking, at least
visibly, in many members of the Church.
And we get a sense, don’t we, that his joy comes not from any amount of
earthly wealth. Not even being elected
as Vicar of Christ seems to be the cause of his joy. For we get a sense that he would be just as
joyful, taking the bus to work back at the Chancery in Argentina. No, it seems, the source of Pope Francis’
joy, is his deep, abiding friendship with the Lord Most likely our lack of authentic Christian
joy, is because of our failure to suffer with Christ. True Joy is not dependent on wealth, on
possessions, or power. Rather, true joy is only possible when we are detached
from those things.
Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, who was animated by the
Spirit of Joy, was once asked by the sisters, “Mother, tell us how to get Joy;
how does Joy come into our life.” Well,
she said, “you look at the word itself: J-O-Y.
And you let each of those letters stand for a word, in that order: J
stands for Jesus, O stands for others, and Y for yourself; if those are the
priorities in your life, first Jesus, secondly other people, and only last,
yourself, you are going to have Joy.”
If you want real joy, structure every day, every week, based
on those priorities: first Jesus, second, others, lastly, yourself. Having those priorities is absolutely
essential for cultivating the Joy you so desire. Our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving help us to do just that.
Yet we will never have joy, if we say, “I could never live
without video games; I could never live without gossiping; I could never live
if I weren’t the one in control.”
On the night before he died, Jesus said, “I have spoken
these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be
complete.” He wants us to know his joy,
and it is up to us to give up those things which keep us from receiving the
gifts he came to give us.
Free us, O Lord, from all disordered attachments, and help
us to remain and walk with you, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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