The Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

My Homily from August 24th.

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082414.cfm

          From time to time a person might be asked by another person, whether it is by a parent or a spouse or a sibling or another family member, or whether it is friend or a coworker or a boss, to do a very important task.  It doesn't really matter what the task is; it doesn't even mater if the individuals involved agree on the exact importance of the task.  The one thing that we can be sure about is that there will be consequences if that important task is not completed.  We can all think of examples of some of those important tasks that we encounter in our day to day lives.  These might be things that are clearly very important to everyone or things that seem completely mundane to us, but are very important to loved ones and those we care about.  We also have a pretty good idea of what the consequences might be like if we should fail to complete the task. 

          Part of this whole thing is trust.  When we ourselves have an important task that we want someone else to do for us, we of course ask someone who we trust to do that sort of thing.  Sometimes we might give someone who has broken our trust in the past a chance to redeem themselves, but there is still some trust, or perhaps hope, that things will turn out well.  This also means that we need to be trustworthy before anyone else will trust us with important tasks.  Granted, we might not always want to be the one who is in charge of the important stuff, but I doubt any of us would want to be the one that no one trusts either.  Simply put, there needs to be trust.

          God asks us to do important tasks as well.  Of course these tasks differ from person to person depending on our talents and whether you are dealing with a person who is single, married, or in a religious vocation.  I think the most common example is the call that God gives to all the baptized to go and spread the Good News that Christ died for our sins.  From the moment of our baptism, we are called to tell others about God's love in sending His Son for us.  It is a task that all Christians share, and yet it also one of the most important tasks that God could ask any person to do.  If it weren't for normal everyday Christians like you and me who can tell others of what Christ has done for us, very few people would have heard of who Christ is.  Being a Christian is a very important task.

          As I mentioned before, there are other important tasks that God might ask of us as well.  A married person is called to love and support their spouse.  A person who works outside the home is often called to be an example of Christ in the work place.  A parent who stays at home is called in a special way to care for the children and to make a loving and safe home for their family.  There are various ways a person might be called to serve the Church as well, either as a priest or a deacon, or as a lay person who is employed or volunteers at a parish. 

          The readings today tell us about three different people who were called to important tasks by God.  We can learn from them something of what it means to be called and how we are to respond to that calling.

          In the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah we hear about Shebna and Eliakim.  Shebna is described as being the “master of the palace”.  I mentioned in a homily not too long ago that in ancient Israel the king would appoint a steward who would be in charge at the palace and Jerusalem when the king was absent.  That steward was sometimes called the master of the place.  We might think of him as a prime minister in more modern terms.  Essentially he was the second in command under the king: a very important role to be sure.  We don't know what Shebna did, but we can tell from the first few lines that God wasn't very pleased with the work he had been doing.  God actually has Isaiah the Prophet tell Shebna (the king's right hand man) that he will be removed from his position as steward and will be replaced by a man named Eliakim.  There are several symbols in this prophecy that help show that God plans to transfer this steward position.  God says he will take Shebna’s robes and sash (symbols of his office) and will put them on Eliakim.  Another symbol of this office is the key.  God says, “I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut when he shuts, no one shall open”.  What this is saying is that all the authority will be transferred to Eliakim and he will be making all the decisions.  Lastly, we are told, “I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family.”  This is saying that not only will Eliakim hold on to his position, but his family (his sons and grandsons) will continue to hold on to that position as well. 

          What this means for us is that when God gives us an important task to do, we need to actually do it and show that God can trust us with that task.  Now the good news about this is that God is very merciful.  If we make a few mistakes, but continue to seek forgiveness and to do those tasks to the best of our ability, God will still forgive us and bless us.  However, if we only try to do what we want to do, never mind what God is calling us to, that's something different.  We can see in scripture, those times when Israel leaders only did what they wanted and used the people only to get what they wanted, it doesn't typically work out for those leaders.  God wants us to work with Him, let's show that He can trust us.

          The Gospel tells the story of St. Peter at the town of Caesarea Philippi.  Notice what Jesus tells him once he acknowledges Jesus as the Christ.  First He calls him Rock, meaning a firm steady thing that a foundation can be built on.  Then He says, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” When He said this, the Apostles knew that this was in reference to God making Eliakim the steward.  Now Christ, the Son of God, is making Peter His Steward.  Even today, we can trace the Papacy from Pope Francis all the way back to Peter.  God trusts them and gives them the tools necessary to get the job done.  God wants us to do help in his work as well.  Let us not be like Shebna who disappointed God, but let us be like Peter who was blessed by Christ Himself.