Homily: 2nd Sun. in Ordinary Time, Yr. C
“Being Good Stewards of our Gifts”
by Fr. William Holtzinger
January 18, 2004

In today’s readings from the Scriptures we hear from the prophet that he will not be silent. That is the job of a prophet: not to be silent, but to proclaim God’s Word. Isaiah tells us that God’s people, while feeling down and “desolate” will be fruitful and the “delight” of God’s heart. We are told by Paul that this fruitfulness will express itself in gifts from the Holy Spirit. And finally, we are given an opportunity, an inside look, into how Mary and Jesus relate to each other. We see that Mary has a special role in the life of Jesus and how he expresses his own divine gifts.
Today, through these Scriptures, we are being asked to reflect on our own use of our gifts. In other words, what are we doing to take care of the things we have been given in our lives? It matters what we do with these gifts. We are warned in many places in the Scriptures to make good use of our lives. So let me offer a reflection on some of the particular gifts that were mentioned by Paul.
The first is wisdom. This gift is likely the one we all need most, next to faith and love. We all know someone who is very smart, a geek even, but has no common sense or wisdom. Wisdom can be acquired by personal experience. But, I can tell you that it is also an expression of God speaking through each of us. Many times in the confessional, people have asked for advice or spiritual counsel. I have been amazed after the confession at the words I actually spoke. I’ve said to myself, “Where did that come from. I’ve never had that thought before.” I sense that it has come from outside of myself. It is a word of wisdom that I had no capacity to speak on from any of my own experience or previous knowledge. How many of us have found ourselves with such insight that cannot be explained? That is a manifestation of wisdom.
Faith is the most important. It is by faith in action that the gift of salvation is given to us. Faith is another form of our senses. Most can hear, speak, smell, etc. These are senses of the natural realm. But, faith is totally of the supernatural and divine realm. It is a totally free gift of God. We cannot create it unto ourselves. We can ask for or desire it. And so we should. Many of us doubt and struggle with the implications of that doubt. But instead of waiting around for an outpouring of this gift, that is waiting around until we feel good enough to receive it, let us follow the example of Mary who pushed her son, Jesus, to get busy when he didn’t feel ready either. God wants us to ask for this gift. It is more than stating our Creed. Anyone can make an intellectual assent (agreement) with a creed. Yet, with the gift of faith, our senses are extended to experience, in a personal way, those things of our Creed. We can personally experience Jesus who is coequal and begotten of God the Father. We can live and breath that reality and move beyond the simple recitation of the words. With faith, our Creed becomes a living thing. It is with faith that so many of our struggles and anxieties can be healed. Why? Because with faith we have confidence that God is in control and will do what is best--no matter what our limited understanding of any situation or circumstances may be.
Healing is another important gift. With this gift, miracles happen that are unexplainable. Now, we might wonder if I’m talking about the Benny Hinn, TV evangelist-kind of healing is what I’m talking about. Yes and no. Jesus clearly healed people of physical issues. But, those healings are less potent than the interior healings that happened along with them. In other words, spiritual healing is more important than physical healing. Of course the two can go together well. We don’t know always what God is doing or what God intends in our life situations. Yet, there is no reason to be bashful about our requests. Most of us, if not all of us, would want to experience some kind of healing. But it doesn’t have to be found only on TV or by flashy preaching. Healing can be a quiet and profound experience that can happen through prayer with other, prayer by oneself, and reception of the Sacraments, particularly through the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Anointing of the Sick. If you want healing of a hurt in your life, if you desire to be freed from some sin that weighs you down, come before our Lord, ask him, and participate in His grace through the Sacraments. Healing is a scary thing to talk about. It brings to mind all kinds of images of fanaticism and weird people. But, let not those images dominate your life. It is the ancient Church of Christ that we belong to. It is this ancient Bride of Christ that has been given promises that we can claim because of our baptisms. Last week after the Sunday Masses, I invited people to come to the altar so that we could pray for them. People asked for all kinds of things. Healing was one of them. Now I don’t know if any received that gift, but that part is not up to us. Our part is to ask and to live out our faith.
Christ was prodded by his mother, Mary. Jesus listened to her then and continues to listen to her now. She is a great example of a disciple. Let us follow in her footsteps today as fellow disciples and ask God to pour out the Gifts of the Spirit on us all. May we be rejuvenated and inspired to be a faithful community empowered by the Spirit to carry within us the living Word of God... to love and serve the Lord and each other.” (from St. Anthony’s Mission Statement)