Homily

Mary trusted Jesus. Do we? Are we people who can trust? Some would call us a fool. Many of us have put our selves out in service only to have someone cut it off or criticize it. These moments can lead us to feel abandoned. “Hey, God. I’m talking to you!” Hey, why is it when I give my time and talent, it doesn’t turn out the way I want it? Where’s the fruit?” Sometimes, although we don’t know it, we enter into service with an agenda, an expectation that something will happen. While that is okay in one sense, our expectations are often too small or too narrow. We are unable to see God working or we don’t feel satisfied by what we have given. Sometimes, our drive to serve is actually founded in self-interest. I will help because I will get something out of it or I will benefit somehow. The Scriptures tell us that we have all been given a gift. But when properly exercised, it is not meant solely for ourselves, but rather for the common good. This is something that politics today struggles to do. Unfortunately, those who are looking out for the common good are unable to get anything done because of special interest groups. Church, on the other hand, is intended to help the whole.

Many who have started out with joy and purpose get burned or burned out in Church work. The symptom may be a lack of vision of the common good. This term, lost in the NAB translation, expresses the need to be dedicated to the betterment of the whole and not just one niche group. Sometimes, people can get so caught up in the good of others that they forget themselves completely and don’t do anything to feed themselves. On Saturday, our catechists for GIFT held a mini-retreat at the parish house whereby they were offered more tools and helps to keep themselves connected with God, maintain their health, and be refreshed. Some of us may feel like plain ‘ol water. We may feel that we have nothing to offer. What is needed is an openness to God and the gifts that he wants you to have. To be open to the possibility that the water of your daily life can be transformed into precious wine, a new and vibrant life in the Spirit of God.