One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my
class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked
like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would
anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a
nerd.”
I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my
friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They
ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he
landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the
grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible
sadness in his eyes.
My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled
around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed
him his glasses, I said, “Those guys are jerks. They really should get
lives.” He looked at me and said, “Hey thanks!” There was a big smile
on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it
turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him
before. He said he had gone to private school before now.
I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We
talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out
to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football
with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I
got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same
of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of
books again. I stopped him and said, “Boy, you are gonna really build
some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!” He just
laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we
were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on
Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be
friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a
doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about
being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation.
I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.
Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys
that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually
looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls
loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about
his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy,
you’ll be great!” He looked at me with one of those looks (the really
grateful one) and smiled. “Thanks,” he said.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began.
“Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through
those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a
coach…but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a
friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell
you a story.”
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first
day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He
talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have
to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and
gave me a little smile.
“Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the
unspeakable.”
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy
told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and Dad looking
at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I
realize its depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions. Never underestimate
the Power of God’s spirit working through us. With one small gesture
you can change a person’s life. For better or for worse.
The Power of the Spirit 5-19-2024
May 15th, 2024No Back-Up Plan. 5-12-2024
May 10th, 2024There is an ancient legend about the ascension of Jesus into
heaven. According to the legend, when Jesus reached heaven, his body
still showed the wounds of his crucifixion.
His hands and feet still bore the prints from the nails. His side
bore the mark from the spear. His back bore the stripes from the whip,
and his head bore the wounds from the thorns.
When the people in heaven saw these marks, they were astounded
to see how much he had suffered. Then the angel Gabriel rose up and
said to Jesus;
“Lord, how greatly you suffered on earth! Do all the people on
earth know and appreciate how much you went through for them and
how much you love them?”
Jesus replied; “Oh, no! Only a handful of people in Palestine know
that, the rest haven’t even heard of me.” They don’t know who I am.
They don’t know how much I suffered, and how much I love them.”
Gabriel was shocked to hear this. Then he said to Jesus:
“How will the rest of the people on earth ever learn about your
suffering and your love?” Jesus said; “Just before I left, I told Peter,
James, and John, and a few of their friends to tell the rest of the world
for me. They will tell as many people as they can. Those people in turn,
will tell other people. In that way, the whole world will eventually learn
about my love for them.”
Gabriel looked even more confused now. He knew how fickle
people are. He knew how forgetful they are. He knew how prone to
doubt they are. So he turned to Jesus and said:
“But Lord, what if Peter, James and John grow tired and
frustrated? What if they forget about you? What if they begin to have
doubts about you? Didn’t you take these things into account? Don’t you
have a back-up plan just in case?”
Jesus answered: “I did take all these things into account, but I
decided against a back-up plan. This is the only plan I have. I’m
counting on Peter, James, and John not to let me down.”
Many centuries later, Jesus still has no other plan. He counted on
Peter, James and John and they didn’t let him down. He counted on the
people they told, and they didn’t let him down. And now Jesus counts
on us.
In his book “The Song of the Bird”, Anthony de Mello tells this
story. He puts it in the first person to give it added impact. He says:
On the street I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a dress,
with little hope for a decent meal. I became angry and said to
God, ‘Why did you permit this?’
For a while God said nothing. That night he replied quite
suddenly, “I certainly did something about it. I made you, I made
you!”
Let’s close with a prayer:
Lord Jesus, on this feast of your ascension into heaven,
give us new eyes to see your face
in the faces of those who are in need.
Give us new ears to hear your voice
in the voices of those who cry out in pain.
Give us new tongue to tell your story
to those who have never heard it.
Give us new hearts to share your love
with those who have not yet experienced it.
And Lord thank you for counting on us.
We will try our best!
Love one Another. 5-5-2024
May 3rd, 2024I have a truly sad story for you today. Couple of years ago, I was
called to the cemetery to officiate at the burial of a woman who had
no parish priest. She was very old – 97 – and had been active to the
end. But when the hour for the service came, there was only one
mourner, her 75 year old son.
“Tell me about your mother, “I asked. “She must have been a
positive, energetic woman to have lived so long entirely on her
own.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “She was difficult. She had
no idea how to love. She was never abusive to me; she was just
nothing to me. And now she is gone.”
And so he cried for what might have been, could have been,
should have been. He cried and spoke softly to himself the
saddest words in our language, “Too late.”
Too late! May none of us ever have to speak those words. But
how can we avoid it? There’s only one sure path and Jesus laid it
out for us his gospel: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
A simple formula for a life without regret. And yet we
misunderstand it all the time. We keep confusing the cheap
imitations with the real thing. Infatuation, sentimental tears, the
teenage crush, a passionate song, that warm and cozy feeling – all
very nice, but they’re not love.
To love is to give a piece of one’s heart and not take it back.
Love sticks around in the good days and the bad ones. It does
what needs to be done in tiny pieces and can be done even by the
smallest of us.
Love has its bad days when its heart is cold and there are few
cheery thoughts to warm it. But even then, love does not falter,
and does not take back that piece of the heart that it gave away.
Love’s work is never done, but its yield is never ending.
True love will never have to speak the words, “Too late!”
Long ago Jesus our brother gave his whole heart to us once and
for all. May he help us to give our hearts to one another and never
take them back. May he help us never have to say: – “Too Late /
Too Late!”
Let me close with this:
OH GOD,
The bumper sticker said:
“SMILE IF YOU LOVE JESUS.”
So I SMILED all day long…
And people thought I was acting a little weird.
The bumper sticker said:
“HONK IF YOU LOVE JESUS.”
So I HONKED…And the policeman said I was disturbing the
PEACE.
The bumper sticker said:
“WAVE IF YOU LOVE JESUS.”
So I WAVED with both hands, lost control of the car, and
crashed into a TELEPHONE pole.
OH GOD!
If I cannot SMILE…or HONK…or even WAVE…
How will Jesus KNOW I love him?
OH CHILD OF GOD!
Mere smiling or honking or waiving is too EASY!
IF you really want to love Jesus, you must love one
ANOTHER!
PLEASE DON’T FORGET!
