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Huey Long was a very colorful Louisiana politician who had hopes
of running for the presidency in 1936. He began as an unschooled farm
boy and ended up in the governor’s mansion, one of the most popular
politicians in the history of the state. Long was born in the central part
of Louisiana, and when he first campaigned for governor, he was given
some advice about the voters in the New Orleans area. “South Louisiana
is different from the northern part of the state,” he was told. “We have a
lot of Catholic voters down here.”
Long nodded knowingly and went out to make his speech. It
began, “When I was a boy, I’d get up at six every morning, hitch our old
horse up to the buggy, and take my Catholic grandparents to Mass. I’d
bring them home and then I’d take my Baptist grandparents to church.”
The speech was a rousing success. Afterwards, a New Orleans
political boss said, “Huey, you’ve been holding out on us. We didn’t
know you had Catholic grandparents.”
Huey looked at him slyly and said, “We didn’t even have a horse.”
Don’t let anyone mislead you. Around the banquet table of God
there won’t be Baptists, or Catholics, or Methodists. There won’t even
be a head table reserved for the very saintly. There will only be sinners
for whom Christ died. Everyone is invited, that’s the good news.
Here’s the bad. You see, the RSVP requires commitment and a serious
effort to change.
This invitation of Jesus – to each one of us – is freely given – no
pressure – no strings. Some of us will accept and some won’t – too busy
– too risky. There are a lot of excuses. The man in the gospel accepted
Christ’s invitation, but that was all. No enthusiasm after that, no serious
effort to change – to draw closer to Jesus Christ.
Like myself, some of us here were baptized, made First
Communion, were ordained or married, but also some of us have made
no serious effort to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Being in relationship with Jesus Christ means a lot more than a bumper
sticker on our car, “I Love Jesus” or a St. Christopher’s medal around
our neck or a Catholic badge, saying I am proud to be a Catholic.
Being in a relationship with Jesus Christ may require us to change
our lifestyle. Forgive someone who hurt us, stop cheating on our family
or in school. We may be challenged to readjust our priorities, let go of
some bad habit or certain friends that gets us in trouble.
Lord, help us remember often that we are all invited to be part of
your life, your church. May we have the courage to accept the
invitation, the strength to change and grow, the faith and trust that you
are by our side through it all, and the wisdom to make a commitment to
You – Source of Life (no matter how many times we have no said, “no
thanks,” before, we can say, “yes,” now.
I leave you with this:
The story is told of a pig and a chicken who are walking past San
Carlos Cathedral one Sunday morning…
Says the chicken to the pig, “You know, over the years, those
people in there have been very nice to us. I think we ought to do
something nice for them.” The pig replies, “Good idea, what do you
have in mind?”
“I think we ought to have a big banquet,” says the chicken.
“I’m all for that,” says the pig. “But what shall we serve them to
eat?”
“Bacon and eggs,” says the chicken. Not on your life says the pig.
“For you, that’s just a contribution. For me, it’s a total commitment.
RSVP – to Jesus Christ – It’s never too late.

St. Paul urges the Philippians not to be anxious. He tells them,
“There is no need to worry”. This may seem an unreal piece of advice.
There is no way to avoid all worry. Good and sincere people are naturally
worried about many things. It is part of the burden they carry precisely
because they are people who care, who care abut loved ones, and many
other things.
But Paul is not talking about normal concerns. He is talking about
anxiety. Nothing is more debilitating or fruitless than anxiety. Of itself it
does nothing to solve our problems. Rather, the opposite is the case. By
dissipating our energy, anxiety weakens us and makes it more difficult for
us to find a solution to our problems.
The root of anxiety is lack of trust – lack of trust in oneself, in others,
and especially in God. Hence, the first piece of advice Paul gives the
Philippians is to pray. They must learn to commit their cares to the Lord:
‘If there is anything you need, pray for it.’
He is not suggesting that prayer should take the place of action. Nor
is he implying that their prayers will always be answered. What, then,
does prayer do? Prayer implies a willingness to do what we can, and then
to leave things in the hands of God. To accept what happens then as his
will, even though we may not understand it.
Then Paul tells his readers to think positively. People who are over
anxious tend to think very negatively. They imagine the worst scenario.
This is disastrous. We must concentrate on the good, not on the bad.
Many people devour the newspapers every day. It’s hard to read the
newspapers these days without coming away depressed, so full are they of
bad news. Instead of filling our minds with all kinds of trash, Paul says,
‘Fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble,
everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honor,
everything that can be thought virtuous and worthy of praise’. The power
of positive thinking is well known.
However, it is not just a question of thinking nice thoughts. We must
try to do these things. Thoughts alone will not suffice. We must pursue
goodness in our actions. Paul says, ‘Keep doing the things you have
learned from me’.
In Jesus’ parable of the vineyard a lot of ugly things happened. But
evil does not have the last say. In the end good triumphs. This shows us
that there is only one way to overcome evil, and that is with good. Jesus
didn’t answer evil with more evil. He triumphed over evil by good.
If we do what we can, and put our trust in God, then Paul assures us
that ‘the peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand,
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’.
Peace comes, not from having an easy and tranquil life. We can have
peace even in the midst of struggle and turmoil provided we are on the side
of right. Then the God of peace will be with us.

It’s been a long day. She sits in her dimly lit living room. It’s after
11pm; her day started before six. At the office, it was one crisis after
another; then the school called: her eight-year-old she is raising alone
came down with a fever, so she had to go and bring him home and
arrange for her mother to come over so she could get back to the office.
After getting him to bed, she took on the monthly challenge of making
her salary cover all the bills (managed to make it again for another
month)! She’s tired but can’t sleep just yet. She needs a few minutes
just to be thankful for the beautiful boy snoring up a storm in the next
room who makes her life as a mom more than worth it all.
He drives a truck for a package delivery service – and these are busy
days. He takes a couple of extra shifts when he can because his family
could use the money – the oldest is starting to look at colleges. But one
night a week he manages to get home in time to gulp down some supper
and head to the community center where he coaches a team of nine and
ten-year-olds in the city’s youth basketball league. He first started
coaching his son’s team – and kept at it long after his son moved on.
Yeah, there are other things he could be doing that, frankly, would make
life a lot easier, but he knows that for some of these kids, this team is the
best thing in their lives. So, one night a week he continues to run, push
and coach these kids for the good of his own soul.
He helps her with her coat and makes sure she has a good, steady grip
on her cane. He then puts her arm in his and they walk the same path
they walk every afternoon in the park across the street from their
apartment. He points to a cardinal lying on a tree branch overhead. He
cheers a great catch made by a player in a pick-up football game. He
talks about last night’s call from their son and the latest doings of the
grandchildren. But none of it registers with her. She is lost in a fog of
dementia. All she recognizes is him, her husband of 63 years. And
that’s more than enough. He’s thankful that they can walk arm-in-arm
together for another day.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus upholds the sacred dignity of all men
and women in the eyes of God: the struggling, the poor, the powerless,
the ignored, the forgotten, the vulnerable, those pushed to the margins
and peripheries of society. Every life is open to the “way of
righteousness”: simple humility, faithfulness and gratitude are the entries
to the Kingdom of God. Our standing in demographic and marketing
profiles, our net worth, whatever labels society applies to us do not
determine the “holiness” of our lives or the measure of God’s love in our
days. Christ invites us to realize the Kingdom of God in our lives by our
commitment to the selfless generosity and faithful gratitude; God calls
us to look beyond the designations and stereotypes like “tax collector”
and “prostitute” and recognize, instead, the holiness that resides within
the soul of every person – including ourselves.