…not quite….
Hi everyone, here’s my homily for the 28th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – OCTOBER 10, 2010 given at Montclair State University’s Newman Catholic Center. The readings for today’s Mass can be found at https://www.usccb.org/nab/101010.shtml
Fr. Jim Chern
HOMILY:
Can you believe that the prime-time cartoon show “The Simpsons” has been on for over 20 years? The reality that this show premiered when I was in high school and yet high school kids today are still watching “new episodes” about the dysfunctional Simpson family of Bart, Homer, Marge, Lisa and Maggie is kind of surprising. Maybe at the age of 36 I’m becoming an old crumugin because the show doesn’t seem to be “as good as it used to be.” A re-run from one of the first 8 seasons I can sit back and crack up at still – but some of these newer episodes, I can’t even really sit through… I get bored too easily (and I doubt that’s because I’ve matured a great deal).
One of my favorite episodes, which thanks to Wikipedia, I learned is one of the highest rated episodes in the shows 20 year run, and was on a top 100 list of greatest TV episodes, comes from the show’s second season called “Bart Gets an F.” The episode sets up what a terrible student Bart is. In Mrs. Krabappel’s 4th grade class, Bart is called on to give his book report on Treasure Island which is obvious to everyone he hasn’t read. (He simply looks at the cover, tries to make up the plot and then says “I won’t spoil the ending for you… but give it a 9 out of 10 stars!”) Mrs. Krabappel keeps Bart after class and points out that his grades are steadily falling grades and reminds him about the major history test the next day. After dodging taking the test with fake illnesses, then attempting to cheat, Bart eventually fails that test. Things have gone from bad to worse, so now under Mrs. Krabappel’s recommendation, Homer and Marge visit with the school psychiatrist Dr. Pryor to discuss what to do with Bart’s declining grades. Dr. Pryor suggests that Bart be held back to the 4th grade again. At hearing this Bart tells everyone he will do better and he promises to pass the 4th grade. While Bart makes some improvements in his academics, eventually it comes down to this last big test. That night before going to bed and after studying, Bart still realizes that as much as he’s tried, as much as he’s made some strides, he still feels he hasn’t done enough to pass the test. Lisa watches, as he offers up a prayer to God that goes:
Well, old-timer, I guess this is the end of the road. I know I haven’t always been a good kid, but if I have to go to school tomorrow, I’ll fail the test and be held back. I just need one more day to study, Lord. I need your help. His sister Lisa, spying on Bart from the hallway observes: Prayer – The last refuge of a scoundrel. Bart continues in his pleading to God laying out options: A teachers’ strike, a power failure, a blizzard. Anything that’ll cancel school tomorrow. I know it’s asking a lot, but if anyone can do it, You can. Thanking You in advance, Your pal, Bart Simpson
It’s almost every kid’s dream come true (mind you for you younger people, this was before the internet and 3,000,000 channels, so we couldn’t watch storm trackers and get instant updates about possible weather alerts) The scene ends with flurries start to fall on the Simpson’s house at nighttime. The next morning Marge wakes up Bart, and shows him all the snow that has fallen. The family huddles around the radio in the kitchen listening to business and school closings. Bart and Homer do a dance when they hear the power plant and the school are closed. Bart throws on his snow gear, grabs a sled, and heads outside, but Lisa blocks the door tells him she heard his prayer and says I’m no theologian. I don’t claim to know who or what God is. All I know is he’s a force more powerful than Mom and Dad put together. And you owe him big time.
What is the point of prayer? Does the appearance of our wishes being answered mean that God has heard our cry, changed the cosmos over all the other prayers and intentions of the day to give us what we want, hoping that we will love him, serve him, be devoted to him more? As a Yankee fan, I know that there are some who think this team is truly blessed (or has made a deal with the evil one, depending upon your fan-perspective) but does God really operate that way to change the course of events to make sure that one ball goes over the wall, to get the home run, to win the game, so they advance to the next round of the playoffs?
Interesting questions that Saints and theologians give a lot of different answers to. Can God do those things, yes… Would He? Does He? Why would He? Hmmm… Not so simply answered.
But what’s more interesting, or rather what’s more important than getting stuck in those philosophical/theological debates is – what about us? What is the point of prayer for us? Is God just some magic genie in the sky that we try to placate, manipulate things out of for our own well-being (and if it helps someone else out too, that’s great…) For 9 out of 10 of the lepers in today’s Gospel, it kind of appears that way. . Jesus encounters these 10 lepers. Just a refresher on leprosy – it was an incurable disease… to this day, it can be prevented and controlled but it cannot be cured. It causes loss of sensation, paralysis and it’s just pretty gross. Because of all that and the fear that it was highly contagious, lepers were cast out of the society. Sent to live apart in a colony of people with the same ailment. So now not only were they sick, in pain, afraid… they were also incredibly alone.
Jesus is walking by this day… He’s not just out for a stroll by the way – he’s on his way to Jerusalem (and we all know what’s about to go on there) Even though he’s got his passion and death on his mind, Jesus remains other-focused, selfless. He hears the cries of these lepers. He hears their prayer – JESUS MASTER HAVE PITY ON US… Jesus simply tells them “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they’re walking, as they’re on their way, they’re healed. (One Gospel commentator made an interesting point on this – Miracles don’t necessarily have to be big, dramatic moments that stand out like a burning bush or walking on water. God’s intervention in our lives often happens simply as we’re living our lives)
Perhaps it was the less than dramatic way that it happened that 9 of them, surely relieved of their suffering, didn’t reflect on the cause of their healing. Only the one comes back to Jesus. Only one comes back in worship and awe. Only one comes back to say “Thank You.” And in that, the one out of the ten underlines that this Gospel is more than just about good manners (as if Mom and Dad needed to explain to you “When someone cures you of leprosy, you say Thank You.”) – Jesus encountering the one who has returned a second time to give thanks explains – You’re faith has saved you.
Prayer is meant to open us up, Prayer is meant to change us, not simply in giving us what we want – but recognizing that God truly supplies us with all that we could ever need. Prayer isn’t about getting that A on that test or that Home run in the world series or even working a miracle cure to a deadly, painful disease – rather it’s about recognizing how God is that loving, that attentive to all that we struggle with, all that we are, all that we hope to be… He sees us beyond this moment, this day, this problem, this struggle and sees the potential, the possibilities, the beautiful creation that He has made each of us to be.
For Bart Simpson, realizing that God has listened and responded to his prayers, that made him resist that temptation to play in the snow, study like he never studied before, and scrape through getting a D on his test, barely getting him to pass the 4th Grade. For us, it’s not so easy or cut and dry as a 30 minute sitcom would convey.
Jesus tells us that Yes, He hears our prayers, he answers them in His own way, in His own time… all with the hopes that we will truly find and discover how He is actively listening and responding to us always. May we be like the one leper, who once he realizes what God has done for him couldn’t continue to live life “as usual,” and find no better response than to return in worship, in awe, in thanksgiving to Him.
