Homily for 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 18, 2020

Readings for this week can be found here.

             Give the Lord glory and honor.  Our responsorial psalm today seems fairly obvious.  Everything we have comes from God so of course we should honor and glorify the Lord.  But what does it mean to honor and glorify God?  How do we do it?  Isaiah reminds us that God provides us with His blessings, even if we don’t know it.  God calls us by name and gives us a title, even if we don’t realize it.  The implication is that out of gratitude, we should glorify God.

            The psalmist tells us we should tell the world of the wonders of God, singing songs, bringing gifts, and praising God.  Paul glorifies God by giving thanks and praying for those to whom he’s writing and ministering.  These are all good things but are rather general.  What does Jesus say about honoring and glorifying God?  He tells us to give to God what belongs to God.  That seems a little more specific, but what belongs to God?

            Over and over the Gospels tell us that God is love.  The two greatest commandments are to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  God gives us His love unconditionally and in superabundance.  Since this love belongs to God, we need to give love back to God, especially by loving our neighbors.  There are many ways we can do this but I’d like to suggest a particular way we can do so in our everyday lives.

            October 1 was the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux.  For those not familiar with St. Therese, she was a Carmelite Nun who lived in 19^th century France.  She is known for her “little way”.  In her autobiography, “Story of a Soul”, she writes “I applied myself to practicing little virtues, not having the capability of practicing the great.”  St. Therese loved God in the childlike way Jesus describes in Matthew chapter 18.  “At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?’  He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said ‘Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.’”

St. Therese understood that she needed to love God in a simple, unconditional way.  By the same token, she needed to love others in that same, unconditional way.  She went about this by doing her everyday tasks with great love, as if she were doing them for Jesus.  She especially went out of her way to do something loving for those with whom she didn’t get along.  She would give a smile, do some little favor, etc.  She did these things in a spirit of humility, never expecting anything in return or any recognition for her efforts.

We also can do little things in the spirit of love for Jesus and others, both in our personal and professional lives.  We can be kind to our co-workers, especially if we have difficulty getting along.  We can do things for each other at home without being asked, whether it be helping around the house, asking another about their day and just listening, or not arguing when we think we’re in the right.  For those still in school, you can reach out to classmates that may be struggling and offer to help.  All these things we should do as if we’re doing them for Jesus.

Jesus tells us to give to God what belongs to God.  St. Therese gives us an example of how to do so by doing little things with great love in the spirit of humility.  In loving others, we pass on the love God has for us.  In this way, we give God glory and honor.