Homily Reflection - "One Step at a Time"

One Step at a Time

“Faith is taking that first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” - MLK, JR

Jonah 3:1-5, 10  Psalm 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 1 Corinthians 7:29-31  Mark 1:14-20

Every family has that child: independent, challenging, and bold; “the Instigator.” This was Johnny. He liked to fuss and fight. Every night, his parents prayed, “Dear God help Johnny be a good boy that listens to his parents and doesn’t fight his brothers and sisters.”

Johnny promised his parents he’d change, “I’m gonna be a new me. I’m gonna bury this meanness.” Finding a flat rock, he took chalk and put a cross, wrote “Bad Johnny” and then “R.I.P.” He placed this headstone in the flower bed. He buried his meanness and took that first step to change and be nice.

The family’s whole world changed - for about three days. Then there was an argument, hair pulling, and some screaming. All Johnny’s momma could say was “What happened to the promise you made?”  His sister knew. She found that rock in the flower bed and erased Johnny’s words. Then she took the chalk and wrote a new message and threw the rock aside. On it was written “He has risen!!”

Did you make a New Year’s resolutions to change? How many have kept them? Change is a hard, but every little change affects you and can influence the world.

Jonah was a prophet chosen by God for his potential to change the world. “Go and preach to Nineveh,” God was with him, but Jonah could not take that step of faith. He ran away. We know the story. Jonah got on a ship and during a storm was thrown overboard. He was swallowed by a really big fish. Again, God said, “Go and preach to Nineveh of their evil and their punishment.” Jonah changed and the fish spit him out. He went to Nineveh and preached. Jonah changed and the city of Nineveh changed.

In the Gospel the first four disciples Simon, Andrew, James and John are chosen by Jesus. They were not educated or influential; just simple fisherman. Yet, Jesus invited them to “come and follow me.” God knew their potential to change the world. They had no idea at that time what Jesus was asking of them.

Reading the Gospels, a person could get the impression they had a hard time trying to walk the walk. They made mistakes. Peter denied him. James and John wanted to rule with him. The disciples had their own ideas of about Jesus’ message. They ran away. But, they did change and the world changed.

Paul writes we have to change. Change to think different, act different, and look at the world different. It’s the change the psalmist seeks: “teach me your ways" and "teach us your path.” We are to walk that path, the ways of faith.

We find that path in Jesus’ invite, “Come after me.” Jesus came to teach us the path of faith that leads to God, beginning with the first step. It’s a first step that people have a hard time taking; but they don’t have any problem taking the first step to run away.

With change, we get frustrated. Maybe, we pull someone’s hair to stop the change, so we can run back to the way it was. Or, maybe we know what we are supposed to do but run away because it’s so hard to keep the promise made to God. 

God created us with freedom; freedom to choose our paths. God gave all of his creation freedom. To many times we blame God for obstacles in our path. We see that path as hard because of things like illness, family problems, money problems, natural disasters, evil and hate? Those things are not of God but of life. They rise from the creation that we live in this world. God’s path is the one that shows us the easier way. But it is a path that must be taken in faith.

Faith asks us to go forward when you don’t see were the path ends. We’re asked to go somewhere we’ve never been and can’t see; so, we want to run back to the familiar that we know. Back to the difficulties we are used to in our old life.

We tell ourselves - I’m not good enough. I’m bad. It’s scary. It’s hard. So, we run away from God and the change God brings. It’s scary hard. We will make mistakes.

St. Thérèse of Liseaux wrote, “O Lord, You would not inspire me with a desire which could not be realized; therefore, in spite of my littleness, I can aim at being a saint.”

We have that littleness of imperfection but God loves us. He forgives us. Jesus Christ gave all for our mistakes like when we get angry, run away, or forget promises. God’s grace is with us so we can always ask for forgiveness. Through God’s grace, we are forgiven. We change, moving forward and maybe falling back a little every now and then.

If we open our hearts to God, His love will change us. It’s called conversion. It’s the change in our heart that opens for us the path to walk with God following Jesus Christ. It happens over our entire life, everyday.

I read an article that said that Catholic’s should have altar calls like our protestant brothers and sisters. It argued that an altar call would invite Catholics to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Brothers and sister, our entire life is an altar call.  We begin our personal walk with Jesus Christ at baptism. We walk with Jesus each and every day of our lives. The totality of our altar call is when we walk down the path to the ultimate personal relationship with Christ, the Eucharist. There is no more personal relationship than when we become one with Christ through the most sacred body and most precious blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

Our walk is our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, different for each and every one of us. It is the most intimate thing in our life; but, one we share with the world through our acts, our words, and our deeds. 

God chose each one of us because of our potential to change the world. Change begins with that first step in faith, even if you don’t see the whole staircase.