We're All Fixer-Uppers

 

Deacon David Previtali · We're All Fixer-Uppers

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feb. 7, 2021. Gospel of St. Mark 1:29-39. Theme: We’re All Fixer-Uppers 

I have to confess that I am an ardent Home and Garden TV viewer. I especially like the fixer-upper shows and it amazes me how someone can look beyond the mess and destruction of a run-down house and see its possibilities. I enjoy watching the various stages of renovation – demolition day, re-wiring, reinforcing weak spots in the structure to make them sound and solid again…and by the end you see what is basically the same building, but totally renewed and restored to what it was originally meant to be. 

And it seems to me that this is a good way to understand the mission of Jesus, because we’re all fixer-uppers. We may not all be in the same dilapidated condition but we all need saving and restoring. Some of us might be like rundown shacks that need to be completely rebuilt due to having been so terribly mistreated and neglected. Others might have a decent foundation and simply need some refurbishing and a good heavy polish to make them shine. But all of us, without exception, need some kind of work to be done so that we can be made new from the inside out. Jesus can look beyond the mess and even destruction we may have made in our lives and see the possibilities. He has a burning desire to restore us to what we were always meant to be: the holy and happy sons and daughters of God. That’s why he came into our world as one of us: to heal what is sick, to drive out what is evil, and to fix what is broken. That’s what our Gospel today is all about. That’s why we call it Good News! 

So, I suppose the big question would be: How can we cooperate with Jesus the Master Carpenter in this task of repairing and restoring us? It seems to me that like any fixer-upper job we need two fundamental things: a plan or blueprint to follow, and the right tools to get the job done. And the good news is that Jesus provides both of these for us. We find the blueprint of what kind of person we are supposed to be in the example of Jesus himself. His words, his attitude, his actions, his relationships…these have all been recorded for us in the Gospels to show us what it means to live as a happy and holy human being. This is why frequent and thoughtful reading of the gospels is so vital for us. We simply cannot get to know Jesus or absorb his attitude and behavior if we do not get to really know about him. We can also find this blueprint in the letters of St. Paul in the New Testament which explain and apply Christ-like living to our everyday situations. They should also be part of our regular reading and reflection. 

But head knowledge is not enough to bring about a change in us. No matter how many times a contractor looks at a blueprint, the house is going to remain in its sorry state until he gets going and starts the actual work of making the blueprint become a reality. The same is true for us. We need to allow Jesus, the Master Carpenter from Nazareth, to get on with the work of rebuilding us. We have to get out of his way by letting go of self-sufficiency and stubbornly clinging to our usual ways of thinking and acting. The saints tell us that the spiritual tools we need to use to get out of Christ’s way and allow him to transform us are Confession, the Word of God, and the Holy Eucharist. 

Each time we go to Confession it’s kind of like demolition day. We haul away the sinful junk and spiritual debris that have accumulated within us and that needs to be removed before the work of renewal can begin. But our occasional Confession has to be made real in our daily lives through a spirit of on-going repentance and conversion as we intentionally strive, with the help of God’s grace, to live in a more Christ-like manner one day at a time. 

The necessary re-wiring within us takes place gradually and carefully each time we read and reflect upon the Gospels, applying the words and example of Jesus in our daily lives. The Word of God has real supernatural power to enlighten us and bring us to this daily conversion. By our frequent and consistent encounter with Christ in the Gospels, our understanding and living of Christianity will become more genuine, and our discipleship more authentic. 

And then, these two spiritual tools, along with our receiving of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, will begin to repair the weak spots in our relationship with God and our neighbor, making them more sound and solid. With each Holy Communion, Christ continues the work of rebuilding us and the more we open our hearts to the power of his presence, the more surely will we begin to take on a new way of thinking, a new way of looking at life, a new way of loving that shows we are being restored and renewed. 

If we spend this Lent, which will soon be upon us, seriously putting these tools of the spiritual trade to good use, then when Easter comes around we just night be in for a pleasant surprise. We just might be able to see that, what resembles the same old fixer-upper has been refurbished, renewed and restored to what it was originally meant to be: a Temple of God beautifully reflecting his holiness and glory.